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Gondaliya CPA

Corporate Tax Filing Experts

Tax Accountant for Direct-to-Consumer Brands in Ontario and Across Canada

We value your inventory under ITA section 10 at landed cost, so inbound freight, customs duty and brokerage sit in cost of goods instead of being expensed the month the container cleared. We build the books from the Shopify and Amazon gross sales reports rather than the bank deposit, report contribution margin per order after ad spend, shipping and returns, and run every refund through an ETA section 232 credit note each month rather than netting it against sales. We claim the Division III tax you paid at the border as an input tax credit, tie your closing inventory to the third-party logistics on-hand report, and name US state sales tax as a question for your US adviser rather than guessing at it. Whether you sell skincare, supplements, housewares or pet products, we handle the inventory, the imports and the ad spend — with AFFORDABLE flat fees.

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AFFORDABLE Direct-to-Consumer Brand Tax Accountant

A direct-to-consumer brand owns real goods and buys every customer, and those two facts decide the whole return. The goods are inventory under ITA section 10, and what they cost is not the supplier invoice: it is the supplier invoice plus inbound freight plus customs duty plus brokerage, capitalized into landed cost rather than expensed the month the container cleared. Get that wrong and cost of goods is overstated in the import period, closing inventory is understated at year-end, and the borrowing base your inventory lender advances against is smaller than the brand actually has. The second fact is customer acquisition cost. Paid media is usually the largest single line on a DTC return, it is paid to non-residents, and it is billed in US dollars, which means a blended gross margin that excludes ad spend, outbound shipping and returns cannot tell you whether growth is profitable. At Gondaliya CPA, we specialize in landed cost, contribution margin per order and return credit notes for direct-to-consumer brands, providing AFFORDABLE flat-fee support that keeps you CRA-compliant and stops you paying more tax than you owe.

As a direct-to-consumer brands accountant, we work with Shopify storefronts, Amazon marketplace sellers, skincare and supplement brands, and housewares and pet products brands across Ontario, with year-round support rather than a once-a-year scramble. We tell you what each order actually earned after ad spend, what your inventory is genuinely worth, and where your import and return exposure sits.

Let us handle the numbers so you can focus on the product and the customer.

Gondaliya CPA team - accounting and tax services for direct-to-consumer brands

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Accounting That Understands How a Direct-to-Consumer Brand Actually Works

Selling your own product online comes with financial pressures a reseller never faces. You pay for inventory months before it sells, you buy every customer in a foreign currency, a double-digit share of what you ship comes back, and the platform deposits a net figure that is not your revenue. At Gondaliya CPA, we understand that reality and provide practical, trade-focused solutions across Ontario.

📦

Inventory at Landed Cost

Freight in, duty and brokerage belong in the cost of the goods under ITA section 10, not expensed the month the container cleared customs.

💰

You Buy Every Customer

Ad spend is usually the largest line on the return. Contribution margin per order, not blended gross margin, tells you whether growth pays.

🔄

Returns Are a Monthly Control

At a double-digit refund rate, ETA section 232 credit notes have to be run every month. Netting refunds against sales hides the tax adjusted.

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Importing Has Its Own Tax

The GST paid to CBSA at the border is recoverable by the importer of record, and it is the credit most brands lose to a broker’s invoice.

Stay Compliant and Minimize Your Direct-to-Consumer Brand Tax

For a DTC brand, staying onside with CBSA, the Competition Bureau and CRA and paying the least legal tax are the same job. We keep every filing on schedule while claiming every inventory, import and advertising dollar the T2 allows, so nothing is missed and nothing invites a reassessment.

📋

Borders, Labels and Claims

There is no professional regulator for a consumer brand, but there are several real authorities. The CBSA assesses duty and the GST on every import and holds you to your importer-of-record obligations through the CARM Client Portal. The Competition Bureau reads your ordinary-selling-price and “was/now” claims, and administers the Consumer Packaging and Labelling Act bilingual label rules. Health Canada takes a cosmetic notification where the product is a cosmetic, and the CFIA governs food labelling. Ontario’s Consumer Protection Act, 2002 sets the internet agreement and delivery rules your checkout has to meet. Add Retail Council of Canada and CFIB dues: real annual costs that belong in the ledger.

✅

CRA Obligations for Direct-to-Consumer Brands

Staying compliant with CRA means more than one return a year. We manage GST34 returns with line 101 reconciled to gross sales rather than payouts, the rate set order by order under the place of supply rules, exports reviewed against Schedule VI Part V, Division III tax at the border claimed as an input tax credit, refunds run through ETA section 232 credit notes monthly, inventory valued under ITA section 10 at landed cost, WSIB on warehouse staff, and payroll source deductions reconciled to the PD7A. These are the areas CRA looks at first on a DTC file.

