6 Sales Reconciliation 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 sales reconciliation work, not a general example.
Case Study 1 · Cash and remittance control
Instalments Rebased, $120,000 Of Cash Returned To The Business — Specialty Coffee Roaster, Vancouver
Client: A specialty coffee roaster · Where: Vancouver, British Columbia · Engagement: 8 weeks, fixed fee
Cash returned$120,000
Instalment basisCurrent year
ReviewedQuarterly
The situation
A specialty coffee roaster in Vancouver, British Columbia was paying instalments calculated on a prior year that no longer reflected the business. A receivables list that included invoices collected eleven months earlier was tying up $120,000 of cash.
What we did
We rebased the instalments on the current-year estimate rather than the prior-year default, 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
$120,000 of cash stayed in the business, the penalty cycle ended, and the instalment position is reviewed each quarter against actual results.
Case Study 2 · Scaling without breaking
Growth Handled Without A Missed Filing, $126,000 Freed — Small Law Practice, Lethbridge
Client: A small law practice · Where: Lethbridge, Alberta · Engagement: 9 weeks, fixed fee
Cash freed$126,000
Compliance failuresNone
ReportingMonthly
The situation
A small law practice in Lethbridge, Alberta was opening in a second province — different filing obligations, a different payroll regime, and eighteen months of unreconciled transactions and a shoebox of receipts already in the file.
What we did
We reconciled receivables and payables to source documents and wrote off the balances that were genuinely uncollectible, with support 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. $126,000 of cash was released, and the monthly reporting now flags a problem while it is still small.
Case Study 3 · Missed incentive claimed
$94,000 In Credits Claimed That Prior Filings Had Missed — Two-Location Cafe, Barrie
A two-location cafe in Barrie, Ontario had been filing for 4 years without ever claiming the incentives its activity qualified for. Behind that sat eighteen months of unreconciled transactions and a shoebox of receipts.
What we did
We tested each activity against the eligibility criteria rather than the description on the invoice, then separated the owner’s personal spending out of the corporate accounts and cleared the resulting shareholder loan properly.
The result
$94,000 in credits claimed, with the open prior years adjusted as well. The claim passed review without adjustment.
Case Study 4 · Backlog brought current
7 Years Filed, $20,500 Removed From The Assessed Balance — Equipment Rental Yard, Victoria
Client: An equipment rental yard · Where: Victoria, British Columbia · Engagement: 4 weeks, fixed fee
Years filed7
Assessed balance removed$20,500
CollectionsStopped
The situation
An equipment rental yard in Victoria, British Columbia had not filed for 7 years. The CRA had issued arbitrary assessments, and the business was carrying a bookkeeping file where owner draws, payroll and supplier payments all landed in the same account on top of a growing interest balance.
What we did
We started with the oldest year and worked forward so each year's closing balances fed the next. We set up a documented chart of accounts, a receipt-capture workflow and a monthly reconciliation that closes within ten days of month-end, filing the years in sequence rather than all at once.
The result
Every year is now filed and assessed on actual figures. The notional assessments were vacated and $20,500 of the estimated balance came off, with a payment arrangement covering the rest.
Case Study 5 · Objection and relief
$70,000 Of Penalties And Interest Cancelled On Relief — Subscription Box Retailer, Regina
An assessment of $70,000 landed at a subscription box retailer in Regina, Saskatchewan following a desk review. The auditor had not seen the records behind three years of returns filed off numbers nobody could trace back to a bank statement.
What we did
We 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, then set out the legislative basis for the position alongside the documents supporting it.
The result
$70,000 of penalties and interest was cancelled under the taxpayer relief provisions, and the underlying assessment was adjusted to match the filed position.
Case Study 6 · Records and systems rebuilt
Books Rebuilt From Source, $18,500 In Unclaimed Input Tax Found — Home-Renovation Contractor, London
A home-renovation contractor in London, Ontario could not answer basic questions about its own numbers, because a receivables list that included invoices collected eleven months earlier sat between the bank statements and the ledger.
What we did
We reconciled receivables and payables to source documents and wrote off the balances that were genuinely uncollectible, with support, then documented the process so the work does not depend on any one person remembering how it was done.
The result
Records rebuilt and reconciled, $18,500 recovered in input tax credits that the old file could not support, and a documented monthly process now in place.
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.
