Answers to the Questions You Keep Asking Us.

Your BN is the 9-digit number the CRA uses for your company. It appears on almost everything the CRA sends you.

Any of these will show it:

• Check any CRA letter or your latest Notice of Assessment. The BN is printed near the top.
• Sign in to CRA My Business Account. It shows on the welcome page.
• Look at your GST/HST or payroll registration confirmation.
• Search your company name or corporation number on Canada’s Business Registries. The listing shows the business number and other registered details for most corporations.

TipYour Ontario Corporation Number (on your Articles) is not your BN. They are different numbers issued by different governments.

Your BN plus a two-letter code and four digits gives each tax account its own 15-character number. You need the right one whenever you pay or file.

• RC0001 corporate income tax (T2)
• RT0001 GST/HST
• RP0001 payroll source deductions
• RZ0001 information returns such as T5 slips

Example: 123456789 RT0001 is the GST/HST account for BN 123456789.

1. Go to the CRA sign-in page for businesses and choose CRA Login or Sign-In Partner (your online banking login).
2. Enter your personal details, then your business number.
3. Answer the verification questions. Having a recent return or Notice of Assessment on hand helps.
4. The CRA may mail a security code to your business address. Enter it when it arrives to unlock full access.

TipRegister well before a deadline. Waiting for the mailed code can take a couple of weeks.

1. Tell us your business number and exact legal company name.
2. We send an authorization request through the CRA’s Represent a Client portal.
3. Sign in to My Business Account and open Manage authorized representatives.
4. Find the pending request from Orientum and confirm it.

Once confirmed we can view balances, read CRA mail, file returns and deal with the CRA for you.

• Online banking: add the CRA as a payee. Paid directly from your bank account.
• My Payment: a one-time payment on the CRA website with a debit card. Credit cards aren’t accepted.
• Pre-authorized debit (PAD): one or more future payments scheduled in My Business Account, at least 5 business days ahead.
• At your bank: at the counter with a remittance voucher, or at the ATM once the CRA payee is added.
• Canada Post: debit or cash, with a customized QR code from the CRA. Service fees apply.
• Third-party providers: credit card through PaySimply or Plastiq, or Interac e-Transfer through PaySimply. The provider charges fees.
• Cheque by mail: in Canadian funds, with a remittance voucher.
• Wire transfer: through your bank, if it offers this.

TipThe CRA never accepts cryptocurrency, gift cards, traveller’s cheques, cash by mail or foreign currency. Anyone asking you to pay that way is a scam.

A PAD lets the CRA withdraw a payment from your chequing account on the date you choose. It works for T2 instalments and for a T2 balance owing.

1. Sign in to CRA My Business Account.
2. Select Proceed to pay.
3. Choose Schedule a series of payments.
4. Fill in the fields: pick your corporation income tax (T2) account and whether the payment is an instalment or the amount owing, then enter the amount, the first payment date, how often it repeats, and your bank details.
5. Review the details and click Submit. Save the confirmation page. The CRA also sends a PAD confirmation letter to your online mail the next business day.

To change, skip or cancel a PAD later: in My Business Account go to the Business Overview page, then Business balance and services → Manage pre-authorized debit. Changes must be made at least 5 business days before the scheduled payment.

TipThe first payment date must be at least 5 business days after you create the PAD. The CRA doesn’t let business representatives, including us, schedule PADs for a business, so the owner has to set it up. We’ll send you the exact amounts and dates to enter.

1. Sign in to CRA My Business Account.
2. Select Proceed to pay.
3. Choose Schedule a series of payments.
4. Pick your GST/HST account, then enter the amount, date, frequency and bank details.
5. Review and click Submit, then save the confirmation page.

You can also set up a PAD through GST/HST NETFILE to pay a balance due when the return is filed.

To change, skip or cancel a PAD later: in My Business Account go to the Business Overview page, then Business balance and services → Manage pre-authorized debit. Changes must be made at least 5 business days before the scheduled payment.

TipYou can have up to six PAD agreements per payment type, but only one for an amount owing or for arrears, penalties and interest.

1. Check that your bank supports business payments to the CRA. RBC, TD, BMO, Scotiabank, CIBC, National Bank, Desjardins, Meridian and most credit unions do.
2. Sign in to your bank’s business online banking or tax payment service.
3. Under Add a payee, choose the option that matches what you’re paying (the exact wording varies by bank):

• T2 instalments: Federal – Corporation Tax Payments – TXINS
• T2 balance owing: Federal – Corporation Income Tax Balance Due – TXBAL
• GST/HST: Federal – GST/HST Payment – GST-P, or Federal – GST/HST Return and Payment – GST34
• Payroll: Federal Payroll Deductions – Regular/Quarterly, Threshold 1 or Threshold 2 – EMPTX (PD7A)

4. Enter your full 15-character account number as the CRA account number, e.g. 123456789 RC0001.

Online banking payments count as paid the same or next business day, depending on your bank, and show in your CRA account within 3 business days.