📈

Year-End Deliverables for Direct-to-Consumer Brands

At year-end, a DTC corporation needs a proper trial balance and financial statements that carry inventory at landed cost tied to a physical count and the third-party logistics on-hand report, a reserve for dead stock and markdown stated separately, platform commission, ad spend, shipping and returns shown on their own lines, and racking, computers and leasehold improvements split by CCA class, plus a T2 with GIFI that ties to your HST returns. The inventory lender reads the closing inventory figure directly, because that is the number it advances against. Our team prepares every deliverable on time.

Accounting & Tax Experts for Direct-to-Consumer Brands

Gondaliya CPA direct-to-consumer brand accounting expertsGondaliya CPA direct-to-consumer brand tax experts
  • AFFORDABLE + Fully Registered CPA Firm
  • Business and Corporate Tax Expert
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  • Accounting, bookkeeping, and tax filing
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Why Choose Our Accounting Services for Direct-to-Consumer Brands?

1
🎯

Tax Planning — Landed Cost & CCA

We know the trade: inventory at landed cost under ITA section 10, Class 8 racking and packing benches, Class 50 computers at 55%. We protect the $500,000 Small Business Deduction.

2
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Consulting — Contribution Margin

Our bookkeeping reports margin per order after ad spend, shipping and returns, tracks inventory turns by SKU, and shows which channel is buying revenue at a loss.

3
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CRA Representation — Revenue & Inventory

When CRA challenges gross sales, closing inventory or the advertising line, we prepare the response and pursue relief on Form RC4288 where a prior error caused the penalties.

4
🏢

Bookkeeping — Cash Flow & Sale

We build the cash flow that funds inventory months before it sells, produce the statements your inventory lender reads, and model the exit years ahead.

★
Fully Licensed CPA Ontario
★
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30-Day Money-Back Guarantee
★
60-Day Fees-Matching Policy
ACTIVELY ACCEPTING
Direct-to-Consumer Brand Clients
Includes personal T1 filing for you and your family
Convenient Availability
Weekend and evening support until 9 PM
Always Within Reach
Just a call away when you need us

Direct-to-Consumer Brand Tax and Accounting Services in Ontario

📄

Corporate Tax Filing (T2) for Direct-to-Consumer Brands

Professional T2 preparation with inventory at landed cost under ITA section 10, gross sales from the platform reports, and CRA compliance on every line.

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Bookkeeping & Accounting for Direct-to-Consumer Brands

Settlement-level bookkeeping with contribution margin per order after ad spend, shipping and returns, and financial statements built from clean records.

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Payroll Services for Direct-to-Consumer Brands

Warehouse and customer service payroll with WSIB coverage, PD7A remittances, T4s and T4A slips filed on time, and contractor classification tested properly.

🧾

GST/HST Filing for Direct-to-Consumer Brands

AFFORDABLE HST filing with the rate set order by order, refunds run through credit notes, and the tax paid at the border recovered in full.

📈

Tax Planning for Direct-to-Consumer Brands

Smart tax planning on inventory buying and equipment timing across Class 8 and Class 50, the Small Business Deduction, and the exit structure years ahead.

⏳

Corporate Catch-Up Filing for Direct-to-Consumer Brands

File overdue T2 and HST years, rebuild the missing inventory and landed cost records, and get back into CRA compliance with accurate catch-up support.

🛡

CRA Audit Resolution for Direct-to-Consumer Brands

Expert support for gross sales, closing inventory and advertising deduction audits, handled with confidence from the first letter.

📊

CPA Financial Statements (Notice to Reader) for Direct-to-Consumer Brands

CPA-compiled financial statements that inventory lenders accept, carrying stock at landed cost with the markdown reserve stated separately.

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Incorporation Services for Direct-to-Consumer Brands

Full incorporation including NUANS, articles, share structure, and the section 85 rollover of your inventory, equipment and trademark into the company.

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Catch-Up Bookkeeping Services for Direct-to-Consumer Brands

Months or years of settlements, supplier invoices, customs entries and carrier bills reconstructed and reconciled, so your inventory ledger is finally accurate.

🌐

US Corporation & LLC Tax Filing for Direct-to-Consumer Brands

Cross-border filing on US orders and US-held inventory, and where owners or shareholders are non-resident or American, covering withholding and T1135 reporting.

📜

Voluntary Disclosure Program for Direct-to-Consumer Brands

Come forward on revenue reported from net payouts, uncounted inventory or HST charged at the wrong rate before CRA calls, cancelling penalties through a Voluntary Disclosures Program application.

