Financial advisor for accountants

Financial planning for CPAs in public practice, in partnership and in industry. You know the tax rules; Kaetyn St. Hilaire, CFA, brings the investment, insurance, retirement and estate side together with them, for accountants in Calgary and across Canada.

CPAs in public practice can incorporate in Alberta, British Columbia and Ontario. The profession's rules and the tax on split income set how much it is worth.

CPA Alberta, CPABC and CPA Ontario each regulate professional corporations for public accounting. In Ontario, every share must be held by members of the profession, so family members cannot be shareholders. Alberta and British Columbia set their own ownership conditions, which should be confirmed with your provincial body before the share structure is set.

Since 2018, dividends to family members who are not actively engaged in the business are generally taxed at the top rate. The excluded shares exception does not apply to shares of a professional corporation, so for most CPA practices the old income splitting is gone, apart from a spouse once the owner is 65.

The election that let accountants leave work in progress out of income was phased out after the 2017 federal budget. Year end WIP is now taxable, which matters when a practice grows quickly or changes its year end.

With Alberta's small business rate at 11% on the first $500,000 of active income, the question is less how to pay yourself this year and more what each choice builds: RRSP room and CPP from salary, retained capital from dividends.

Not every CPA owns a practice. Partners in larger firms and CPAs in finance roles face different decisions.

Partners of larger firms are taxed on their share of partnership income, fund capital accounts, often with a loan, and pay their own instalments. The partnership's retirement terms, and how capital is returned, belong in your retirement plan from the day you are admitted.

CPAs in industry are often paid partly in stock options, RSUs or deferrable bonuses. Those rules sit in employment income rather than business income, and the planning looks more like an executive's than a practitioner's.

Disability, critical illness and key person coverage protect a practice built on one person's ability to work. Buy-sell agreements between partners, funded with insurance, settle what happens to a partner's share on death or disability.

With TOSI closing most dividend splitting, spousal RRSPs and pension income splitting after 65 are the main tools left for balancing household income in retirement.

Selling the shares of a qualified small business corporation can shelter a large gain under the lifetime capital gains exemption, $1.25 million since June 2024. A professional corporation's shares can generally be sold only to another member of the profession, and the corporation must pass the active asset tests, so surplus investments may need to move out well before the sale.

An asset sale of goodwill is taxed inside the corporation, then again when the proceeds come out as dividends. Earn-out terms tied to client retention also spread the proceeds over several years, which affects both tax and the retirement date.

Retained earnings can fund retirement through dividends paid over many years, in amounts chosen to fill lower brackets. Combined with RRSP and RRIF withdrawals, CPP and OAS, that control over timing is one of the most valuable tools a practice owner has.

Accountants spend busy season on everyone else's returns. A plan that brings investments, insurance, estate documents and the corporation into one picture, reviewed outside February to April, is easier to keep current.

Kaetyn is a Calgary-based financial advisor who works with high earners and medical professionals, particularly physicians and dentists navigating the financial complexities that come with high-income careers. He focuses on actionable strategies: the salary-dividend mix inside a professional corporation, RRSP and TFSA contributions, and a long-term investment plan.

A complimentary, no-obligation conversation about your practice, your corporation and your goals, and a clear explanation of how we can help.