Updated Checked by the Tax-Services.ca editorial team How we check
LiveCA is the name of a Canadian accounting firm that describes itself as online-only. This page doesn’t rate it, and this site has no connection to it. What follows explains how any virtual accounting firm in Canada operates, and what to ask before you sign up with one, whatever its name.
How does an online accountant actually work?
The work is the same as at a firm with a front desk. Someone keeps your books, prepares filings and answers questions. What changes is the delivery. You share bank feeds or receipts through software, meet on a call and sign documents electronically.
That suits a small business that has no reason to visit an office. It suits a messy year less well, when you’d like someone to sit across from you with a box of paper. Decide which kind of client you are before you shop.
Think of Jo, who runs a two-person design studio in Halifax. Her month is simple: invoices out, a few card receipts, one contractor. An online firm fits her fine. A neighbour who inherited a rental building and a shoebox of old papers might want a face-to-face meeting for the first year.
What do you want the accountant to handle?
Write the list before you talk to anyone. Most owners need some of the items below, and each has a date or a number attached that a good accountant should raise without being asked.
| Task | Fact to check with them |
|---|---|
| GST/HST registration | Small supplier threshold of $30,000 over four consecutive calendar quarters |
| Payroll remittances | Employer share of CPP and EI on top of wages |
| Personal tax instalments | Required when net tax owing passes $3,000 ($1,800 in Quebec); due March 15, June 15, September 15 and December 15 |
| Year-end filing | 2025 return: April 30, 2026 (June 15, 2026 if self-employed). Ask which dates they use for 2026 |
The $30,000 line comes from the CRA’s guide for GST/HST registrants. It’s measured over a single calendar quarter and over the last four quarters together, and you have to register within 29 days after you cross it. Cross it in one quarter and you must start charging tax on the sale that did it, so an accountant who watches your sales matters here.
The instalment figures come from the CRA’s page on required tax instalments: net tax owing above $3,000 ($1,800 in Quebec) in the current year and in either of the two years before. The CRA’s due dates page covers the 2025 return. One catch: self-employed people get until June 15 to file, but any tax owing is still due April 30. Anyone quoting you 2026-return deadlines already should say where they got them.
What does payroll add up to?
Here’s a number people miss. If you hire one employee at $60,000 in Ontario, you pay more than the wage. Our payroll remittance calculator and the engine behind it put the employer share at $3,361.75 for CPP and $1,369.20 for EI, which is $4,730.95 a year on top of the salary. The employee’s own deductions come off their pay separately, and you can see them in the payroll deductions calculator.
Ask any accountant who quotes you a monthly package whether payroll is included and how many employees the package covers. Fees vary too much by firm to give a fair range here, so ask for the number in writing.
How do you check that an accountant is a real CPA?
Look them up. CPA Ontario keeps public directories for members, firms and public accounting licences, so you can see whether a firm is registered and in good standing or suspended. Other provinces have their own CPA bodies. Use the one for the province where the accountant is licensed.
A listing tells you the firm is registered. It doesn’t tell you the person is any good, so add a plainer test: do they answer in plain words, and will they show you what they filed?
What should you ask before you sign?
Start with who does the work. On a virtual team, your files might pass through a bookkeeper, a junior and a CPA who signs off. Ask which of them you’ll deal with and how fast they reply. And what happens if the CRA sends you a letter, covered or billed separately? How do you get your records back if you leave?
You don’t need to take the answers on trust. Work out a rough figure yourself and see whether the quote and the numbers tell the same story. The self-employed tax calculator gives a rough yearly bill (read its notes on what it leaves out before you lean on it). The tax instalments calculator tells you if you’d be paying four times a year, and a good accountant will have raised that before you did, since a missed instalment starts interest running.
Is a firm’s own website enough to go on?
No. Any firm’s homepage, including one with a catchy name, is advertising. Treat claims such as “Canada’s first” or “serving thousands of clients” as marketing until you can check them somewhere independent, such as the provincial CPA directory or a client you can phone.
Ask for two things in writing: the scope of work and who’s responsible for each deadline. Then you can compare firms on what you’ll really get, which is a better test than the size of the logo.
What this page is based on
The GST/HST small supplier threshold comes from the Canada Revenue Agency‘s GST/HST guidance. The instalment rules and 2025 return dates come from the CRA pages linked above. CPP and EI rates are the CRA’s 2026 figures, and the employer share comes from our own engine. This site has no link with any firm, the CRA or any accounting body.
Frequently asked questions
What is LiveCA?
We took it to mean an online accounting firm, going by the name. We haven't verified anything about its services or prices.
Are online accountants as good as local ones?
The tax work is the same. The difference is delivery by video, phone and email. Check licence, who does the work and how fast they reply.
How do I check a CPA firm in Ontario?
CPA Ontario has public directories for members, firms and public accounting licences. Other provinces have their own CPA bodies.
When must a small business register for GST/HST?
When taxable sales pass $30,000 over four consecutive calendar quarters, according to the CRA.
How much does an online accountant cost?
We couldn't confirm fee levels for any firm, so ask for a written quote that lists what's included.
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