Books ready before the auditor shows up
Audit and compliance support
Finbryn prepares the books, schedules and documentation a Canadian auditor, CRA reviewer or grant funder expects to see, so fieldwork moves faster with fewer follow-up questions. Our accounting team handles reconciliations, PBC lists, working papers and controls documentation under ASPE or IFRS. The audit or review report itself comes from a provincially licensed CPA you engage separately.
Auditor request list
Illustrative client · August 2026
CAD
- Trial balance and general ledger exportDone
- Bank confirmations and statementsDone
- Receivables and payables listingsDone
- Fixed asset register with additionsIn progress
- Accruals and prepayments supportNext
Illustrative. An example of the document, not a client's figures.
What audit and compliance support looks like in Canada
A Canadian audit or a bank's review request rarely stalls on the transactions themselves. It stalls because the GST/HST return does not tie to the general ledger, the T2 working papers were never reconciled to the trial balance, or nobody kept a schedule for capital assets past the year the business bought them. We close those gaps before the request lands on your desk.
Our accounting team reconciles every bank, credit card and balance sheet account, builds the supporting schedules a reviewer expects, and organizes source documents against whatever request list your accountant or funder sends. When comments come back, we update the specific schedule and log the change instead of leaving your bookkeeper to rebuild the file from scratch.
What stays with a licensed CPA
Public accounting in Canada, meaning an audit, a review engagement or a compilation carrying a formal accountant's report, is licensed at the provincial level, not federally. Each of the ten provincial and territorial CPA bodies runs its own licensing regime, so the engagement itself has to sit with a CPA licensed in the province where your business is registered. Finbryn prepares the books and the file behind that report; we do not perform the engagement or sign the report ourselves.
Reviewed before it reaches you
Northlane Solutions Inc. is the company you contract with, under a written engagement that sets out exactly how your data moves and who touches it. Every file passes a senior principal review before it reaches you.
Getting started
Businesses preparing for a bank covenant review, a CRA request, or a first audit tend to start two to three months ahead of the deadline, which leaves room to clear reconciling items before anyone is waiting on an answer. If your engagement involves a federal or provincial grant, our grant compliance support sets up separate tracking from day one. See pricing for how these engagements are scoped.
All services
Audit and compliance support: every service
- Audit-ready booksMonthly and year-end books maintained with the support and schedules an external auditor expects to see on day one, so fieldwork starts without a scramble to reconstruct records.
- PBC list managementThe auditor's provided-by-client request list tracked item by item, with documents gathered, organized and delivered on schedule instead of chased down in the final week.
- Working paper preparationSupporting schedules and reconciliations built the way an auditor expects to see them, cross-referenced to the trial balance, so review comments come back with fewer open questions.
- Internal controls documentationFinancial process controls, such as who approves a payment or reconciles an account, written down and walked through with your team, so an auditor or funder can see how the numbers are actually produced.
- Grant compliance supportGrant funds tracked separately from other revenue, spent against the approved budget, and documented the way a funder or a single-audit reviewer expects to see it.
- SOC readiness bookkeepingFinancial recordkeeping and evidence-gathering support for companies preparing for a service-organization examination, keeping the accounting-side documentation consistent while the technical control work is led by your security team or examiner.
Questions
Frequently asked questions: Audit and compliance support
Do you perform the audit or sign the review report?
No. We prepare the books, reconciliations and supporting schedules. The audit, review or compilation report itself comes from a CPA licensed in your province, engaged separately.
Does this work under ASPE or IFRS?
Either. Most private Canadian companies report under ASPE; some choose IFRS. We keep the books and schedules consistent with whichever standard your accountant applies.
How early should we start before an audit or bank review?
Two to three months ahead gives the most room to reconcile accounts and clear open items before the reviewer's clock starts.
Can you support a CRA request for records, not just an external audit?
Yes. The same reconciled books, GST/HST tie-outs and supporting schedules we build for an external audit also stand up to a CRA review or request for information.
What exactly do you prepare for an audit, review or compilation engagement?
We reconcile every bank, card and balance sheet account, build supporting schedules for accruals, prepaids and fixed assets, and organize a folder structure that mirrors a typical request list. The trial balance is mapped and tied out before your provincially licensed public accountant starts fieldwork.
What is outside the scope of audit compliance support?
We do not perform the audit, review or compilation itself, and we do not sign the accountant's report. That work stays with a provincially licensed public accountant. We prepare the books and working papers the engagement is built on, not the professional opinion attached to it.
Which software and file formats do you deliver working papers in?
Working papers are built in Excel with cross-references back to QuickBooks Online, Xero, NetSuite or Sage Intacct, whichever holds your books. Files follow a consistent naming and version convention so a reviewing accountant can open the set without a walkthrough from our side.
Who keeps the working papers and PBC files after the engagement ends?
You do. Working papers, reconciliations and the completed PBC tracker are handed over as part of the deliverable and stored in your own file storage or accounting software, so a future audit, review or CRA request can start from a documented base rather than from scratch.
Next step
Talk to the team that would run your books
A short call covers your setup, your software and what a first month would look like. You get a written scope and price after it.