Accounting & Tax Services Tailored for Direct-to-Consumer Brands

Real, practitioner-level CPA expertise for Shopify storefronts, Amazon marketplace sellers, skincare and supplement brands, and housewares and pet products brands across Ontario — built for a business that owns inventory and buys every customer.

  • We prepare your T2 with GIFI on Schedule 100 and Schedule 125, reporting gross sales from the Shopify and Amazon settlement reports rather than the bank deposit, so platform commission, processing and refunds each sit on their own line.
  • We value closing inventory under ITA section 10 at landed cost, so the supplier invoice, inbound freight, customs duty and brokerage all sit in cost of goods rather than being expensed in the month the container arrived.
  • We claim capital cost allowance on Schedule 8 with pallet racking, packing benches and the photography kit in Class 8 at 20%, computers and servers in Class 50 at 55%, and application software in Class 12.
  • We deduct Meta and Google ad spend at the exchange rate on each invoice rather than one year-end average, because on a brand whose customer acquisition cost is its largest expense the currency error alone runs into thousands.
  • We report gift cards sold and orders shipping after year-end as deferred revenue, bringing them into income and reserving them out under ITA paragraph 20(1)(m) so you never pay tax on goods you have not yet delivered.
  • We map every Shopify and Amazon settlement through A2X into QuickBooks Online, so gross sales, platform commission, payment processing, refunds and currency conversion each land on their own account instead of one net deposit.
  • We report contribution margin per order after ad spend, outbound shipping, packaging and returns, because a blended gross margin cannot tell you whether the last thousand orders you bought were profitable or simply expensive.
  • We maintain landed cost per unit in Cin7 by allocating inbound freight, duty and brokerage across the shipment, so every SKU carries what it actually cost to get onto the shelf rather than the supplier price alone.
  • We reconcile the third-party logistics on-hand report to your inventory ledger monthly, because units that ShipBob shows and your books do not are either shrinkage, a missed receipt or a write-down nobody recorded.
  • We capture supplier, freight, brokerage and third-party logistics invoices through Dext and reconcile monthly, keeping the six years of records ITA section 230 requires and making sure no input tax credit is left unclaimed.
  • We run payroll for your warehouse, packing and customer service staff, withholding income tax, CPP and EI and remitting on the PD7A by the 15th of the following month, because CRA’s late-remittance penalty reaches 10%.
  • We test whether your freelance designers, photographers and influencer contractors are employees or contractors against the CRA guide RC4110 factors, because a large contractor line with no analysis behind it is what a payroll auditor pulls first.
  • We file T4A slips on the genuine contractors who pack, photograph or design for you, so the payments you deducted are reported the way CRA expects rather than sitting in an unsupported subcontractor total.
  • We register your WSIB coverage before the first warehouse hire, because pallet jacks, racking and repetitive packing work are exactly the activities an unregistered employer cannot afford an injury claim on.
  • We file your T4 slips and T4 Summary by the last day of February, reconcile them to the PD7A remittances made, and monitor Ontario payroll against the $1,000,000 Employer Health Tax exemption.
  • We set the rate order by order under the place of supply rules, because the tax follows your customer’s address rather than your warehouse, and one day’s orders can span Ontario at 13%, another province and an export.
  • We review shipments leaving Canada against the Schedule VI Part V conditions rather than assuming a foreign address zero-rates the sale, and we keep the export evidence on file because that is what a reviewer actually asks for.
  • We claim the Division III tax you paid at the border under ETA section 212 as an input tax credit, which is money most brands lose because the broker’s invoice shows it beside duty and gets coded as duty.
  • We run refunds through ETA section 232 credit notes every month rather than netting them against sales, because at a double-digit return rate the tax adjusted has to be traceable to the order that was refunded.
  • We reconcile GST34 line 101 to the gross sales in your Shopify and Amazon reports every filing period, because a revenue figure built from net payouts understates line 101 and is the first mismatch a reviewer finds.
  • We time your inventory buys and equipment purchases against the fiscal year-end, weighing the 55% Class 50 rate on computers and servers against the 20% Class 8 rate on racking, so the deduction lands where it is worth most.
  • We set the salary-versus-dividend mix for the founders, paying enough T4 salary to build RRSP room while the balance flows as dividends, so combined tax stays near the 12.2% Ontario small-business rate instead of 53.53%.
  • We keep active income under the $500,000 Small Business Deduction limit using ITA section 125, and watch the associated-corporation rules where the founders also own the holding company that owns the trademark.
  • We model contribution margin against customer acquisition cost before you scale a channel, because a brand that doubles ad spend on a negative-margin SKU buys revenue at a loss and finds out only at year-end.
  • We plan at least two years ahead so your shares qualify for the $1.25M Lifetime Capital Gains Exemption under ITA 110.6, purifying cash and passive assets that would otherwise fail the QSBC asset test.
  • We reconstruct gross sales, platform commission, processing fees and refunds from the Shopify and Amazon settlement exports across your unfiled years, rebuilding the six years of records ITA section 230 requires from the source rather than the bank.
  • Late filing costs 5% of the balance owing plus 1% per month up to twelve months, so we file your oldest unfiled T2 first to stop the penalty compounding and limit the arrears interest CRA charges.
  • We rebuild closing inventory for each missing year-end from purchase orders, customs entries and the third-party logistics on-hand history, because a T2 filed with a guessed inventory figure misstates cost of goods in two years at once.
  • We separate inbound freight, customs duty and brokerage from operating expense across the backlog and capitalize them into landed cost, which changes both cost of goods sold and the closing inventory the lender reads.
