How to Switch Your Accountant in Canada — Step-by-Step Guide

Switching accountants in Canada is more routine than most business owners realise. The CRA has no objection to it. Your records belong to you. And a well-managed transition takes two to four weeks — less time than a bad accountant costs you over a year.

The problems that do arise come from one thing: leaving before the handover is complete. This guide walks you through every step so nothing falls through the gap.

Step 1 — Choose your new accountant before you leave

The most common mistake is resigning from the old firm before the new one is ready. This leaves a period with no authorized representative on your CRA account, and any CRA correspondence — notices of assessment, HST queries, payroll audits — arrives with nobody to act on it.

Confirm your new accountant is ready to take over, has reviewed your last two years of returns, and has a clear picture of your upcoming deadlines before you send the resignation notice.

Step 2 — Send written notice to your current accountant

A brief email is sufficient. State clearly that you are terminating the engagement, the effective date, and that you are requesting return of all your documents. You do not owe an explanation. Keep the tone professional — you may need them to cooperate on document retrieval.

Sample language:

Step 3 — Request and verify your documents

You are legally entitled to all documents you provided to your accountant. What belongs to you:

• All original source documents — receipts, bank statements, invoices, contracts
• CRA notices of assessment and any correspondence
• Copies of all filed returns — T2, T1 (if applicable), HST/GST, T4 payroll summaries
• Your financial statements (balance sheet, income statement)

What may not be yours: working papers the accountant prepared internally as part of their own process. These are considered the accountant's intellectual property in most provinces. You can request copies as a courtesy, but the accountant is not required to provide them.

When documents arrive, check them against CRA My Business Account — every filed return should appear there. If anything is missing, follow up in writing before closing the relationship.

Step 4 — Update CRA authorized representatives

This is the most time-sensitive step. Until you remove the old accountant from your CRA profile, they retain access to your account — including the ability to view filings and communicate with CRA on your behalf.

How to update via My Business Account:

1. Log in at canada.ca/my-cra-business-account
2. Go to Manage Authorized Representatives
3. Find the old accountant's entry and select Cancel Access or Remove
4. Add your new accountant using their RepID (for individuals) or Business Number (for firms)
5. Set the appropriate access level — Level 2 is standard for a full-service accountant

Step 5 — Brief your new accountant on open matters

Give your new accountant a written summary covering:

• Next HST filing date and the current balance of HST collected vs. remitted
• Payroll remittance schedule and any amounts owing
• Corporate tax instalment dates and amounts (if applicable)
• Any open CRA correspondence, audit queries, or payment arrangements
• Fiscal year-end date and whether the T2 is filed for the most recent year

Your outgoing accountant should provide a handover note as standard practice. If they do not, request one in writing. Most reputable firms will cooperate — it protects them from liability claims later.

Step 6 — Confirm handover complete

Once documents are received and CRA access is updated, send a short confirmation email to both parties. Ask the old accountant to confirm in writing that no filings are pending, no CRA submissions are in progress, and no amounts are owing on your behalf. This closes the loop and protects you if a dispute arises later.

Best time to switch accountants in Canada

There is no wrong time — but some transitions are cleaner than others:

Timing	Assessment	What to confirm before switching
After year-end filing	Cleanest	T2 filed and assessed, HST annual reconciled
After HST quarter	Good	Last HST return filed and remittance cleared
Mid-year	Fine if planned	Current HST period books reconciled; payroll up to date
During active CRA audit	Proceed with care	Ensure new accountant reviews audit file before taking over representation
Within 30 days of T2 deadline	Risky	Only switch if new accountant has sufficient time to file; consider filing extension via T7W-C if available

How outsourced bookkeeping removes the transition risk

The most disruptive part of switching accountants is the gap in books — the period where neither party has clean, up-to-date records to hand over. When your bookkeeping is maintained by an independent firm, the books stay current regardless of what happens at the accountant level.

At Sharma Jyoti and Co, Canadian businesses use us as the continuous bookkeeping layer — we maintain daily records in QuickBooks or Xero, reconcile bank and HST accounts monthly, and hand a clean trial balance to your accountant (old or new) whenever they need it. When you switch accountants, we provide the handover package directly. There is no gap, no scramble, and no risk of a missed filing.

We are ICAI-registered, familiar with Canadian tax obligations (HST, payroll remittances, CRA reporting), and work across all provinces. Rates start at C$35–C$45 per hour — significantly below local Canadian bookkeeping rates.

Frequently Asked Questions