Nguyen Scott LLP

Nguyen Scott LLP Chartered Professional Accountant, Chartered Accountant We have three convenient Alberta locations to better serve your needs in St.

Nguyen Scott LLP is a Chartered Professional Accounting firm and has been locally-owned and operated for over 24 years. We serve small and medium-sized businesses, covering a wide range of industries and professions, including: financial services, medical practices, retail, construction, transportation, real estate, oil and gas-related services, farming, and not-for-profit and charitable organizations. Albert, Leduc, Edmonton and surrounding areas, and Drayton Valley.

05/28/2026

Nguyen Scott LLP has been part of this community for over 24 years. Our team knows the local business landscape — which industries are growing, how seasonal cycles affect cashflow for local operators, and how decisions made at the provincial and municipal level affect our clients.

With a large regional or national firm, you typically get a relationship manager and a rotating team of staff accountants. At Nguyen Scott LLP, the relationship is with a senior CPA who understands your full situation — not just your most recent return.

What that means in practice: when you buy a commercial property, we are already thinking about the GST implications. When you have a good year, we are proactively looking at the salary-dividend mix before December 31. When the CRA writes to you, you call us and we navigate it together. That kind of proactive, informed advising is what we mean when we say personalized service.

We are proud to have been named one of the Top 3 Accounting Firms in St. Albert by ThreeBestRated.ca. More than the recognition, we are proud of the 24-year relationships, the referrals from clients who trust us enough to send their family and colleagues, and the businesses in this city that have grown alongside us. If you are looking for that kind of accountant, we would love to be the team you call.

Meet the Nguyen Scott LLP team. Book your complimentary consultation today → https://nsllp.ca/contact-us/ | Call: 780-458-5479

We have worked with small and medium-sized businesses across Edmonton and central Alberta for over 24 years. The same er...
05/27/2026

We have worked with small and medium-sized businesses across Edmonton and central Alberta for over 24 years. The same errors come up year after year, across industries, business sizes, and structures. They are not exotic or unusual. They are completely preventable — and they cost business owners real money every time.

Here are the seven that matter most:

1. Mixing personal and business expenses. The CRA treats personal benefits received through a corporation as shareholder benefits — taxable income to you, not a deductible expense of the business.

2. Misclassifying employees as independent contractors. The CRA applies its own classification test regardless of what the agreement says. If the relationship is employment, back-payroll remittances, interest, and penalties follow.

3. Missing instalment payment deadlines. Corporate tax instalments are due throughout the year — not just at filing time. The CRA charges instalment interest on shortfalls even when the full balance is paid at year-end.

4. Claiming capital expenditures as operating expenses. Getting this wrong is one of the most reliably flagged errors in CRA reviews.

5. Inadequate record keeping. The CRA requires six years of records. Bank statement summaries without underlying receipts, absent mileage logs, discarded documentation — these are the things that cause legitimate deductions to be disallowed in an audit.

6. Not understanding the associated corporation rules. The $500,000 small business deduction limit is shared across associated corporations — it is not $500,000 per entity.

7. Filing the T2 on time but paying late. The filing deadline and the payment deadline are different. For most CCPCs, the balance is due two months after fiscal year-end. The return is due six months after.

Read the full guide: https://nsllp.ca/the-7-most-common-tax-mistakes-edmonton-businesses-make-and-how-to-avoid-them/

05/26/2026

Chiropractors, physiotherapists, massage therapists, and other regulated health professionals who have incorporated in Alberta have access to tax planning tools that some general accountants do not fully optimize. The starting point is the same as for medical and dental professionals: the small business deduction gives your corporation an 11% combined tax rate on the first $500,000 of active business income. But the planning opportunities go considerably deeper than that.

One frequently overlooked area for health practitioners is GST. Many health services provided by regulated practitioners — chiropractic, physiotherapy, massage therapy, occupational therapy — are GST-exempt in Canada. This means you do not collect GST on those services, and you also cannot claim input tax credits on related expenses. If your practice provides both exempt and taxable services (for example, retail sales of supplements or braces), you must track these carefully and claim ITCs only on the portion that relates to taxable supplies. The rules are specific and getting them wrong is a common source of CRA adjustments.