TipChoosing the wrong payee is the most common reason a payment lands in the wrong account. If you’re unsure, send us a screenshot before you pay.

1. Sign in to My Business Account and open the account you paid (T2, GST/HST or payroll).
2. Look for the payment in recent transactions. PAD payments appear within 2 business days, online banking payments within 3.
3. On your bank statement, CRA PAD withdrawals usually show as CRA TXD or CANADA TXD.

Still not showing after 5 business days? Message us with the payment confirmation and we’ll trace it with the CRA.

File on time anyway. Late-filing penalties are separate from interest and usually cost more. Then:

1. Pay what you can now to reduce interest.
2. Schedule the rest as a series of PAD payments in My Business Account, or call the CRA to agree a payment arrangement.
3. If you agree an arrangement by phone, you still have to start it yourself: set up a PAD or make the first payment. The call alone doesn’t start payments.

Message us first and we’ll help you work out a plan the CRA will accept.

Look in any of these places:

• Check your last Notice of Assessment or T2 return. The tax year end is shown near the top.
• In My Business Account, open your corporation income tax account. Each tax year is listed with its end date.
• First year? Your year-end is the date chosen on your first T2, which can be no more than 53 weeks after incorporation.

TipOnce set, changing your year-end needs written approval from the CRA.

• Return: 6 months after your year-end.
• Balance owing: 2 months after year-end, or 3 months for most small Canadian-controlled private corporations that claim the small business deduction.

Paying late costs interest from the payment date, even if the return itself isn’t due yet.

If your corporation owed more than $3,000 in tax in the current or previous year, yes. Most small CCPCs that qualify can pay quarterly, others pay monthly. We calculate your instalments each quarter so the year-end balance is never a surprise.

It’s the CRA’s confirmation of your return: what they assessed, what you owe or are owed, and any changes they made. Forward every one to us. If the numbers differ from what we filed, there’s a limited window to object.

Once your taxable sales pass $30,000 in a single quarter or over four consecutive quarters. Many businesses register voluntarily earlier so they can claim input tax credits on start-up costs.

The CRA assigns a frequency based on your annual taxable sales:

• $1.5M or less: annual by default, but you can choose quarterly or monthly
• $1.5M to $6M: quarterly, or monthly if you choose
• Over $6M: monthly

TipIf you usually get a refund, filing monthly or quarterly gets your money back faster.

• Monthly or quarterly filers: one month after the end of each period.
• Annual filers: three months after year-end. If your net tax was $3,000 or more, you’ll also pay quarterly instalments.

1. Send us your sales and expense records for the period, or keep Xero reconciled and we’ll pull them.
2. We prepare the return and send it to you to review.
3. Once you approve, we file it for you.
4. Pay by the due date through PAD, NETFILE, online banking (a GST/HST payee such as GST-P or GST34, with your RT0001 number) or My Payment.

That’s your choice, and it’s separate from how often you pay the CRA.

• Bi-weekly (26 pays a year): the most common in Canada and easy for employees to budget.
• Semi-monthly (24 pays, e.g. the 15th and last day): simpler for salaried teams and lines up with monthly accounting.
• Weekly (52 pays): usually for hourly staff. Most admin, most remittance activity.

TipPick one schedule and stick to it. Changing pay frequency mid-year complicates deductions and employee expectations.

The CRA decides this, based on your average monthly withholding (AMWA) from two calendar years ago. You’ll get a letter if it changes.

• Quarterly: small employers with AMWA under $3,000 and a clean compliance record. Due the 15th after each quarter.
• Regular (monthly): AMWA under $25,000. Due the 15th of the month after you paid employees. Most small businesses sit here.
• Accelerated threshold 1: AMWA $25,000 to $99,999.99. Pay for the 1st to 15th is due the 25th; pay for the 16th to month-end is due the 10th of the next month.
• Accelerated threshold 2: AMWA $100,000 or more. Due within 3 business days of the end of each weekly period.

TipDue dates are based on the day you paid employees, not the end of the pay period.

