Accounting
Core financial reporting and tax services that support business operations and regulatory compliance.
Accurate records. Clean reporting. Always ready.
What’s included
- Financial Statements — Compilation & Review Engagements
- Corporate Tax Returns
- Trust Audits
- CRA & Regulatory Audit Assistance
Compilation, review, or audit: which one do you need?
Most businesses get told they need "financial statements" without being told which kind. There are three levels of assurance in Canada. They cost very different amounts, and being pushed to the wrong one is one of the most common ways a brokerage overpays its accountant.
A compilation engagement is the report that replaced the old notice to reader. It organizes the numbers you provide into a clean set of statements, carries no assurance, and is usually all a bank, a shareholder, or a straightforward corporate tax filing will ask for.
A review engagement adds limited assurance. We apply enquiry and analytical procedures, then report whether anything came to our attention suggesting the statements need material change. Lenders and some regulators ask for this specifically. An audit is the highest level, and if you need one, your regulator will have named it explicitly.
If you're not sure which one applies to you, have that conversation before the engagement is priced. We'll tell you the lowest level that satisfies whoever's asking.
Financial reporting for regulated businesses
Real estate and mortgage brokerages, and strata corporations, carry reporting obligations that most general practices handle once a year and then forget about. Trust funds have to be segregated and reconciled. Strata operating and contingency reserve funds have to be reported separately, and clearly enough that owners can actually read them.
We keep those records the way they'll be examined: reconciled monthly, not reconstructed in a panic each spring. When BCFSA, CRA, or your own owners ask a question, the answer already exists.
Corporate tax, filed with the compliance picture in view
We prepare and file corporate tax returns, and we handle CRA and regulatory audit correspondence when it shows up, including the requests that arrive with a deadline attached.
Because the same team handles your compliance work, your tax filing is prepared by people who already know how your trust accounts are structured. Nothing gets explained twice, and the two sets of numbers can't quietly disagree.
Common questions
- What is the difference between a compilation engagement and a review engagement?
- A compilation engagement assembles the financial information you provide into a formal set of statements and offers no assurance on it. A review engagement adds limited assurance: we perform enquiry and analytical procedures, then report whether anything came to our attention indicating the statements require material modification. A review costs more and takes longer, so it's worth checking that whoever's asking actually requires that level.
- Is a compilation engagement the same as a notice to reader?
- Effectively yes. The compilation engagement report replaced the notice to reader under Canadian standards, and it fills the same role for banks, shareholders and tax filings. If someone asks you for a notice to reader, a compilation engagement report is what they're describing.
- Do you work with businesses outside North Vancouver?
- Yes. We're based in North Vancouver and work with clients across British Columbia. Almost all of the work is handled remotely, so your location within BC doesn't change how the engagement runs.
- Can you take over from our current accountant mid-year?
- Yes, and it's more common than people expect. We request the prior year's working papers and filings, reconcile the opening balances ourselves, and tell you plainly if we find something that needs correcting before we sign off.
Not sure if accounting is what you need?
Tell us your situation and we’ll point you to the right service — or tell you honestly if it isn’t us.
