Updated Checked by the Tax-Services.ca editorial team How we check
Mobile accounting apps are fine for running a Canadian business, as long as the records they keep meet the CRA’s rules: readable electronic copies, held for six years from the end of the last tax year they relate to. The phone is just where you capture things. The rules about what you keep don’t change.
What does the CRA ask of a mobile accounting app?
Nothing app-specific. The CRA’s record-keeping guidance says electronic records must stay in a readable electronic format for the full six years, even if you also hold paper. It also says they must be accessible and usable on the CRA’s own equipment if an auditor asks. So a file that only opens inside a subscription you’ve cancelled is a problem.
Scanned receipts get their own conditions. The CRA lists several, among them a person in authority confirming in writing that imaging is part of your normal routine, images of commercial quality that are legible on screen and on paper, and a logbook with the date of imaging and who did it. Only after that can you throw out the paper originals. A quick phone photo with no routine behind it may not qualify, so read the CRA’s electronic record keeping circular before you shred anything.
Where should the data sit?
This catches people out. The CRA says records should be kept at your place of business or home in Canada. Electronic records that you only reach from Canada, but that live on servers abroad, are not treated as Canadian records. The CRA can allow it with permission, if the copies are true copies and officials in Canada can get them in a format their software reads.
So ask the app company where your data is stored, and check that you can export everything in a standard file. You can’t check that after the fact if the company has shut down. Do a full export once a year and keep it somewhere you control. Backups matter too. The CRA says data on rewritable media such as hard disks must be backed up, with a restore that gives back usable files.
Which receipts does an app need to capture for sales tax?
If you’re a GST/HST registrant, you claim input tax credits on what you paid. The CRA sets three tiers of supporting documents, and your app should hold what each tier needs.
| Purchase total | Minimum on the receipt or invoice |
|---|---|
| Under $100 | Supplier name, date, total paid |
| $100 to $499.99 | The above, the GST/HST charged, and the supplier’s registration number |
| $500 or more | All of the above, plus a short description, the buyer’s name and terms of payment |
In most cases you have four years to claim a credit, counted from the end of the reporting period. Some registrants have two. The CRA’s page on input tax credits has the detail.
ITCs must be claimed by the due date of the return for the last reporting period that ends within four years after the end of the reporting period in which the ITCs could have first been claimed.
Input tax credits, Canada.ca, canada.ca
Take a $226 receipt from an Ontario supplier, tax included. The HST reverse calculator splits it into $200 of cost and $26 of HST. That $26 is the credit, and the receipt needs the supplier’s registration number to support it because the total is over $100. If the app’s photo crops off the last line where that number sits, the credit is at risk.
The flip side is the small stuff. A coffee run to Timmies for the crew is well under $100, so the receipt only needs the supplier’s name, the date and the total. Snap it and move on.
What does a good phone routine look like?
Capture at the till, not at the end of the month. Photograph the receipt flat, in decent light, with all four edges and the bottom line in the frame. Add a one-word note on what it was for while you still remember. Once a week, open the app and clear the pile: confirm the category, match the bank line, delete duplicates. Thermal paper fades in a few months, so a phone photo taken the same day may be the only copy that ever stays readable.
Mistakes that cost money
Skipping the review. Apps often guess a category, and they can guess wrong for meals, vehicles and home office costs. Look at the month’s entries before you file anything.
Mixing personal and business spending on one card. Bank feeds pull it all in, and then you’re sorting it by hand at year end. A separate card makes the feed useful.
Trusting the tax line. An app’s sales tax figure comes from settings you entered. If the province is wrong or a supplier is a small one that doesn’t charge tax, the number is wrong. Check a few against the GST/HST calculator.
And forgetting what the app doesn’t do. It won’t know your instalment schedule, so keep an eye on the tax instalments calculator if you pay quarterly. A sole proprietor can also run profit through the self-employed tax calculator to see a rough bill before the deadline. We couldn’t confirm which apps meet every CRA condition, and we don’t rate products, so we name none.
How to pick one without a sales pitch
Ask five plain questions. Can I export all my data in a normal file? Where are the servers? Does it keep the image next to each entry, with date and time? Can more than one person log in, with their own access? What happens to my records if I stop paying?
If the answers are vague, that’s an answer. Try it for a month on real receipts before you move your books in.
What this page is based on
The retention period, electronic record rules and imaging conditions come from the Canada Revenue Agency‘s record-keeping pages. The receipt tiers and the four-year claim window come from its GST/HST input tax credit guidance, read in 2026. The HST rate in the example is the 13% Ontario rate in our calculator. Check the CRA pages for your own year before you rely on any of it.
Frequently asked questions
How long do I keep records from a mobile accounting app?
Six years from the end of the last tax year they relate to, in a readable electronic format. The CRA says this applies even if you also keep paper.
Can I throw away paper receipts after taking a photo?
Only if your imaging routine meets the CRA's conditions, which include legible images and a logbook. A casual photo may not be enough.
Is it a problem if the app stores my data outside Canada?
The CRA says records kept on foreign servers are not treated as Canadian records unless it gives permission, so ask where the data sits.
What receipt details do I need for GST/HST credits?
Under $100: supplier, date and total. From $100: also the tax charged and the supplier's registration number. From $500: a description, buyer's name and payment terms too.
Can I claim a credit years later?
For most registrants the window is four years from the end of the reporting period. Some have two, so check the CRA page for your situation.
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