TL;DR
- ConnectCPA is a Canadian cloud accounting firm founded in Toronto in 2014 by Mike Pinkus and Lior Zehtser. It runs the full finance function for growing companies as an extension of their own team.
- One engagement covers bookkeeping, controllership, payroll, accounts payable and receivable, corporate tax, sales tax, and the financial systems that connect them, instead of splitting that work across a bookkeeper, a payroll provider, a year-end accountant, and a founder filling the gaps.
- The strongest fit is a Canadian company between roughly $2M and $50M in revenue, or a funded company still pre-revenue. Most clients are in SaaS and technology, eCommerce, professional and project-based services, or the non-profit sector.
- Pricing is a fixed monthly fee based on scope, quoted before the engagement starts. Most engagements reach a steady monthly rhythm within 60 to 90 days.
Who Is ConnectCPA?
ConnectCPA is a Canadian cloud accounting firm that runs the full finance function for growing companies as an extension of their own team. Founded in Toronto in 2014 by Mike Pinkus and Lior Zehtser, the firm combines ongoing bookkeeping, controllership, payroll, accounts payable, accounts receivable, corporate tax, and financial systems design and technology into a single monthly engagement, so that a company benefits from a complete finance department without the need to hire internal staff. Cost savings can be significant using a fractional finance model with specialists in each area as opposed to hiring separate people for bookkeeping, payroll, tax and controllership.
Xero has named ConnectCPA Partner of the Year three times, and the firm has appeared on The Globe and Mail's list of Canada's Top Growing Companies for several consecutive years.
Most companies find ConnectCPA at a specific moment. Revenue has crossed a few million. There is a bookkeeper who was hired when the company was much smaller, an accountant who shows up once a year in April, and a founder who still cannot answer a straightforward question like "what was our gross margin last month" without opening Xero, Stripe, Shopify, and a spreadsheet. The books may technically be up to date, and management still does not have a clear view of the business. Nobody is doing anything wrong. The finance function just never got rebuilt to match the size of the company.
That is the gap ConnectCPA fills. Not a bookkeeper. Not a once-a-year tax preparer. But rather, a standing finance team that closes the books every month, keeps the systems clean, files everything on time, and gives the leadership team numbers they can actually make decisions with.
ConnectCPA at a Glance
Who ConnectCPA Works With (And Who It Isn't For)
The typical ConnectCPA client is a Canadian company with roughly $2 million to $50 million in annual revenue, or a pre-revenue company that has raised capital. Revenue is only a guide. Complexity, reporting expectations, the existing team, and the number of systems involved often matter more than the exact size of the company.
ConnectCPA commonly works directly with founders, operations leaders, finance managers, and internal controllers. The setup depends on what the company already has and which parts of the finance function need to be built, fixed, or taken over.
SaaS and Technology Companies
Recurring revenue creates accounting problems that most general bookkeepers have never encountered. Deferred revenue schedules that need maintaining every month. Annual contracts billed upfront but earned over twelve months. Stripe payouts that net out fees, refunds, and chargebacks but add sales taxes before the money hits the bank. Multi-currency revenue when a Canadian company starts selling into the U.S.
The result is a P&L that looks fine but does not tie to reality. A SaaS company can appear to have a strong month simply because several annual contracts renewed in the same week, then look like it collapsed the following month even though the underlying business barely changed. Revenue recognition done properly smooths that out and shows what the business actually earned.
This matters more the moment outside money enters the conversation. A lender or investor reviewing statements where deferred revenue has not been tracked will assume the numbers are unreliable, and they will be right.
The accounting is only one part of the problem. Information also has to move properly between platforms such as Stripe, Xero and QuickBooks Online. When those systems are not connected properly, someone ends up fixing the same issues manually every month.
