For accounting firms
Review support
Review support gives Canadian accounting firms a second set of eyes on files their own staff already prepared: trial balances tied to workpapers, GST/HST reconciliations checked for open variances and a documented list of questions, delivered before a file reaches the partner for sign-off.
Engagement tracker
Illustrative client · August 2026
CAD
- Client file access set up under your firm's nameDone
- Monthly books prepared to your review standardDone
- Review notes cleared and loggedIn progress
- Reports sent to your partner for sign-offNext
- Year-end workpapers staged for your preparerNext
Illustrative. An example of the document, not a client's figures.
Partner time is the bottleneck, not the fix
In most Canadian practices, the scarcest hours in the building belong to the partner who has to sign off on everything. Review support inserts a checkpoint ahead of that sign-off, so the partner spends time on judgment calls, not on finding arithmetic that never tied in the first place.
The pass itself
Every trial balance gets traced back to its supporting workpapers. Bank and GST/HST reconciliations are checked for anything left unresolved past a normal cutoff. The file is measured against your firm's own review checklist, whatever form that takes, rather than a generic one we bring in. Anything that fails to tie, or any document that is missing, goes on a written open-items list instead of a verbal flag that gets lost in an inbox.
Built around your calendar, not ours
We agree turnaround windows to match how your firm actually reviews files: a faster turnaround agreed in writing for the run-up to a T2 deadline, weekly the rest of the year, or whatever rhythm your partners already keep. The pace is set by your practice, not by us.
The line we do not cross
A review pass is not a substitute for partner sign-off, and it is not a compilation, review or audit engagement, categories that require a provincially licensed CPA in every Canadian province. What it does is shorten how long that sign-off takes, and catch the kind of miss that is expensive once a return has already gone out through EFILE.
Pairs naturally with other services
Firms typically layer review support onto busy-season T1 and T2 prep support when volume spikes for filing season, and onto white-label bookkeeping the rest of the year, so every file gets the same level of scrutiny regardless of why the workload jumped.
Questions
Frequently asked questions: Review support
Does review support replace our partner's final sign-off?
No. It happens before partner review, catching ties and open items so the partner's own sign-off goes faster, not instead of it.
Can you follow our firm's existing review checklist?
Yes. We work to whatever checklist or standard your firm already applies rather than substituting our own.
Is this a compilation, review or audit engagement?
No. Any engagement needing a public accountant's report stays with a provincially licensed CPA on your side. This is a documented review pass on files your own staff prepared.
What exactly is included in review support?
Trial balances tied to supporting workpapers before partner review, and reconciliations checked for completeness and unresolved variances. This work runs inside QuickBooks Online or Xero, whichever your business already has in place, and it rolls into your regular monthly close rather than sitting off to the side as a separate, unreconciled process.
What happens to our review support records if we switch providers?
Everything stays inside your own QuickBooks Online or Xero account, so the full history transfers with the subscription, not with Finbryn. You can hand review support to another provider or bring it in-house at any point without losing a reconciliation or having to rebuild the file first.
Does this replace our partner's sign-off?
No. We check the file ahead of partner review; your partner remains the one who signs off.
Can you follow our own review checklist?
Yes. We work to whatever checklist or standard your firm already applies to file review.
What if our records for review support are not up to date?
If your records are behind, we scope a catch-up first so review support starts from a clean, reconciled base. That catch-up is priced and timed separately from the ongoing engagement, so you always know what each part costs.
Who reviews the work before it reaches us?
Every deliverable under review support is reviewed by a senior principal before it reaches you. You keep access to the underlying file at every stage, so nothing about the work happens somewhere you cannot see it.
Related services
- For accounting firmsWhite-label bookkeepingMonthly bookkeeping produced under your firm's own name and templates, so your clients see your brand while our team handles sorting transactions into categories, reconciling and reporting behind it.
- For accounting firmsBusy season tax prep supportPreparation-support capacity for firms during filing season: source documents put in order, workpapers built and draft returns assembled for your credentialed preparers to review and sign.
Industries
- Professional servicesBookkeeping for professional service firms such as engineering, architecture and IT consulting billing clients by project or retainer.
- Startups and VC-backed companiesBookkeeping and reporting for early-stage, venture-backed companies watching burn, runway and investor reporting closely.
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.