Nguyen Scott LLP works with health professionals across St. Albert, Leduc, and the greater Edmonton area. We understand the regulatory environment, the professional corporation structure requirements under the Alberta Health Professions Act, and the specific tax planning tools relevant to your practice.

Serving health professionals across St. Albert, Leduc, Drayton Valley, and the Edmonton Area→ https://nsllp.ca/contact-us/

05/25/2026

Retail businesses in Leduc and surrounding areas deal with accounting complexity that is easy to underestimate: inventory valuation, shrinkage, returned goods, seasonal stock fluctuations, and GST on a diverse range of products that may not all have the same tax treatment. If these areas are not being managed carefully throughout the year, tax time becomes a reconciliation exercise rather than a straightforward filing.

Inventory valuation matters for tax because the method you use — first-in-first-out (FIFO), average cost, or specific identification — affects the cost of goods sold in any given period, and therefore your taxable income. The CRA does not prescribe a specific method, but it does require consistency. Changing methods without proper documentation can trigger questions. For retailers carrying high-value inventory, the choice of method can have meaningful tax implications.

GST compliance for retail can be deceptively complex. Most goods sold at retail attract GST, but basic groceries, prescription drugs, and certain other items are zero-rated or exempt. Mixed-product retailers — a natural food store that carries both groceries and supplements, for example, or a pharmacy that sells both prescription and over-the-counter items — need to track taxable versus non-taxable supplies accurately for both GST collection and input tax credit purposes.

Nguyen Scott LLP works with retail business owners in Leduc and across central Alberta. Whether you run a boutique, a hardware store, a specialty food shop, or a multi-location operation, we bring accounting and tax expertise that is relevant to the specific challenges of your industry. Accurate books throughout the year, not just at year-end, are the foundation of a well-run retail operation.

Talk to a CPA who knows retail → https://nsllp.ca/contact-us/ | Call Leduc: 780-458-5479

05/22/2026

This is one of the most important questions an incorporated business owner can ask. A T2 Corporation Income Tax Return must be filed with the CRA within six months of the corporation's fiscal year-end. If your fiscal year ends December 31, your T2 is due June 30. If it ends March 31, your return is due September 30. Alberta requires a separate AT1 provincial return on the same timeline, filed directly with the Government of Alberta's Tax and Revenue Administration.

The payment deadline is different from the filing deadline — and this is where many business owners are surprised. For most Canadian-controlled private corporations (CCPCs) that have claimed the small business deduction and qualify, the balance owing is due two months after fiscal year-end, not six. For other corporations, the balance is due three months after year-end. Interest begins accruing on unpaid balances after the payment due date, not the filing due date.

If you file late, the CRA charges a late-filing penalty of 5% of any balance owing, plus 1% per full month the return is late to a maximum of 12 months. If the corporation has been charged a late penalty in prior years, those rates increase. For Alberta provincial returns filed late, the Government of Alberta's Tax and Revenue Administration applies its own penalty and interest structure.

We recommend that business owners know their corporate fiscal year-end, confirm whether the two- or three-month payment deadline applies to them, and ensure their accountant has the year-end on the calendar with enough lead time to file and advise on the payment. Nguyen Scott LLP manages these timelines for our corporate clients in St. Albert, Leduc, and Drayton Valley — and we start conversations early, not at the deadline.

Get your corporate tax managed here. Start with a conversation → https://nsllp.ca/contact-us/

05/21/2026

Salons and beauty businesses in St. Albert operate under a variety of business models — and each one has different tax and compliance implications that business owners need to understand. If you rent chairs or booths to stylists, estheticians, or nail technicians, the way those arrangements are structured determines whether those individuals are independent contractors or employees for CRA purposes. This distinction affects payroll obligations, GST responsibilities, and liability in ways that a poorly drafted agreement can leave dangerously ambiguous.

Sole-operator salons and spas have their own set of considerations: tracking product inventory and cost of goods against service revenue, distinguishing between taxable and GST-exempt or zero-rated supplies, managing home-office deductions for administrative work done off-site, and planning for the personal tax implications of sole proprietorship income versus incorporation. Many single-chair operators reach a revenue level where incorporation becomes tax-advantageous — and most are not having that conversation proactively.

