Tax planning and preparation

Plan before filing season

Open Finance › Reports › Tax estimates, or call tax.estimates.get. The same report is available in the terminal, Ask AI and MCP through accounting_tax_estimates_get. Pass asOf to choose a date; without it the report uses today in the company's time zone.

The report separates the money to set aside using the books so far from the income-tax and GST/HST forecasts for year-end. A forecast is a planning estimate of future activity, not tax already owed. The forecast continues the recorded income, spending and sales-tax pace through year-end, with lower confidence for short or incomplete history. Check the range and the assumptions before deciding how much to save.

Use an estimate while details are missing

Tax planning uses the available records even when the company profile or transaction categories are unfinished. A likely category can inform the estimate without approving the record, including a suggestion whose score is too low for automatic acceptance. The score weights a planning scenario; it does not prove the category. The report explains temporary planning assumptions and the details that can change the amount.

Opening the report does not save an assumed year-end, registration or category. Confirm those facts through the existing company and bookkeeping actions when you know them. Dated currency quotes can support a planning conversion. When a conversion is unavailable, the report keeps the known CAD subtotal and names the excluded amounts; failed reads do not become invented amounts.

Check income tax and GST/HST separately

Income tax uses profit and a saved planning rate. The rate is a cash-planning assumption, not a statutory rate or a decision about tax credits or small-business eligibility. The report separates the current fiscal year from the preceding year's unpaid reserve, so a current loss does not erase tax from another year. Older years remain outside the estimate.

GST/HST, the Canadian sales tax, uses recorded tax collected, supported purchase credits and recorded payments. The report includes the covered earlier filing periods and explains which older balances remain outside its scope. A company using a special filing method should have its accountant check the planning assumptions.

Receive a monthly update

Verified active administrators receive a monthly email by default. It uses the last completed month, the organization's reminder time zone and its selected sending hour. Missed runs can catch up later in that month. Retries use the same organization, month and recipient key, and the sending worker checks the preference and administrator access again before sending.

Administrators can change the planning rate or turn off monthly tax emails in Settings › Reminders or the report's settings. The report stays available when emails are off. Its email link opens the same cutoff date; estimates at an earlier cutoff still use the classifications and evidence saved today.

Prepare the final return

Use the existing tax preparation flow to confirm company details, review records, supply missing documents and prepare the accountant's package. An estimate does not file a return, pay tax or approve a transaction. Final filing calculations still need the appropriate company facts and supporting evidence.