ARQ Sector Audit (Sectorielle) — Montreal CPA Firm Near You: Beat Industry Ratios

An ARQ Sector Audit (Vérification sectorielle) is a comprehensive industry-based review by Revenu Québec designed to compare your business’s financial results against statistical ratios from similar companies. These audits are common in cash-heavy sectors such as restaurants, construction, beauty salons, trucking, and convenience stores. Mackisen CPA Montreal provides expert representation during these reviews—using accounting, legal, and economic evidence to demonstrate that your ratios reflect commercial reality, not tax evasion.

Legal Foundation

Law: Tax Administration Act (Québec) art. 93 (audit powers and document requests); Taxation Act ss. 9–12 (obligation to prove reported income and expenses).
Jurisprudence: Entreprises Cloutier v. ARQ (2008 CQ) — confirmed that while ARQ can use industry ratios, it must base reassessments on objective data and allow the taxpayer to provide individualized evidence.

Why You Need a CPA for a Sector Audit

Sector audits are among the most statistically driven verifications in Québec’s tax system. Revenu Québec uses “ratio analysis” models that calculate expected profit margins, cash sales, and expense levels based on your NAICS industry code. Businesses whose numbers fall outside the expected range often face automatic reassessment—unless a CPA can prove legitimate commercial explanations. Mackisen CPA Montreal provides that defense with documented evidence, market data, and verified financial analysis.

Learning insight: Ratios are averages, not realities. A CPA shows Revenu Québec that your business is a real operation, not a formula.

What Mackisen CPA’s Sector-Audit Defense Includes

• Independent financial-ratio analysis comparing your business to ARQ benchmarks.

• Reconstruction of sales and expenses with supporting invoices and ledgers.

• Explanation of business-model differences (location, clientele, pricing, costs).

• Preparation of CPA-certified profitability reports and variance justifications.

• Direct communication with ARQ auditors to validate the accuracy of assumptions.

Learning insight: Numbers out of range don’t prove guilt—they prove individuality. A CPA translates your unique operations into compliance logic.

Common Triggers for ARQ Sector Audits

• Industry profitability ratios showing your margins are lower or higher than peers.

• Discrepancies between declared GST/QST sales and sector norms.

• Suspiciously high input-tax credit claims for the same level of output sales.

• Data anomalies reported by POS (MEV/SRM) systems or suppliers.

• Repeated filing of refunds or losses in cash-intensive sectors.

Mackisen CPA Montreal identifies these anomalies early and prepares ratio-variance analysis before ARQ uses them to justify reassessments.

How Mackisen CPA Manages ARQ Sector Audits

1. Conducts full financial review and compares your ratios to ARQ’s “profil sectoriel.”

2. Validates inventory, purchasing, and sales transactions against POS or supplier data.

3. Builds a narrative explaining operational realities such as seasonality or pricing strategies.

4. Challenges ARQ’s extrapolated assumptions with real data and cost structures.

5. Files a CPA-signed rebuttal report that meets ARQ evidentiary standards under art. 93.

Learning insight: ARQ’s ratios see numbers; your CPA sees the business behind them. The difference determines whether you pay or prevail.

Benefits of Professional Representation

• Prevents erroneous reassessments based on flawed statistical models.

• Provides legal proof of business-specific conditions affecting profitability.

• Protects your tax file from automatic “sector-based” penalties.

• Reduces audit duration through fast, organized data presentation.

• Strengthens your position in any subsequent objection or appeal.

Learning insight: You can’t argue with statistics—unless you have better ones. That’s what Mackisen CPA brings: credible, industry-specific evidence.

SEO Optimization and Learning Value

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Learning insight: Revenu Québec uses algorithms to question your results; Mackisen CPA uses law to confirm them. Data analytics meet professional defense.

Real Client Success

• A Montreal restaurant cleared a $420,000 proposed reassessment when Mackisen CPA proved its lower profit margin was due to delivery commissions and not underreported sales.

• A construction contractor’s sector audit ended in full acceptance after we demonstrated cost overruns caused by late supplier payments and seasonal delays.

• A salon owner avoided penalties when Mackisen CPA’s CPA-certified analysis showed that lower sales were linked to pandemic restrictions and reduced staff capacity.

Why Mackisen CPA Montreal

Mackisen CPA Montreal has extensive experience with ARQ’s ratio-based verification system. Our bilingual CPAs combine forensic accounting, statistical modeling, and tax-law defense to align your numbers with reality. We don’t just match ARQ’s formulas—we rewrite them with facts.

Learning insight: ARQ’s sector audit tests your story against a spreadsheet. Mackisen CPA ensures your story wins.