A practical checklist of what to do after incorporating your Canadian business — from your first-week to-dos to the CRA accounts, corporate records, and filing deadlines you'll need to track every year.
What to Do After Incorporating: A Practical Checklist for New Canadian Corporations
Your Certificate of Incorporation means your company legally exists. But that is only the beginning. Now you need to separate company finances from your personal finances, set up the CRA accounts you need, organize bookkeeping, and understand the deadlines that come with running a corporation.
Below is a practical checklist of what to do after incorporation and what to track each year. If you have not finished registering your company yet, start with How to Incorporate a Business in Canada.
Your First-Week Checklist After Incorporation
These are the first steps to help your corporation operate as a separate legal and financial entity, not just exist on paper.
| Task | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Open a separate corporate bank account | Keeps corporate and personal money separate, makes bookkeeping easier, and reduces accounting errors |
| Confirm your Business Number (BN) and set up the CRA program accounts you need | When you incorporate federally or in provinces including B.C., Alberta and Ontario, the BN and corporation income tax account are generally created automatically. Other CRA accounts, such as GST/HST or payroll, are added when needed |
| Set up bookkeeping separately from personal finances | From the incorporation date, the corporation's income and expenses should be recorded separately from the owner's personal transactions |
| Organize the corporation's records and initial resolutions | Corporate records document key matters such as directors, bylaws, share issuances, shareholders and important resolutions |
| Issue the corporation's shares and update the share records | Records who owns the corporation and the shares issued to each shareholder |
| Choose a fiscal year-end | Your corporate tax year-end determines the T2 filing deadline and corporate tax payment deadlines; it can also affect GST/HST reporting |
Do You Need a Separate Corporate Bank Account?
A separate corporate bank account is one of the most important practical steps after incorporation. It keeps company and personal money separate and makes bookkeeping much easier.
Banks commonly ask for your Certificate of Incorporation, Articles of Incorporation, corporate information, and identification for the people who will sign on the account. Some banks may also ask for your Business Number or a corporate resolution. Requirements vary by bank.
Set Up Your CRA Accounts
A Business Number (BN) is the CRA's unique 9-digit identifier for a business. Different CRA program accounts are linked to that number depending on what your corporation needs.
| Program account | Purpose | When you need it |
|---|---|---|
| RC — Corporation income tax | Used for the T2 Corporation Income Tax Return | Required for taxable Canadian corporations. In many jurisdictions, including federal, B.C., Alberta and Ontario incorporation, this account is created automatically |
| RT — GST/HST | Used to collect, report and remit GST/HST | For most businesses, registration becomes mandatory when the $30,000 small-supplier threshold is exceeded under CRA rules. Eligible businesses may also register voluntarily before that |
| RP — Payroll | Used to report and remit payroll deductions such as income tax, CPP and EI | Needed when the corporation becomes an employer and pays salary or wages |
Common Mistake: Waiting too long to think about GST/HST or payroll. For most businesses, the $30,000 GST/HST small-supplier threshold is tested both in a single calendar quarter and over consecutive calendar quarters.
The timing rules are different depending on how you cross the threshold, so it is important to monitor taxable revenue. If you start paying salary to yourself or employees, make sure the payroll account is set up before your first remittance is due.
What Happens to Your GST/HST Account If You Were a Sole Proprietor?
If you were previously a sole proprietor and already had a GST/HST account, that account does not simply transfer to the new corporation. A corporation is a separate legal entity and needs its own BN and, when required or voluntarily registered, its own GST/HST account. Your old sole-proprietor account may also need to be closed as part of the transition.
Corporate Records and Your Minute Book
A corporation must keep certain corporate records. These are often organized in a minute book. Depending on the corporation and jurisdiction, the records can include the Articles of Incorporation, bylaws, registers of directors and shareholders, share records or certificates, and resolutions documenting important corporate decisions.
