The Main Street Journal is the weblog (aka BLOG) of the SMALL BUSINESS ANALYSTS SOCIETY OF CANADA (SBA CANADA). We publish articles that are relevant to public accountants and with an interest in the accounting services industry.

About 78% of independent accounting firms in Canada have only one or two principals, what Statistics Canada would call ‘micro businesses^[1]’, and an even larger number are self-employed, working without staff.

We serve about 90% of Canada’s businesses with fewer than 10 employees. Our clients outsource much of their tax compliance work to us and rely on us to compile accurate financial information about their businesses, often without the benefit of in-house accounting or bookkeeping skills or systems.

While the largest 4 firms in the accounting services industry earn 34.7% of industry revenue, the 52,336 smallest firms earn an average of about $97,000 annually, or about 18% of industry revenue.

The business models of these small firms bear very little resemblance to those of our largest firms, and yet virtually all of the influence on the profession is exercised by the largest firms. Despite this, our services are critical to Canada’s small business sector.

^[1] Businesses with 4 or fewer employees