XBert Type: Standard
Accounting Software: Xero, MYOB, QuickBooks
Country Restriction: Canada only
Risk Type: Tax Risk
Business Function: Purchases
Overview
The “Payment to a Cancelled Supplier” XBert checks whether you have paid a supplier whose Canadian business number is no longer registered. Paying a supplier that has been cancelled or dissolved can affect your GST/HST input tax credits and may be a sign of a fraudulent or out-of-date supplier record, so it is worth reviewing before the next return.
What it does
XBert looks at the money you have actually paid to suppliers — both supplier payments applied to bills and money-out (spend) bank transactions. It matches each supplier’s business number against the official Canada Business Registries and checks whether that business was already cancelled or dissolved at the time you paid them.
How it works
XBert raises this XBert when all of the following are true:
The transaction is an authorised supplier payment against a bill, or an authorised money-out (spend) bank transaction. Draft, voided and deleted transactions are ignored.
The supplier’s business number matches a record in the Canada Business Registries with a status that is not active or open — in other words, the business has been cancelled or dissolved.
The payment is dated on or after the date the supplier was cancelled. Payments made while the supplier was still registered are not flagged.
XBert only raises this when it can confirm both a valid business number and a confirmed cancellation date. If the registry has no cessation date on record, the transaction is not flagged. When one or more payments meet these conditions, XBert groups them by supplier and shows the total amount paid.
Example / Use Case
Bill owns a pizza shop and pays $6,000 for a new oven from one of his regular suppliers. What Bill does not realise is that the supplier’s business was cancelled in the Canada Business Registries two months earlier. When the Canada Revenue Agency later reviews his GST/HST return, it disallows the $300 input tax credit he claimed on that purchase. Because XBert flagged the payment to a cancelled supplier, Bill is able to confirm the issue, follow up with the supplier for current details, and correct his return before it becomes a costly problem.
Accounting software
Xero, MYOB, QuickBooks
Which countries it supports
Canada only
Processes
This XBert is part of the Purchases & Payables (AP) process and helps you make sure you are paying — and claiming GST/HST on — properly registered suppliers.
To resolve this XBert:
Confirm the supplier’s business number on the Canada Business Registries website to check its current status.
Contact the supplier if anything is unclear, and ask for their current registration and payment details.
Update the supplier’s details in your accounting software once you have confirmed the correct information.
Review the affected bills and bank transactions, and adjust any GST/HST that was claimed incorrectly.
Avoid further payments to a cancelled business unless you have confirmed the situation and understand the tax implications.
Once you have reviewed and corrected the issue, mark the XBert as resolved.
Addressing this early protects your business from disallowed tax credits and keeps your supplier records and ledger clean and compliant.