CRA My Business Account: Everything You Need to Set Up

CRA My Business Account lets an owner or director manage a business's tax accounts, correspondence and representatives. Access starts with your personal CRA sign-in, followed by linking the business. Those are separate verification steps.

1. Find the corporation's existing Business Number

A Business Number (BN) has nine digits. A program account adds two letters and four digits: for example, 123456789RT0001 identifies a GST/HST account, while RC identifies corporation income tax and RP identifies payroll.

Check incorporation documents and CRA correspondence before registering another BN. New BC corporations receive a BN through incorporation; a separate federal-registration checkbox is not the requirement. See BC's Business Number guidance and CRA's instructions for finding an existing BN.

2. Sign in or register as yourself

If you already use CRA My Account, My Business Account or Represent a Client, use your existing credentials. CRA now provides access to these services through one sign-in.

Choose a CRA user ID, a participating bank's Sign-In Partner credentials, or an eligible provincial partner account from Alberta or BC. For a new CRA user ID or bank-based registration, have your SIN, date of birth, amounts from your latest assessed personal return from the last two years, and a multi-factor authentication method ready. CRA also accepts specified alternative tax identifiers where applicable. Provincial-partner registration has different requirements and can work without a previously filed return. Follow CRA's registration instructions for your route.

Your corporation's BN and legal name do not replace this personal identity check. Use your own credentials, including when signing in through a bank.

3. Complete identity verification

For CRA user ID and Sign-In Partner registration, you can use CRA's document verification service with an accepted photo ID and mobile device, or request a mailed security code. Successful document verification can provide immediate access. Mail is an alternative, not a mandatory business-registration step.

For a mailed code, CRA asks for your current mailing postal or ZIP code and sends the letter to the address it has on file. Enter it before its expiry date. If it has not arrived after 10 business days, follow CRA's recovery instructions. An eligible provincial-partner sign-in does not require document verification or a CRA security code. See CRA identity verification.

4. Add the business and link your SIN

An owner, partner or director needs their name and SIN on CRA's business record. From the CRA welcome page:

1. Select +Add account, then Business Account and Add existing business number (BN).
2. Accept the terms if prompted and enter the nine-digit BN.
3. Answer whether the business has filed a GST/HST or T2 return. If yes, provide the requested information from an assessed return.
4. If no, the online process can link your SIN only when the BN was registered within the last 28 days.

When online linking is unavailable, CRA accepts a signed request from an owner, partner or director through the documented representative-upload, fax or mail routes. Having an older BN with no assessed return does not mean you should create a replacement business number. See CRA's business access and SIN-linking instructions.

5. Authorize your accountant or bookkeeper

Use CRA's representative authorization process instead of sharing your sign-in. Review which business accounts and access level the representative needs. If a representative submits a request requiring confirmation, you normally have 10 business days to confirm or deny it in My Business Account before it is cancelled. CRA lists exceptions and alternative procedures in Confirm my representative's authorization request.

Filing and checking returns

Select the correct program account and reporting period, then reconcile the return with your records. Under the regular GST/HST method, the core lines mean:

Instalments, rebates and other applicable lines can change the final balance. Follow CRA's GST/HST return instructions rather than assuming these four lines cover every return.

The Quick Method needs a separate eligibility check and election

The Quick Method's revenue test is $400,000 or less, including GST/HST on worldwide taxable supplies and associated businesses, for at least one of the two four-quarter periods within the last five fiscal quarters. Apply the guide's revenue exclusions, including specified financial services, real property, capital assets and goodwill sales. New businesses have a separate expected-revenue test. Some businesses, including accounting, bookkeeping, legal and tax-consulting services, are excluded.

Eligible businesses must make an election by the applicable deadline. The method uses different remittance calculations, restricts many ITCs, and includes GST/HST in line 101 for supplies covered by its instructions. It is not a universal option for businesses below $1.5 million. Check the full CRA Quick Method guide before changing methods.

For a T2, use CRA-certified tax preparation software to prepare the electronic return. My Business Account can transmit a prepared return; it does not replace the preparation software. A payroll remittance is a payment, separate from filing payroll information returns.

Making payments and maintaining the account

Confirm the program account, period, amount and processing rules before paying. Keep the confirmation and check that CRA applies the payment correctly. See CRA payment options and My Payment requirements.

Read correspondence when CRA notifies you, keep contact information current, and review representative access when an engagement ends. Some business changes require a separate request; changing a fiscal year-end is not simply editing a profile field.

How Ledg helps

Ledg organizes GST/HST collected, input tax credits and supporting records through the year. Reconcile those records to the applicable CRA return instructions and review any adjustments before submitting your return.