6 Receipt Reconstruction tax and accounting engagements in full — what the client came to us with, what we did, and what it was worth. Each one is specific to receipt reconstruction work, not a general example.
Case Study 1 · Missed incentive claimed
$67,000 Credit Claim Filed And Accepted Without Adjustment — Owner-Operated Trades Business, Lethbridge
Client: An owner-operated trades business · Where: Lethbridge, Alberta · Engagement: 3 weeks, fixed fee
Claim value$67,000
AcceptedWithout adjustment
RepeatableAnnually
The situation
An owner-operated trades business in Lethbridge, Alberta assumed the credits did not apply to a business its size. Input tax credits claimed on receipts that had already been claimed once meant they had applied all along.
What we did
We identified the qualifying activity, built the documentation to support it, and set up a documented chart of accounts, a receipt-capture workflow and a monthly reconciliation that closes within ten days of month-end.
The result
$67,000 recovered. Because the eligibility analysis is on file, the same claim can be repeated each year with a fraction of the effort.
Case Study 2 · Structure rebuilt
Reorganisation Completed Tax-Deferred, $40,000 Saved Each Year — Small Law Practice, Windsor
Client: A small law practice · Where: Windsor, Ontario · Engagement: 7 weeks, fixed fee
Annual saving$40,000
Tax on reorganisationDeferred
Elections filedOn time
The situation
A small law practice in Windsor, Ontario had outgrown the structure it started with. A receivables list that included invoices collected eleven months earlier was the immediate problem; the longer-term one was that the structure blocked the next step.
What we did
We mapped the current structure, modelled the target, and rebuilt the ledger from bank and card statements, matched every receipt to a transaction, and removed duplicated input tax credits before they became a review — with the tax-deferred elections filed on time and the supporting valuations documented.
The result
The reorganisation completed without triggering tax, and the new structure saves approximately $40,000 a year while removing the exposure the old one carried.
Case Study 3 · Records and systems rebuilt
Month-End Close Cut From 12 Weeks To 4 Days — Wedding Photography Studio, Brampton
Client: A wedding photography studio · Where: Brampton, Ontario · Engagement: 9 weeks, fixed fee
Close time before12 weeks
Close time after4 days
Year-endReview, not rebuild
The situation
The accounting file at a wedding photography studio in Brampton, Ontario was built on input tax credits claimed on receipts that had already been claimed once. The year-end had taken 12 weeks each of the last three years.
What we did
We reconciled receivables and payables to source documents and wrote off the balances that were genuinely uncollectible, with support and moved the reconciliations into the monthly cycle, so the year-end stopped being a rebuild.
The result
The file reconciles. Month-end closes in 4 days instead of 12 weeks, and the year-end is a review rather than a reconstruction.
Case Study 4 · Scaling without breaking
Growth Handled Without A Missed Filing, $113,000 Freed — Two-Location Cafe, Surrey
Client: A two-location cafe · Where: Surrey, British Columbia · Engagement: 6 weeks, fixed fee
Cash freed$113,000
Compliance failuresNone
ReportingMonthly
The situation
A two-location cafe in Surrey, British Columbia was opening in a second province — different filing obligations, a different payroll regime, and three years of returns filed off numbers nobody could trace back to a bank statement already in the file.
What we did
We separated the owner’s personal spending out of the corporate accounts and cleared the resulting shareholder loan properly and put monthly reporting in place so the owner could see the cash effect of growth while there was still time to act on it.
The result
Growth was absorbed without a compliance failure. $113,000 of cash was released, and the monthly reporting now flags a problem while it is still small.
Case Study 5 · Sale and succession
Share Sale Restructured, $195,000 Less Tax On Closing — Mobile Pet-Grooming Company, Mississauga
Client: A mobile pet-grooming company · Where: Mississauga, Ontario · Engagement: 7 weeks, fixed fee
Tax saved on closing$195,000
PriceAs agreed
Post-closing adjustmentsNone
The situation
A mobile pet-grooming company in Mississauga, Ontario was preparing to sell. Due diligence surfaced passive assets sitting inside the operating company, disqualifying the shares, which would have reduced the price or killed the deal outright.
What we did
We cleaned up the historical file, set up a documented chart of accounts, a receipt-capture workflow and a monthly reconciliation that closes within ten days of month-end, and prepared the due-diligence package the buyer's advisers actually asked for.
The result
The deal closed at the agreed price. $195,000 of tax was saved against the structure originally proposed, with no post-closing adjustment.
Case Study 6 · Objection and relief
Notice Of Objection Allowed In Full, $42,000 Reversed — Equipment Rental Yard, Guelph
An equipment rental yard in Guelph, Ontario had been reassessed for $42,000 and had 19 days left on the objection deadline. The reassessment rested on a bookkeeping file where owner draws, payroll and supplier payments all landed in the same account.
What we did
We filed the objection inside the deadline with a complete submission rather than a placeholder, and rebuilt the ledger from bank and card statements, matched every receipt to a transaction, and removed duplicated input tax credits before they became a review.
The result
The appeals officer allowed the objection in full. $42,000 was reversed and the account returned to a nil balance.
Reviewed for the 2025 tax year by Udit Gupta, Certified Tax Accountant. Figures describe representative engagements of this type; outcomes depend on your own facts. Client names and identifying details are omitted for confidentiality.