  • We file a Voluntary Disclosures Program application on Form RC199 before CRA contacts you, because a disclosure accepted under the general program cancels penalties in full and gives roughly 50% interest relief on the older years.
  • When CRA asks why T2 revenue does not match your HST returns, we produce the gross sales reports beside the payouts and show every commission, fee and refund that sits between them, line by line.
  • When CRA tests closing inventory, we supply the physical count sheets, the third-party logistics on-hand report and the landed cost workings, because an inventory figure that ties to nothing is what reopens a return.
  • When the advertising deduction is queried, we produce the Meta and Google invoices, the exchange rates applied and the campaign allocation, because the largest expense on a DTC return attracts the closest reading.
  • When an input tax credit claim is reviewed, we match each credit to the customs accounting document, the supplier invoice or the carrier bill, so a large refund claim on an import-heavy quarter clears without an adjustment.
  • We file the Notice of Objection within 90 days of a reassessment and pursue taxpayer relief on Form RC4288, cancelling penalties and interest that can top $15,000 where a prior accountant’s error caused them.
  • We prepare the CSRS 4200 compilation engagement financial statements a lender requires across two fiscal years for a purchase-order facility, a revolving inventory line, or refinancing a merchant cash advance onto bank terms.
  • Your compiled statement of financial position carries inventory at landed cost under ITA section 10, which is the exact number a lender advances against, and a landed cost never capitalized understates your borrowing base.
  • We present the statement of operations with gross sales, platform commission, ad spend, shipping and returns shown separately across two years, so the bank can see contribution margin rather than one blended figure.
  • We disclose the inventory reserve for dead stock and markdown separately, because a lender that discovers unsellable units inside the borrowing base after advancing funds reprices the whole facility rather than one SKU.
  • We deliver the compiled statements within 30 days of receiving your records and the year’s T2 figures, because an inventory facility approved ahead of a peak-season purchase order does not wait for a slow accountant.
  • We incorporate your brand under the Ontario Business Corporations Act, giving you limited liability on product and labelling claims and roughly a 12.2% Ontario combined rate on active income against up to 53.53% personally.
  • We complete the section 85 rollover on Form T2057, transferring your existing inventory, equipment, trademark and customer list into the corporation at elected amounts, deferring the gain a straight sale would trigger.
  • We open the corporation’s CRA Business Number with the RT, RP and RM accounts within the first 30 days, so you can register in the CBSA CARM Client Portal and clear your own imports as importer of record.
  • We set the opening Class 8, Class 50, Class 12 and Class 13 schedules from the rollover, so the corporation starts with racking, computers, software and leasehold improvements stated correctly rather than rebuilt from memory.
  • We build the chart of accounts with landed cost, platform fees, ad spend, shipping and returns separated from day one, so contribution margin per order is visible from your first hundred orders rather than reconstructed later.
  • We rebuild months or years of neglected books from Shopify and Amazon settlement exports, supplier invoices, customs entries and carrier bills, so a brand that grew through two peak seasons without bookkeeping gets a clean ledger.
  • We rebuild the inventory ledger SKU by SKU from purchase orders and the third-party logistics receiving history, which is almost always the single worst-kept record on a direct-to-consumer file we inherit.
  • We recover input tax credits buried in unentered brokerage invoices, carrier bills, packaging purchases and equipment receipts, because an importing brand can hide five figures of credits across a couple of unreconciled years.
  • We reconstruct contribution margin per order across the backlog, so the caught-up statements show which channels and which SKUs actually paid for themselves rather than one blended number the owner cannot act on.
  • We reconcile refunds and chargebacks to ETA section 232 credit notes across the caught-up months, so the HST adjusted matches the tax originally collected and an accurate T2 can finally be filed.
  • On US orders we name state sales tax as a real obligation with economic nexus and marketplace facilitator rules behind it, and we coordinate with a US adviser rather than guessing at a threshold from Ontario.
  • Where you hold inventory in a US warehouse or sell through a US entity, we review the permanent establishment question and the treaty position before a filing obligation quietly attaches to the corporation.
  • We file Form T1135 where the founders’ foreign property costs more than $100,000, avoiding a penalty regime CRA applies whether or not any tax was actually owing on the holding itself.
  • Where a non-resident holds shares in your brand, we handle the Part XIII withholding on dividends paid out of Canada and the NR4 reporting that follows, so nothing is missed at 25% or the treaty rate.
  • We reconcile the Canadian and US returns so foreign tax credits actually land, ensuring tax paid on the same income in one country offsets tax in the other rather than being written off as a cost.
  • We bring your brand forward on years reported from net payouts, because understated gross sales understate the HST collected as well as the T2 revenue, and both corrections are far cheaper made voluntarily.
  • We disclose inventory that was never counted and landed cost that was never capitalized, because a closing inventory figure carried forward unchanged for three years is a misstatement CRA finds on the first review.
  • We correct HST charged at the wrong rate on out-of-province orders across several years, which is a quiet cumulative error on a storefront that ships nationally and repeats on every single order.
  • We file your disclosure on Form RC199 with a full reconstruction from settlement reports, customs entries and the third-party logistics history, so a brand that outgrew its bookkeeping is not left facing an arbitrary assessment.
  • We confirm your disclosure is genuinely voluntary before CRA contacts you, the single condition that makes it valid, and secure the roughly 50% interest relief on the older years, turning a prosecution risk into a managed correction.

