The True Purpose of Accounting

Nine times out of ten, clients approach an accountant for compliance reasons forced upon them by the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA), usually in the form of a request to file letter or imposed deadline. While tax compliance (GST, Income Tax, etc.) is a task performed by an accountant, it is not their main purpose. In fact, accountants have three main jobs, and tax filing is not the most important for you and your business to thrive.

An accountant’s primary duty is to provide timely, quality information so business owners can make good financial decisions. Secondly, they are planners, usually from a tax perspective. Lastly, comes the compliance piece we mentioned earlier which is forced upon business owners by the CRA. If you only use an accountant’s services for CRA compliance, you could be missing out on the potential to grow and build your business through access to timely information and the expertise of a professional.