6 Year-End 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 year-end bookkeeping work, not a general example.
Case Study 1 · Objection and relief
$53,000 Of Penalties And Interest Cancelled On Relief — Specialty Coffee Roaster, Surrey
Client: A specialty coffee roaster · Where: Surrey, British Columbia · Engagement: 9 weeks, fixed fee
Penalties and interest cancelled$53,000
Relief groundsAccepted
AssessmentAdjusted to filed position
The situation
An assessment of $53,000 landed at a specialty coffee roaster in Surrey, British Columbia following a desk review. The auditor had not seen the records behind a receivables list that included invoices collected eleven months earlier.
What we did
We separated the owner’s personal spending out of the corporate accounts and cleared the resulting shareholder loan properly, then set out the legislative basis for the position alongside the documents supporting it.
The result
$53,000 of penalties and interest was cancelled under the taxpayer relief provisions, and the underlying assessment was adjusted to match the filed position.
Case Study 2 · Records and systems rebuilt
Books Rebuilt From Source, $11,500 In Unclaimed Input Tax Found — Small Law Practice, Hamilton
Client: A small law practice · Where: Hamilton, Ontario · Engagement: 6 weeks, fixed fee
Unclaimed tax found$11,500
Records rebuilt17 months
ProcessDocumented
The situation
A small law practice in Hamilton, Ontario could not answer basic questions about its own numbers, because a bookkeeping file where owner draws, payroll and supplier payments all landed in the same account 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, $11,500 recovered in input tax credits that the old file could not support, and a documented monthly process now in place.
Case Study 3 · Planning that cut the bill
Remuneration Review Saved $49,000 Across Corporate And Personal Returns — Two-Location Cafe, Winnipeg
Nothing was wrong at a two-location cafe in Winnipeg, Manitoba — the filings were on time and accurate. What they were not was planned. Eighteen months of unreconciled transactions and a shoebox of receipts had never been reviewed.
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, and ran the numbers across both the corporate and personal returns so the saving was real rather than deferred into someone else's hands.
The result
$49,000 came off the combined corporate and personal tax bill, and the structure holds for future years without further work.
Case Study 4 · CRA review defended
$109,000 Proposed Adjustment Withdrawn In Full — Equipment Rental Yard, Ottawa
An equipment rental yard in Ottawa, Ontario received a proposal letter opening a review of year-end bookkeeping. The CRA had identified three years of returns filed off numbers nobody could trace back to a bank statement and proposed an adjustment of $109,000, with 30 days to respond.
What we did
We treated the response as an evidence exercise rather than an argument. We reconciled receivables and payables to source documents and wrote off the balances that were genuinely uncollectible, with support, then indexed every supporting document against the specific line the auditor had questioned.
The result
The proposed adjustment was withdrawn in full — all $109,000 of it. The file closed in 5 weeks with no change to the assessed amounts and no penalty.
Case Study 5 · Sale and succession
$505,000 Sheltered By The Lifetime Capital Gains Exemption — Subscription Box Retailer, Edmonton
Client: A subscription box retailer · Where: Edmonton, Alberta · Engagement: 7 weeks, fixed fee
Gain sheltered$505,000
ClosingOn schedule
Share qualificationMet
The situation
A subscription box retailer in Edmonton, Alberta had an offer on the table and 32 months to close. The shares did not qualify for the capital gains exemption, and a shareholder loan balance that would have been picked up as income on closing was part of the reason.
What we did
We purified the corporation so the shares met the qualifying tests, then separated the owner’s personal spending out of the corporate accounts and cleared the resulting shareholder loan properly well ahead of the closing date.
The result
The sale closed on schedule with $505,000 sheltered by the lifetime capital gains exemption across the shareholders.
A home-renovation contractor in Mississauga, Ontario was carrying a receivables list that included invoices collected eleven months earlier, and every option for fixing it ran through a reorganisation that had to be done without triggering tax.
What we did
Working with the client's lawyer, 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 prepared the elections, resolutions and valuations the structure needed to stand up.
The result
The structure now matches the business. Annual saving of $66,000, and the reorganisation itself was tax-neutral.
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.