1. Your payroll software (Wagepoint, for example) shows the total due: employee deductions plus the employer’s share of CPP and EI.
2. Pay through online banking using the payee that matches your remitter type, for example Federal Payroll Deductions – Regular/Quarterly – EMPTX (PD7A), with your 15-character RP0001 number as the account number.
3. Or schedule a PAD in My Business Account (Proceed to pay → Schedule a series of payments) against your payroll account.
4. Keep the confirmation. We reconcile it against your CRA statement each quarter.

1. Open a payroll account (RP0001) with the CRA before the first payday.
2. Collect the employee’s SIN and signed TD1 forms (federal and Ontario).
3. Choose a pay schedule and set up payroll software.
4. Remit deductions by your due date, starting with the first pay run.

• T4 slips and summary: by the last day of February for the previous calendar year.
• Record of Employment: when an employee stops working or has an interruption in earnings. Electronic ROEs are due within 5 calendar days after the end of the pay period in which it happened.

Quickest way: search your company on Canada’s Business Registries. It shows registered details such as the corporation number, business number, status and registered office address.

Federal corporation (incorporated with Corporations Canada):

1. Go to the Corporations Canada federal corporation search.
2. Search your company name or corporation number.
3. Open the result. The registered office address is listed.

Ontario corporation:

• Check your minute book, Articles of Incorporation or last Notice of Change.
• Or search the Ontario Business Registry and order a Company Profile Report, which shows the registered office. A small fee applies.

• Ontario: file a Notice of Change in the Ontario Business Registry within 15 days of the change.
• Federal: file the change with Corporations Canada online within 15 days.

Also update the CRA separately in My Business Account. The registries and the CRA don’t share address changes.

• Ontario corporations: yes, through the Ontario Business Registry, within 6 months of your fiscal year-end.
• Federal corporations: yes, with Corporations Canada within 60 days of your incorporation anniversary, along with your individuals-with-significant-control information. If you operate in Ontario, you also file the Ontario annual return.

TipMissed annual returns can eventually lead to the corporation being dissolved. It’s part of our Corporate Compliance service, so we track it for you.

Your Company Key is a confidential 9-digit code for your Ontario business, like a PIN. With your company name or Ontario Corporation Number (OCN), it lets you, or us, file changes and annual returns in the Ontario Business Registry.

Where to find it: corporations incorporated on or after October 19, 2021 received it by email at incorporation. Search your inbox for “Company Key” or “Ontario Business Registry”.

To request one:

1. Go to the Ontario Business Registry and select Get your company key.
2. Search for your business by registered name, Ontario Corporation Number (OCN) or Business Identification Number (BIN). Tick Exact match to narrow the results.
3. Select your company from the results.
4. If there’s an official email on file, enter it along with your name and phone number. If it matches, the key is emailed right away.
5. No official email, or it doesn’t match? Enter the postal code of your registered office instead. If it matches, the key is mailed there within about 3 business days.

TipShare your Company Key only with people you trust to file for your company. It gives authority to change your corporate record. Federal corporations use a separate Corporation Key from Corporations Canada.

• Virtual CFO: from $2,000 a month, scoped to your business.
• Tax and compliance: a quarterly retainer.
• SR&ED: a flat 15% success fee, no retainer.

You get a written price before any work starts.

No. Retainers run month to month or quarter to quarter. We’d rather you stay because the work is worth it.

The person you meet on the first call. There’s no pyramid and no junior staff learning on your file.

• Bank and credit card statements for the full year
• Sales and expense records, or Xero access
• Payroll summaries and remittance confirmations
• Loan statements and any large asset purchases
• Anything the CRA sent you during the year

Yes, across Canada and increasingly in the US. We’re based in Mississauga and most engagements run remotely.

A flat 15% success fee on the credit you receive. No retainer and no hidden charges.

We specialise in claims of $100K and up. Below that, the cost of doing a claim properly eats too much of the benefit.

No. If the CRA reviews a claim we filed, we handle it at no extra cost.

Yes. We’ve had claims approved that a previous firm called ineligible. Send us the narrative.

No. Our AI layer is in development and handles supporting work only: transaction coding, reconciliation and first-pass modelling. Every filing, claim and board pack is prepared or reviewed by a named member of our team.

No. Client data isn’t used to train third-party models, and access is limited to your engagement team.

Usually not. We work on top of Xero, Hubdoc, Wagepoint and TaxCycle rather than replacing them.

Yes: US federal and state corporate filings, cross-border structuring, US payroll, and CFO services for US-based clients.

Not currently. We’ll tell you upfront and refer you to someone who does.