5 Things to Consider When Choosing a Chartered Accountant in Canada

This article was curated by editors from the personal finance website Hardbacon in conjunction with the Free Press advertising department. If you click a link and make a purchase, the Free Press may receive a commission, which helps support our operations.

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Choosing the right accountant matters. The choice isn’t just about finding someone with the right qualifications; it’s about ensuring they align with your business goals. Whether you’re running a bustling shop in Winnipeg or a growing tech firm in Vancouver, here are five key factors to consider that will help you choose an accountant who can effectively support your business’s financial health.

1. Qualifications

Choose an accountant that has earned their CPA or one of the three legacy accounting designations. Earning an accounting designation is not easy.

For a CPA candidate to earn their accounting designation, it will take them four years to earn their degree with required accounting classes, two years of professional experience, and successfully passing the CPA professional program and a common final exam.

If a person wanted to get their CPA in the shortest possible time, it would take them six years to complete if they planned perfectly.

Once a person receives their CPA, they are required to follow prescribed ethical standards and stay up-to-date with the profession. This is done by taking and then affirming they have received a certain number of hours of training each year.

In Alberta, for example, CPAs must take 20 hours of Continuing Professional Development (CPD) annually and 120 hours over a three-year rolling cycle. 

2. Experience

You can have confidence in an accountant with many years of experience advising clients with similar business backgrounds and interests. If you work with a less experienced Chartered Accountant, confirm they will be guided or have their work reviewed by a senior CPA. 

3. Referrals, references, and online reviews

Referrals

Ask people in your professional network what CPA or CPA firms they work with and who have had good results. After asking a few people within your professional network, you start to hear the same names. This will give you a short list of CPAs or CPA firms to further explore. 

References

A CPA or CPA firm will be willing to provide you with references from clients they work with. You can also request that references come from clients with similar businesses. Most CPAs and CPA firms will have customer testimonials on their website. These clients will also be their go-to references when needed. 

Online reviews

Like other industries, you can see what others say about a CPA or an accounting firm online. To see the online reviews for a CPA or CPA firm, search their names on Google or Yelp. There are other online review sites, but these sites are more likely to have many client reviews for you to evaluate a CPA or CPA firm.

4. Accounting fees

Each accounting firm and CPA will have varying hourly rates or flat fees they charge their clients. The hourly rate they charge will depend on the type of work, the experience of the CPA, the size of the firm, and where they are located.

Labour rates can range between $125 to over $400 an hour. If you are a small business, you need a CPA to file your corporate tax return and prepare your financial statements.

For a straightforward corporate tax return, a business owner can expect to pay anywhere between $1,000 to $1,500. For year-end Notice to Reader (NTR) statements, the cost will range from $1,000 to $5,000, depending on the complexity. 

5. Accounting firm size and type

Accounting firms range in size from one CPA to tens of thousands of CPAs. Knowing what type of accounting firm would be best suited for you and your business is important.

Most people have heard of the Big Four accounting firms: KPMG, PwC, Deloitte, and Ernst & Young. Large accounting firms like the Big Four offer every possible accounting service you could need. They also do merger and acquisitions (M&A) services.

Other accounting firms may specialize in a specific offering or to a particular client. This doesn’t necessarily mean they won’t take on certain businesses as clients, but they are targeting specific clients and industries.

For example, some accounting firms may specialize in tax, valuations, assurance, and auditing services. Accounting firms, like entrepreneurs, lawyers, and medical professionals, can also specialize in the clients they serve.

6. Background checks

There have been situations where a person says they are a CPA and are not. If you’re looking to work with a well-known accounting firm or a firm with more than a few CPAs, this will not be a problem to worry about, as each CPA will be vetted by the firm.

If you are considering hiring an accountant, each provincial and territorial CPA organization in Canada, including provide a directory of all registered CPAs in their jurisdiction. We’ve listed them below.

• British Columbia
• Alberta
• Saskatchewan
• Manitoba
• Ontario
• Quebec
• New Brunswick
• Nova Scotia
• PEI
• Newfoundland
• Yukon Territory
• Northwest Territories/Nunavut

 

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