Direct-to-Consumer Brand Inventory & Tax Check

Six quick questions on your revenue recognition, your landed cost, your inventory count, your return credit notes, your border tax recovery and whether it is time to incorporate. No fee shown.

1. Is your revenue taken from gross sales reports rather than the platform payout?

2. Are freight in, duty and brokerage capitalized into landed cost?

3. Does your closing inventory tie to a physical count and the 3PL on-hand report?

4. Are refunds run through credit notes monthly rather than netted against sales?

5. Do you claim the GST paid to CBSA at the border as an input tax credit?

6. Is your direct-to-consumer brand incorporated?

Free CPA Consultation for Direct-to-Consumer Brands

Case Studies: Direct-to-Consumer Brand Accounting & Tax

Toronto Skincare Brand — The Container That Was Expensed

The problem: A Toronto skincare brand imported four containers a year and expensed the freight, the duty and the broker’s fee the month each one cleared. Only the supplier invoice went into inventory. The effect was that every import month showed a loss, every quiet month showed an inflated margin, and closing inventory at year-end was understated by the entire landed cost of the stock still sitting in the warehouse. The inventory lender was advancing against that understated figure.

What we did: We rebuilt landed cost per unit from the customs entries and carrier invoices, allocated it across each shipment in Cin7, restated closing inventory under ITA section 10, and set a receiving rule so freight, duty and brokerage are capitalized at receipt rather than coded to expense.

The result:

  • Closing inventory restated upward by $186,000
  • Borrowing base on the inventory line increased accordingly
  • Landed cost now allocated at receipt, not at year-end

Vaughan Supplement Brand — The GST Left at the Border

The problem: A Vaughan supplement brand had been importing for three years and had never claimed the GST paid to CBSA on any of it. The customs broker’s invoice showed duty and the Division III tax together, and the bookkeeper had coded the whole amount to duty and buried it in cost of goods. Meanwhile refunds were netted against sales rather than run through credit notes, so the HST reported on returned orders could not be traced to anything.

What we did: We pulled every customs accounting document, separated the Division III tax from duty, claimed the input tax credits under ETA section 212 within the available period, and rebuilt the refund process so every return raises an ETA section 232 credit note in the month it happens.

The result:

  • $74,000 of border GST recovered as input tax credits
  • Duty and Division III tax now coded separately at entry
  • Return credit notes raised monthly, not at year-end

Hamilton Pet Products Brand — The Margin Nobody Could See

The problem: A Hamilton pet products brand was growing 60% a year and running out of cash. The owner tracked a blended gross margin that excluded ad spend, outbound shipping and returns entirely, and had no idea which SKUs or which channels paid for themselves. The bookkeeping was built from Shopify payouts, so commission, processing and refunds were invisible, and the month-end close took the owner two full days of spreadsheet work.

What we did: We mapped the Shopify and Amazon settlements through A2X into QuickBooks Online, split gross sales from every deduction, and built a contribution margin report per order and per SKU after ad spend, shipping, packaging and returns.

