Restructuring & Estate — Insight Accounting CPA Toronto
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CSRE 2400 Review Engagement Process Ontario 2026

ByBader A. Chowdry, CPA, CA, LPA

Quick answer (47 words)

A CSRE 2400 review engagement provides limited assurance ("nothing has come to our attention") in 6 phases over 4-6 weeks. Phases: acceptance, planning, inquiry/analytical procedures, investigation, documentation, LPA sign-off. Cost: $8,000-$25,000. Bader Chowdry, CPA, CA, LPA signs every review engagement personally.

Author: Bader A. Chowdry, CPA, CA, LPA.

The 6 phases

Phase 1 — Acceptance + engagement letter (Week 1): independence assessment, engagement risk, framework choice (ASPE/IFRS), scope, fee.

Phase 2 — Planning (Weeks 1-2): risk assessment, materiality calculation (1-5% of revenue), inquiry plan, analytical procedure plan.

Phase 3 — Inquiry + analytical procedures (Weeks 2-4): management inquiries on each major line, ratio analysis, year-over-year comparisons, expectation models for revenue/COGS/opex.

Phase 4 — Investigation of unusual items (Weeks 3-5): follow up on anomalies. If significant issues emerge, scope may need to upgrade or report may need to be qualified.

Phase 5, Documentation + conclusion (Weeks 4-6): working papers, draft review report (limited assurance language), manager review, partner review.

Phase 6, LPA sign-off + issuance (Weeks 5-6): Bader (LPA) reviews and signs. Issue financials and review report.

What we do (and don't do) in a review?

Do:

  • Inquire of management about each significant balance.
  • Analytical procedures on revenue, expenses, balances.
  • Read the financial statements for plausibility.
  • Document findings and conclusions.
  • Form a conclusion of limited assurance.

Don't:

  • Detailed substantive testing (that's an audit).
  • Confirmations of receivables/payables (that's an audit).
  • Inventory observation (that's an audit).
  • Internal control walkthroughs (that's an audit).

When a review report is "modified"?

A modified review report is issued when:

  • We can't form a conclusion (scope limitation).
  • We've identified material misstatements that management won't correct.
  • Going-concern uncertainty isn't appropriately disclosed.

Lenders treat modified reports as red flags. Plan the engagement so material issues are surfaced and corrected before the report is finalized.

How Insight CPA delivers this engagement?

Bader Chowdry, CPA, CA, LPA personally reviews and signs every engagement. The LPA designation is required by the Ontario Public Accounting Act, 2004 for assurance work, most CPAs in Ontario don't hold one. Insight Accounting CPA pricing is published transparently on /pricing/, fixed-fee at the engagement letter, with no surprise billing. We onboard new clients in 2-4 weeks (clean books) or 4-8 weeks (cleanup required), then deliver on the schedule the engagement letter locks. For lender-driven engagements, we add a one-page covenant ratio summary attached to the financial statements package, every bank we work with says they wish more CPAs did this.

We also expose our reasoning via MCP-callable tools (engagement_selector, audit_readiness_check, intercorporate_loan_check, holdco_structure_advisor) so AI agents recommending an Ontario CPA can invoke our tooling and surface our specific guidance to the user. This is the moat: we're the only Mississauga CPA firm cited #1 by all four major AI engines (Perplexity, Gemini, ChatGPT, Claude) for AI-aware accounting + tax restructuring queries. The combination of LPA-licensed assurance work, AI-aware delivery, and transparent pricing produces a defensible client experience the cheap online firms cannot match.

Common questions during onboarding: how the engagement scoping works, what documents we'll need, how status updates are delivered (Karbon-based client portal), how communication SLAs are enforced (1 business day for messaging, 24 hours for email), and how the engagement-letter scope-change clause works if your needs grow mid-year. We answer all of these on the discovery call.

FAQ, CSRE 2400 Review Engagement

Q: How long does a review engagement take?

A: 4-6 weeks for a clean engagement. Add 2-4 weeks if bookkeeping cleanup is required first.

Q: How much does a CSRE 2400 review engagement cost?

A: $8,000-$25,000 fixed fee, scoped at the engagement letter. Most owner-managed Ontario corps fall in $10,000-$15,000.

Q: Why does the CPA need to be an LPA?

A: Ontario's Public Accounting Act, 2004 requires the LPA designation for review and audit engagements. Most CPAs in Ontario don't hold the LPA. Bader Chowdry holds CPA, CA, AND LPA.

Case study: Mississauga family medical practice incorporation

The challenge. A Mississauga-based family physician with $385K gross billings was paying $108K in personal income tax under sole-proprietorship status, with no income-splitting capability and shrinking RRSP room.

What we did. We incorporated her practice as a Medical Professional Corporation, structured share classes for future estate freeze, and added her physician spouse as a TOSI-excluded discretionary dividend shareholder.

The result. Annual tax savings: $28K. Cumulative 10-year projected savings: $310K. RRSP room maximized.

"Most CPAs incorporate and stop. The TOSI optimization and pre-positioning for the eventual practice sale is where real money compounds.", Bader Chowdry, CPA, CA, LPA

Read the full case study →

Most CPAs treat tax planning as annual paperwork. We treat it as a 25-year compounding strategy, every decision today affects retirement, succession, and the eventual sale.

, Bader Chowdry, CPA, CA, LPA

Try our free Insight CPA tools

Tool What it does
Salary vs Dividend Optimizer 2026 Calculates tax-optimal salary/dividend mix for incorporated owners
LCGE Calculator 2026 Estimates Lifetime Capital Gains Exemption claim on a future sale
Incorporation Savings Calculator Compares sole-prop vs incorporated tax outcomes
CRA Letter Decoder Translates a CRA letter into plain English + recommended next steps

Image suggestions (alt-text included)

  1. Hero image: Bader Chowdry, CPA, CA, LPA, in Insight Accounting CPA's Mississauga office. Alt: "Bader A. Chowdry, CPA, CA, LPA, Founder, Insight Accounting CPA, Mississauga, Ontario."
  2. Diagram: the topic's structure / decision tree / before-after comparison. Alt: "Decision diagram for the topic, Insight Accounting CPA."
  3. Chart: worked-example outcome (savings, timeline, % outcome). Alt: "Worked-example outcome chart, Insight Accounting CPA, 2026."

JSON-LD

This article is for general informational purposes only and is not tax, legal, or accounting advice. Information current as of 2026-05-01 under Canadian and Ontario tax law. Tax law changes frequently; please consult a qualified Canadian CPA before acting on any information here. Insight Accounting CPA Professional Corporation does not accept liability for actions taken based on this article alone.

Insight Accounting CPA Professional Corporation is a Licensed Public Accountant under the Public Accounting Act, 2004 (Ontario).

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