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The main benefit of outsourcing accounting in Canada is that a person who does this every day handles your filings and deadlines, so you spend your hours on the work that earns money. The catch is that the CRA still holds you responsible for your records and returns, whoever does the typing.
What does outsourcing accounting cover, and what stays with you?
Most owners pass along bookkeeping, payroll runs, sales tax returns and the year-end file, because those jobs repeat every month, carry hard dates, and eat the evenings of anyone who isn’t trained for them. Fine.
Some things stay with you. You approve payments, you decide what’s a business cost and you sign what gets filed. And the CRA’s own guide says you remain responsible for keeping adequate records even when a third party handles them, as its guide to keeping records spells out.
So outsourcing shifts the work. It doesn’t shift the liability.
Take Hamid, who runs a three-van cleaning company in Edmonton. He used to do the books on Sunday nights. Now a bookkeeper handles the entries, payroll remittances and GST returns, and Hamid spends ten minutes a month reading the report and approving the payments. The Sunday nights are his again. The responsibility isn’t.
Which deadlines are you buying help with?
Missed dates cost money. That’s where an outside accountant earns a fee. The dates below are the CRA’s calendar 2026 deadlines, which cover the 2025 tax year. For the 2026 tax year (filed in 2027) the self-employed dates are April 30, 2027 for the balance and June 15, 2027 for the return; check the CRA’s 2027 deadlines page once it is published.
| Item | Date for the 2025 year |
|---|---|
| Self-employed return | June 15, 2026 |
| Self-employed balance owing | April 30, 2026 |
| Instalments | March 15, June 15, September 15, December 15 |
| T4 and T4A slips | Last day of February |
| Corporation return | Six months after year end |
| Corporation balance | Two months after year end, three for many small Canadian-controlled private corporations |
| GST/HST, monthly or quarterly filers | One month after the period ends |
All of these match the CRA’s 2026 tax deadlines for businesses and self-employed individuals. Annual GST/HST filers have three months after their fiscal year end.
What does the tax side look like in numbers?
An accountant is worth more when the amounts are large. Here are three we ran through our own tools, for Ontario.
A sole proprietor with $80,000 of profit owes $13,233.57 of income tax and $8,892.90 of CPP, or $22,126.47 in all, in the self-employed tax calculator. That leaves $57,873.53 before business costs and instalments.
A corporation with $150,000 of active business income owes $17,544 according to the corporate tax calculator. Ontario cut its small business rate on 1 July 2026, so the tool uses a blend for the calendar year. It’s a derived figure, not a published rate, and a different year end gives a different answer.
And if the expected tax bill is $9,000, the tax instalments calculator shows four payments of $2,250. The threshold is $3,000 of net tax owing.
None of these include an accountant’s fee. Fees depend on the firm and the work, so no figure appears here.
How do you pick someone to outsource to?
Ask for a written list of what’s covered, who watches the filing dates and how you’ll hear about them, and what happens to your records, and in what format, if you ever leave the firm.
Check the licence, too. In Ontario, CPA Ontario has a public directory of members and firms, and other provinces have a similar body. Get two quotes and compare the scope, since the cheaper one often leaves out payroll or year end.
What should you send each month?
Less than you’d think, but on time. A simple routine covers most small businesses: bank and credit card statements, every invoice you issued, every bill you paid, the payroll report, and a note on anything unusual such as a new loan or a personal purchase put through the business account. Pick a date, say the fifth of each month, and stick to it.
That routine is also your best defence at tax time. Guessed expenses are hard to defend. Expenses with a receipt and a date aren’t.
What mistakes cost owners the most?
Handing over a shoebox and expecting a clean result. Late receipts mean guessed expenses, and guessed expenses are hard to defend if the CRA ever asks.
Another is letting the outside firm run everything with no review. Open the monthly report, even briefly, and ask about anything odd. A third is skipping the instalments talk. That’s how a surprise interest charge lands in the spring, on a bill nobody planned for.
Who pays if the firm gets it wrong? Ask before you sign, and get the answer written down.
Where this information comes from
Deadlines come from the CRA‘s tax deadlines page for businesses and self-employed people, covering the 2025 tax year. Record rules come from the CRA guide on keeping records. Tax amounts are our calculators’ 2026 estimates. This site isn’t part of the CRA, any government or any accounting firm.
Frequently asked questions
What can a small business outsource in accounting?
Bookkeeping, payroll, sales tax returns and year-end filing are the usual tasks. Approving payments and signing returns stay with you.
Am I still responsible if my accountant makes a mistake?
The CRA says you remain responsible for your records even when a third party handles them. Ask the firm what happens if an error is theirs.
When are self-employed returns due?
For the 2025 tax year the return is due June 15, 2026, but any balance was due April 30, 2026. We couldn't find the next year's dates yet.
How much does outsourced accounting cost?
We couldn't confirm fee levels from an official source. Get two written quotes and compare what each one covers.
How do I check an accountant's licence?
Use the public directory of the provincial accounting body. CPA Ontario lists members and firms.
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