Your balance sheet
What your business owns and owes on any date, worked out from your invoices, payments, expenses and opening balances, with a check that it balances.
The Balance sheet shows what your business has, what it owes and what's left for you (equity), on any date. Open it from Tax time or Reports. It is in early access. Corporations need one for the T2; sole proprietors can use it too.
You don't post anything. CollabNorth keeps a simple ledger under the hood, worked out from your records each time you open the page:
| When you... | The balance sheet... |
|---|---|
| Send an invoice | Adds to money customers owe you, to sales and to the GST/HST you collected |
| Record a payment | Moves it from money customers owe you to the bank |
| Issue a credit note or a refund | Takes the sale and its tax back off, or pays the money out of the bank |
| Write off an invoice | Moves what's left to bad debts |
| Add an expense | Takes it out of the bank. If you're registered, the GST/HST you claim back is kept separate. |
| Buy equipment | Adds it to equipment and tools, at cost, instead of an expense |
| Record money between you and the business | Moves money between the bank, the shareholder loan, GST/HST or shares |
Income counts when you invoice, the same as on Reports. Profit for the year matches the profit and loss on Reports, except that a written-off invoice shows as a sale and a bad debt.
Pick a date
It opens on today. Tap Last year end to see your fiscal year end, the date your accountant needs.
It balances
What the business has always equals what it owes plus equity. The page shows the check. Equity is:
- Shares: what was paid for a corporation's shares.
- Profit kept from earlier years (retained earnings): your opening figure plus the profit of earlier years.
- Profit this year so far: from the start of your fiscal year.
See what's behind a line
Tap any line to see the invoices, payments, expenses and entries behind it, newest first. Tap one to open it.
Money between you and the business
Some money doesn't come from an invoice or an expense. Record it under Money between you and the business:
- You put money in or You took money out (not salary or dividends).
- You paid a business cost yourself: add the expense as usual, then record this so the bank stays right and the business owes you.
- Paid GST/HST to CRA or Got a GST/HST refund from CRA. Marking a GST/HST return filed doesn't move money, so record the payment here.
- Bought shares in the business, and amounts collected or paid from before your opening date.
- For a corporation: Paid yourself a salary, Sent payroll deductions to CRA, Paid yourself a dividend or Declared a dividend to your shareholder loan. See Corporations: salary or dividends.
- For a corporation: Paid corporate income tax to CRA (instalments and balances) and Corporate income tax for the year from your T2 or your accountant.
- Equipment wear for the year (amortization): book amortization from your accountant, shown as equipment wear so far under what the business has.
- Something else, for your accountant, between any two accounts.
For a corporation, these build the shareholder loan. See Corporations: shareholder loans.
For your accountant
- Download PDF: the balance sheet with its GIFI codes and the income statement for the year so far.
- Download spreadsheet: the same lines as a CSV.
- Show the ledger: the trial balance with GIFI codes, and the full journal as a spreadsheet.
Equipment is shown at cost, less any amortization you record. Your accountant works out capital cost allowance and any other year-end adjustments. A corporation's T2 worksheet takes these lines into GIFI Schedules 100 and 125: see Corporations: your T2 and GIFI package.
Start from the right place
If your business had money, equipment or debts before its records in CollabNorth, set your opening balances first. Otherwise the balance sheet starts from zero.
This is general information to help you keep your own records. It is not tax or legal advice.
Based on: CRA guide RC4088, General Index of Financial Information and CRA guide T4012, T2 Corporation Income Tax Guide
Last checked: 2026-10-13