Choosing an accountant in Ottawa, and what to ask first

Why Ottawa is a different search

The defining Ottawa business is the incorporated consultant: one main client, often a department or an agency, a corporation of one, and an income that looks a great deal like a salary. The personal services business rules let the CRA treat that corporation as an incorporated employee, denying the small business deduction and most expenses. The way to stay clear is to be genuinely in business, and the way to know where you stand is an accountant who looks at the facts before the CRA does.

The rest of Ottawa’s owner-managed economy has its own specifics. Realtors earn in lumps and face the question of incorporating through a personal real estate corporation. Trades and builders have subcontractors, T5018 slips and WSIB clearance. All of them file Ontario’s single HST, which is simpler than the two-tax provinces but still has to be reconciled to the books every period.

Ontario also has an employer health tax once payroll passes the exemption, which is the kind of thing that only matters until the year it does.

The questions that separate firms

1. Will you tell me if my corporation looks like a personal services business?

Ask this first. The signs are one main client, work that resembles employment, and few of the marks of an independent business. Ask what the firm does to assess it and what it would tell you to change. If the answer is vague, keep looking.

2. Who does the work, and who signs it?

Ask who prepares, who reviews and who signs, and whether that changes. A one-client corporation is a small file, and small files move around large practices. One CPA from first call to filed return keeps the judgement consistent.

3. Is the fee fixed and in writing before the work starts?

Ask for the number before anything begins and what would move it. Transaction volume, the condition of the books, the number of filings and payroll are fair answers. An hourly rate is not.

4. How should I pay myself, and when do we decide?

Salary against dividends is the decision that matters most for a corporation of one and it has to be made before the year closes. Ask whether the firm plans it with you during the year and whether that is included.

5. For a realtor or a trades business: the specifics?

A realtor should ask about the personal real estate corporation decision and commission timing. A builder should ask about subcontractor classification, T5018 slips and WSIB clearance. A firm that does the work answers specifically.

6. What does switching involve?

Authorisation with the CRA, a file request to your previous firm, and work continues from the last filed year-end. Mid-year is fine, and a backlog is quoted separately.

How to compare two Ottawa quotes

List what each includes: T2, year-end statements, HST, the owner’s T1, payroll if you take a salary, and questions through the year. For a corporation of one the salary-versus-dividend planning is the part worth paying for.

Then compare the answers to the PSB question. The firm that engaged with it is the one thinking about your tax rather than your return.

Red flags worth walking away from

• The personal services business rules never come up for a one-client consultant.
• Salary versus dividends decided after the year-end from the bank statements.
• A fee described as an estimate, or tied to an hourly rate.
• HST reconciled once a year rather than every period.
• Nobody will name the person who prepares and reviews the file.

Where to start

A free thirty-minute conversation covers the client structure, what is filed now and how you are paid, and ends with a fixed fee in writing. EverStone works with Ottawa clients entirely online from British Columbia.

Book a free consultation See the fixed fees

For Ottawa specifically: the Ottawa accounting page, Ottawa consultants, Ottawa realtors, the personal services business risk check and Ontario tax facts.

Choosing somewhere else? The same questions, with the local specifics, for Abbotsford, Chilliwack, Langley, Surrey, Maple Ridge, Aldergrove, Vancouver, Victoria, Calgary, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Toronto, Mission and the Fraser Valley.