CPA Ontario Insights
Thought Leadership, Research & CPA Spotlights

Closing a Registered Firm

There are several reasons why you may decide to close your firm. Reasons can include a sale, retirement, family succession, illness or death.

On this page, find what you need to know before closing your firm.

Retiring members

Retiring or retired members who continue to provide accounting services to the public on a part-time basis may still be required to keep a registered firm with CPA Ontario and will be required to remit the Annual Practioner Due.

Providing accounting services to the public includes:

  • the performance of any engagement addressed by standards in the CPA Canada Handbook - Assurance, for which a licence is not required under the Public Accounting Act, 2004 to perform the engagement
  • accounting insofar as it involves analysis, advice, and interpretation in an expert capacity, but excluding record keeping
  • taxation, insofar as it involves advice and counselling in an expert capacity, but excluding mechanical processing of returns
  • compilation services, if it can reasonably be expected that all or any portion of the compilation or associated materials prepared by the member providing the service will be relied upon or used by a third party, whether or not a licence is required under the Public Accounting Act, 2004

For further information, please review our By-law and regulations that pertain to retiring members.