Founded Technologies, acquired by RBC Ventures and rebranded as Ownr, is a public example. ConnectCPA built a custom Stripe to Xero integration that split each transaction across commissions, government fees, and deferred revenue automatically, rather than leaving the finance team to unpick it after the fact. The case study reports a 75% increase in efficiency and the capacity to absorb a doubling of transaction volume.
eCommerce and Consumer Brands
eCommerce accounting breaks in a different place: the gap between what the sales channel reports and what the accounting system records. Shopify reports gross sales. The bank receives a net deposit after payment processing fees, refunds, gift card liabilities, and marketplace commissions. If those are not separated properly, revenue is understated, fees disappear into a catch-all expense account, and gross margin becomes unreliable. A clean bank reconciliation does not mean the sales data is right.
Add inventory, landed costs, duties, and a marketplace facilitator regime where Amazon and Etsy remit sales tax on your behalf but Shopify leaves it entirely to you, and the compliance surface grows quickly. In many cases, these issues are not discovered until the company is preparing for year-end, financing or a CRA review.
Inspired Go, a Canadian meal delivery business, is a public example. ConnectCPA built the workflow around Xero, A2X, Plooto and Dext to handle Shopify revenue, gift cards, promotions, deferred revenue and vendor payments. The case study reports 100% transaction accuracy, a 20% reduction in month-end close time, and a system built to handle up to 25 times the transaction volume without a rebuild.
Professional and Project-Based Service Businesses
Agencies, consultancies, engineering firms, and other project-based businesses usually have the opposite problem. Revenue is simple. Cost allocation is not.
The question that matters is which clients and which projects are actually profitable, and answering it requires the accounting system and the project tracking system to agree on how time and costs get coded. In practice they rarely do. A healthy blended gross margin can hide one project running very well and another barely breaking even, with no visibility into which is which. That is not a bookkeeping problem. That is a systems design problem, and it usually needs fixing before the reporting means anything.
Prolucid, a software engineering company with multiple entities, currencies and heavy intercompany activity, is a public example. ConnectCPA automated payroll through Wagepoint, moved expense reimbursements onto Dext, and implemented Translucent for intercompany balancing. The case study reports an 85% reduction in manual payroll entries, 35% faster expense reimbursements, and 100% balance sheet accuracy, alongside quarterly controllership including gross margin analysis.
Non-Profit Organizations
Non-profits are a growing part of the client base, and their finance requirements sit apart from everything above.
Fund accounting is the core difference. A charity that has raised $3M is not sitting on $3M it can spend. Restricted grant funding has to be tracked separately from unrestricted operating funds, spent against the terms of each grant agreement, and reported back to each funder on that funder's schedule and in that funder's format. Miss the tracking and the organization can be technically solvent and functionally unable to make payroll.
Layer on the T3010 registered charity information return, board and audit committee reporting, donation receipt requirements, and the reality that most non-profits are staffed by program people rather than finance people, and the case for a dedicated finance team that the organization does not have to build itself is strong.
TakingITGlobal, a Canadian youth-focused charity operating internationally, has worked with ConnectCPA since December 2020. The engagement covers over 5,200 transactions a month across 38 unique projects and grants, 21 bank, direct deposit and expense card accounts, operations in both CAD and USD, Float cards issued to more than 160 grantees, and the annual filing of 300 contractor T4A slips. It runs on Xero, Airtable, Zapier, Plooto, Expensify, Dext and Float, connected to the organization's own project reporting platform.
Who ConnectCPA Isn't For
Being direct about this saves everyone time.
ConnectCPA is generally not the right fit for pre-revenue startups that need a few hours of bookkeeping a month, for businesses still running on paper or desktop software with no intention of moving to the cloud, or for companies looking strictly for the lowest-cost bookkeeping option available. The model is built around a finance function, not a low-cost transaction coding service. A company that needs a $300 a month data entry service is better served elsewhere, and ConnectCPA will usually say so and make recommendations of other providers on the discovery call.
What ConnectCPA Actually Does
Most engagements combine several of the services below. The point is not to sell seven disconnected services. It is to have one team own the work from day-to-day transactions through monthly reporting and annual compliance.
