Bookkeeping and tax for the self-employed across Canada
Get your books past the crux.
Crux Accounting catches up your books, files your GST/HST returns, prepares your personal tax return, and stands with you when CRA has questions. Software and AI do the heavy hauling. Crux makes every judgement call and checks every number before it reaches you or CRA.
Pitch notes
Who we work with
Crux works with a small number of clients so each one gets a careful review. You're a good fit if most of this sounds like you.
Small businesses across Canada
Sole proprietors and the self-employed in any province or territory: guides, trades, consultants and creatives who run the business themselves. We work online, so where you live doesn't matter.
On QuickBooks Online
Your books live in QuickBooks Online, or you're ready to move there. We work inside your file, so you always see what we see.
Behind, or done with doing it alone
Years of unfiled returns, a GST/HST account in arrears, or simply a business that has outgrown the shoebox.
Professional guidance
Services
Each engagement is scoped and priced before work starts, and confirmed in a signed engagement letter.
Catch-up bookkeeping
Prior years recoded, receipts matched and every bank and card account reconciled, so every figure traces back to a statement or a receipt.
One-time, per year caught upGST/HST returns
Returns prepared from reconciled books and filed on time, and any late ones brought current.
Quarterly or annualPersonal tax for the self-employed
Your T1 with the business statement, home office, vehicle and capital cost allowance worked out from records, not guesses. Prepared for you to file online on a short call with us.
Each spring: balance due 30 April, return due 15 JuneCRA voluntary disclosures and letters
When filings are late, an application under CRA's Voluntary Disclosures Program can reduce penalties and interest. We act as your authorized representative with CRA for the years we work on.
As neededOngoing review
A monthly or quarterly sweep of your books with a short close note, and the questions that come up asked once, not every week.
Monthly or quarterly
The approach
How we work
Three stages, the same for every client. Your part is small: one call, one list of questions and one signature. The order matters: nothing is built until your questions are answered and the tax calls are made, so your numbers don't keep moving.
- Stage 1 of 3
Get started
We agree on the work and a fixed price, and you give Crux access to your books.
What you doOne call and one signature.
How it works
- Step 1 · Agree and tie inA 20-minute fit call, then a fixed quote and an engagement letter you sign online. You give Crux access to QuickBooks and add Crux as your representative with CRA.
- Stage 2 of 3 · Led by Crux
We do the work
With access in place, Crux leads the hard part: your questions are asked once, then your books are cleaned up and your returns are built and checked.
What you doAnswer one list of questions.
How it works
- Step 2 · Ask once, on belayOne list of questions, built from your books and past returns. Each question shows the answer we'll use if you're not sure.
- Step 3 · Clean and balanceWith your answers in, transactions are recoded, receipts matched and every account reconciled to its statement.
- Step 4 · Send the cruxOn clean books, Crux makes the tax calls (home office, vehicle, what counts as business) once, and writes down the record behind each.
- Step 5 · Rig and check the anchorYour returns are built on those calls, then checked line by line against the books.
- Stage 3 of 3
Sign and file
Once every number is checked, you approve them once, the returns are filed, and next year is set up.
What you doOne signature and a short filing call.
How it works
- Step 6 · Sign off, climb onOne summary with every figure, signed once. After you sign, the numbers don't change unless you agree.
- Step 7 · File and top outThe returns are filed exactly as you approved them: Crux files your GST/HST, and you file your personal return on a short call with us. CRA's confirmation numbers go on file the same day.
- Step 8 · Project debriefA short look back at the year: your books updated to the filed figures, next year's deadlines set, and a smoother route for next time.
The rope team
Who does what
Automation and AI carry the load so that our time goes where judgement matters: the calls, the review and you.
Software and AI
The hauling
- Bank feeds and first-pass coding in QuickBooks Online
- Reconciliations, receipt matching and checks
- Draft working papers, returns, letters and reminders
Crux
The lead
- Tax judgement calls, adjusting entries and required disclosures
- Review of every figure and document before you see it
- GST/HST filing, and your representative with CRA
You
The answers
- One question list, answered once
- Receipts forwarded as you go
- One signature on the approval pack
The soft catch
Fees
No hourly surprises. You know the price before the climb starts.
Fixed quotes
Every engagement is quoted after the fit call and set out in the engagement letter before work starts.
Monthly payments
Larger engagements can be spread over equal monthly payments on a schedule in your letter.
CRA representation
For the years we work on, Crux is your authorized representative with CRA: we can see your CRA accounts and deal with CRA for you. CRA still sends its letters to you, so pass them on as they arrive. Your engagement letter sets out what's included.
Your guide
About Crux Accounting
Crux Accounting is a bookkeeping and tax preparation practice for the self-employed across Canada, based in British Columbia
The name comes from climbing. The crux is the hardest part of a route, and for many self-employed people that's the books: years of transactions, a GST/HST account that has fallen behind, or a letter from CRA. Crux's job is to lead you through it, then hand back books that stay on route.
Crux works with modern tools, including QuickBooks Online and TurboTax Online along with AI, to do the routine work quickly, and spends its own time on the calls, the review and you. Every figure that leaves Crux has been checked by hand.
Our founder's full work history and background are on LinkedIn.
Summit register
Client reviews
Climbers sign the register at the top. If you've worked with Crux, you can leave a review here. We check that each one comes from a client, then post it as written, glowing or not. If a review includes tax details, figures or account numbers, we'll ask you to send it again without them rather than edit it.
Rope up
Book a fit call
Twenty minutes to see where your books stand and whether Crux is the right guide. Tell us a little first.
Start here
Take the five-minute fit check
Multiple-choice questions about your business and where things stand. If Crux is the right guide, you book your call at the end.
What happens next
- Step 1
Crux replies within two business days
With times for a 20-minute phone or video call.
- Step 2
The fit call
Where things stand, what is behind, and what it would take to catch up.
- Step 3
A fixed quote
In writing, with an engagement letter you can sign online.