A&S Financials — Montréal CPA firm
Fees

How much does an accountant cost in Montréal?

What actually determines an accounting fee in Québec, why quotes vary so widely for what sounds like the same work, and how to compare two proposals properly.

Short answer

Accounting fees in Montréal are driven by complexity rather than headline rates: the number of returns, the condition of the bookkeeping, whether a corporation is involved, and whether both federal and Québec filings are needed. A clean single-T4 personal return sits at the low end; a corporate year-end with reconstruction work at the high end.

What drives the fee

  • Number of returns — a Québec resident needs both a federal and a provincial filing, so the work is roughly double a single-jurisdiction return
  • Condition of the records — reconstructing a year of unreconciled books costs more than the return itself
  • Corporate vs personal — a corporation adds financial statements, a T2, a CO-17 and year-round compliance
  • Sources of income — rental property, investments, foreign assets and self-employment each add schedules and judgment
  • Sales tax and payroll — GST/QST and remittance obligations add recurring periodic work
  • Timing — work delivered in the last two weeks before a deadline costs more everywhere, because it displaces scheduled work

Fixed fee or hourly?

A fixed fee makes sense when the scope is genuinely known — a personal return with a predictable set of slips, or a monthly bookkeeping engagement with steady volume. You get certainty, and the firm carries the risk of it taking longer than expected. Hourly billing makes sense when the scope is not knowable up front: cleanup work, an audit response, or a restructuring where the questions emerge as you go. Quoting a fixed fee for genuinely unknown work usually means the quote is padded to cover the worst case. Ask which one you are being offered and what happens if the work exceeds it. A quote that does not answer that is not a quote.

How to compare two proposals

  • Confirm both cover the same filings — a corporate quote that excludes the CO-17 is not comparable to one that includes it
  • Ask whether bookkeeping cleanup is inside or outside the fee, since this is the largest single variable
  • Ask what happens if the CRA or Revenu Québec asks questions afterwards — some fees include correspondence, some do not
  • Check who does the work and who reviews it
  • Ask whether the fee includes filing, or only preparation

Why the cheapest quote often is not

The lowest quote frequently reflects a narrower scope rather than a better rate — bookkeeping excluded, the provincial return excluded, correspondence billed separately, no review by a CPA. That is not necessarily wrong, and for a simple situation it may be exactly right. It just is not the same product, and the difference tends to surface at the point where you most need it to have been included.

Typical engagements

Typical engagements
EngagementFee
Personal tax return (T1 + TP-1)Quoted after a scoping call
Self-employed / sole proprietor returnQuoted after a scoping call
Corporate year-end (T2 + CO-17)Quoted after a scoping call
Monthly bookkeepingQuoted after a scoping call
Payroll processingQuoted after a scoping call
Tax planning engagementQuoted after a scoping call
CRA / Revenu Québec audit representationQuoted after a scoping call

Every engagement is quoted after a short scoping call, because the same service can differ several-fold in effort depending on the state of your records. The call is free and there is no obligation.

FAQ

How much does a personal tax return cost in Montréal?

It depends primarily on how many income sources you have and whether both a federal T1 and a Québec TP-1 are required — which, for a Québec resident, they always are. A return with a single T4 and standard credits is straightforward. Rental income, investment income, self-employment, a property sale or foreign assets each add schedules and judgment, and move the fee accordingly. We quote after a short call rather than from a price list, because the same description can mean very different amounts of work.

How much does a corporate year-end cost?

A corporate engagement covers more than the return: financial statements, the federal T2, the Québec CO-17, and usually GST/QST and payroll reconciliation. The largest variable by far is the state of the bookkeeping — a corporation arriving with reconciled books and a clean trial balance costs substantially less than one arriving with a year of bank statements. Ask any firm to quote both scenarios so you can see the difference.

Do you charge for the first conversation?

No. The initial call is free and is used to scope the work so we can quote it properly. If your situation turns out to be simpler than you expected, we will say so.

Is a cheaper accountant a false economy?

Not automatically. For a simple employment-income return, a lower-cost preparer may be entirely appropriate. The false economy appears where judgment matters — a missed election, a deduction not claimed, a structure set up in a way that costs more to unwind than it saved. The cost of those is usually a multiple of the fee difference, and it lands years later.

Can I pay monthly instead of once a year?

Yes. Many clients prefer a monthly arrangement that spreads bookkeeping, sales-tax filings, payroll and the year-end across the year rather than absorbing one large invoice at year-end. It also means the work is current, which usually makes the year-end cheaper.

Want a number for your situation?

A 30-minute call is enough to scope most engagements and give you a real figure — not a range.

Contact (438) 375-3649