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We couldn’t find a reliable price for quarterly financial review meetings in Canada, and any figure you see quoted without a scope attached is a guess. Fees come from what the meeting covers, who runs it and how clean your books are going in, so the useful question to ask is what you’d get for the money.
What decides the cost of a quarterly review?
Three things move the bill more than anything else. The first is the state of your bookkeeping. A reviewer who starts from reconciled accounts spends the session on decisions, and one who starts from a shoebox spends it on cleanup. The second is scope: a one hour chat about cash and margins is a different product from a full set of adjusted statements with tax estimates. The third is who sits across the table, a bookkeeper, an accountant or an advisor.
No official body sets a rate for any of this, so we can’t give a range we could stand behind. Ask for a written quote that says what’s included, how long the meeting lasts and what counts as extra.
What should a quarterly review actually cover?
The dates give you a natural checklist, because the government already runs your business on a quarterly clock. For GST/HST, if your reporting period is quarterly, the return and payment are due one month after the quarter ends. The CRA’s own example is a quarter ending March 31 and a deadline of April 30.
| Item to review | Timing (from CRA pages) |
|---|---|
| Quarterly GST/HST return and payment | 1 month after the end of the quarter |
| Annual GST/HST filers | 3 months after fiscal year end |
| Corporate instalments, eligible small CCPC | Last day of each complete quarter |
| Corporate instalments, everyone else | Last day of each month |
The instalment dates for a calendar year company, as the CRA lists them for 2025, are March 31, June 30, September 30 and December 31. We haven’t seen 2026 dates published in the pages we read, so confirm them with the CRA before you book the meeting.
What does a quarter look like with real numbers?
Take an Ontario business with $48,000 of sales before tax in a quarter. At 13% HST that’s $6,240 collected. If it also bought $19,500 of goods and services before tax, the HST paid on those is $2,535, which it can claim as input tax credits if it’s registered and has the paperwork. The net to send the CRA is $3,705.
That last number is the one to have in hand at the meeting, not discover after it. The GST/HST calculator splits any amount into price and tax, and the HST reverse calculator pulls tax out of a total that already includes it. For a corporation, the corporate tax calculator gives a rough view of the year so far.
How do I keep the meeting cheap?
Do the prep yourself. Reconcile the bank accounts, file the receipts and send a short list of questions a few days ahead. A reviewer billing by the hour charges for time spent hunting for a missing invoice. You can also run your own monthly look at margins with the profit margin calculator so the quarterly session is about decisions.
Is every quarter worth a meeting? Not always. A very small business with steady sales may do fine with two a year plus a check before each filing date. A business with growing payroll, inventory or debt usually gets more from a fixed quarterly slot.
Mistakes to avoid
Paying for a meeting with no agenda is the usual one. Another is skipping the review until the tax return is due, which leaves no time to act. And don’t assume a quarterly meeting covers your filings, because unless it’s agreed in writing, filing is a separate job.
Where the numbers come from
GST/HST reporting deadlines and corporate instalment rules come from Canada Revenue Agency pages read in September 2026. The Ontario example uses the 13% HST rate in our sales tax data, and the sums are plain multiplication you can repeat in the calculator. Fees for review meetings are not from any source, and we left them out.
Frequently asked questions
How much does a quarterly financial review cost?
We couldn't confirm a typical price. Ask for a written quote that lists the scope, the length of the meeting and what costs extra.
When is a quarterly GST/HST return due?
The CRA says one month after the end of the reporting period. A quarter ending March 31 is due April 30.
Do corporations pay tax in quarterly instalments?
Eligible small CCPCs can pay quarterly, on the last day of each complete quarter. Other corporations pay monthly.
What should I bring to the meeting?
Reconciled bank accounts, receipts, your last GST/HST return and a list of questions. Clean records shorten the session.
Does the meeting include filing my returns?
Not unless it's agreed in writing. Filing is usually a separate job.
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Information only. This page is general information, not tax, legal or accounting advice. Tax-Services.ca is an independent publisher: we don't prepare or file tax returns or offer tax services, and we have no connection with the CRA, Revenu Québec, any government or any company named on this page. Check the figures that matter with an official source or a qualified professional.