New Corporation Setup Checklist
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The first ninety days, in the order things actually have to happen
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. What follows is a sequence of small administrative steps that each depend on the one before, and getting them out of order is what causes the avoidable problems — trying to open a bank account without the articles, running the first payroll before the payroll account exists, discovering in month four that the fiscal year-end chosen on the registration form was 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.
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.
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
I have already incorporated. Is this still useful?+
Why is the list in this order?+
Which step costs money if I miss it?+
What is easy to decide now and expensive to change later?+
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 — book a free consult.