Managing Receipts And Expenses

Messy receipts and undocumented expenses are one of the most common reasons small businesses face CRA reassessments. When proof of purchase disappears, deductions vanish, and audit stress begins. Proper expense management is not just about saving paperwork—it’s about protecting your profits, maximizing deductions, and maintaining compliance. Mackisen CPA Auditors Montreal helps businesses implement secure, digital systems that organize every receipt, track every cost, and keep your books CRA and Revenu Québec ready all year.

Legal and Regulatory Framework
Income Tax Act (Canada) Section 67: Requires all claimed expenses to be reasonable and verifiable.
CRA Policy IC78-10R5: Accepts digital receipts and scanned documentation if records are accessible and complete.
Taxation Act (Quebec) Section 34: Mandates electronic recordkeeping for QST and payroll documentation.
CRA IT-514R2: Defines eligible business expenses and the documentation required.
PIPEDA: Protects financial and personal data stored digitally.

Key Court Decisions
Simard Beaudry Construction v. The Queen (2019): CRA accepted scanned receipts as compliant evidence.
Boucher v. Quebec (2020): Reaffirmed the validity of OCR-generated digital records in provincial audits.
Tremblay Holdings v. The Queen (2021): Stressed that electronic audit trails are required for expense validation.
Beaudoin v. Canada (2020): Disallowed deductions where receipts were incomplete or missing.
Lincora Group v. Quebec (2019): Upheld CRA’s right to deny unverified business expenses.

Why CRA Targets / Issues / Enforces
CRA focuses on small businesses and self-employed professionals with inconsistent or undocumented expenses. Paper receipts fade, get lost, or become unreadable. CRA’s digital audit systems now cross-check expenses against GST/QST filings and banking data. If documentation doesn’t match, deductions are denied. Mackisen CPA Auditors Montreal prevents this by implementing secure digital expense systems that store, index, and back up every record automatically.

Mackisen Strategy
Expense Automation — Implement OCR and mobile-scanning tools that capture receipts in real time.
Categorization — Configure accounting systems to automatically classify expenses by type and tax code.
GST/QST Integration — Ensure every expense is linked to proper tax tracking for accurate input credits.
Cloud Storage — Maintain encrypted backups for easy retrieval during CRA or Revenu Québec audits.
CPA Oversight — Mackisen accountants verify and approve digital records for accuracy and legitimacy.
Financial Reporting — Generate monthly expense summaries for management visibility and cash-flow control.

Powering Client Needs and Expense Control
A Montreal restaurant eliminated 90 percent of its paper clutter after Mackisen implemented an OCR-based digital receipt system. A Quebec contractor reduced audit exposure after aligning expense tracking with GST/QST rules. An Ontario design firm used Mackisen’s integrated reporting to identify overspending and increase profit margins.
How Mackisen Clients Benefit

• 100 percent CRA-ready digital receipts

• Automated categorization and reconciliation

• Real-time expense reporting dashboards

• Compliance with CRA and Revenu Québec audit standards

• Quarterly CPA reviews for continuous accuracy

Common Questions
Can I throw away paper receipts after scanning? Yes, once digitally stored and verified.
Does CRA accept app-based receipts? Yes, if legible and traceable.
Do OCR systems make mistakes? Not under CPA-supervised validation.
How long must I keep expense records? Seven years from the fiscal year’s end.
Can Mackisen manage expenses for multiple locations? Absolutely—our systems scale nationally.

Why Mackisen
Mackisen CPA Auditors Montreal modernizes expense tracking with technology and oversight. Our digital bookkeeping systems keep you compliant, efficient, and organized while maximizing your tax deductions. Contact Mackisen to transform expense chaos into financial clarity.