If you’re self-employed in Canada, you probably think in invoices:
• “I sent the client a $1,500 invoice.”
• “They still owe me for last month’s work.”
• “Here’s my total invoicing for the year.”
Then tax time arrives and you receive a T4A from one of your clients. Suddenly there’s another layer:
“Wait—how do T4A slips and my invoices fit together? Are they the same thing? Do they duplicate income?”
Great questions. Let’s untangle the relationship between invoicing and T4As so you can stay confident and compliant.
What invoicing does (your side of the story)
Invoicing is how you, as a self-employed person:
• Bill clients for work you’ve done.
• Keep track of what you’ve earned and what’s still unpaid.
• Provide documentation for your own books and for clients’ expense records.
Your invoices, along with payment records, form the backbone of your business income records. Regardless of T4As, you should:
• Track all invoices issued.
• Track all payments received.
• Reconcile any differences regularly.
What T4A slips do (the client’s side of the story)
A T4A is how certain clients tell the CRA:
“We paid this self-employed person or contractor $X for services this year.”
From the payer’s perspective, T4A slips:
• Support their business expense claims.
• Help meet CRA reporting obligations.
• Link their records to your tax return via the slip.
In other words:
• Your **invoices** are how you say, “Here’s what I charged and earned.”
• Their **T4A slip** is how they say, “Here’s what we paid this person.”
Both are about the *same underlying income*, but from two sides of the relationship.
How they work together on your tax return
When you file your personal return as a self-employed person, you generally:
• Add up all business income you earned in the year, using your own records (invoices, bank deposits, accounting software).
• Deduct legitimate business expenses.
• Report the net result as business or professional income.
T4A slips fit into that process as cross-checks, not replacements.
A practical approach:
1. Gather your own records
• Total invoiced and total received from all clients.
2. Gather all T4A slips
• For each client who issued one, compare the T4A total to your records of what they paid.
3. Reconcile differences
• Minor timing differences can happen (for example, December invoices paid in January).
• Large differences should be investigated and, if necessary, discussed with the client.
4. Make sure your reported income is complete
• Your business income should reflect **all** work done, regardless of whether a client issued a T4A.
• T4As are checkpoints, not the ceiling.
Common misconceptions
“If I report my T4A income, I don’t have to worry about the rest.”
• Not true. You must report all business income, from all clients, even if some never issue T4As.
“T4A amounts are extra on top of my invoiced income.”
• They represent the same underlying payments shown in your invoicing and bank deposits. Reporting both doesn’t mean double income; it means your records and the slip agree about the same income.
“If a client issues a T4A, that income is automatically ‘employment-like.’”
• No. You can remain legitimately self-employed while receiving T4As. The nature of the work relationship—not the slip alone—determines your status.
Using T4As as a diagnostic tool
Instead of seeing T4As as confusing, you can use them to:
• Double-check that your invoice records are complete.
• Catch any missed payments or misapplied deposits.
• Spot situations where a client’s view of what they paid doesn’t match your view of what you earned.
If a T4A shows $30,000 from a client and your records only show $25,000, something needs reconciling—maybe an invoice you forgot, a deposit misclassified in your books, or an error on their side.
From the payer’s perspective: why tools like T4ASlip matter
Clients who issue T4As often use tools like T4ASlip to:
• Track total payments to each contractor or self-employed person.
• Ensure their slips match what their accounting system says they paid.
• Reduce errors in names, addresses, and amounts.
When they’re organized, your T4A is more likely to match your invoices and deposits—making life easier at your end too.
Practical tips for self-employed Canadians
• Treat invoices as your primary record of income—keep them organized.
• Treat T4As as confirmations and cross-checks, not as the full picture.
• Reconcile T4A amounts with your own records every tax season.
• Don’t ignore a T4A because it’s “only a slip”—CRA sees it and may compare it to your return.
• If something doesn’t match, talk to the client or a tax professional before filing.
The big picture
T4As and invoicing aren’t competing systems—they’re two views of the same income:
• Invoices and payments – your view, used to track and report your total business income.
• T4A slips – some clients’ view, reported to CRA to show what they paid you.
When both sides are accurate and aligned, filing your taxes becomes much smoother, and questions from CRA become much less likely.
Your job is to maintain strong records. Their job is to issue accurate slips when required. When both happen, T4A vs invoicing stops being confusing and starts being just another part of running a professional, self-employed business.