Capital investments in salon equipment are eligible for Capital Cost Allowance deductions and should be tracked correctly from the day of purchase. Mixing business and personal expenses is one of the most common errors in owner-operated salons, and one of the most reliably flagged in CRA reviews. Clean records and a dedicated business bank account are foundational to defensible returns.

Nguyen Scott LLP understands the beauty industry and the mix of artistic entrepreneurship and business complexity that defines it. We serve salon and spa owners across St. Albert and the greater Edmonton area with bookkeeping, personal and corporate tax, and advisory services that are practical, approachable, and tailored to your business.

Book your complimentary, no-pressure consultation → https://nsllp.ca/contact-us/

Alberta has no provincial sales tax. That fact makes it easier to do business here than in most other provinces — but it...
05/20/2026

Alberta has no provincial sales tax. That fact makes it easier to do business here than in most other provinces — but it does not eliminate your GST obligations, and confusing the two is one of the most expensive mistakes a growing Alberta business can make.

The GST registration threshold is $30,000 in worldwide taxable supplies in a single calendar quarter, or across the last four consecutive calendar quarters. The moment you cross that number — even mid-quarter — you are legally required to register and begin charging 5% GST from that point forward.

This is not a grace period. It is not a soft deadline. The obligation is immediate.

What happens to businesses that cross the threshold without realizing it? The CRA assesses the GST that should have been collected — out of your own pocket, on revenue you already received. Plus interest. Plus penalties. The GST was legally owed by your customers at the time of sale. If you did not collect it, you still owe it.

If you are approaching or have recently crossed $30,000 in revenue, getting your GST set up correctly from the start is one of the most impactful things you can do for your compliance foundation. We handle GST registration, filing, and planning for Alberta businesses at all stages.

Read the full guide: https://nsllp.ca/blog-gst-alberta-registration-filing-guide/
Book a complimentary consultation: https://nsllp.ca/contact-us/
Test your tax knowledge: https://nsllp.ca/tax-quiz/

05/19/2026

Food service businesses have one of the most demanding accounting environments of any small business category — high transaction volume, daily cash and card reconciliation, tipping income reporting obligations, ingredient and inventory costing, and razor-thin margins that leave no room for tax surprises. If your books are only looked at once a year at tax time, your business is operating with a serious blind spot.

Tipping income is an area the CRA actively monitors in the food service industry. Employee tips — including those distributed through electronic point-of-sale systems — are taxable employment income that must be reported by both the employee and the employer. If your payroll is not capturing tip income correctly, you have a compliance exposure that a CRA audit will find. Controlled tips (those distributed by the employer) are subject to CPP and potentially EI; direct tips (received directly by the employee) have different treatment.

For restaurant and coffee shop owners, there are also meaningful GST considerations: most food sold in Canada is either zero-rated or fully taxable under GST rules, and the distinction matters enormously for your input tax credit claims. Basic groceries are zero-rated; prepared food for immediate consumption is taxable. Getting this wrong on your GST returns creates mismatches the CRA will catch.

Nguyen Scott LLP works with food service businesses across St. Albert, Leduc, and Drayton Valley. We offer bookkeeping, GST filing, payroll, and corporate tax services designed for the pace and complexity of your industry — with a team that actually understands how your business works.

Get accounting that works for your restaurant or café. Book a complimentary consultation today and get your questions answered → https://nsllp.ca/contact-us/

05/18/2026

Drayton Valley and the surrounding area is the heartbeat of Alberta's energy sector, and we have answers to your tax questions in this sector. Field workers, equipment operators, and site supervisors who work away from home have potential claims that are frequently missed: Employment Expense deductions (Form T777), travel and accommodation where the employer requires it, and in some cases tools and safety equipment. These are not grey areas — they are legitimate CRA-recognized deductions that require proper documentation.