The Technology Is Part of the Accounting Work
The technology layer is worth calling out separately, because it is where a lot of the leverage sits and it is where ConnectCPA adds the most value. The firm is Xero and QuickBooks Online certified, working with tools including Dext for document capture, Plooto for payables, Float for corporate cards and spend management, Wagepoint and Payworks for payroll, A2X for eCommerce data, and Zapier alongside custom automations and proprietary workflows for the connective tissue between systems.
Any firm can put a row of software logos on a website. The harder part is deciding which system is the source of truth, how information should move between platforms, where approval and review need to happen, and who owns an exception when something does not tie.
Not every process should be automated. Some steps need judgment, review, or a clear control. The work is building a workflow that removes repetitive effort without removing the checks that keep the numbers reliable.
When the setup is wrong, someone fixes the same mismatch every month. When it is right, the information arrives clean, which is the actual reason the monthly close is fast.
How a ConnectCPA Engagement Works
The exact process changes with the company, but most engagements follow the same sequence.
1. Reach out and confirm fit. The first call covers the business, the current finance setup, the problems management is trying to solve, and which services might be needed. It is also where ConnectCPA decides whether it is the right firm. Sometimes the honest answer is that the company is too early, or its needs are simple enough for a smaller provider.
2. Complete a finance and technology deep dive. If there is a fit, ConnectCPA looks closely at the accounting file, bank and credit card accounts, payroll, billing, accounts payable, revenue systems, reporting requirements, entities, jurisdictions, and the software moving information between them. This is where scope becomes clear. Two companies with identical revenue can need very different finance functions.
3. Recommend the right scope. ConnectCPA sets out what it should own, what stays with the client, which systems need to change, what reporting is required, and how often the company wants to meet with a controller. The recommendation follows the actual problem rather than forcing every company into the same package.
4. Agree on a fixed monthly fee. The fee is quoted before the engagement begins. The proposal covers recurring services, responsibilities, reporting cadence, and anything falling outside regular scope. Significant historical cleanup or a separate systems project is identified and priced separately, so it does not appear later as a surprise invoice.
5. Onboard people, access, and responsibilities. ConnectCPA collects system access, confirms who owns each task, sets up communication channels, and builds the recurring calendar for reporting, filings, payroll, approvals, and meetings. Both teams should know who owns what from day one.
6. Review the books before rebuilding the workflow. Moving the existing data without reviewing it just moves the existing problems too. The team works through the balance sheet, reconciliations, sales tax, revenue treatment, outstanding items, and supporting schedules before deciding what carries forward. Cleanup happens alongside the systems work, so the new monthly process starts from numbers that can be trusted.
7. Build the ongoing monthly rhythm. ConnectCPA implements the agreed systems, automations, coding structure, approval workflows, close procedures, controller review, and reporting package.
Most engagements reach a steady monthly rhythm within 60 to 90 days. Historical cleanup, multiple entities, or a larger technology implementation can extend that. Once it is working, the company knows what it receives each month, when it arrives, and who is responsible for every part of the process.
How Engagements Are Structured
ConnectCPA works in three tiers:
Essentials establishes the foundation: the accounting tech stack, bookkeeping, payroll, corporate taxes, financial statements, sales tax filings, government representation, and a dedicated team.
Scaling adds a dedicated Controller, monthly or quarterly review meetings, enhanced financial statement review, accounts payable and receivables management, accruals, schedule maintenance for deferred revenue, prepaids and depreciation, budget vs. actual analysis, and statements ready for investors, banks, and boards.
Custom is for companies with complexity: multiple entities, intercompany transactions, cross-border operations, unusual revenue models, or a need for custom automation and a faster close.
The practical difference between Essentials and Scaling is not the volume of work. Essentials answers the question "are the books done, accurate and compliant?" Scaling adds a Controller who answers "what do these numbers mean, and what should we do next?" Companies typically move from one package to the other when the questions being asked of finance stop being "are the books done" and start being "can we afford to hire four people in Q3?"