The result:

  • 16 hours a month of owner close time eliminated
  • Two SKUs found to be selling below contribution margin
  • Ad spend reallocated to the channels that actually paid

Our Simple Process

How We Work With Direct-to-Consumer Brands

Know Exact Fees within 2 Minutes NOW

Our clear, efficient process ensures every step is transparent, building trust and long-term client relationships.

Here’s a simplified process approach:
Step 1

Kickoff (Document Request)

Collect prior T2 returns, Shopify and Amazon settlement exports, supplier purchase orders, customs entries and broker invoices, third-party logistics on-hand and billing reports, ad platform invoices, payroll records, and bank statements.

Step 2

First 30 Days (Cleanup & Setup)

Set up QuickBooks Online or Xero with A2X settlement mapping and Cin7 landed cost, rebuild the Class 8, 50, 12 and 13 schedules, and reconcile inventory to the third-party logistics on-hand report.

Step 3

Monthly Close

Gross sales reconciled to payouts, landed cost applied to receipts, contribution margin per order and per SKU, ETA section 232 credit notes on refunds, GST34 with border tax credits, and payroll and PD7A reconciliation.

Step 4

Quarterly Planning Review

Salary and dividend mix, inventory buying and equipment timing across Class 8 and Class 50, customer acquisition cost against contribution margin, dead stock and markdown reserves, and cash flow against supplier deposit terms.

Step 5

Year-End Close & T2 Filing

Trial balance, physical inventory count tied to the on-hand report, inventory stated at landed cost under ITA section 10, financial statements, T2 with GIFI, and CRA preparation.

Get Your Direct-to-Consumer Brand Taxes Done Right Today

Transparent Pricing for Direct-to-Consumer Brands

Affordable Pricing for Direct-to-Consumer Brands

Know Exact Fees within 2 Minutes NOW

We believe in clear, upfront pricing so you know exactly what to expect. All fees include HST.

  • Tax Preparation (Corporation) — From $400
  • Tax Return Filing (Corporation) — From $400
  • Tax Compliance Audit — FREE CRA audit support for our clients
  • Tax Strategy — FREE for our clients
  • Accounting Base Plan — From $100 per month
  • Bookkeeping Management — Free for our Accounting clients
  • Financial Reporting — Free for our Accounting clients
  • Business Formation — Flat $35
  • Incorporation Process — Flat $35
  • Entity Setup Assistance — Flat $35
  • Full-Service Payroll — From $125 per month

Payment is by Interac e-Transfer to info@gondaliyacpa.ca only. Security question: Not Applicable, as auto-deposit is enabled.

Meet Your Lead Direct-to-Consumer Brand Accountant

Meet your lead direct-to-consumer brand accountant. As your inventory and corporate tax adviser, you deal with the same two people every year.

Sharad Gondaliya CPA

Sharad Gondaliya, CPA

Principal

Bio

647-212-9559
sharad@gondaliyacpa.ca

Vandana Goel CPA

Vandana Goel, CPA

Accounting Specialist

Bio

647-250-0242
vandana@gondaliyacpa.ca

What Our Clients Say

1300+ five-star reviews from e-commerce, retail and product business owners across Ontario and Canada.

Serving Direct-to-Consumer Brands Across Ontario

Our CPA team provides specialized accounting and tax solutions for direct-to-consumer and e-commerce brands throughout Ontario. We understand how landed cost is built, why a platform payout is not revenue, where the return and import exposure sits, and what CRA looks at first when it opens an online retail file.

Toronto (ON)

55 Queen St E Ste 1205, Toronto, ON M5C 1R6, Canada

+1 (647) 212-9559

9:00 AM – 8:30 PM (Mon – Sun)

Mississauga (ON)

2100 Camilla Rd #716, Mississauga, ON L5A 2J8

+1 (647) 212-9559

9:00 AM – 8:30 PM (Mon – Sun)

Brampton (ON)

4 Starhill Crescent, Brampton, ON L6R 2P9, Canada

+1 (647) 212-9559

9:00 AM – 8:30 PM (Mon – Sun)

Scarborough (ON)

24 Clementine Square, Scarborough, ON M1G 2V7, Canada

+1 (647) 212-9559

9:00 AM – 8:30 PM (Mon – Sun)

Vaughan (ON)

19 Cabinet Crescent, Woodbridge, ON L4L 6H9, Canada

+1 (647) 212-9559

9:00 AM – 8:30 PM (Mon – Sun)

Oshawa (ON)

210 Durham St, Oshawa, ON L1J 5R3, Canada

+1 (647) 212-9559

9:00 AM – 8:30 PM (Mon – Sun)

Ottawa (ON)

2090 Neepawa Ave a314, Ottawa, ON K2A 3L6, Canada

+1 (647) 212-9559

9:00 AM – 8:30 PM (Mon – Sun)

