Accounting and Advisory Services for Privately Owned Businesses in Ottawa
Businesses and their owners turn to GGFL for financial, tax and advisory
services that meet short-term business needs and long-term financial goals.
Why Ottawa Business Owners Work With GGFL
Owning a business means making sure your financial resources are ready to support your business and personal goals. Business owners benefit from proactive advice that supports growth, manages risk, and prepares for what’s next.
For over 80 years, GGFL has worked alongside privately owned businesses throughout Ottawa, providing advisory services tailored to each stage of the business lifecycle. Our integrated approach combines technical expertise with a deep understanding of the connection between your business and your personal financial goals.
Business owners value our ability to:
- Build long-term advisory relationships based on trust;
- Identify tax planning opportunities throughout the year;
- Support strategic business decisions with practical financial insight.
As your business evolves, so do your priorities. Whether you’re expanding, preparing for succession, optimizing compensation, or planning for retirement, our advisors provide guidance that reflects your changing objectives. We work as an extension of your team, helping you make informed decisions with confidence.
Accounting and Advisory Services for Privately Owned Businesses
Every privately owned business has unique opportunities and challenges. Our role is to provide accounting, tax, and advisory support to help you make informed financial decisions while staying focused on your long-term objectives.
Our services are tailored to your business and may include:
Tax planning: We develop proactive tax strategies designed to help reduce unnecessary taxes, improve cash flow, and position your business for future growth;
Financial reporting: Timely, reliable financial information helps you understand performance, monitor profitability, and make confident business decisions;
Business strategy and advisory: We provide practical advice that supports informed decision-making, from growth to investment evaluation to navigating operational challenges;
Succession planning: We help develop tax-efficient strategies when planning for a future sale, family succession, or leadership transition;
Owner compensation: We develop compensation strategies that align with your financial goals by determining the right balance between salary, dividends, and corporate reinvestment.
Strategies for Growing + Established Businesses
As an owner-managed business ourselves, we understand the opportunities and challenges that come with building, growing, and planning for the future of a business. With more than 80 years of experience navigating those decisions firsthand, we draw on our own journey to provide practical advice that helps business owners move forward with confidence.
Growing Businesses
As a business expands, new challenges and opportunities arise that can significantly impact short-term success and long-term profitability. For over 80 years, GGFL’s advisors have helped countless business owners who have walked a mile in your shoes achieve their business and personal financial goals.
Established Businesses
GGFL’s team of advisors work with owners to keep businesses running smoothly, develop tax-efficient strategies for withdrawing money from the company and help plan and execute the sale or succession of the business.
Where the Business and the Owner’s Finances Meet
Business and personal finances are closely connected for many business owners. Business decisions can have a lasting impact on your personal taxes, retirement planning, estate planning, and long-term wealth. We help business owners consider how today’s financial decisions can support tomorrow’s goals.
This may include:
- Tax-efficient owner compensation strategies;
- Planning salary and dividend distributions;
- Managing retained earnings and corporate investments;
- Estate and succession planning for business owners;
- Preparing for retirement while preserving business value.
By considering both sides of your financial picture, we help create strategies that support your business while positioning you for the future.
How We Work With Business Owners
Our proactive approach focuses on collaborating with business owners to make confident financial decisions at every stage of their business. We also work closely with your other trusted advisors, including lawyers, financial planners, bankers, and other professionals, helping ensure everyone is aligned and working toward the same goals. This coordinated approach leads to more informed decisions, fewer surprises, and a smoother path forward.
- Discovery: Understand your business, industry, personal financial objectives, and the challenges and opportunities you face.
- Planning: Identify strategies that support your immediate priorities while building toward your long-term business and personal goals.
- Ongoing support: Provide accounting, tax, and advisory guidance that helps you respond to changing business conditions, identify opportunities, and make informed decisions.
- Adaptation: Adjust our advice to reflect changes in your operations, ownership structure, tax legislation, and future plans.
This long-term partnership allows us to provide advice to navigate important business decisions with confidence at every stage of your journey.
Frequently Asked Questions
Most privately owned businesses benefit from ongoing bookkeeping support, financial reporting, corporate tax compliance, tax planning, and business advisory services. Whether you’re starting out, growing, or preparing for succession, proactive advice around cash flow, financing, strategic decision-making, and long-term planning can help you navigate each stage of your business with confidence.
Our advisors work with business owners throughout the year to identify opportunities, proactively address challenges, and develop strategies that support both business success and personal financial goals. We provide more than year-end compliance services.
Incorporation may provide tax planning opportunities, liability protection, and greater flexibility for future growth, but it is not the right choice for every business. We evaluate your specific circumstances and objectives before making recommendations.
We help owners prepare well in advance of a transition by developing tax-efficient succession strategies, coordinating with legal and financial advisors when appropriate, and help maximize business value before a sale or transfer.
Yes. Many financial decisions affect both your corporation and your personal finances. We consider owner compensation, tax planning, retirement planning, estate planning, and wealth preservation as part of an integrated advisory approach.
Effective tax planning is an ongoing process rather than a year-end exercise. Throughout the year, we review opportunities related to changes in your business, corporate structure, owner compensation, investments, income timing, and changing tax legislation to help improve overall tax efficiency.
Both! We advise businesses at every stage, from companies experiencing rapid growth to established businesses preparing for succession, expansion, or long-term wealth planning. Our advice evolves alongside your business.
Talk to Our Business Advisory Team
Your business itself is just as important as the financials. Find the right support that reflects the growing complexity your practice needs. Our team works alongside your existing advisors in Ottawa to provide you with the clarity and expert advisory solutions you deserve. Reach out today to discover the opportunities behind your numbers
