Tax Solutions: The Top 5 Options for Business Tax Filing
Shopping for a tax solution for your business is like shopping for underwear: You want to find a comfortable fit. Here’s our breakdown of the most popular options—the good and the bad.
The best tax solution is the least painful tax solution. When you’re planning how to file taxes for your business, you need to measure the cost in dollars, as well as time—spending too much of either during tax season can cause a real headache. There are DIY options, tax professionals, CPAs, all of which suit different needs and have different costs of tax filing.
To help you compare, here’s a run-down of the most popular tax solutions for small businesses—including what’s good about each, and what’s not so good.
Numinor
Numinor (that’s us) gets your business bookkeeping up to date, then works with licensed tax professionals to file your taxes for you. Numinor is a leading bookkeeping service for small businesses. When you sign up, you can add tax filing services to your package, and take both bookkeeping and taxes off your plate for good. That means more time in your schedule, and less time spent crunching numbers.
If you’re behind on your books, Numinor will get you completely caught up and file your taxes for a one-time fee. It’s kind of like a rescue team swooping in to save you from a stressful tax season.
Features
Federal and provincial filings. There’s no add-on cost for different provinces. Numinor handles all your federal and provincial income taxes for one flat fee.
Every detail handled. We file taxes on investments and rental income, take advantage of every deduction possible for your business, and provide a summary report for your T4 and T5 filings.
Tax instalments. Your Numinor team fills out every remittance form for your tax instalments, and lets you know how much to pay and when.
A qualified team. Numinor’s team of licensed tax pros work with your Numinor bookkeeper to take care of tax filing as soon as your books are done.
All-in-one problem solving. With Numinor, all your business bookkeeping and tax filing is handled in one place, for one annual or monthly fee, coordinated by your dedicated team.
Drawbacks
Price. Numinor pricing varies by your business need. Check out our pricing page for more details.
TurboTax
TurboTax is a popular online tax prep option. It’s cloud-based software—so all your financial info is saved securely and automatically. You can also access it from anywhere, on multiple devices.
For an extra price, you can have TurboTax’s tax professionals lend a hand. However, they’re only there to provide support, not file your taxes for you.
TurboTax is suited to individuals who don’t have much experience filing business taxes, and want a simple interface that walks them through the process. However, for businesses, TurboTax can be prohibitively expensive compared to other software options.
Features
Easy-to-use interface. TurboTax has one of the most straightforward online interfaces of any tax prep software. It’s set up like an interview with an accountant—asking you questions about your business, and letting you provide the answers.
Live video support option. When you pay for live video support, you can connect face to face online with one of TurboTax’s tax pros. They can provide advice and give your taxes a final look over before you file.
Large online community. You can log on to the TurboTax support forums, where users share advice and tax pros answer questions.
QuickBooks integration. If you already use QuickBooks to do your own bookkeeping, it’s easy to import your information into TurboTax.
Drawbacks
High price for businesses. While TurboTax starts at $0 for very simple personal returns, businesses can expect to pay a premium to use the software. Out of all online tax prep software, TurboTax is the most expensive.
Time cost. Even if you’ve got support from a tax pro, it’s up to you to enter all your information and go through the process of completing your return. It isn’t hands-free the same way using an accountant is.
Price of extra support. Unlike paying a tax pro to file taxes for you, you’ll have to pay extra to get help with a TurboTax return. At its heart, TurboTax is software, not a professional service.
No bookkeeping support. Your tax return is only accurate if your bookkeeping is too. TurboTax doesn’t have any way to double check that your bookkeeping is correct or help you catch up if you’re behind.
Price. For sole proprietors, TurboTax’s “Self-Employed” package is approx $60 per return. For incorporated businesses, TurboTax Business Incorporated starts at roughly $250.
H&R Block Online
H&R Block’s brick and mortar locations have long been the one stop option of choice for people filing individual or small business taxes. Their H&R Block software offers most of the same functionality as TurboTax or UFile, with the added option of both online and in-person support.
If you run a sole proprietorship, H&R Block Online may be a less expensive alternative to TurboTax. However, H&R Block Online only caters to sole props. Corporations and partnerships are out of luck.
