BBA Tax
Switching Accountants in Ottawa, Step by Step
Unhappy with your current accountant, or need a change partway through the year? Switching accountants is mostly paperwork, and BBA Tax does most of it. You don’t need your old accountant’s permission, and your CRA history comes with you. We handle the handover for individuals, self-employed people and small businesses in Ottawa and across Canada: we get authorized with the CRA, collect your past files and plan around your next deadline.
Five Steps to Move Your Accounting
Tell us what you need: personal returns, a corporation, bookkeeping, payroll or GST/HST. We’ll ask what’s due next, whether anything is already late and what went wrong before, so the same problems don’t follow you. You’ll finish the call knowing the next steps and what we need from you.
Add BBA Tax as your representative in My Account or My Business Account, under Profile. Level 2 lets us view your information and make certain changes, such as submitting documents; Level 1 is view-only. Or approve the request we send through Represent a Client within 10 business days.
Share the last two or three years of returns and notices of assessment, year-end financial statements and access to your QuickBooks or other bookkeeping file. Business owners should add GST/HST returns and payroll records. Missing something? Once we’re authorized, we can see much of it in your CRA account.
With your OK, we ask your previous accountant for anything still missing, such as capital cost allowance schedules, loss carryforwards, shareholder loan balances and the adjusting entries behind last year’s financial statements. These numbers matter most for corporations, because each T2 starts from the closing figures of the one before.
We confirm your deadlines, instalments and filing frequencies, then take over from the next filing due, whether that’s a T1, a T2, a GST/HST return or a payroll remittance. We also review last year’s personal return, since an error that cost you a refund can be corrected for up to 10 calendar years.
What a Good Handover Covers
The last return is only part of the story. The numbers that carry from year to year matter just as much: undepreciated capital cost, losses available to carry forward, RRSP room and instalment history, plus shareholder loans and dividend accounts for a corporation. If those carry over wrong, next year’s return starts from the wrong place.
We rebuild that history from three places: your copies of past returns, the CRA’s records once we’re authorized, and your previous accountant’s files. Where they disagree, we sort it out before filing anything new. For payroll, we need each employee’s year-to-date totals so deductions and the year-end T4 slips come out right.
Changing Accountants Partway Through the Year
A mid-year change works well if you plan around what’s due next. Personal returns are due April 30, or June 15 if you or your spouse or common-law partner is self-employed, though any balance owing is still due April 30. Corporations file six months after year-end but generally pay two or three months after it. If a deadline is only weeks away, filing on time comes first and the full handover follows. Our Canadian tax deadlines page lists the dates.
Why a Planned Handover Matters
Changing accountants is mostly forms and file transfers, but a few details decide how smooth it is: who can see your CRA accounts, which balances carry forward and when the next return is due. Get those right and the move is uneventful. The four points below cover what to watch, and why you stay in control from start to finish.
You Stay in Control
Your CRA accounts are yours, and so is the choice of who represents you. Adding BBA Tax doesn’t need your old accountant’s sign-off, and you can end their access whenever you’re ready, online, by phone or on paper. The CRA side of the switch doesn’t depend on their cooperation, though copies of their files make the handover faster.
Your CRA History Comes Along
Once you authorize us, we can see much of your history directly. For individuals, that includes notices of assessment, the tax slips the CRA has received, carryover amounts, instalments, account balances and CRA mail. That fills gaps if your old accountant is slow to send files, and lets us check what they send against the CRA’s records.
Deadlines Don’t Wait
The CRA doesn’t pause a due date because you’re changing accountants. If tax is owing, a late personal or corporate return costs 5% of the unpaid amount plus 1% per full month, for up to 12 months, and interest on unpaid balances compounds daily. Timing the switch around your next deadline means you don’t pay for the gap.
Fresh Eyes on Past Returns
A new accountant reviews your recent returns without the old assumptions. If we find a missed claim or an error, we can ask the CRA to adjust the return. If you disagree with a recent assessment, act quickly: corporations generally have 90 days from the notice to object, and individuals have until the later of 90 days from the notice or one year after the filing deadline.
Tax Preparation & Filing After You Switch
Your first returns with us start from last year’s closing balances, not from scratch, and use the same CRA accounts and filing schedules you already have. If we spot an error in an earlier return, we correct it through the CRA’s adjustment process instead of carrying it forward. We help with:
Personal and self-employed T1 returns, including rental income
Corporate T2 returns built from last year's closing balances
GST/HST returns, payroll remittances and year-end T4 slips
What Changes When You Move to BBA Tax
You work with Karim Bitar, our Lead Accountant and an ELITE Certified QuickBooks ProAdvisor, and a team that includes bookkeepers. One firm can keep your books, run payroll, file GST/HST and prepare both your personal and corporate returns, so the numbers on each one agree and nobody has to chase another office for answers.
If you’re in Ottawa, we can meet at our Richmond Road office in Westboro; if you’re elsewhere in Canada, everything works remotely. To start, book a free intro call or get a five-minute instant online quote. Bundling services saves 10% to 25%.
What We Take Over for You
Once the handover is done, we look after these for you, with your input where it’s needed.
CRA authorization and correspondence
Bookkeeping in QuickBooks
Payroll, remittances and T4 slips
GST/HST returns and instalments
Personal and corporate tax returns
Switching Accountants FAQ
Do I need my current accountant's permission to change accountants?
No. You decide who represents you with the CRA, and you can change that at any time. Add your new accountant in My Account or My Business Account, then remove the old one there, by phone, or with Form AUT-01X. Your previous accountant can also cancel their own access through Represent a Client. It still helps to ask them for copies of everything they filed for you, so your new accountant has the full picture.
How do I authorize a new accountant with the CRA?
The fastest way is online. In My Account or My Business Account, go to Profile, choose Add under authorized representatives and enter your accountant’s RepID, GroupID or business number. Pick Level 1 for view-only access, or Level 2 so they can also make certain changes, such as submitting documents. Your accountant can instead send a request through Represent a Client for you to confirm within 10 business days. Form AUT-01 gives offline access only and must reach the CRA within six months of signing.
Can I change accountants in the middle of the year?
Yes. You can change your CRA representative at any time, so the real question is timing. Look at what’s due next: April 30 for most personal returns and balances, and for a corporation the balance-due date two or three months after year-end and the T2 deadline six months after it. Switch early enough to meet that date, or let the current filing finish first. If you run payroll, bring each employee’s year-to-date totals.
What documents should I get from my old accountant?
Ask for copies of the last two or three years of returns and notices of assessment, year-end financial statements, and the working schedules behind them, such as capital cost allowance and loss carryforward balances. Corporations should also get the general ledger, adjusting entries, shareholder loan details and recent GST/HST and payroll filings. Many CRA-side records can also be viewed online once your new accountant is authorized, which helps fill any gaps.
Guides for Choosing an Accountant
Go deeper with these guides from the BBA Tax blog:
Success Stories
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