Kitchener-Waterloo based · Serving real estate teams and brokerages across Canada.
Your bank wants financial statements before the credit line renews. Or your brokerage wants them. Or a partner, a landlord, or the other side of a deal you are trying to close.
They are asking for a compilation engagement, prepared and signed by a licensed CPA firm. Most business owners have never heard the term. Almost everyone still calls it a Notice to Reader.
We prepare them for real estate teams and brokerages, from books we already keep, usually within the same week you ask.
A compilation engagement is a set of financial statements prepared by a CPA firm from information you provide, with a Compilation Engagement Report attached. The report states who prepared the statements, on what basis, and who they are intended for.
Since December 2021 they have been governed by CSRS 4200, the Canadian standard that replaced the old Notice to Reader. The change matters: CSRS 4200 requires the accountant to describe the basis of accounting used, and to name the third parties the statements were prepared for. Lenders now expect to see that.
A compilation carries no audit and no assurance opinion. That is not a shortcoming. For an owner-managed real estate business it is almost always exactly what the lender asked for, and it costs a fraction of the alternatives.
Operating line renewals, equipment finance, a commercial mortgage, or a personal mortgage where the lender needs to see the corporation behind your income. Most Canadian lenders will accept a compilation for an owner-managed business.
Franchise agreements and brokerage arrangements often require annual statements. So do some provincial filings and licensing requirements.
Bringing in a partner, buying out a partner, selling the business, or a matrimonial matter. Anything where someone needs to see the numbers and take them seriously.
Your T2 corporate return is built from the same underlying numbers. When the statements and the return are prepared by the same firm, they agree. When they are not, that is where questions start.
A generalist preparing statements for a real estate team is working with a chart of accounts that was never built for one. Agent commissions, referral fees, brokerage charges and team leader production get posted wherever there is room. The statements balance. They just do not describe the business.
That is survivable at year end and expensive the rest of the time, because those are the same books you are trying to run the business from.
We keep books that are structured for real estate from the first entry, reconciled monthly against your brokerage production reports. The statements come out of that, which is why they take days rather than weeks.
| 1 |
Tell us who is asking and by whenThe intended user changes what the report says, so we need to know whether it is your bank, your brokerage, a partner or a lawyer. If there is a deadline, say so on the first call. |
| 2 |
We check the books are readyIf we already keep them, they are. If you are coming from somewhere else, we tell you what needs cleaning up and what that costs before we start, not after. |
| 3 |
We prepare and signStatements prepared to CSRS 4200, with the Compilation Engagement Report attached, signed by a licensed CPA firm. You sign electronically through the portal. |
| 4 |
You send themA single PDF you can forward. If your lender comes back with questions, we answer them directly. You are not the messenger between your bank and your accountant. |
It is the replacement for it. Notice to Reader was the old Canadian standard. CSRS 4200 took over for periods ending on or after 14 December 2021. If your lender asks for a Notice to Reader, a compilation is what they need.
For an owner-managed real estate business, a compilation is usually what the lender expects. Audits and reviews are more common where there are outside shareholders, regulatory requirements or large facilities. If yours genuinely requires assurance, we will tell you that on the call and point you to a firm that does that work.
If we keep your books, usually within the same week. If we do not, it depends on the state of the records. We give you a date before we start.
Only if someone asks. Many lenders require them annually as a condition of the facility. For clients on a monthly engagement, the year-end statements are prepared as part of the work rather than as a separate scramble.
Yes, and we do. We will review what is there first and tell you what needs correcting before the statements can be prepared properly.
For clients on a monthly engagement, compilation statements are included. As a standalone piece of work it is quoted once we have seen the state of the books, and you get the number before we start. See how our pricing works.
A 25 minute call. Tell us who is asking and by when, and we will tell you what is involved and what it costs.