Small Business & Corporate Tax
Small business and corporate tax accountant in Calgary.
T2 returns, year-end financials, and the owner-manager tax planning conversations most accountants skip. For sole props, partnerships, and CCPCs.
Who this is for
Three structures. Three different jobs.
Sole proprietors. Self-employed people running an unincorporated business. Your tax sits on a T2125 inside your personal return. I’ll handle the T1 and the business schedule together. See Personal Tax if that’s you.
Partnerships. Two or more people running a business together without incorporating. Income flows to each partner’s personal return based on the partnership agreement. We file the partnership return (T5013 if you’re large enough) and each partner’s personal return.
Incorporated small businesses (CCPCs). The bulk of my business clients. A T2 corporate return, year-end financial statements, and a planning conversation about how you pay yourself. This page is mostly about that.
T2 corporate returns
What goes in a T2 filing.
Year-end financial statements
A balance sheet and income statement as of your fiscal year-end. These are the foundation everything else builds on. If your bookkeeping is current, this part moves quickly.
T2 return + schedules
The main return plus the schedules that apply: Schedule 1 (net income for tax), Schedule 8 (CCA / depreciation), Schedule 100/125 (the GIFI codes that mirror your statements), Schedule 50 (shareholder info), and others as needed.
GIFI reporting
Every line of your financial statements maps to a CRA-defined GIFI code. This is the part that lets CRA compare you to similar businesses. Done correctly the first time, you reduce your audit risk.
Filing & remittance
EFILED to CRA on time. I’ll calculate corporate tax owing and tell you what to remit and when. If you’ve been paying installments, I reconcile those.
Owner-manager tax planning
The conversation that pays for itself.
If you own a corporation, the most valuable hour you’ll spend with an accountant isn’t the tax return. It’s the planning conversation that comes before it.
Salary vs dividends
Salary builds RRSP and CPP. Dividends don’t. Salary is a deductible expense for the corporation. Dividends aren’t. The right mix depends on your income needs, your retirement plan, your spouse’s income, and whether you’re trying to qualify for a mortgage in the next two years.
When to take what
Timing matters. A bonus declared before year-end is deductible this year and personal income next year. A dividend paid in January moves the personal tax bill into a different calendar year. Small choices, real money.
RRSP & TFSA strategy
If you take all dividends, you build no RRSP room. That might be fine if you’re using your corp as the retirement vehicle. Or it might be a mistake. We work through it.
Year-end
From your year-end to filed T2.
Most CCPCs have either a December 31 year-end (same as personal) or a year-end that lines up with their busy season. Once year-end hits, the clock starts.
What I need from you: your bookkeeping through year-end (QuickBooks Online file, Xero export, or whatever you’re using), the last bank statement of the fiscal year, and an answer on a few owner-manager questions, how much you’ve drawn personally, whether you paid family, and whether anything unusual happened.
If you don’t have a bookkeeper, that’s fine, we can sort that as part of the engagement. See Bookkeeping.
Timeline: 2–4 weeks from clean books to filed return for most small CCPCs. Faster if you’re organized.
Bundled with
Everything that touches your corporation’s tax accounts.
Bookkeeping
If your books need to be done before T2 prep can start, I’ll handle that too, monthly or as catch-up.
Learn more →Payroll & GST
If you’re paying yourself a salary, paying staff, or filing GST, those accounts live with the same CRA business number. One person handling them is cleaner.
Learn more →Industries
Where my business clients usually come from.
I’m a generalist by training, but the day-to-day work clusters around a few industries.
Trades
Electricians, plumbers, builders, contractors. WIP accounting, job costing, and the GST piece that goes with material-heavy invoices.
Professional services
Consultants, lawyers, doctors, dentists, engineers, designers. Often professional corporations.
E-commerce
Shopify, Amazon, Etsy sellers. Sales tax across provinces, inventory accounting, and merchant-fee tracking.
Real estate investors
Rental properties (T776), HST/GST on commercial, capital gains on dispositions.
Restaurants
Tip reporting, payroll-heavy, tight margins. Where bookkeeping discipline matters most.
Pricing
How a consultation works.
Corporate work is priced per file, not by the hour. Two CCPCs with the same revenue can take very different amounts of work depending on how clean the books are, how many shareholders, and whether there are unusual transactions.
On a 30-minute call I’ll ask about your revenue, your shareholder structure, your bookkeeping situation, and what your year-end is. Then I quote you upfront in writing. The number doesn’t change unless the scope does.
Service areas
Calgary and nearby.
The office is in northeast Calgary, but most of my work happens by email, phone, and secure file upload. I take clients from across Calgary, Airdrie, Okotoks, and Cochrane, and a fair number from further afield once they’re used to working remotely.
- Calgary
- Airdrie
- Okotoks
- Cochrane
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
When’s my T2 corporate return due?
Six months after your fiscal year-end. So if your year-end is December 31, your T2 is due June 30. But any tax owing is due two or three months after year-end (two for most CCPCs, three if you qualify for the small business deduction). File on time even if you can’t pay.
What if my corporation had no activity this year?
You still have to file a T2, it’s sometimes called a nil return. Skipping it can get your corporation flagged or struck from the registry. We can file a streamlined version in that case.
Do I need audited financial statements?
Almost never for a small CCPC. Most banks, CRA, and shareholders accept a Notice to Reader / compilation engagement. Review or audit engagements are usually only required by lenders for bigger files, or in shareholder disputes. More on review and compilation engagements.
Salary or dividends, which is better?
Depends on your CPP plans, your RRSP room, your spouse’s income, whether you need to qualify for a mortgage, and how much you need personally. There’s no universal answer. We work through it together each year. This is the conversation that pays for itself.
What software do you work in?
For year-end and T2 prep I work in CRA-certified corporate tax software. For your books I’ll work in QuickBooks Online, Xero, or Sage, whatever you’re already using. If you’re not using anything yet, we’ll pick one.
Can you take over from another accountant?
Yes, this is a normal thing. I send a professional courtesy letter to your previous accountant requesting your prior file. They’re required to hand it over. I pick up where they left off, no awkward conversations on your end.
I’m a sole proprietor. Do I file a T2?
No. Sole proprietors file business income on their T1 personal return, on Schedule T2125. Only incorporated businesses (CCPCs) file a T2. If you’re wondering whether you should incorporate, see the incorporation page.
Ready when you are.
Book a 30-minute call. I’ll listen to what you’re dealing with, ask a few questions, and tell you upfront what it’ll cost.