Balance Sheet Balancing Checker
Assets must equal liabilities plus equity or Schedule 100 will not validate. Enter the three totals to see the difference.
Written and reviewed by Sharad Gondaliya, CPA (Ontario), CPA Ontario Membership 61040184.
Last reviewed: October 29, 2026
Enter all three totals. Use 0 where there is nothing.
Gondaliya CPA Professional Corporation is a registered EFILE electronic filer. Returns are prepared and transmitted in Canada. Credentials are never shared and never used offshore.
An Unbalanced Sheet Is a Rejection, Not a Late Filing
Schedule 100 will not validate where assets do not equal liabilities plus equity. The consequence is not a late return, it is a transmission the Agency refuses, and a refused transmission is not a filed return.
That distinction matters on a catch-up, where several years are being sent in one sitting. One year that will not balance stops the sequence, because the next year opens from its closing figures.
The Three Causes Worth Checking First
Share capital left off the equity side is the commonest. A corporation that issued shares on incorporation has share capital whether or not anyone thinks of it as money, and a balance sheet filed as all zeroes omits it.
A shareholder loan on the wrong side is the second. A balance owed to a shareholder is a liability; a balance owed by one is an asset, and they are not interchangeable.
Retained earnings not carried forward is the third. The retained earnings rollforward calculator gives the figure the current year has to open from.
| Cause | Where the item belongs | How it goes wrong |
|---|---|---|
| Share capital issued on incorporation | Equity | Left off, because nobody thinks of it as money |
| A balance owed to a shareholder | A liability | Put on the asset side |
| A balance owed by a shareholder | An asset | Put on the liability side |
| Retained earnings brought forward | Equity | Not carried from last year’s closing figure |
A Nil Year Still Has to Balance
The income statement reporting zeroes does not make the balance sheet optional. Schedule 100 is filed on a nil year carrying whatever the corporation holds, and it has to balance like any other.
A genuinely empty corporation, holding nothing and owing nothing, balances trivially at zero on all three lines. Most dormant corporations are not quite that empty.
What This Checker Does Not Do
It compares three totals you supply. It cannot tell you whether the totals are right, whether an item sits in the correct category, or whether a balance belongs on the return at all.
A sheet that balances can still be wrong, and a sheet that balances at the wrong figures will transmit cleanly. This finds one specific defect, which is the one that stops a transmission.
Frequently Asked Questions
What happens if my balance sheet does not balance?
Schedule 100 will not validate and the transmission is refused. A refused transmission is not a filed return, so the year stays outstanding.
Does a nil return still file a balance sheet?
Yes. Schedule 100 is filed carrying whatever the corporation holds, even where the income statement reports nothing but zeroes.
What usually causes the difference?
Share capital left off the equity side, a shareholder loan on the wrong side, or retained earnings not carried forward from the previous year’s closing figure.
Which side does a shareholder loan go on?
A balance owed to a shareholder is a liability. A balance owed by a shareholder to the corporation is an asset. They are not interchangeable.
Can a balance sheet balance and still be wrong?
Yes. This checks one specific defect, the one that stops a transmission. It cannot tell you whether the totals themselves are right.
Nil T2 Filing, $300.00 plus HST per tax year
Type your corporation name, pick your unfiled years, pay, and sign Form T183CORP on a secure screen. Your CRA confirmation is emailed within 3 business days.
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