How to Choose an Accountant for Your Canadian Business

1. Can They Tell You What It Will Cost Before You Commit?

This is the first filter, and it should be. If a firm can't give you even a rough, scope-based price without booking a call first, that tells you something about how the rest of the relationship will run, pricing negotiated case by case, terms decided behind closed doors, and you finding out the real price after you've already invested time in the sales process. A firm that can quote from a short set of scope questions (revenue band, transaction volume, number of employees) has systemized its pricing. A firm that can't hasn't, and you'll be the one absorbing that uncertainty.

2. Who Actually Reviews the Work?

Software and junior staff can prepare a return. What matters is who reviews it before it's filed. Ask by name and credential: is a CPA reviewing every file, or only the ones that get flagged? Firms leaning on automation or offshore prep teams should be explicit about where the CPA review actually happens, not vague about it.

3. What Is Included?

"Corporate tax" means different things at different firms. Does the quoted fee include the T2 filing only, or also formal financial statements, a CSRS 4200 compilation, if you need one for a bank, lender or investor? CRA does not require a compilation behind a standard T2 filing, so that's a service to ask about separately, not assume is bundled in. Does the fee include HST filings, T4/T5 slips, or year-round questions, or are those separate engagements you'll be quoted again for later? Get the inclusion list in writing before comparing prices across firms, a lower price with a shorter inclusion list isn't actually cheaper.

4. What Gets Billed Separately?

The inverse of question three, and just as important. Ask specifically about CRA audit support, bookkeeping cleanup on prior years, T-slip prep, director personal returns, and anything mid-year that falls outside the original scope. A firm that answers this clearly, unprompted, is one that isn't planning to surprise you later.

5. How Do They Handle Bookkeeping?

Ask whether bookkeeping is bundled with tax prep or bought separately, and what happens if your books arrive messy at year-end. Some firms fold basic bookkeeping into a package; others treat any cleanup work as a separate, uncosted engagement discovered only once they open your file. If you're doing your own books, ask what format and cadence they need it in, that requirement should be spelled out before tax season, not during it.

6. What Happens When CRA Writes?

Every incorporated business eventually gets a letter, a review, or an audit request from CRA. Ask directly: is responding to that included in your annual fee, or billed hourly as it happens? A firm that hasn't thought about this in advance probably hasn't built the process to handle it well when it does happen.

7. How Quickly Can You Get Answers?

Ask what a normal response time looks like for a routine question, and what happens during the March–June crunch when every client wants the same thing at once. Some firms name a specific turnaround; others just say "you'll be assigned an accountant" and leave the timeline open. A named turnaround is a commitment. A vague one isn't.

8. Who Owns the Client Relationship?

At a firm with real headcount, ask whether you'll deal with one consistent point of contact or whoever picks up the file that week. Rotating staff is common at high-volume firms and isn't automatically bad, but it changes how much context you need to repeat every time you call. If continuity matters to you, ask for a name, not a department.

9. Can the Firm Grow With You?

A firm sized for $50K-revenue solopreneurs may not have the bench for you at $2M and multiple employees, and a firm built for funded, high-growth companies may be structurally the wrong fit, and priced accordingly, for a typical small incorporated business. Ask what the engagement looks like at your current size and at twice your current size, and whether the same team handles both.

10. What Does Switching Look Like?

Ask what's needed to move your files, prior-year returns, and CRA authorizations to a new accountant if the relationship doesn't work out. A firm confident in its service should have a simple answer, most of this is standard document transfer and a CRA authorization update. Hesitation or vagueness here is itself useful information.