--- title: "For Lawyers: A CPA for Your Incorporation Clients" url: https://www.everstonecpa.com/for-lawyers description: "For lawyers — you incorporate them, someone must file them. A CPA for a client’s first T2, payroll and CRA accounts; legal work referred back. Talk to us." type: service-or-info updated: 2026-10-02 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/) [Partners](https://www.everstonecpa.com/partners) For lawyers Referral partners # *For Lawyers.* A CPA for Your Incorporation Clients Updated 2 October 2026 **Quick answer:** Corporate and business lawyers send us the clients they incorporate — who leave your office with a minute book and no idea a [first-90-days clock](https://www.everstonecpa.com/blog/just-incorporated-now-what-canada-checklist) is running. We handle the accounting side from day one, and when our clients need share restructuring, agreements or a sale, that work is referred to lawyers, not improvised by accountants. No fee-splitting either way. What this covers, at a glance. ## The gap between your office and their first filing A freshly incorporated client leaves with articles and good intentions. What follows — CRA program accounts, the [year-end election](https://www.everstonecpa.com/blog/corporate-fiscal-year-end-canada-how-to-choose), payroll registration before the first paycheque, GST registration before it is mandatory in hindsight — is nobody’s file. Twelve months later it is an expensive mess you get blamed for not mentioning. A standing referral closes that gap with one sentence: “here is who our incorporation clients talk to about the tax side.” ## What your clients get - A prompt [reply by email](https://www.everstonecpa.com/book-online) that maps their first-year obligations — the [setup checklist](https://www.everstonecpa.com/new-corporation-setup-checklist) made specific to them. - [Published fixed fees](https://www.everstonecpa.com/pricing), so recommending us never embarrasses you on price. - A CPA who stays reachable in-year — the [standard we publish](https://www.everstonecpa.com/questions-to-ask-an-accountant) and invite them to hold us to. ## What flows back Accounting clients generate legal work constantly: share reorganizations, shareholder agreements the [tax guide](https://www.everstonecpa.com/blog/shareholders-agreement-tax-implications) tells them to get, purchases and sales, estate freezes. We do not draft; we refer — to lawyers whose incorporation clients we already look after. Reciprocity without a fee attached is the whole model. ## The three moments your client needs a CPA Almost all of the accounting work that touches a corporate lawyer’s file arrives at one of three points, and each has a deadline that binds your timeline as much as ours. When a corporate client needs a CPA | Moment | What the accounting side owns | | Incorporation | Program accounts, the fiscal year-end choice, payroll registration before the first cheque, GST registration before it becomes mandatory in hindsight | | Reorganisation | The elections, and their dates, which are rarely the ones a closing schedule assumes | | Sale or wind-up | Asset versus share consequences, the capital dividend account, and whether the GST/HST election is available | ## The election dates that bind a closing These are the ones that most often surprise a legal timeline, because none of them is a filing-season date. - **Section 85 rollover.** [Form T2057](https://www.everstonecpa.com/forms/t2057) is due with the earliest return of *any* party to the transfer — frequently the individual transferor rather than the corporation. It also cannot be filed at all until the CRA has an accepted account number on file, which is not a same-week item. - **Capital dividend.** [Form T2054](https://www.everstonecpa.com/forms/t2054) is due by the earlier of the day the dividend becomes payable and the day any part of it is paid, and “payable” is whatever the directors’ resolution says. A resolution declaring a dividend payable immediately makes the election due immediately. - **Sale of a business.** [Form GST44](https://www.everstonecpa.com/forms/gst44) keeps GST/HST off the transaction, but it is filed by the *purchaser* with their next return, and it is unavailable where the vendor is registered and the buyer is not. Registering the buyer belongs on the closing checklist. Where the CRA accepts a [late election](https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/forms-publications/forms/t2057.html) it charges a penalty of the lesser of $8,000 and $100 for each complete month, and generally will not process the election until it is paid. ## Where our work stops Our public practice licence covers **compilation** engagements, so assurance work goes to a firm licensed for it. We do not draft, opine on, or interpret the documents you produce — we tell you what the tax consequence of a structure is, and you decide how to paper it. The reverse holds too. When an accounting client needs share restructuring, a shareholders’ agreement or a sale documented, that work goes to a lawyer rather than being improvised by accountants. No fee-splitting in either direction. ## Common questions about for lawyers **Do you give legal advice or draft documents?** No — the boundary runs both directions. We flag when a client needs a lawyer, send them, and stay in our lane on the tax consequences. Lawyers who work with us report the referral flows back more than it flows out. [Ask about your case →](https://www.everstonecpa.com/quick-question) **Is there a referral fee arrangement?** No. Professional rules on both sides discourage it and the recommendation is worth more unclouded. The compensation is reciprocal flow and clients who stop calling you about CRA letters. **Can you take a client who incorporated months ago and did nothing since?** Yes — that is routine, not a rescue. Registrations get fixed, the first year-end gets planned, and catch-up bookkeeping exists for whatever accumulated. **How should we send someone?** Forward them the booking link with one sentence, or email an introduction — whichever your practice prefers. Mention the referring firm and the intro call is shaped around what you already set up. ## Related reading [Documents and Signatures](https://www.everstonecpa.com/client-portal) [Incorporation Cost Worksheet A free worksheet listing every one-off and recurring cost of running a corporation, totalled separately, so the decision uses the number that matters.](https://www.everstonecpa.com/incorporation-cost-worksheet) [Case studies: real results in our clients own words Client results and illustrative engagement examples from EverStone CPA — catch-up T2 filing, first year-end statements and owner-manager returns.](https://www.everstonecpa.com/case-studies) [When a client corporation moves to BC](https://www.everstonecpa.com/moving-corporation-to-bc) ## Give your incorporation clients a next step One intro call. Your client leaves with their first-year map, and you leave with one fewer follow-up you were never being paid for. [Get My Fixed Quote](https://www.everstonecpa.com/book-online)info@everstonecpa.com ★★★★★ “…have been completing my bookkeeping, taxes and financials for the last 2 years and they have been amazing. Thank you!” R. H. · Google review --- Source: https://www.everstonecpa.com/for-lawyers Prices: https://www.everstonecpa.com/pricing · Contact: info@everstonecpa.com · https://www.everstonecpa.com/book-online