--- title: "CRA PIER Report: What the Payroll Discrepancy Means" url: https://www.everstonecpa.com/cra-letter-pier-report description: "A PIER report says your T4s and payroll remittances do not reconcile. What the discrepancy usually is, how to check it, and how to respond or fix it." type: service-or-info updated: 2026-10-05 faq_count: 4 publisher: EverStone CPA Inc., a Chartered Professional Accountant firm registered with CPA British Columbia and CPA Alberta service_area: British Columbia, Alberta, Ontario and Manitoba language: en-CA contact: info@everstonecpa.com · https://www.everstonecpa.com/book-online --- [Home](https://www.everstonecpa.com/) [Resources](https://www.everstonecpa.com/resources) PIER report CRA letters, decoded # A PIER report landed. *Your payroll math is being questioned.* Updated 5 October 2026 **Quick answer:** A Pensionable and Insurable Earnings Review (PIER) report means the CRA recalculated the [CPP contributions](https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/tax/businesses/topics/payroll/payroll-deductions-contributions/canada-pension-plan-cpp.html) and [EI premiums](https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/tax/businesses/topics/payroll/payroll-deductions-contributions/employment-insurance-ei.html) your [T4 slips](https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/tax/businesses/topics/payroll/completing-filing-information-returns.html) imply, and got a different number than the slips show. The report lists each affected employee and the difference. Sometimes the difference is real; often it is explained by something the automated check cannot see, and the response is an explanation rather than a payment. A PIER letter carries a reply deadline. [We answer these for clients](https://www.everstonecpa.com/cra-review-and-audit-support), and the answer is usually a correction rather than a payment. A PIER means the CRA’s CPP and EI arithmetic and your T4s disagree, and one of the two is wrong. [How payroll is handled here](https://www.everstonecpa.com/payroll-services-canada), or [send an enquiry](https://www.everstonecpa.com/book-online?service=other#enquiry-form). The order to work through it in. ## Why PIER reports happen to careful employers The check is arithmetic: T4 earnings times the year’s rates, against the deductions reported. Legitimate gaps usually come from an employee turning 18 or 70, one who maxed out with a previous employer, prorated exemptions for mid-year hires, or CPP2’s second band with a mid-year start. Current figures are on our [payroll figures page](https://www.everstonecpa.com/tax-update/payroll-figures-2026). ## Work the report before you pay it - Take each named employee and reconstruct their year: start date, birth date if near 18 or 70, prior-employer earnings if any, and what was actually withheld. - Where the report is right, a real under-deduction — the employer generally owes both halves of the shortfall, and can then recover the employee half from the employee within the rules. - Where an explanation applies, respond with it, per employee, by the report’s stated date. An explained line is closed, not paid. ## Stop it recurring A PIER every year means a setup problem, usually the basic exemption, proration or CPP2 handled wrongly. Fix the configuration once rather than reconcile every February. Our [remittance calculator](https://www.everstonecpa.com/payroll-remittance-calculator) and [payroll hub](https://www.everstonecpa.com/payroll-hub) cover the mechanics, or move payroll to us. A PIER report is the CRA reconciling your remittances for you, and it stops arriving once [ongoing payroll compliance](https://www.everstonecpa.com/payroll-services-canada) is doing the same check monthly. [Get My Fixed Quote](https://www.everstonecpa.com/book-online?service=other#enquiry-form)[Ask a Free Question](https://www.everstonecpa.com/quick-question) General information, not tax advice. A letter’s own wording and dates govern — confirm anything that affects a decision by [sending us an enquiry](https://www.everstonecpa.com/book-online?service=other#enquiry-form). ## Common questions about PIER report **Do I have to pay the amount on the PIER report?** Not automatically. Age boundaries, prior-employer maximums and proration explain many lines of this automated recalculation. Explain what you can; pay what is truly short. [Ask about your case →](https://www.everstonecpa.com/quick-question) **Can I recover an under-deduction from my employee?** Where a real shortfall existed, the employer remits both halves and may then recover the employee’s share from future pay within the limits the rules set. Get the numbers confirmed before deducting anything from anyone. **Why does this keep happening every year?** A recurring PIER report almost always traces to payroll configuration — the exemption, proration on mid-year hires, or the second CPP band applied incorrectly. It is fixable once, at the source. **Does a PIER report affect my employees’ benefits?** That is the point of it: CPP and EI entitlements are built on what was reported and remitted, so the CRA reconciles them. Responding properly protects the employees’ records as well as the corporation. ## Other CRA letters, decoded Not sure which letter you have? [Start with the full list](https://www.everstonecpa.com/cra-letters) and match what yours says. One letter often follows another. These cover the ones owner-managers see most. [Ask an accountant: the questions we actually get](https://www.everstonecpa.com/ask) [Restaurant tips and payroll: controlled versus direct tips, CPP, EI and the T4](https://www.everstonecpa.com/blog/restaurant-tip-reporting-payroll-canada) [A demand to file arrived. The clock is now formal.](https://www.everstonecpa.com/cra-letter-demand-to-file) [Personal return review](https://www.everstonecpa.com/cra-letter-t1-review) [T2 review](https://www.everstonecpa.com/cra-letter-t2-review) [T4 mismatch](https://www.everstonecpa.com/cra-letter-t4-mismatch) ## What happens when you get in touch A PIER letter has a reply date, so the first week matters more than usual. - **An email enquiry.** What you do, what is filed and what is overdue. You leave with a fixed fee in writing and no obligation to take it. - **Access, in the first week.** We are [authorized with the CRA](https://www.everstonecpa.com/forms/aut-01), so notices and balances get looked up rather than requested from you. If you are [switching firms](https://www.everstonecpa.com/switching-accountants), your file is requested the same week. - **Current, then ahead.** Books set up or brought current, anything overdue scheduled oldest year first, and the next twelve months of deadlines set before they arrive. [Send an enquiry](https://www.everstonecpa.com/book-online?service=other#enquiry-form), or [ask one question first](https://www.everstonecpa.com/quick-question) — both go to a CPA, not a queue. --- Source: https://www.everstonecpa.com/cra-letter-pier-report Prices: https://www.everstonecpa.com/pricing · Contact: info@everstonecpa.com · https://www.everstonecpa.com/book-online