Pain Points:

• Conflict of interest with the previous accountant: The prior accounting relationship was through a business associate of a co-founder, creating a perception of conflict. After doing a deep dive into the financials, Philippe terminated the relationship and needed a firm that was fully arm's-length and board-accountable.
• Books abandoned since August 2024: Following the accountant's departure, no entries had been made in QuickBooks for several months. Philippe (CEO) was manually tracking accounts payable in Excel and running payroll himself in ADP, a platform built for enterprise-scale companies, not a 14-person startup.
• Payroll errors with no safety net: Philippe had already processed a payroll run with missing commissions and had no internal expertise to correct it. T4s and year-end payroll obligations were approaching with no plan in place.
• FY2024 tax return at risk: Kehops' fiscal year ends August 31. The FY2024 corporate tax return, along with the first Compilation Engagement Report, needed to be filed. With the transition to Zenbooks still in progress and books in disarray, the timeline was tight.
• Complex capital structure requiring expert oversight: Kehops had completed two funding rounds. A pre-seed round of preferred shares and a seed round via convertible notes, with conversion decisions due in early 2026. The cap table, shareholder loans, and related-party transactions all needed to be properly structured and documented.
• No CRA account access: Philippe had never logged into the CRA My Business Account. The previous accountant had filed on the company's behalf without ever granting the founder direct visibility into the company's own tax obligations.

Impact: Kehops was a funded startup with board obligations, investor reporting requirements, and a co-founder exit in progress, all without a functioning accounting system, a reliable payroll process, or basic CRA access. The risk of compliance failures, missed deadlines, and financial blind spots was significant at exactly the moment the company needed to project credibility to its board and potential investors.

Goals:

• Restore financial order quickly and catch up on months of unreconciled books
• Take over payroll immediately and fix the existing error, then transition from ADP to a platform built for small business
• File the FY2024 corporate tax return and produce the first CER financial statements on time
• Set up Dext and Plooto to automate receipt capture and accounts payable
• Produce quarterly financial statements for board reporting
• Navigate the convertible note conversion and co-founder buyout with proper documentation and tax awareness
• Give Philippe direct CRA and Revenu Quebec access so he could see his own company's standing

Goals:

• Restore financial order quickly and catch up on months of unreconciled books
• Take over payroll immediately and fix the existing error, then transition from ADP to a platform built for small business
• File the FY2024 corporate tax return and produce the first CER financial statements on time
• Set up Dext and Plooto to automate receipt capture and accounts payable
• Produce quarterly financial statements for board reporting
• Navigate the convertible note conversion and co-founder buyout with proper documentation and tax awareness
• Give Philippe direct CRA and Revenu Quebec access so he could see his own company's standing

Client Monthly Accounting Fees (CAD)

Ongoing support:

• Biweekly payroll processing, including seasonal layoffs, Records of Employment, vacation bank tracking, and off-cycle runs as needed
• Quarterly financial statements delivered for Q1 (May 2025), Q2 (July 2025), and Q3 (August 2025), feeding Philippe's board reporting cycle
• FY2024 T2 corporate tax return filed (May 2025) with no taxes owing federally, and $101 in Revenu Quebec registration fees
• FY2024 Compilation Engagement Report delivered and signed (October 2025)
• FY2025 T2 and CER financial statements completed and signed (February 2026), meeting the deadline ahead of the convertible note conversion window
• Support through the co-founder buyout, including compliance documentation for lawyers, government clearance requests to CRA and Revenu Quebec, and fair market valuation considerations
• GST/QST filing support and guidance on Stripe revenue recognition
• Advisory on the convertible note structure, shareholder loan tracking, and BDC financing requests
• When Kehops pivoted its core platform from an HR marketplace to a corporate team-building and event planning solution, Zenbooks adapted without missing a beat. The scope of our engagement continued uninterrupted through the strategic transition, reflecting the kind of partnership that goes beyond a fixed set of deliverables.
• When cash was tight, Philippe reached out to pause services temporarily due to delayed investment funding and a difficult cash flow period driven by broader economic uncertainty. Zenbooks accommodated the request without penalty, and services resumed shortly after. That flexibility, and the trust it reflects, is part of how we work with founder-led businesses navigating real-world pressures.

A funded startup managing a co-founder exit, approaching a convertible note conversion decision, and reporting to an active board cannot afford months of unreconciled books, missed tax deadlines, or payroll errors. Without Zenbooks stepping in at the end of 2024, Kehops faced the real possibility of filing a late FY2024 tax return (which Philippe did receive a non-filing notice for from Revenu Quebec in April 2025 before the return was filed), entering the convertible note conversion window without auditable financial statements, and undermining the board's confidence at exactly the wrong moment. Instead, Kehops entered 2026 with two years of corporate tax returns filed, a full set of CER financial statements, a clean payroll system, and the financial credibility expected of a company preparing for its next funding round.

"When I brought Zenbooks on board, my board of directors needed more than just competent accounting. They needed to know the firm handling our books had no conflict of interest. Because Eric and I know each other personally, I was transparent about that with the board from day one. What made it work is that Eric isn't the one running our file. Zenbooks operates as a team, and that separation gave my board the confidence they needed to approve the engagement unanimously.

Since then, they've handled everything from biweekly payroll and quarterly financial statements to our corporate tax returns and compilation engagement reports, all while supporting a co-founder exit and a convertible note conversion decision. When I needed compliance documentation for lawyers and government agencies on a tight deadline, they delivered. I'm impressed with their skills, professionalism, and above all their solution-oriented approach. For a founder-led company navigating real complexity, that's exactly what you need."

– Philippe Boivin, Founder & CEO, Kehops.com

👉 Running a funded startup or navigating a complex ownership transition? Book a free consultation with our team and find out how Zenbooks can bring order, credibility, and continuity to your finances.

Data and case study reviewed and approved by client.