Features
Comparable to TurboTax, with a lower price. H&R gives you the same tools as TurboTax, but it often costs less for small businesses. That includes online live support for an extra cost.
In-person support. If you want to talk face-to-face with a tax pro, appointments are available at H&R Block locations across Canada.
Tax review services. For an additional fee, an online H&R Block tax pro will review your business tax return, and help identify any deductions or credits you may be missing.
Drawbacks
Sole props only. If you’re a sole prop now, but transition to a Corporation down the road, you’ll have to change tax prep services.
CPAs not guaranteed. H&R Block guarantees that all its in-house tax pros get training. But not all of them are CPAs—meaning you could get a lower level of service than if you hired an accountant.
No monthly bookkeeping. H&R Block Online doesn’t handle day-to-day income and expense tracking. You’ll need to have all your bookkeeping for the year up to date and organized before you can use H&R Block Online to file your taxes.
Price: For sole proprietors, H&R Block offers the Self-Employed Online package, which is designed to handle the complexities of self-employment income and expenses. The cost for this package is roughly $50 per return.
UFile
A low budget alternative to TurboTax and H&R Block, UFile has similar features, with a little less polish. You can do the same things with UFile as you can with other tax prep software. But expect a plainer interface, and fewer pop-up menus to help you along the way.
UFile is a good choice if you’re already comfortable filing business taxes, and want to save a bit on the price of tax prep software.
Features
All business structures supported. Unlike some online platforms that restrict you to sole proprietorships, UFile offers specific software solutions for T2 Corporate returns as well.
Carry forward. Easily carry forward data from previous years if you have used UFile in the past.
Drawbacks
Less detailed professional tax review. While support is available, it lacks the robust live-video review options of premium competitors.
Not beginner-friendly. UFile's interface is less intuitive than other tax prep options. If you’re new to tax prep software or filing taxes for your business, working with UFile may come with a steeper learning curve.
Price. UFile for T1 returns (Self-Employed) starts around $25. UFile T2 (for Corporations) is sold separately and typically costs around $150.
Local Accountant
The biggest benefit to hiring an accountant is that they file your taxes for you. Any qualified accountant should be able to take all your bookkeeping info for the year, and prepare a tax return for you. They can also help you identify deductions, and find other ways to save your business money.
Hiring a local accountant comes with the benefit of in-person meetings. They’re also able to work with paper records, which is handy if your business makes a lot of cash transactions.
All that being said, hiring an accountant is the most expensive way to file your taxes.
Features
Experience. Services like H&R Block Online can’t guarantee the experience level of their in-house pros, save the amount of time the company spends training them. On the other hand, most local accountants are only too happy to advertise their credentials—making it easier to find a certified expert (CPA).
Face to face interaction. If you like being able to sit down across from your accountant and have a conversation with them—no emails, no texts—then a local accountant is a good choice.
Paper friendly. Most online tax prep services work primarily with digital files, so importing paper records usually means photographing them and uploading them in the software. If you have a lot of physical paperwork, an accountant can take it off your hands, literally.
Drawbacks
Cost. Accountants are always the most expensive option.
Unavailability. Online tax prep options let you instantly message in-house experts when you have questions. While you can always phone or email a local accountant, they may not get back to you right away—especially during tax season, the busiest time of year for accountants.
Catch-up bookkeeping is expensive. If you’re behind on your bookkeeping, your accountant can bring it up to date for you. However, you’ll pay a premium for them to do it—far more than if you hire a bookkeeper during the year.
Price. Having your taxes filed by an accountant costs between $300 and $2,000+, depending on the size, complexity, and structure of your business (Sole Proprietorship vs. Corporation). You’ll need to pay more if your business records are disorganized or your bookkeeping isn’t caught up and tax-ready.
Whichever route you choose, the goal is the same: file accurately, claim what you’re entitled to, and avoid the last-minute scramble. And if you want the hands-free option this year, Numinor’s here to help—bookkeeping and taxes, handled in one place.
Let us take bookkeeping off your hands. Forever.
See how Numinor can help your finances with a personalized demo. Get your first month of books free when you sign up.