Federal corporations under the Canada Business Corporations Act (CBCA) must also keep information about individuals with significant control (ISC) and file ISC information with Corporations Canada. ISC information is filed with the annual return, and certain changes must also be reported within 15 days.
You may not look at these records often during day-to-day operations, but they can become very important when you sell the business, bring in an investor, apply for certain financing, or go through due diligence. Missing or outdated records can create unnecessary delays.
Ongoing Deadlines to Track
After incorporation, your company will have several separate filing and payment deadlines. They are based on different dates and go to different government bodies, so it is easy to mix them up.
| Filing / payment | Where | Typical deadline |
|---|---|---|
| Annual Return (+ ISC information for CBCA corporations) | Corporations Canada (federal) or the provincial registry | Federal: within 60 days after the incorporation anniversary date. Ontario: within 6 months after fiscal year-end. B.C.: within 2 months after the incorporation anniversary date |
| T2 Corporation Income Tax Return | CRA | Within 6 months after the end of the tax year. Most resident corporations must file every year, even if no tax is payable |
| Corporate income tax balance due | CRA | Generally 2 months after tax year-end. Certain CCPCs that meet CRA conditions have 3 months |
| GST/HST return | CRA | Monthly, quarterly or annually, depending on the corporation's assigned or elected reporting period |
| Payroll remittances (if you pay salary) | CRA | Depends on your CRA remitter type. New and regular remitters commonly remit by the 15th day of the following month |
| T4 slips and T4 information return (if you pay salary) | CRA | By the last day of February following the calendar year to which the slips apply |
An Annual Return Is Not the Same as a T2
These two filings are easy to confuse, but they serve different purposes. An annual return updates or confirms basic corporate information with the corporate registry. A T2 is the corporation's income tax return filed with the CRA. One does not replace the other, and the deadlines are different.
Practical Tip: Do not assume every annual return uses the same deadline. Federal corporations file within 60 days after their anniversary date, B.C. companies generally file within two months after their anniversary date, while Ontario corporations file within six months after their fiscal year-end. Your T2 deadline is separate and is based on your corporation's tax year-end.
Put each deadline in your calendar separately.
How to Choose a Fiscal Year-End
A new corporation can generally choose its first tax year-end, as long as the first tax year is no longer than 53 weeks from the incorporation date. The tax year-end affects your T2 filing deadline and corporate tax payment deadlines. After the tax year-end is established, changing it generally requires CRA approval, although there are limited exceptions.
What Comes Next?
Some of these steps are one-time setup tasks, such as opening a bank account and organizing corporate records. Others become ongoing responsibilities, including annual returns, T2 filings, GST/HST returns, and payroll obligations when applicable.
The next practical question for many new corporation owners is how to pay themselves: salary, dividends, or a combination of both. Each option has different tax and planning implications. We explain them in Salary vs. Dividends: How to Pay Yourself.
Sources
- Corporations Canada — Annual return (business corporations)
- Corporations Canada — Policy on annual filings (Canada Business Corporations Act)
- Corporations Canada — Individuals with significant control (ISC)
- Canada Revenue Agency — Corporation income tax return (T2 filing requirements and deadlines)
- Canada Revenue Agency — When to register for and start charging the GST/HST
- Canada Revenue Agency — Payroll
Just incorporated and not sure what to do next?
How Veles Consulting Can Help
Veles Consulting can help you set up the financial and tax side of your corporation so your CRA accounts, bookkeeping, and key deadlines are organized from the start.
We can help you:
- Confirm your BN and corporation income tax account, and set up GST/HST or payroll accounts when needed
- Help prepare the business information your bank may request when opening a corporate account
- Coordinate the corporate records and organizational documents needed after incorporation
- Organize and track key tax and filing deadlines, including T2, GST/HST, payroll, and annual corporate filings
- Help choose a practical fiscal year-end for your business
- Handle ongoing bookkeeping and tax compliance so your records stay organized
If you want your corporation set up in a clear, organized way from the beginning, Veles Consulting can help.
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