6 Small Business Bookkeeping 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 small business bookkeeping work, not a general example.
Case Study 1 · Planning that cut the bill
$64,000 Cut From The Annual Tax Bill — Wedding Photography Studio, London
Client: A wedding photography studio · Where: London, Ontario · Engagement: 4 weeks, fixed fee
First-year saving$64,000
RepeatsAnnually
Filing positionUnchanged in risk
The situation
A wedding photography studio in London, Ontario was compliant but paying more than it needed to. The prior year had been filed correctly and still left three years of returns filed off numbers nobody could trace back to a bank statement on the table.
What we did
We modelled the current position against the alternatives before changing anything, then 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
The change saved $64,000 in the first year and repeats annually. Nothing about the filings became more aggressive; the position is simply the one the rules already allowed.
Case Study 2 · Cash and remittance control
Instalments Rebased, $61,000 Of Cash Returned To The Business — Mobile Pet-Grooming Company, Calgary
Client: A mobile pet-grooming company · Where: Calgary, Alberta · Engagement: 4 weeks, fixed fee
Cash returned$61,000
Instalment basisCurrent year
ReviewedQuarterly
The situation
A mobile pet-grooming company in Calgary, Alberta was paying instalments calculated on a prior year that no longer reflected the business. Eighteen months of unreconciled transactions and a shoebox of receipts was tying up $61,000 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
$61,000 of cash stayed in the business, the penalty cycle ended, and the instalment position is reviewed each quarter against actual results.
Case Study 3 · Records and systems rebuilt
Month-End Close Cut From 8 Weeks To 6 Days — Home-Renovation Contractor, Kitchener
The accounting file at a home-renovation contractor in Kitchener, Ontario was built on a bookkeeping file where owner draws, payroll and supplier payments all landed in the same account. The year-end had taken 8 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 6 days instead of 8 weeks, and the year-end is a review rather than a reconstruction.
Case Study 4 · Deadline rescue
Filed On Time From A Standing Start, $70,000 Penalty Avoided — Residential Cleaning Franchise, Ottawa
A residential cleaning franchise in Ottawa, Ontario came to us 7 weeks before its filing deadline with a receivables list that included invoices collected eleven months earlier. A late filing would have triggered a penalty of roughly $70,000 before interest.
What we did
We worked backwards from the deadline. We separated the owner’s personal spending out of the corporate accounts and cleared the resulting shareholder loan properly, prioritising the items that actually gated the filing and deferring everything that did not.
The result
The return was filed on time and complete. The $70,000 penalty never arose, and the compliance calendar we set means the next deadline is scheduled rather than discovered.
Case Study 5 · Objection and relief
Desk-Review Assessment Of $20,500 Vacated — Owner-Operated Trades Business, Moncton
Client: An owner-operated trades business · Where: Moncton, New Brunswick · Engagement: 7 weeks, fixed fee
Assessment vacated$20,500
Supporting recordsNow on file
AccountCleared
The situation
An owner-operated trades business in Moncton, New Brunswick was carrying $20,500 of penalties and interest arising from input tax credits claimed on receipts that had already been claimed once, much of it accumulated during a period the CRA itself had delayed.
What we did
We set up a documented chart of accounts, a receipt-capture workflow and a monthly reconciliation that closes within ten days of month-end and framed the relief application on the specific grounds the CRA guidelines recognise rather than on general hardship.
The result
The assessment was vacated. $20,500 came off the account, and the documentation now on file makes the same position straightforward to defend next time.
Case Study 6 · Structure rebuilt
Corporate Structure Rebuilt For $30,000 Of Annual Savings — Specialty Coffee Roaster, Halifax
Client: A specialty coffee roaster · Where: Halifax, Nova Scotia · Engagement: 8 weeks, fixed fee
Saving per year$30,000
DocumentationComplete
Transfer basisRollover
The situation
The structure at a specialty coffee roaster in Halifax, Nova Scotia had been set up years earlier for a business that no longer existed, and three years of returns filed off numbers nobody could trace back to a bank statement had become expensive.
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. The reorganisation used the rollover provisions rather than a taxable transfer, so no tax fell due on the restructuring itself.
The result
$30,000 of annual saving, achieved on a tax-deferred basis. The minute book, elections and valuations are all in the file.
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.
