Most Ontario business owners don’t find out their HST tracking has gaps until it costs them something — an overpaid remittance, a missed input tax credit, or a CRA letter asking for records that take a weekend to reconstruct. The good news: five minutes of honest answers will tell you where you stand.
Run through the checkup below. You don’t need your books open — if you can’t answer a question from memory, that’s an answer too.
The HST Tracking Checkup
1. Sales tax you collect
- Do you know, today, how much HST you’ve collected so far this filing period?
- Is HST applied automatically at the right rate (13% in Ontario) on every invoice, or entered by hand each time?
- If you sell to customers outside Ontario, do you know which rate applies to those sales?
2. Input tax credits (ITCs)
- Are you claiming the HST back on your eligible business purchases — materials, software, equipment, supplies?
- Could you list your largest ITC claims from your last return, and show the receipt behind each one?
- Do you know which common expenses (like meals or passenger vehicles) have special ITC rules?
3. Receipts and source documents
- Are your receipts stored somewhere you could actually find them — attached in QuickBooks Online, or at least filed by month?
- If the CRA asked for the paperwork behind one expense from eight months ago, could you produce it in minutes rather than days?
4. Your CRA balance and payments
- Do you know your current balance with the CRA — what you owe or what’s owed to you?
- Are your remittances paid on schedule, or do due dates sometimes surprise you?
- Do you set HST money aside as you collect it, or does it sit mixed in with operating cash?
5. Filing periods and deadlines
- Do you know your assigned filing frequency — monthly, quarterly, or annual — and your next filing deadline?
- Have any of your last four returns been filed late, or filed with numbers you weren’t confident in?
6. Your books behind it all
- Is the HST on your returns pulled from reconciled bookkeeping, or reconstructed from bank statements at filing time?
- Does your accounting file (QuickBooks Online or otherwise) agree with what you actually filed last period?
How did you do?
Mostly confident answers? Your HST tracking is likely in good shape. Keep receipts attached to transactions and reconcile monthly, and filing stays easy. The free HST Filing Checklist is a handy way to double-check each period.
Two or more “no” or “not sure” answers? You’re in the most common group. Gaps like these usually mean money is being left on the table in unclaimed ITCs, or building toward a stressful filing. None of it is hard to fix — it’s the sort of thing a bookkeeper sorts out in the normal course of setting up your books properly.
Couldn’t answer most of them? Don’t feel bad — this is exactly why we built this page, and you’re far from alone. It usually means HST hasn’t been tracked as you go, and the fix is a catch-up: going back through the records period by period so your next return is filed from real numbers. We do this regularly. There’s no judgment, just a clear plan.
What BKInk does with your answers
Tell us how your checkup went — that’s genuinely all the preparation a consultation needs. We’ll look at how you’re tracking HST today, show you what we’d tighten up, and give you a straightforward quote if you’d like help. Everything runs in QuickBooks Online alongside your bookkeeping, so HST stops being a separate chore: rates apply automatically, ITCs are captured with documentation attached, and your return reconciles to your books every period. Learn more about our HST Filing Services, or if your QuickBooks file itself needs attention first, our Support for QuickBooks Online starts there.
Tell us how it went
Frequently Asked Questions
1. I answered “not sure” to almost everything. How bad is that?
It’s a common starting point, and it’s fixable. The usual path is a one-time catch-up to bring your HST and books current, then simple monthly tracking so you never fall behind again. See our Bookkeeping Services for how ongoing tracking works.
2. Do I even need to charge HST yet?
In general, GST/HST registration may become mandatory if your taxable supplies exceed $30,000 in a single calendar quarter, or over the previous four or fewer consecutive calendar quarters. Timing can depend on your exact facts, so confirm your situation before relying on a filing date. Some businesses also register voluntarily earlier to recover ITCs. If you’re near the line, that’s worth a conversation — we’ll help you work through what applies to you.
3. What records does the CRA actually expect me to keep?
Invoices showing HST charged, receipts supporting every ITC claimed, and books that tie the two to your filed returns. The practical standard: anything on a return should be traceable to a document in minutes.
4. Can you fix months (or years) of untracked HST?
Yes — HST cleanup and catch-up is one of our most requested services. We go back period by period, track and reconcile the HST, capture missed ITCs where documentation allows, and bring you current.
5. Is this checkup a substitute for advice about my situation?
No — it’s a general self-assessment to help you see where you stand. Your registration timing, filing frequency, and eligible credits depend on your circumstances. That’s what the free consultation is for.
Found a gap? Let’s close it.
Whether your checkup surfaced one loose end or a year of catch-up, the next step is the same: a free, no-pressure consultation. Tell us what you found and we’ll show you exactly how we’d fix it — and what it would cost.
This checkup is general information for Ontario businesses, not tax, accounting, or legal advice. Your obligations depend on your specific circumstances.