Etobicoke (ON)

60 Stevenson Rd #1601, Etobicoke, ON M9V 2B4, Canada

+1 (647) 212-9559

9:00 AM – 8:30 PM (Mon – Sun)

Hamilton (ON)

70 Starling Dr, Hamilton, ON L9A 0C5, Canada

+1 (647) 212-9559

9:00 AM – 8:30 PM (Mon – Sun)

Guelph (ON)

1155 Gordon St, Guelph, ON N1L 1S8, Canada

+1 (647) 212-9559

9:00 AM – 8:30 PM (Mon – Sun)

Windsor (ON)

4387 Guppy Ct, Windsor, ON N9G 2N8, Canada

+1 (647) 212-9559

9:00 AM – 8:30 PM (Mon – Sun)

North York (ON)

150 Graydon Hall Dr #912, North York, ON M3A 3B2, Canada

+1 (647) 212-9559

9:00 AM – 8:30 PM (Mon – Sun)

Direct-to-Consumer Brand Accounting & Tax FAQs

Should I incorporate my direct-to-consumer brand?
Incorporating gives you limited liability, which matters when you are the one making product and labelling claims a regulator can read, plus roughly a 12.2% Ontario combined rate on the first $500,000 of active income against a personal rate up to 53.53% when unincorporated. The decision turns on whether the brand earns more than you withdraw, because that surplus is what a corporation lets you defer. There is a practical reason too: an inventory-heavy business needs a balance sheet a lender can underwrite, and a corporation is what a purchase-order or revolving inventory facility is written against. Incorporating also lets you register for the RM import/export account and clear your own shipments as importer of record. When it makes sense, we handle the section 85 rollover on Form T2057.
Is my Shopify payout my revenue?
No, and this is the single most common error we find on a DTC file. A payout is gross sales less platform commission, payment processing, refunds, chargebacks, advertising billed to the account and currency conversion. Your revenue is the gross amount the customer paid; each of those deductions is a separate expense that belongs on its own line. Books built from the bank deposit understate revenue and understate expenses by the same amount, which looks harmless until you file the HST return, because GST34 line 101 reports gross sales and will not agree to a revenue figure built from net deposits. We map the settlements through A2X so every component lands where it belongs.
What is landed cost, and do I capitalize freight and duty into inventory?
Landed cost is what the goods actually cost to get onto your shelf: the supplier invoice plus inbound freight plus customs duty plus brokerage, and it is what inventory is carried at under ITA section 10. Yes, those components are capitalized into the cost of the goods rather than expensed when the container clears. Expensing them on arrival overstates cost in the import month, understates closing inventory at year-end, and distorts every margin number in between. It also shrinks the borrowing base an inventory lender advances against. Tariff classification, the duty rate and any relief or drawback program are work for a licensed customs broker, and we build landed cost from the entries they produce.
How do I value and count closing inventory?
At landed cost under ITA section 10, using a permitted method applied consistently year to year, and supported by a physical count. The count is the part most brands skip. If your goods sit at a third-party logistics warehouse, the count ties to the 3PL’s on-hand report, not to what the storefront says is available to sell, because the platform figure is netted for reserved, damaged and unfulfilled units and drifts from reality within weeks. We reconcile the on-hand report to your inventory ledger every month, so the variance you find at year-end is small and explainable rather than a number nobody can defend when CRA asks what closing inventory ties to.
How do I handle refunds and returns for HST?
Through credit notes, every month. Where tax was charged on a sale that is later refunded or adjusted, ETA section 232 governs the credit note and the corresponding adjustment to net tax. Netting refunds against sales is not the same thing: it collapses two transactions into one figure, and when a reviewer asks how much tax was adjusted and on which orders, there is nothing to show. On a brand running a double-digit refund rate this is a monthly control, not a year-end tidy-up, because the amounts are large and the returned units also have to come back into inventory at their landed cost rather than vanishing.
Can I claim the GST I paid at the border?
If you are the importer of record and the goods are for use in your commercial activity, yes. Division III tax is imposed on imported goods under ETA section 212 and paid to CBSA at 5% of the value for duty, and the importer of record recovers it as an input tax credit on the GST34 return. The reason brands miss it is mechanical: the customs broker’s invoice shows duty and the tax together, a bookkeeper codes the whole amount to duty, and it disappears into cost of goods where no credit is ever claimed. We separate the two off the customs accounting document at entry and claim the credit in the period it belongs to.
Do I charge HST on a US order?
Not automatically, and a foreign billing address alone does not answer it. Goods shipped outside Canada can be zero-rated under Schedule VI Part V of the Excise Tax Act, but the conditions are evidentiary: what was supplied, where it was delivered, who the recipient is and what proof of export you hold. Zero-rated is not exempt, so you still claim your input tax credits on the costs behind those sales. We review the export position per supply rather than assuming it, because getting this wrong in the generous direction means remitting tax you never collected out of your own margin.
