6 Wave Accounting Support 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 wave accounting support work, not a general example.
Case Study 1 · Sale and succession
Share Sale Restructured, $195,000 Less Tax On Closing — Residential Cleaning Franchise, London
A residential cleaning franchise in London, Ontario was preparing to sell. Due diligence surfaced a single shareholder holding every share, with no room to multiply the exemption, 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 2 · Deadline rescue
Filed On Time From A Standing Start, $69,000 Penalty Avoided — Specialty Coffee Roaster, Hamilton
A specialty coffee roaster in Hamilton, Ontario came to us 7 weeks before its filing deadline with three years of returns filed off numbers nobody could trace back to a bank statement. A late filing would have triggered a penalty of roughly $69,000 before interest.
What we did
We worked backwards from the deadline. 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, 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 $69,000 penalty never arose, and the compliance calendar we set means the next deadline is scheduled rather than discovered.
Case Study 3 · Scaling without breaking
Second-Province Expansion Handled, $110,000 Of Cash Released — Owner-Operated Trades Business, Mississauga
Client: An owner-operated trades business · Where: Mississauga, Ontario · Engagement: 3 weeks, fixed fee
Cash released$110,000
New registrationsComplete on day one
Compliance gapsNone
The situation
Revenue at an owner-operated trades business in Mississauga, Ontario was up sharply and cash was tighter than ever. Underneath it sat eighteen months of unreconciled transactions and a shoebox of receipts.
What we did
We reconciled receivables and payables to source documents and wrote off the balances that were genuinely uncollectible, with support. Every new obligation — registration, remittance frequency, provincial filing — was set up before it was triggered, not after.
The result
$110,000 of cash was released from the working capital cycle, and the expansion completed with every registration and filing obligation covered from day one.
Case Study 4 · Backlog brought current
3 Years Filed, $52,000 Removed From The Assessed Balance — Small Law Practice, Lethbridge
Client: A small law practice · Where: Lethbridge, Alberta · Engagement: 5 weeks, fixed fee
Years filed3
Assessed balance removed$52,000
CollectionsStopped
The situation
A small law practice in Lethbridge, Alberta had not filed for 3 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 separated the owner’s personal spending out of the corporate accounts and cleared the resulting shareholder loan properly, 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 $52,000 of the estimated balance came off, with a payment arrangement covering the rest.
Case Study 5 · Records and systems rebuilt
Books Rebuilt From Source, $10,500 In Unclaimed Input Tax Found — Wedding Photography Studio, Moncton
Client: A wedding photography studio · Where: Moncton, New Brunswick · Engagement: 7 weeks, fixed fee
Unclaimed tax found$10,500
Records rebuilt11 months
ProcessDocumented
The situation
A wedding photography studio in Moncton, New Brunswick 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 set up a documented chart of accounts, a receipt-capture workflow and a monthly reconciliation that closes within ten days of month-end, 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, $10,500 recovered in input tax credits that the old file could not support, and a documented monthly process now in place.
Case Study 6 · CRA review defended
$88,000 Proposed Adjustment Withdrawn In Full — Two-Location Cafe, Kitchener
A two-location cafe in Kitchener, Ontario received a proposal letter opening a review of wave accounting support. The CRA had identified input tax credits claimed on receipts that had already been claimed once and proposed an adjustment of $88,000, with 30 days to respond.
What we did
We treated the response as an evidence exercise rather than an argument. 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 indexed every supporting document against the specific line the auditor had questioned.
The result
The proposed adjustment was withdrawn in full — all $88,000 of it. The file closed in 5 weeks with no change to the assessed amounts and no penalty.
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.