How ConnectCPA Pricing Works
ConnectCPA charges a fixed monthly fee based on the scope of work, not an hourly rate. Pricing is scoped during a discovery call and deep-dive technology meeting and quoted before any engagement begins.
The variables that drive the price are straightforward: monthly transaction volume, the number of bank and credit card accounts and payment channels to reconcile, how many entities and how many jurisdictions are involved, payroll headcount and pay frequency, whether accounts payable and receivable are in scope, and how much controllership review and meeting cadence the company wants.
Fixed fees exist for a reason worth stating plainly. Hourly billing creates a disincentive to ask your accountant questions, and the moment a founder starts rationing questions to avoid a bill, the advisory relationship is already broken. A fixed monthly fee means the conversation about whether to lease or buy, or how to structure a new US entity, happens when it should happen rather than after the decision is made. It also gives clients a predictable, budgeted number.
Fixed does not mean unlimited. Material work outside the agreed scope is discussed and quoted separately. What it does mean is that clients know the recurring cost of their finance function and never have to wonder whether a routine question has started a billing clock.
Why Companies Choose ConnectCPA
One team instead of four vendors
The common starting point is an external bookkeeper and payroll provider, a year-end accountant not connected to the bookkeeper, and a founder acting as the controller. Each provider may be doing its own work properly. The problem is the handoffs. The year-end accountant finds errors in December that have been sitting in the books since March, and the cleanup cost lands as a surprise invoice. The payroll reports do not tie to the general ledger. Nobody is sure who owns the sales tax question. Consolidating the function under one team removes the gaps where things get dropped, and moves problem-solving into the year rather than into a year-end cleanup.
Numbers that arrive on a schedule
Financial statements delivered six weeks after the month-end are a historical record. Delivered by the second week, they are a management tool. A report that arrives after the hiring, pricing, or spending decision has already been made is not much use. The difference is entirely about whether the systems and the close process were built to support the cadence.
Tech-driven, human-led
Automation handles document capture, bank feeds, coding rules, and payment workflows. People handle judgment: how to treat a transaction, whether a number looks wrong, what a trend means for the next two quarters. The goal is not to remove people from accounting. It is to stop accountants spending their time on work a properly designed system can do reliably.
Continuity that a single hire cannot provide
An internal bookkeeper who leaves takes the process knowledge with them, and the company discovers how much was undocumented during the three months it takes to replace them. A firm-based team has redundancy, documented workflows, coverage and CPA oversight built in. It is not the same as an employee sitting inside the business every day, but the finance function does not stop because one person is unavailable.
Canadian tax expertise, not generic bookkeeping
GST/HST and provincial sales tax, input tax credit documentation, shareholder loans and the subsection 15(2) trap, SR&ED, holding company and trust structures, cross-border sales tax exposure for Canadian companies selling into the US. These come up constantly for companies at this size, and they are expensive to get wrong. They are also easier to manage when the tax team is not meeting the books for the first time at year-end.
Common Misconceptions About ConnectCPA
"It's just bookkeeping with a nicer wrapper"
Bookkeeping is one of several services and one part of the value. The engagement includes corporate tax filing, sales tax compliance, payroll, controllership review, and if applicable, systems design. Most clients come for clean books and stay for the controller.
"We're too big to bring in a firm"
The opposite is more often true. Very small companies usually do not need this level of finance function. Growing companies frequently do, especially when they need several finance capabilities at once but do not yet have enough work to justify hiring a bookkeeper, a payroll specialist, a controller, a tax team, and a systems person internally. ConnectCPA commonly works with companies between roughly $2M and $50M in revenue, and larger companies use Custom engagements for specific parts of the finance function.
"You'll replace our team"
Most engagements sit alongside internal staff rather than replacing them. A common structure is a finance manager or operations lead handling financial operations and vendor communication, with ConnectCPA owning the close, compliance, and reporting. When there is an internal controller, the firm often takes the transactional layer so the controller can focus on analysis and planning.
