Free accounting software in Canada
Free accounting software can keep a Canadian small business's books, if it does three things: tracks the GST/HST you charge and pay, produces the year-end figures the CRA's forms ask for, and keeps your records. Here's what that means, which options are genuinely free, and the part to leave to an accountant.
What it has to do
Four jobs, from the CRA’s own rules. Free or paid, check any software against these.
Keep GST/HST apart
Once you’re registered, under the regular method your return is the GST/HST you charged minus the GST/HST you paid on business purchases, which you claim back as input tax credits. The software has to split the tax out of every sale and every purchase, or you’ll be doing it by hand at filing time. Every registrant except charities and selected financial institutions now files electronically.
Produce your year-end figures
A sole proprietor reports business income and expenses on form T2125. A corporation files its financial statements with its T2 return using GIFI codes, including a balance sheet (schedule 100) and an income statement (schedule 125). The software should give you those figures in a form your accountant can use.
Keep real books, not just a list
A corporation needs a balance sheet, not only income and expenses. That takes double-entry books: what you own, what you owe, and how each transaction moves them. A spreadsheet of money in and out doesn't give you that.
Keep your records
The CRA asks you to keep records and supporting documents for six years from the end of the last tax year they relate to. Whatever you use should keep receipts with the transactions they belong to, and let you export everything if you leave.
Not registered for GST/HST yet? You don’t have to if your taxable sales stay at or under $30,000 over four consecutive calendar quarters. Do I need to register for GST/HST?
What’s genuinely free
- Free plans online. Spark Books is free with no card and no trial that ends. Wave’s Starter plan is free, with bank imports and automatic categorizing on its paid Pro plan.
- Free on your own computer. Desktop and self-hosted programs cost nothing, but you install them, back them up and do the bookkeeping yourself.
- Free trials aren’t free plans. QuickBooks Online, Xero and FreshBooks each offer a 30-day free trial, then a monthly price.
For each free tool side by side, with what’s free and the catch, see free bookkeeping software in Canada.
When you still need an accountant
Software keeps the books. It doesn’t sign off on your taxes.
- You’re incorporated. Your T2 return is due within six months of your year-end and includes the GIFI financial statements and other schedules. This is the return most worth handing to an accountant, with your books as their starting point.
- Your first year, or a big change. Incorporating, buying a vehicle or equipment, hiring your first employee: ask an accountant before, not after.
- The CRA writes to you. A review or a reassessment is a time for someone who does this every day.
Clean books make that accountant faster, and cheaper. Our year-end bookkeeping checklist lists what to hand over.
Where Spark Books fits
Spark Books is free accounting software built for these four jobs. You upload your bank and card statements. Spark sorts each transaction into a Canadian chart of accounts with the GST/HST split out, keeps double-entry books, works out your GST/HST return figures (regular or quick method) and, at year-end, gives your accountant one package mapped to GIFI for a corporation or T2125 for a sole proprietor.
What it doesn’t do: connect to your bank (you upload statements), run payroll, track inventory or file anything with the CRA. It isn’t available in Quebec yet. How Spark Books works.
Questions
- Is there free accounting software for small business in Canada?
- Yes. As of October 2026, Spark Books and Wave's Starter plan are free online, and there are free desktop and self-hosted options too. They differ in how much you do by hand. Our free bookkeeping software page compares six of them, with the catch in each.
- What does accounting software need to do for a Canadian business?
- Split GST/HST out of every sale and purchase so you can file your return, keep double-entry books so you have a balance sheet as well as income and expenses, and produce year-end figures for form T2125 (sole proprietors) or the GIFI financial statements filed with a corporation's T2 return.
- Is free accounting software good enough for the CRA?
- What matters to the CRA is that your records are complete and kept for six years from the end of the last tax year they relate to, and that your returns are right. Free software can do that if it handles GST/HST and gives you proper year-end figures. Check both before you pick one.
- Do I still need an accountant if I use free accounting software?
- Software keeps the books; it doesn't sign off on your taxes. A corporation's T2 return is due within six months of its year-end and includes the GIFI financial statements and other schedules. That's the return most worth handing to an accountant, with your books as the starting point.
- Does free accounting software file my GST/HST return?
- Spark Books works out the figures for your GST/HST return, regular or quick method, with the date it's due. You or your accountant file it with the CRA. Spark doesn't file anything for you.
- Do I need to register for GST/HST?
- Not if you're a small supplier, meaning your taxable sales don't go over $30,000 over four consecutive calendar quarters. Go over it and you generally have to register. Our guide on registering for GST/HST covers when.
More comparisons
Free software
- Spark BooksEverything Spark Books does, and the two plans.
- Free bookkeeping software in CanadaWhat's actually free, and the catch with each.
- AI bookkeepingWhat it gets right, what it gets wrong, and why Spark asks.
Switching from
- A free QuickBooks alternativeWhat Spark does and doesn't do next to QuickBooks Online.
- A free Xero alternativeHow Spark compares with Xero for a Canadian business.
- A Wave alternativeWhat changed on Wave's free plan, and your options.
- A free FreshBooks alternativeFreshBooks' Canadian plans next to Spark Books.
Head to head
- QuickBooks Online vs XeroPlans, prices, GST/HST and payroll in Canada.
- Wave vs QuickBooks OnlineFree with manual work, or paid with a bank feed.
Wave, QuickBooks, Xero and FreshBooks are trademarks of their owners. Spark Finance isn’t affiliated with or endorsed by any of them.
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