Field NoteThe incorporation certificate arrives by email. It feels official. It feels like something happened.
Then you close the laptop and realise you have absolutely no idea what to do next.
The lawyer handled the registration. Your accountant is someone you'll "get around to finding." Your books are currently a folder of receipts and a bank account you haven't opened yet.
The first 90 days of a corporation's life set the tone for everything that follows. Get them right and the next few years are dramatically cleaner. Get them wrong and you'll spend real money on cleanup that should never have been necessary.
Then you close the laptop and realise you have absolutely no idea what to do next.
The lawyer handled the registration. Your accountant is someone you'll "get around to finding." Your books are currently a folder of receipts and a bank account you haven't opened yet.
The first 90 days of a corporation's life set the tone for everything that follows. Get them right and the next few years are dramatically cleaner. Get them wrong and you'll spend real money on cleanup that should never have been necessary.
The Overview
What needs to happen — and when
Not everything is equally urgent. Some things need to happen in the first week. Others can wait thirty or sixty days.
Week 1 — Urgent
Get the foundations in place
- Open a business bank account
- Register for HST if applicable
- Set up CRA My Business Account
- Choose your bookkeeping software
Month 1 — Important
Set up your financial systems
- Record your opening transactions
- Understand your fiscal year end
- Decide how to pay yourself
- Set up payroll if you have employees
- Get a minute book in order
Month 2–3 — Build
Complete your setup
- Find a CPA for year-end
- Review your insurance needs
- Set up quarterly HST tracking
- Establish a monthly close routine
- Build your financial reporting habit
The Checklist
14 things to do in your first 90 days
Check items off as you complete them. Your progress is tracked above.
Week 1 — Do These First
Open a business bank account Do this first
Your corporation is a separate legal entity. Its money must live in a separate account. Every transaction through a personal account adds bookkeeping cost and CRA risk. Do this before your first transaction. Bring your incorporation certificate and Articles of Incorporation.
Register for HST Required once you hit $30K
If you expect to earn $30,000 in a single calendar quarter — or over four consecutive quarters — you're legally required to register for HST. Many new corporations register voluntarily from day one, especially if your clients are businesses who can claim the input tax credit.CRA HST registration guide →
Set up CRA My Business Account
Your portal for everything CRA-related — HST filings, payroll remittances, corporate tax, correspondence. Register using your corporation's Business Number. Set it up now, before you need it urgently.Register for My Business Account →
Choose your bookkeeping software
QuickBooks Online (~$35/month, most accountant-compatible), Wave (free, good for early stage), Xero (~$30/month, strong for growing businesses). Choose one and start from your first transaction. Do not start in a spreadsheet and plan to "migrate later." Later never comes cleanly.
Month 1 — Set Up Your Financial Systems
Record your opening transactions Week 2–3
If you invested your own money into the corporation at startup, record it properly — as a shareholder loan (corporation owes you money) or paid-up capital (equity contribution). It matters for your balance sheet and for how you eventually get that money back tax-efficiently.
Understand your fiscal year end
Unlike personal taxes which run January to December, your corporation chooses its fiscal year end. Many default to December 31 — but this isn't always optimal. A different date can have tax advantages. Talk to a CPA before your first year closes.
Decide how you'll pay yourself First month
Salary and dividends are the two primary options — and the right mix depends on your personal income, province, RRSP room, and other factors. Get at least one conversation with a CPA before you start paying yourself regularly. We cover this in depth in Parts 4 and 5 of this series.
Set up payroll if you have employees
If hiring employees — including paying yourself a salary — you need a payroll account with CRA and must remit CPP, EI, and income tax deductions on schedule. Monthly remittances are due by the 15th of the following month. Missing deadlines triggers penalties.CRA payroll setup guide →
Get your minute book in order
A minute book is the official record of your corporation's key decisions. Ontario law requires you to maintain one. Your lawyer typically sets it up during incorporation. If you incorporated online without a lawyer, you may not have one yet. A missing minute book is a problem if you sell the business, raise investment, or face a CRA audit.
Month 2–3 — Complete Your Setup
Find a CPA for year-end
Your corporation must file a T2 corporate tax return annually — due six months after your fiscal year end. A T2 is significantly more complex than a personal return. Don't wait until the week before your deadline. Good CPAs in Ontario are booked months in advance. Start the search in month two.
Review your insurance needs
Incorporation gives you liability protection — but it doesn't replace insurance. You may need professional liability, commercial general liability, or business interruption coverage. If you work from home, your personal home insurance almost certainly does not cover business activities.
Set up quarterly HST tracking
If registered for HST, track HST collected (on your invoices) and HST paid (on business expenses) every month — even if you only file quarterly. Letting HST reconciliation pile up until filing day is how mistakes happen. Most small corporations file HST quarterly.
Establish a monthly close routine
A monthly close means reviewing and reconciling your books at the end of each month — before the next one starts. Set a recurring calendar reminder for the 5th of each month: reconcile bank accounts, categorise transactions, review your P&L. Takes 30–60 minutes. Saves thousands.
Read your financial reports monthly Build this habit
Your bookkeeping software generates a P&L and balance sheet automatically. Spend 15 minutes at the end of each month reading your reports. You don't need to understand every line immediately. The habit of looking is what matters first.
What Goes Wrong
The three most expensive first-90-day mistakes
Mistake 1: Using your personal account for business. Every transaction through your personal account instead of your business account adds bookkeeping cost and CRA risk. One month of mixed accounts can take hours to untangle.
Mistake 2: Not registering for HST until after you cross the threshold. If you cross $30,000 without being registered, you're retroactively liable for HST on transactions where you didn't collect it — meaning it comes out of your own pocket.
Mistake 3: Paying yourself from the corporation without a plan. Transferring money from your corporate account to your personal account without documenting it as salary or dividends creates an accounting mess and potential tax problems.
A marketing consultant incorporated in January, started earning immediately, and paid herself by e-transferring money from the corporation whenever she needed it. By April, her bookkeeper found 23 undocumented transfers totalling $34,000. Reclassifying them properly took three hours of billable time — and triggered a conversation about HST she hadn't registered for yet.
Key Dates
CRA deadlines to know from day one
HST filing deadline: Quarterly filers — due one month after the quarter ends. Annual filers — due three months after your fiscal year end.
Payroll remittance: Due the 15th of the month following each payroll period for most new small employers.
Corporate tax payment: Due two months after your fiscal year end (three months for CCPCs eligible for the small business deduction).
T2 filing deadline: Six months after your fiscal year end. The payment is due earlier — the return comes after.
T4 slips: Due February 28 of the following year if you have employees or pay yourself salary. CRA T4 guide →
Get Started Right
Let us handle your bookkeeping setup from day one
The first 90 days are when good habits form — and when bad ones are hardest to break. We set up newly incorporated Ontario businesses with clean books, proper HST tracking, and a monthly reporting system that actually gets used.
Book a Bookkeeping Setup Call →Most clients are set up and running within one week. See how it works →Anchor Bridge Services · anchorbridges.ca · This article is for informational purposes and does not constitute legal or tax advice. Consult a qualified accountant or lawyer for advice specific to your situation. © 2026 Anchor Bridge Services.