Strategic Planning

Business planning and financial forecasting

• Whether the structure still earns its keep

  A Canadian-controlled private corporation claiming the small business deduction pays 9% federally, and Ontario's lower rate is 3.2%, on active business income up to a $500,000 business limit. That is the headline everyone quotes. The part that decides whether it applies to you is what happens to the limit: corporations you are associated with share one $500,000 limit between them, so a second company can be worth less than it costs.

• The passive income question, answered with your figures

  Once a corporation and its associated corporations earn between $50,000 and $150,000 of adjusted aggregate investment income, the small business limit starts to grind down, and it reaches nil above $150,000. If retained earnings are sitting in investments, that threshold is the single most important number in your structure, and most owners have never seen it calculated against their own portfolio.

• Forecasting that changes a decision

  Cash flow projection, break-even, and what a change in pricing, headcount or financing does over the next three years. A forecast is only useful if some version of it would make you act differently. If every scenario leads to the same choice, I will say so and we will stop, rather than build the model.

• Succession and exit, started early

  The lifetime capital gains exemption for 2025 is set at $1,250,000 on the disposition of qualifying property under the changes the government confirmed in March 2025, giving a maximum deduction of $625,000. Whether a sale qualifies depends on tests applied over a period leading up to it, not on the day you sign. That is the whole argument for starting years ahead rather than months.

• A written position, not a deck

  Every session ends with the decision, the numbers behind it, and what would have to change for the answer to flip. You get that in writing. It is short, and it is meant to be handed to a lawyer, a lender or a business partner without a translation layer.

Preparation records what already happened. Planning is where the numbers still influence the outcome. If you are weighing a decision that will show up on a return two years from now, that is the point at which it is cheapest to get right.

• Strategy session$220 / 75 minutes

Strategy sessions are booked individually. Ongoing advisory engagements are scoped after an initial consultation.

• Customizable to fit needs
• Efficient, time-saving service
• Free initial consultation

What does a $220 session actually produce?

Seventy-five minutes on one specific decision, and a written summary of what was decided and why. Typical subjects: whether to incorporate, how to pay yourself, whether a holding company is justified, or what a sale would look like after tax. You leave with a position, not a brochure.

Should I incorporate?

It depends on whether you can leave money in the company. On the rates the CRA publishes, a small business corporation pays 9% federally plus Ontario's 3.2% lower rate on active business income within the $500,000 business limit, against personal rates that climb well past that. But the advantage is a deferral, not a discount: if you draw every dollar out as salary in the same year, the two roads meet. Set against that is real annual cost, since a T2 is due six months after the year end and must be filed electronically, with a $1,000 penalty for filing it any other way.

Is a holding company worth it?

Sometimes, and the answer usually turns on two thresholds rather than on theory. Corporations that are associated share a single $500,000 business limit, so adding an entity can shrink the low-rate room rather than expand it. And once combined adjusted aggregate investment income across the group passes $50,000, the small business limit begins to grind, reaching nil above $150,000. I run both against your figures before anyone drafts anything.

Is this the same as tax preparation?

No. Preparation reports decisions you already made. Planning is the conversation before those decisions, while the year is still open and the options are still available. The two are complementary and priced separately.

When is planning worth paying for?

When a decision is large enough that being wrong costs more than the session. Incorporating, selling a business, buying or selling property, taking on a first employee, or a year where income will be unusually high or low. If the amount at stake is small, I will tell you so.

I am thinking about selling. When should we start?

Earlier than feels necessary. The lifetime capital gains exemption for 2025 sits at $1,250,000 on qualifying property, a maximum deduction of $625,000, and the general capital gains inclusion rate is one half after the government confirmed in March 2025 that it would not proceed with the proposed increase. Whether your shares qualify is not decided at closing: it is tested over a period beforehand, which means a company that does not qualify today may be able to, given lead time. A buyer arriving first removes most of that room.

Do you handle forecasting?

Yes. Cash flow projection, break-even analysis, and modelling what a change in pricing, headcount or financing does to the numbers. The point is to see the consequence before committing to it, and to know which assumption the answer is most sensitive to, because that is the one worth arguing about.

What do you need from me?

For most sessions: last year's return, current year figures to date, and a clear statement of the decision you are trying to make. If a corporation is involved, its financial statements and a list of any other corporations you or your family hold shares in, because association is decided by control rather than by intent. Incomplete information is workable; I will tell you what would sharpen the answer.

What if the answer is to do nothing?

Then that is the answer, and you get it in the first session rather than after an engagement. A structure that costs a few thousand a year in filings, bookkeeping and legal work to save less than that is a net loss dressed up as sophistication. I would rather lose the follow-on work than sell you one.