--- title: "New Corporation Setup Checklist | EverStone CPA" url: https://www.everstonecpa.com/new-corporation-setup-checklist description: "A setup checklist for a new Canadian corporation’s first ninety days, in dependency order: registration, CRA accounts, banking, books, deadlines. Use it." type: tool updated: 2026-10-02 summary: "A free checklist of what a newly incorporated business has to put in place in its first ninety days, in the order the steps actually depend on each other. Several items unlock later ones, which is why sequence is the point of it. No sign-up." 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) New Corporation Setup Checklist Free PDF # New Corporation Setup Checklist Updated 2 October 2026 This page is print-friendly. Use your browser’s Print (Ctrl/Cmd⁠+⁠P) to keep a paper copy beside you. Part of the [free checklist library](https://www.everstonecpa.com/checklists). The first ninety days, in the order things actually have to happen [Download the PDF — free](https://www.everstonecpa.com/downloads/everstone-new-corporation-setup-checklist.pdf) Printable one-pager · 166KB · Version 2026-07-26 · No sign-up required **Quick answer:** A free checklist of what a newly incorporated business has to put in place in its first ninety days, in the order the steps actually depend on each other. Several items unlock later ones, which is why sequence is the point of it. No sign-up. ## What is in it - **Before anything else** — 5 items - **CRA program accounts** — 4 items - **Banking and money** — 4 items - **Books and systems** — 4 items - **Insurance and registration** — 4 items - **Decisions to make deliberately** — 4 items One page, designed to be printed and worked with a pen. Brand header, our contact details and a version date on the page. Incorporating is the easy part. Then come small administrative steps, each depending on the last, and doing them out of order causes the avoidable problems: a bank account without the articles, a first payroll before the [payroll account](https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/tax/businesses/topics/payroll.html) exists, a fiscal year-end never actually confirmed. This list is ordered by *dependency*, not by importance. Everything in the first section has to happen before anything in the second is possible. Work down it and the ordering problem disappears. It also names the decisions that are easy to make now and expensive to change later — the fiscal year-end, the share structure, whether you will pay yourself salary or dividends. None of those need to be decided today, but all of them should be decided deliberately rather than by default. The trade-off, side by side. Which one wins depends on your year, not on a rule of thumb. Two items cost real money when they are missed. The first is opening the payroll account before anyone is paid, including yourself — the account can take days to open, and remitting late in the first year starts the relationship with the CRA on the wrong footing. The second is the fiscal year-end, which is fixed by your first corporate return and needs CRA approval to change afterwards. Neither takes long to deal with now, and both are awkward to unwind later. A new corporation acquires filing obligations the moment it exists, and [the accounting a new corporation needs from day one](https://www.everstonecpa.com/accounting-services) is what keeps them met. ## Want the updated version each year? Tax figures and filing dates move. Leave your email and we will send the refreshed copy when it changes. That is all we use it for. The download above works either way. ## Common questions about new Corporation Setup Checklist **I have already incorporated. Is this still useful?** That is exactly when it is useful. Incorporating is the easy part — what follows is a sequence of small administrative steps that each depend on the one before, and this covers the first ninety days. [Ask about your case →](https://www.everstonecpa.com/quick-question) **Why is the list in this order?** By dependency, not importance: everything in the first section comes first. Wrong order causes the avoidable problems such as opening a bank account without the articles or running payroll before the payroll account exists. **Which step costs money if I miss it?** Opening the payroll account before you pay anyone, including yourself. The account can take days to open, and remitting late in the first year sets an unhelpful pattern with the CRA. **What is easy to decide now and expensive to change later?** The checklist names those decisions specifically. The fiscal year-end is the common one — chosen on the registration form and then discovered in month four never to have been confirmed. **General information, not tax advice.** This checklist is a general aid for Canadian business owners. It does not account for your circumstances and does not create a professional relationship. Speak to a CPA before acting — [send an enquiry](https://www.everstonecpa.com/book-online). [January is when February is decided](https://www.everstonecpa.com/january-owner-checklist) [Monthly Bookkeeping Checklist A free one-page monthly bookkeeping routine: reconcile, categorize, review, file.](https://www.everstonecpa.com/monthly-bookkeeping-checklist) [CRA Review and Audit Document Checklist](https://www.everstonecpa.com/cra-audit-document-checklist) [A new GST rebate for first-time home buyers, worth up to $50,000](https://www.everstonecpa.com/tax-update/first-time-home-buyers-gst-rebate) [Year-End Document Checklist A free checklist of every document your accountant needs at year-end, grouped by where it comes from.](https://www.everstonecpa.com/year-end-document-checklist) [Section 85 rollovers: moving assets into a corporation](https://www.everstonecpa.com/blog/section-85-rollover-explained) [Investment income inside a corporation: refundable tax, dividend refunds and integration](https://www.everstonecpa.com/blog/small-business-deduction-passive-income-canada) [Starting a business](https://www.everstonecpa.com/starting-a-business-hub) [Should I incorporate?](https://www.everstonecpa.com/should-i-incorporate) [All guides and resources](https://www.everstonecpa.com/resources) [Send an enquiry](https://www.everstonecpa.com/book-online) [Free incorporation cost worksheet](https://www.everstonecpa.com/incorporation-cost-worksheet) [Opening the business bank account](https://www.everstonecpa.com/blog/opening-a-business-bank-account-canada) ## Talk to a CPA about this One CPA, start to finish. Fixed fees in writing before work begins, and no obligation. [Get My Fixed Quote](https://www.everstonecpa.com/book-online) [Ask a Free Question](https://www.everstonecpa.com/quick-question) Email info@everstonecpa.com ★★★★★ “Personal. Professional. Responsive. Plus he saved me a bundle!” Corrin Skalbeck · Google Local Guide --- Source: https://www.everstonecpa.com/new-corporation-setup-checklist Prices: https://www.everstonecpa.com/pricing · Contact: info@everstonecpa.com · https://www.everstonecpa.com/book-online