T4A season doesn’t have to be a scramble.
Whether you’re a small business, nonprofit, or growing startup, the key to smooth T4A filing is a clear, practical checklist you can use year after year.
Use this “ultimate” checklist as your playbook. You can adapt it to your size and tools (including T4ASlip), but the core steps stay the same.
Section 1: Before year-end – set yourself up for success
☐ 1. Identify who you paid as non-employees
• List contractors, freelancers, and service providers you paid this year.
• Note who is an individual vs a corporation.
• Flag anyone who might be in a grey area (for example, very regular work that might lean toward “employee”).
☐ 2. Confirm contractor contact and tax details
• For each contractor, make sure you have:
– Legal name or business name
– Mailing address
– Email address
– SIN or business number (where applicable)
• Reach out before year-end to fill any gaps so you’re not chasing people in February.
☐ 3. Check for non-resident situations
• Identify any contractors who live outside Canada but performed services in Canada.
• Note these for potential T4A-NR and withholding considerations with your accountant.
☐ 4. Clean up your accounting records
• Make sure contractor payments are correctly coded in your accounting system.
• Separate personal payments from business payments.
• Resolve any obvious duplicates or mis-posted items now, not during T4A rush.
Section 2: At year-end – assemble your data
☐ 5. Run a year-to-date contractor payment report
• Export all payments to contractors from your accounting system.
• Group or sort by recipient so you can see yearly totals per contractor.
• Check that the list of names matches your contractor contact list.
☐ 6. Reconcile totals for each contractor
• Confirm that totals align with invoices, contracts, or payout records.
• Investigate large swings from prior years or anything that looks unusual.
• Adjust for refunds, voided payments, or corrections where needed.
☐ 7. Decide who needs a T4A
• Review CRA guidance (and/or talk to your accountant) for:
– Which types of payments require T4A reporting
– Thresholds or specific categories relevant to your industry
• Mark each contractor as “T4A required” or “no slip required” based on that guidance.
Section 3: Prepare your slips (with or without T4ASlip)
☐ 8. Centralize your data in one workspace
• Use a single master spreadsheet or, better, a tool like T4ASlip.
• For each T4A recipient, bring together:
– Contact and tax details
– Total reportable payments
– Any notes on unusual items
☐ 9. Validate contractor details
• Check for missing SINs or business numbers (where needed).
• Confirm addresses look complete and usable.
• Standardize spelling and naming formats (for example, use legal names consistently).
☐ 10. Validate amounts
• Ensure totals per contractor match your accounting reports.
• Look for obviously incorrect numbers (negative totals, decimals when they should be whole amounts, etc.).
• Re-run key reports after any corrections to confirm consistency.
☐ 11. Assign amounts to the correct boxes
• For each T4A, make sure amounts are placed in the right CRA-defined boxes.
• Distinguish between different income types if more than one box applies.
• When in doubt, document your reasoning and/or consult your accountant.
Section 4: Review and approvals
☐ 12. Internal review
• Have someone other than the preparer review a sample (or all) of the slips.
• Spot-check:
– Names and addresses
– Tax IDs
– Totals vs reports
• Resolve discrepancies before filing.
☐ 13. Optional: share summaries with key stakeholders
• For larger organizations, share a summary of T4A recipients and totals with finance or leadership.
• Confirm there are no missing contractors or unexpected names on the list.
Section 5: Filing and distribution
☐ 14. File T4As with the CRA by the deadline
• Use the CRA’s electronic filing system or your software’s integration, if available.
• Keep confirmation or receipt information in your records.
☐ 15. Deliver slips to recipients
• Email, secure portal, or mail—choose your standard method and use it consistently.
• Make sure recipients have a way to ask questions or request corrections.
☐ 16. Handle corrections, if needed
• If you discover an error after filing, follow CRA procedures for amended slips.
• Document what changed and why.
Section 6: After the season – make next year easier
☐ 17. Archive your T4A records
• Save:
– Final slips and summaries
– Contractor lists and payment reports
– Any notes or explanations for unusual items
• Store them securely according to your retention policy.
☐ 18. Review your process with the team
• What worked well?
• Where did you scramble or improvise?
• Which steps could be automated or moved earlier in the year?
☐ 19. Improve your contractor onboarding and payment coding
• Update onboarding forms to collect all required T4A information.
• Clarify how staff should code contractor payments in your accounting system.
• Consider connecting your contractor and payment systems more tightly via tools like T4ASlip.
Where T4ASlip fits into this checklist
T4ASlip doesn’t replace your checklist—it makes it easier to follow by:
• Acting as your centralized T4A workspace
• Pulling in payment data and contractor details
• Running validations to spot missing information
• Generating slips and summaries in a consistent, CRA-aligned format
You still need judgment and a plan, but you don’t have to manage everything in scattered spreadsheets.
Use this checklist as your baseline. Update it with your own deadlines, tools, and internal policies, and you’ll have a T4A preparation process that gets easier and more reliable every year.