The SpidNums blog
Practical writing for Canadian accounting firms: CRA deadlines, workflow, pricing, capacity planning and the systems that keep a practice from missing a date.
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50 posts for Canadian accounting firms
Going Paperless: A Realistic Plan for a Canadian Accounting Firm
A staged plan for going paperless — scanning standards, folder architecture, e-signatures, retention rules and the privacy obligations that come with client data.
T4 and T5 Season: The Last-Day-of-February Checklist
T4 and T5 slips are due the last day of February. A firm checklist for January data collection, slip preparation, filing and distributing copies on time.
The Talent Shortage Is Structural. Small Firms Should Stop Hiring Their Way Out
Why the accounting talent shortage will not resolve on its own — and the capacity, workflow and scope moves small Canadian firms can make instead of waiting.
Payroll Remittance Deadlines: Which Remitter Type Are Your Clients?
CRA remitter types set the payroll deadline — regular, quarterly and accelerated schedules explained, plus how firms track remittances across many clients.
How to Build a Client Deadline Tracking System (Spreadsheet to System)
A migration path from deadline spreadsheets to a real tracking system: inventory obligations, encode cadences, assign owners, and add colour-coded alerting.
Every CRA Deadline That Matters in 2027: A Firm's Working Calendar
The 2027 CRA calendar for accounting firms: slips, T1, T3, T2 clocks, GST/HST cadences and payroll remittances — organized the way a firm plans, month by month.
The Accounting Firm Tech Stack: What You Need, What You Don't
An opinionated map of the small-firm tech stack — ledger, tax prep, practice management, documents, e-signature — and where tool sprawl quietly costs you.
Capacity Planning for Tax Season: Start in October, Not January
How Canadian firms model tax-season capacity: count the files, map them to weeks, staff to the honest peak, and decide what to decline before January.
How to Manage GST/HST Filings Across Dozens of Clients Without a Miss
A process for firms running mixed GST/HST cadences: cadence mapping, period-end triggers, prep checklists and one board showing every return's status.
GST/HST Filing Deadlines by Reporting Period: Monthly, Quarterly, Annual
When GST/HST returns and payments are due for each reporting period, who can choose which cadence, and how firms track mixed cadences across clients.
Fixed, Value or Hourly: Pricing Accounting Services Without Guessing
How Canadian firms price compliance and advisory work — the case for fixed-fee packages, where hourly still belongs, and how to reprice legacy clients.
How to Build a Corporate Year-End Pipeline That Doesn't Depend on Memory
A workflow for managing dozens of T2 files with staggered year-ends: intake triggers, document chase, prep, review and filing — with owners at every step.
Every post, by category
The full archive. Deadline posts carry a review date; each one owns a single question rather than repeating its neighbours.
Deadlines & compliance
- Quebec's Two-Administration Problem: CRA and Revenu Québec Deadlines TogetherFebruary 2027
- What Late Filing Actually Costs: CRA Penalty Math for T1, T2 and SlipsJanuary 2027
- T1 Season Dates Firms Plan Around: April 30, June 15 and the Payment TrapJanuary 2027
- T3 Trust Returns: The 90-Day Deadline and Who Has to File NowJanuary 2027
- T4 and T5 Season: The Last-Day-of-February ChecklistDecember 2026
- Payroll Remittance Deadlines: Which Remitter Type Are Your Clients?November 2026
- Every CRA Deadline That Matters in 2027: A Firm's Working CalendarNovember 2026
- GST/HST Filing Deadlines by Reporting Period: Monthly, Quarterly, AnnualOctober 2026
- The T2 Deadline Isn't One Date: Filing vs Payment Clocks ExplainedSeptember 2026
- CRA Correspondence: A Firm System for Every NoticeJuly 2026
- Tracking Client Tax Instalments Across the Whole FirmJuly 2026
- Triaging a T2 Backlog: A Working Order for Late ReturnsJuly 2026
- GST/HST Audit Readiness Checklist for Canadian FirmsJuly 2026
How-to
- PIPEDA for Accounting Firms: A Working Compliance ChecklistFebruary 2027
- Rolling Out a Client Portal Without Losing Half Your Clients on the WayFebruary 2027
- A Client Communication Cadence That Prevents the April PanicJanuary 2027
- How to Delegate Client Work When You're the BottleneckDecember 2026
- Going Paperless: A Realistic Plan for a Canadian Accounting FirmDecember 2026
- How to Build a Client Deadline Tracking System (Spreadsheet to System)November 2026
- Capacity Planning for Tax Season: Start in October, Not JanuaryOctober 2026
- How to Manage GST/HST Filings Across Dozens of Clients Without a MissOctober 2026
- How to Build a Corporate Year-End Pipeline That Doesn't Depend on MemorySeptember 2026
- Engagement Letters for Canadian Accounting Firms: What the Conduct Rules RequireSeptember 2026
- How to Standardize Recurring Client Work with Workflow TemplatesAugust 2026
- The Client Onboarding Checklist Canadian Accounting Firms Actually UseAugust 2026
- Accounting Firm SOPs: Writing Procedures Your Team FollowsJuly 2026
- Client Document Collection: A System That Actually WorksJuly 2026
- WIP Management for Accounting Firms: Before It Manages YouJuly 2026
- Client Offboarding: A Clean Process for Accounting FirmsJuly 2026
- Accounting Firm KPI Dashboard: Set It Up in an AfternoonJuly 2026
- Moving From Hourly to Value Pricing in an Accounting FirmJuly 2026
Opinion & benchmarks
- What SMB Clients Now Expect From Their Accountant (and What They'll Leave Over)March 2027
- The Solo CPA's First Hire: When, Who, and the Math Nobody Shows YouFebruary 2027
- The Talent Shortage Is Structural. Small Firms Should Stop Hiring Their Way OutNovember 2026
- The Accounting Firm Tech Stack: What You Need, What You Don'tOctober 2026
- Fixed, Value or Hourly: Pricing Accounting Services Without GuessingSeptember 2026
- Why Spreadsheets Quietly Fail as Practice Management — and When to StopAugust 2026
- The Per-Seat Pricing Problem in Accounting SoftwareJuly 2026
- Tool Fatigue in Small Accounting Firms — and the Way OutJuly 2026
- What AI Actually Changes in an Accounting PracticeJuly 2026
- Can an Accounting Firm Run a Four-Day Week?July 2026
Product
- From Services Catalogue to Signed Letter: Engagement Letters in SpidNumsMarch 2027
- Red, Orange, Green: How an SLA Board Turns Deadlines into TriageDecember 2026
- White-Label Client Portals: Why Firms Put Their Own Brand on the SoftwareAugust 2026
- The CSV Migration Playbook: Spreadsheets to Client CRMJuly 2026
- White-Label vs Custom Build: The Client Portal DecisionJuly 2026
- Custom Domains for Accounting Firms: Your Brand, Your URLJuly 2026
- Client Data Residency in Canada: Why It Matters for FirmsJuly 2026
- Deadline Email Digests Your Team Actually ReadsJuly 2026
- Client Portal Adoption: Getting Clients to Actually Use ItJuly 2026
Stop tracking deadlines in a spreadsheet.
SpidNums puts every client obligation on one colour-coded board.