Bookkeeper, accountant or CPA: who do you need for your Québec business?
Short answer: a bookkeeper records your transactions and keeps your books reconciled. "Accountant" is a loose word for someone who also prepares tax returns, year-end adjustments and advice. CPA is a protected title in Québec, reserved to members of the Ordre des CPA du Québec, and only a CPA with a public accountancy permit can sign an audit or a review engagement. Most small businesses need good bookkeeping and tax filing all year, and a CPA only when a bank, investor or law asks for an assurance report.
What a bookkeeper does
Bookkeeping is the day-to-day record: entering sales and expenses, reconciling bank and credit card accounts, tracking GST and QST, running payroll, and preparing the reports you use to run the business. Without it, nothing else works, because tax returns and financial statements are only as good as the books behind them. See how often to do your bookkeeping.
What "accountant" means
In everyday Québec usage, "comptable" or "accountant" can mean almost anyone working with numbers. The word on its own does not tell you about training or regulation. A firm that calls itself an accounting firm may do bookkeeping, payroll, sales tax returns, personal and corporate tax returns, and planning. Ask what credentials the people doing your file actually hold.
What the CPA title protects
Under Québec law, only members of the Ordre des comptables professionnels agréés du Québec may use the title chartered professional accountant or the initials CPA. Non-members also cannot present themselves as a CA, CGA or CMA.
The law reserves one activity to CPAs: public accountancy. It includes:
- Audit engagements. The highest level of assurance on financial statements.
- Review engagements. Moderate assurance, based mainly on inquiries and analysis.
- Compilation engagements that are not intended only for internal management purposes.
To perform audit and review engagements, a CPA must also hold a public accountancy permit, and must then use the title "auditor". A person who is not a member of the Order cannot do this work. Financial statements prepared only for the owner's internal management use are outside that reservation.
What is not reserved
Bookkeeping, payroll, GST/QST returns and tax return preparation are not reserved to CPAs. Anyone paid to prepare more than 5 returns a year must file them electronically with the CRA, but no professional title is required. That is why quality varies and why you should ask questions; our article on choosing a tax preparer lists them.
When do you actually need a CPA?
- Your bank or a lender asks for reviewed or audited financial statements.
- Investors, a franchisor or a funding program require an assurance report.
- You need a compilation report for a third party, such as a lender.
- A law or your corporation's articles require an audit.
- You want complex planning (reorganization, sale of the business) and prefer a CPA's advice.
If none of these apply, a solid bookkeeper and a careful tax preparer usually cover what a small business needs.
What Solera does and doesn't do
Solera is a bookkeeping and tax firm, not a CPA firm. We do bookkeeping, payroll, GST/QST returns, internal financial reports, and personal and corporate tax returns, as a registered EFILE preparer. We do not do audits, review engagements or compilation reports for third parties. When you need one, we prepare clean, reconciled books so the CPA firm you choose can do its work faster, and we can work alongside it.
Not sure which you need?
Book a free 30-minute session at soleraaccounting.ca/rendez-vous or call 450 612-7223. Tell us who is asking for what, and we will tell you plainly whether it is something we do or something that needs a CPA. Service in French, English and Arabic.
This article is general information, not personalized accounting or tax advice.
Frequently asked questions
Can anyone call themselves a CPA in Québec?
No. Only members of the Ordre des comptables professionnels agréés du Québec may use the title chartered professional accountant or the initials CPA.
Who can do a review engagement or an audit?
Only a CPA who holds a public accountancy permit. Compilation engagements meant for third parties are also reserved to CPAs; statements prepared only for the owner’s internal use are not.
Does my small business need a CPA to file its tax return?
No. Tax return preparation is not a reserved activity. You need a CPA when a lender, investor or law requires an audit, a review or a compilation report for a third party.
Sources
- LégisQuébec – Chartered Professional Accountants Act, C-48.1 (sections 4, 5, 7, 12, 13)
- Ordre des CPA du Québec – Reporting illegal practice
- Ordre des CPA du Québec – Les CPA et les états financiers
- Ordre des CPA du Québec – Public accountancy permit mandatory
- CRA – Mandatory electronic filing for tax preparers
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