"Bringing in a firm means offshore call centres and no relationship"
Clients work with a named, dedicated team with CPA and controller oversight, not a ticket queue. ConnectCPA has team members in Canada and the Philippines, and all Canadian tax and compliance work is handled by the Canadian accounting and controllership team. The distinction that matters is whether you know who is doing your work and whether you can reach them.
"We'd lose control of our numbers"
Clients own their accounting file, their data, and their systems. The firm works inside the client's Xero or QuickBooks environment, not a proprietary black box, which also means a client who ever leaves takes a clean, functioning system with them.
ConnectCPA vs. The Alternatives
Most companies at this stage are choosing between four paths.
The freelance bookkeeper and year-end accountant model can work well for a long time. Pressure usually starts when the company adds another entity, begins selling across borders, takes on debt or outside investment, introduces a more complicated revenue model, or needs reporting that the original setup was never designed to produce.
The warning sign is not a specific revenue number. It is the point where management no longer trusts the reporting, the founder has become the controller, or every month requires the same manual repair work.
The Bottom Line
ConnectCPA is a Canadian cloud accounting firm that acts as the finance team for growing companies. It brings bookkeeping, controllership, corporate tax, sales tax, payroll, accounts payable, accounts receivable, and financial systems together under one fixed monthly engagement.
The strongest fit is usually a company that needs more than a bookkeeper but is not ready, or does not want, to build every finance role internally. The business may be growing quickly, operating across several systems or entities, reporting to investors or a board, or simply tired of piecing the numbers together every month.
ConnectCPA is not the right firm for every business, and that is useful to establish early. The first conversation is usually straightforward: what is working, what is not, who owns each part of finance today, and what it would cost to build a finance function around the business as it exists now.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is ConnectCPA?
ConnectCPA is a Canadian cloud accounting firm, founded in Toronto in 2014, that runs the full finance function for growing companies as an extension of their own team. It provides bookkeeping, controllership, corporate and sales tax, payroll, accounts payable and receivable, and accounting systems design under a single fixed monthly fee. The firm has worked with over 1,000 businesses in Canada and the United States and employs more than 100 accountants, CPAs, and technology specialists.
What does ConnectCPA do?
ConnectCPA handles the recurring accounting and finance work a growing company would otherwise split among several employees or providers. Depending on scope, that includes monthly bookkeeping and close, financial statements, controller review, T2 corporate tax returns, GST/HST and provincial sales tax filings, payroll, accounts payable and receivable, CRA representation, and accounting technology design and implementation.
Who does ConnectCPA work with?
ConnectCPA works primarily with Canadian companies between roughly $2M and $50M in revenue (or pre-revenue with funding). ConnectCPA works well directly with founders, operations leaders, finance managers and internal controllers. The main client groups are SaaS and technology companies, eCommerce and consumer brands, professional and project-based service businesses, and non-profit organizations. The firm also supports Canadian companies with US operations and US-based clients.
Is ConnectCPA just a bookkeeping service?
No. Bookkeeping is one of seven services. The full engagement includes controllership review, compilation engagement financial statements, T2 corporate tax filings, GST/HST and provincial sales tax filings, payroll, accounts payable and receivable, CRA representation, and accounting technology design and implementation.
Is ConnectCPA an outsourced accounting firm?
That is how many people describe the category, but it does not describe how the engagement actually works. Outsourcing implies handing a process to a vendor and receiving output. ConnectCPA operates as an extension of the client's team: a named group of accountants, controllers, and CPAs who work inside the company's own Xero or QuickBooks Online file, join leadership meetings, and are reachable the way an internal finance team would be. The client owns the systems and the data. The difference from an internal hire is that the capability arrives as a full team with CPA oversight rather than one person at a time.
What is the difference between ConnectCPA Essentials and Scaling?
Essentials establishes the accounting foundation: the tech stack, bookkeeping, payroll, corporate tax, financial statements, sales tax filings, government representation, and a dedicated team. Scaling adds a dedicated Controller, monthly or quarterly review meetings, enhanced financial statement review, accounts payable and receivable, accruals, schedule maintenance for deferred revenue and prepaids, budget vs. actual analysis, and statements ready for investors, banks and boards.