For oilfield service companies, the tax landscape includes issues around equipment depreciation (particularly Class 10 and Class 10.1 vehicles and Class 8 tools and equipment), GST input tax credits on field purchases, and the treatment of standby charges and project mobilization costs. The boom-bust nature of energy revenues also creates planning opportunities around corporate income deferral and the timing of capital expenditure recognition.

One specific issue relevant to Drayton Valley: if you have employees or subcontractors working on sites in multiple provinces or territories — common in energy sector work — there are payroll and tax filing implications that extend beyond Alberta. Multi-jurisdictional tax obligations catch many energy businesses unprepared, and the resulting CRA correspondence is both stressful and expensive to resolve.

Nguyen Scott LLP has served clients in the energy sector from our Drayton Valley office for years. We understand the schedules, the cyclical income, and the compliance landscape of this industry. Whether you are an incorporated oilfield services company or a journeyman pipefitter reviewing your personal return, we bring relevant expertise to every engagement.

Connect with the local CPA's who know energy → https://nsllp.ca/contact-us/ | Call our Drayton Valley office: 780-542-9292

05/15/2026

FAQ: When Does My Alberta Business Have to Register for GST? (The Threshold That Catches People Off Guard)

The GST registration threshold in Canada is $30,000 in worldwide taxable supplies in a single calendar quarter, or across four consecutive calendar quarters. Once you cross that threshold, you are legally required to register for GST and begin collecting it from your customers — even if you did not realize the rule applied to you. Failing to register and collect GST when required can result in the CRA assessing you for the GST that should have been collected, plus interest and penalties, out of your own pocket.

Once registered, you file GST returns on a schedule determined by your annual taxable revenues: annually (revenues under $1.5 million), quarterly (revenues between $1.5 million and $6 million), or monthly (revenues over $6 million). The return reports GST collected on sales (output tax) minus the GST you paid on your business purchases (input tax credits, or ITCs). The difference is either remitted to the CRA or, if your ITCs exceed your output tax, refunded to you.

Alberta has no provincial sales tax, which simplifies the picture for Alberta-based businesses compared to provinces with HST. However, if your business sells goods or services to customers in other provinces, you need to understand how GST and HST obligations interact with those sales — the rules differ depending on the nature of your supply and where it is consumed.

Common mistakes we see: businesses that register late and owe back-GST they never collected, and businesses that miss legitimate input tax credits because their records are insufficient. A CPA review of your GST compliance is one of the highest-ROI conversations you can have with an accountant. We serve businesses across St. Albert, Leduc, and Drayton Valley.

Book a GST compliance review → https://nsllp.ca/contact-us/ | Test your tax knowledge: https://nsllp.ca/tax-quiz/

05/14/2026

Leduc Contractors & Trades: The Tax Mistakes That Cost Construction Businesses the Most

Construction and trades businesses in the Leduc and Edmonton area face a specific set of tax challenges that most general accountants underestimate. Revenue recognition — knowing when project income is reportable and how to handle holdbacks — is one of the most technically demanding areas in construction accounting. If your revenue is being reported incorrectly, you could be paying tax too early, too late, or on amounts you have not yet collected.

Equipment and vehicle expenses are another area where construction businesses leave money on the table or, more commonly, claim amounts incorrectly. The CRA distinguishes carefully between repairs and maintenance (fully deductible in the year) and capital expenditures (depreciated over time through Capital Cost Allowance). Claiming a significant capital purchase as a repair is the kind of error that triggers a CRA review. So is the reverse — not claiming eligible depreciation at all.

Subcontractor relationships present their own compliance obligations. If you are paying individuals as subcontractors, the CRA applies a worker classification test to determine whether those individuals are truly independent or are employees for tax purposes. Misclassification can result in significant retroactive payroll remittances, interest, and penalties. This is an area where getting advice proactively is far less expensive than fixing it after the fact.

Nguyen Scott LLP has worked with construction and trades businesses across Leduc, Drayton Valley, and central Alberta for years. We understand the seasonality, the project-based cash flow, and the specific CRA exposure points for this industry. If you are running a construction business and your accountant is not having these conversations with you, we should talk.

Talk to a CPA who knows construction → https://nsllp.ca/contact-us/

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203, 12 Perron Street
Saint Albert, AB
T8N1E4

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