Do I need to register for US state sales tax?
It is a real obligation and it is not a Canadian question. US states set their own economic nexus rules, their own registration and filing requirements, and their own marketplace facilitator rules that can shift collection onto the marketplace for some of your sales and leave it with you for others. We will not guess at a state, a threshold or a rate from Ontario, and you should be wary of any Canadian accountant who does. What we do is flag it early, keep your order data in a form a US adviser can actually work from, and coordinate with the specialist you engage so nothing falls between the two files.
What is contribution margin per order?
It is what an order leaves behind after everything that order consumed: landed cost of the goods, platform commission and payment processing, the ad spend it took to acquire the customer, outbound shipping, packaging, and a share of returns. Gross margin stops at cost of goods and tells you almost nothing, because on a DTC brand the customer acquisition cost is usually the largest expense on the return. A brand can grow revenue 60% and lose money on every incremental order, and a blended gross margin will not show it. We report contribution margin per order, per SKU and per channel so you can see which growth is worth buying.
How do I account for Meta and Google ad spend in US dollars?
At the exchange rate on each invoice, recorded as it is incurred, with the foreign exchange gain or loss tracked rather than averaged away at year-end. On a brand where ad spend is the largest line, applying a single annual rate to a year of daily USD billing produces an error that is not small. The spend is also paid to non-residents, so keep the invoices: it is the expense CRA reads most closely on a DTC return. Whether ITA sections 19 and 19.1, which are directed at advertising in non-Canadian media aimed at a Canadian market, reach a given digital placement is a live question we assess on the facts rather than asserting an answer to.
What CCA class is warehouse racking and packing equipment?
Pallet racking, shelving, packing benches, heat sealers, label printers and your product photography and lightbox kit generally go to Class 8 at 20%. Computers, laptops and servers belong in Class 50 at 55%, and application software in Class 12 at 100%. A delivery van sits in Class 10 at 30%, and improvements to a leased warehouse or office go to Class 13 over the term of the lease. A purchased brand, trademark or goodwill lands in Class 14.1 at 5%. All of it is claimed on Schedule 8, and the common error we inherit is computers left pooled in Class 8 at the rate meant for steel shelving.
What can a direct-to-consumer brand write off?
Meta and Google ad spend, influencer and affiliate fees, creative and photography costs, third-party logistics pick-and-pack and storage fees, outbound shipping and carrier surcharges, packaging and inserts, platform commission and payment processing, chargebacks, returns processing, product samples and testing, Retail Council of Canada and CFIB dues, warehouse rent, warehouse payroll and WSIB premiums, and professional fees. Inventory is not an expense until it sells: it is carried at landed cost under ITA section 10 and released to cost of goods sold. On capital, racking and packing equipment go to Class 8, computers to Class 50, software to Class 12, a van to Class 10 and leaseholds to Class 13, all on Schedule 8. A bad debt on an unpaid wholesale invoice is deductible under paragraph 20(1)(p).
How do I value my direct-to-consumer brand if I sell it?
A buyer prices trailing contribution margin and repeat purchase rate, not top-line revenue, and diligences your inventory count and landed cost before almost anything else. Overstated inventory or a landed cost nobody can rebuild takes money off the table directly. The structure decides what you keep: a share sale can access the $1.25M Lifetime Capital Gains Exemption under ITA 110.6 where the shares qualify, with purification and a two-year runway. An asset sale is different, because the inventory comes into income at its sale price rather than as a capital gain, goodwill and the trademark land in Class 14.1, and equipment proceeds above undepreciated capital cost bring recapture.

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  • Import duty and brokerage in cost of goods
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Accountant for Subscription Box Businesses

  • Deferred revenue on prepaid plans
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Accountant for Scale-Up Companies

  • Growth cash flow and working capital
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Direct-to-Consumer Brand Accounting & Tax Done Right.

T2 filing with inventory valued under ITA section 10 at landed cost so freight in, duty and brokerage sit in cost of goods, gross sales taken from the Shopify and Amazon settlement reports rather than the bank deposit, contribution margin reported per order after ad spend, shipping and returns, every refund run through an ETA section 232 credit note each month, the Division III tax paid at the border claimed as an input tax credit, and closing inventory tied to the third-party logistics on-hand report. AFFORDABLE flat fees, no hourly billing. Licensed CPA Ontario. 1300+ five-star reviews. 30-Day Money-Back Guarantee.



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