Does ConnectCPA replace a CFO?
Not exactly. ConnectCPA provides the accounting and controllership layer that a CFO, Finance Manager or Founder relies on: accurate monthly financials, clean systems, compliance, and reporting. Many clients operate without a CFO or Finance Lead for years because that layer is handled well. Companies that need capital raising, M&A, or complex financial strategy typically add a fractional or full-time CFO who works from ConnectCPA's data rather than building the reporting themselves.
Can ConnectCPA work alongside an internal finance team?
Yes. Many engagements sit alongside a finance manager, operations lead, internal controller, or CFO. ConnectCPA can own the transactional work, month-end close, compliance, systems, or reporting while the internal team focuses on the areas that need daily company context.
How much does ConnectCPA cost?
ConnectCPA charges a fixed monthly fee, quoted after a discovery and deep-dive technology call. The fee depends on transaction volume, the number of accounts and payment channels, entity and jurisdiction count, payroll headcount, whether AP and AR are in scope, systems complexity, and the level of controllership review required. There are three tiers: Essentials, Scaling, and Custom.
What accounting software does ConnectCPA use?
ConnectCPA is a Xero specialist and also works in QuickBooks Online. The broader stack typically includes Dext for document capture, Plooto for accounts payable, Float for corporate cards and real-time cash visibility, Wagepoint and Payworks for payroll, A2X for eCommerce data, and Zapier for integrations, connected to platforms such as Shopify and Stripe.
Does ConnectCPA work with non-profits?
Yes. Non-profit and charitable organizations are part of ConnectCPA's client base, including TakingITGlobal, a Canadian charity operating internationally. Non-profit engagements address requirements that differ from for-profit accounting, including fund accounting for restricted and unrestricted funds, grant and project reporting against funder agreements, T3010 registered charity information return support, donation receipting, payroll and contractor T4A filing, and board and audit committee reporting.
Does ConnectCPA handle CRA filings and audits?
Yes. Many engagements can include T2 corporate tax return filings, GST/HST and provincial sales tax filings, payroll remittances, and T4 and T4A preparation. ConnectCPA also provides CRA representation, meaning the firm handles correspondence, reviews, and audit responses on the client's behalf.
What size company is ConnectCPA best for?
Companies from roughly $2M to $50M in revenue (or pre-revenue but funded) see the strongest fit. Below $2M, most businesses do not yet need a full finance function and are better served by a bookkeeper, although ConnectCPA is happy to assess fit. Above $50M, companies typically have enough volume to justify a dedicated internal finance team, though ConnectCPA continues to support larger organizations through Custom engagements.
How does ConnectCPA compare to hiring an in-house bookkeeper or controller?
An in-house hire gives daily availability and deep company knowledge, but concentrates the entire finance function in one person, which creates continuity risk and a fixed cost in salary, benefits, and software. ConnectCPA provides a team with CPA oversight, documented workflows, and a fixed monthly fee that adjusts as the business grows. Many companies use both: an internal finance lead for day-to-day operations, with ConnectCPA owning close, compliance, and reporting.
Does ConnectCPA work with US companies or Canadian companies operating in the US?
Yes. ConnectCPA works with US-based clients and with Canadian companies that have US operations, customers, currencies, payment platforms, or sales tax exposure. The exact scope depends on the entities, jurisdictions, and cross-border requirements involved.
How long does onboarding take?
Most engagements reach a steady monthly rhythm within 60 to 90 days. The timeline covers scoping, assessment of the existing books, any historical cleanup required, and the design and implementation of the accounting systems. Engagements with significant historical remediation, multiple entities, or a larger systems implementation take longer, and that work is scoped separately.
Where is ConnectCPA located?
ConnectCPA operates remotely and serves clients across Canada and the United States. ConnectCPA was founded in Toronto, Canada and employs over 100 dedicated accountants, bookkeepers, payroll and payment specialists, including technology enthusiasts.
