Updated Checked by the Tax-Services.ca editorial team How we check
What are the bookkeeping requirements in Ontario? Keep your books and supporting records for six years from the end of the last tax year they relate to. That rule comes from federal law, so the CRA applies it in Ontario like everywhere else. You keep the records at your place of business or your home in Canada, unless the CRA gives you written permission to keep them elsewhere.
What do the rules actually ask for?
Not much that’s specific. The law doesn’t name an accounting program or a ledger layout. It wants records that let the CRA verify your income and the taxes you owe, which in practice means sales, expenses, bank activity and the paperwork behind each entry.
So keep the proof for every number you report: invoices, receipts, contracts, bank and card statements, and payroll files. Format is up to you. Paper, electronic or a mix are all acceptable, as long as the records can be read and produced when asked.
Take Kayla, who runs a two-person renovation crew out of Hamilton. Her system is a folder per job: the quote, the signed contract, supplier invoices, photos of receipts and the final invoice. Nothing fancy. If the CRA ever asks about a $9,000 deduction, she can pull the folder in a few minutes and show what it was for.
How long do you keep what?
| Record | How long |
|---|---|
| Books, invoices, receipts, statements | Six years from the end of the last tax year they relate to |
| Return filed late | Six years from the date you filed |
| Property purchases, sales and share registers | No end date, keep them |
| Open objection or appeal | Until the matter is settled |
| Dissolved corporation | Two years after dissolution |
Want to destroy records early? You need written permission from the CRA, requested on Form T137 or by letter. Destroy them without it and you can face prosecution. The CRA’s page on where to keep your records and for how long covers each of these rules, including the exceptions that run longer than six years.
What does Ontario add?
HST. The rate is 13%, made up of 5% federal and 8% provincial, and the CRA collects it. If you charge HST, your records have to show the tax on each sale and the tax you paid on expenses. Take a $2,000 invoice in Ontario: the GST and HST calculator adds $260.00 of HST for a total of $2,260.00, and both amounts belong on the invoice and in your books.
Small suppliers may not have to register for HST. The CRA’s guide for GST/HST registrants defines a small supplier as someone whose taxable revenue is $30,000 or less in a single calendar quarter and over the last four consecutive calendar quarters. Go past that and you register. Some owners under the line register voluntarily anyway, mostly to claim back the HST on their own purchases.
We also didn’t find a separate Ontario bookkeeping standard in the official pages we read. Run a corporation? Ask your accountant or lawyer whether Ontario company law wants you to hold anything else, such as minute books.
What payroll records do you need?
Employers hold back income tax, CPP and EI from pay and send them to the CRA along with their own share. The records show each employee’s gross pay, the amounts held back and the remittances. Here’s an example. One Ontario employee paid $3,000 every two weeks means $961.03 to remit each period: $732.62 held back from pay plus $228.41 of employer CPP and EI. The payroll remittance calculator shows the split, and the total cost of that pay period comes to $3,228.41.
Workers compensation and other payroll levies are extra, and that figure leaves them out.
Which mistakes and limits should you know about?
Mixing personal and business spending is the most costly slip, because it makes every entry harder to prove. Open a separate bank account and card, and pay yourself on a schedule.
Then there’s the habit of keeping only bank statements. A statement shows an amount. It doesn’t show what was bought or the tax paid, so keep the receipt or invoice too, since missing paperwork is a common reason an expense gets refused on review.
Sole proprietors face the same rules on their own income. The self-employed tax calculator estimates tax and CPP on your profit, and the tax instalments calculator helps if you may owe payments during the year.
This page is general information and doesn’t cover every industry, and some businesses face extra record rules. A bookkeeper or accountant can advise on your case, but we can’t say what they charge.
Is a monthly routine really worth it?
Yes, and it doesn’t take long. Once a month, file the receipts, match the bank activity to your sales and expenses, and set aside the HST you’ve collected. An hour at tax time beats a weekend in April digging through a glovebox. If the monthly habit slips, the records are still there, but they’re a lot harder to trust.
Our sources
The record keeping rules come from Canada Revenue Agency pages on keeping records and where to keep them, which we read in September 2026. The HST rate and the payroll figures come from CRA rates and 2026 payroll deduction tables. This site is independent and has no link with the CRA or any government.
Frequently asked questions
How long must an Ontario business keep its records?
Six years from the end of the last tax year they relate to. Some records, such as property purchases and share registers, have no end date.
Where must business records be kept?
At your place of business or home in Canada, unless the CRA gives you written permission to keep them somewhere else.
Can I keep my records on paper only or electronically only?
Yes. Paper, electronic or a mix all work, as long as the records are readable and you can produce them for the CRA.
What is the HST rate in Ontario?
It's 13%, made up of 5% federal and 8% provincial. On a $2,000 invoice that's $260.00.
Can I throw records away early?
Only with written CRA permission, which you request on Form T137 or by letter.
- Self-employed taxes in Canada: income, CPP and GST
How tax works when you are self-employed in Canada: reporting income and expenses, paying both halves of CPP, instalments and when to register for GST
- Ontario income tax and sales tax in 2026
How Ontario income tax works in 2026: the five brackets, the surtax and health premium, the 13% HST, and the calculators that switch to Ontario