XBert Type: Standard
Accounting Software: Xero, MYOB, QuickBooks
Country Restriction: Canada only
Risk Type: Tax Risk
Business Function: Purchases
Overview
The "Expenses with a Cancelled Business" XBert checks the suppliers you still owe money to and flags any whose business has been cancelled on Canada's official business registry. This matters because paying or claiming tax on a bill from a deregistered supplier can cause problems with the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) and put your GST/HST claims at risk.
What it does
XBert looks at your supplier bills that still have an amount owing. For each supplier, it checks the Business Number saved against the contact. Where no number is saved, it uses the most recent Business Number seen on that supplier's past transactions. It then compares that number against Canada's official business registry to see whether the supplier has been cancelled or deregistered.
How it works
For Canadian organisations, XBert raises this alert when all of the following are true:
You have a supplier bill with an amount still owing (it is not fully paid).
The supplier's Business Number matches a record on Canada's registry that is no longer active or open. In other words, the business has been cancelled.
The bill is dated on or after the date the supplier's business was cancelled.
XBert ignores bills dated before the cancellation date, because those were raised while the supplier was still trading and are not a concern. It also ignores voided and deleted bills, and any bill that is fully paid with nothing left owing. When a supplier has several unpaid bills, XBert combines them into one alert and shows the total amount you still owe that supplier.
Example / Use Case
Bill owns a pizza shop in Toronto. He receives a $6,000 bill for a new commercial oven from a supplier he has used for years and records it in his accounting software, but he hasn't paid it yet. What Bill doesn't know is that the supplier's business was cancelled on the Canadian registry two months earlier.
XBert spots that the unpaid bill is dated after the supplier's cancellation date and raises an alert. Bill checks the registry, confirms the supplier is no longer active, and contacts them before paying. This lets him verify their details, avoid an incorrect GST/HST claim, and steer clear of a costly surprise in a future CRA review.
Accounting software
Xero, MYOB, QuickBooks
Which countries it supports
Canada only
Processes
This XBert alert falls under Purchases & Payables (AP) and is part of your broader bookkeeping and tax compliance process.
To resolve this alert:
Open the supplier's contact record and note the Business Number saved against it.
Check that Business Number on Canada's official business registry to confirm whether the business has been cancelled.
If the number is wrong or out of date, contact your supplier to confirm their current details and request an updated Business Number.
Update the contact record in your accounting software with the correct Business Number once confirmed.
If the supplier really has ceased trading, hold off on paying the outstanding bill until you have confirmed it is genuine and understand the tax implications.
Once the supplier details are corrected or the bill is dealt with, mark the XBert as resolved.
Keeping your supplier records up to date helps you stay compliant with CRA rules and avoid unnecessary tax exposure.