About Us
We are a boutique CPA firm helping small business owners live the life they always wanted. We do this by giving our clients tax strategies that will preserve their wealth and free up their time. These are the core values we stand by:
Our Origin Story
Get a look into what we’re all about and what drives us.
How it all started
Hello, I am Martin, one of the founders of LRK Tax LLP. Here’s how it all started.
In late 2019 we formed LRK Tax and shortly afterwards in November we took out a loan from the bank to acquire a large book of accounting clients from a retiring firm.
When we decided to start out on our own, we had noble intentions of providing the best ever accounting and tax experience for clients. Realistically, we were a bunch of guys who were sick of working for others and wanted to strike out on our own and have control over our own destiny.
We were confident in our decision, especially since Thanusan and I both have a specialized background in taxation and knew that we would be able to offer additional tax services to those clients we just acquired.
Sure enough, our practice was going to plan. But literally within a few short months, COVID 19 upended everything.
Struggles During the Pandemic & Lockdowns
When the government started proposing office closures, we really weren’t sure what to do. After all, how do you close your office when you literally just paid for hundreds of clients waiting to meet you? Although we were considered an essential service and had the ability to stay open, the idea that isolation may be a counter measure to the spread of the corona virus weighed heavily on our minds. Eventually, we arrived at the decision to close our offices and cut off all in person contact.
Naturally, we had to deal with many frustrated clients. Imagine you, as a business owner, had been dealing with someone for the past 20 years and was informed that you will be dealing with someone else now. On top of that, as a business owner you won’t be able to meet this new person (who’s instrumental in your financial affairs) and there’s no certainty you ever will anytime soon. And finally on top of that, your business is undergoing the most uncertainty in recent Canadian history and with all the complex tax subsidy rules you need someone you can trust to help your business stay afloat. (And can you really trust someone you haven’t met?)
I don’t think I’ve ever apologized as much in my professional career or personal life as I did during that first few months of COVID, especially during in March and April which is our busiest months of the year. The accounting profession wasn’t supposed to be like this, it was supposed to be secure, stable, and predictable. When you have scores of clients calling and emailing to express their frustration, whether at you or at the circumstances, you can expect to lose clients.
It was going downhill pretty quickly, and at these dark times you start doubting yourself and wonder whether the choices you made were the right ones and question the path you’ve taken. Although self doubt was apparent, what was equally apparent was that we didn’t have a Plan B. So we continued ahead, and it was during these next few months that would lay the foundation and identity of what LRK Tax would really become.
Willingness to Help is Deeply Rooted in Our Philosophy
Growing up, I always thought smart business owners were responsible for growing revenues and managing expenses with the ultimate goal of maximizing profits. While I still believe that it is key to any successful business, I don’t believe that can be the only reason why a business is successful. There has to be something more than just dollars and cents to justify the existence of your business.
When the lockdown happened, businesses all over the country heavily depended on government subsidies to stay afloat. Pieces of complex legislation on the various subsidies were being released one after another. Instinctively, we spent considerable time processing new legislation to bring meaning and guidance to those who need it. For example, we built our own CEWS calculator long before CRA released theirs to give people an easier way to calculate their entitlements and distributed this for free. We had numerous blogs and updates to the general public and had our ideas published in the highest academic levels of taxation in Canada through the Canadian Tax Foundation.
When I look back, I wonder why we bothered doing any of these things. I don’t think it served any sensible business purpose at the time, as any time spent on these things meant that time was not spent on developing our newly acquired clients and our internal processes that so desperately needed our attention. But while we were doing all of this research and development on COVID-19 legislation, not a single person asked if this made any business sense, we just did it because it felt right.
Did we do these things to acquire new clients? Perhaps, but we had more client work than we could manage at the time so new clients was not a priority for us. Was it to boost our ego and name? Perhaps, but then again its not like two articles with the Canadian Tax Foundation is going to really change anything for us as we routinely contribute our ideas to the Canadian Tax Foundation, and Thanusan even won a Young Practitioner of the Year Award for his contribution on Cryptocurrency in the same year. Was all this work done to boost our firm branding and reputation? Perhaps, but then again I think we would have gotten a far better reputation by devoting all of our time on our clients in the local community.
Our Motivation & Objective
So while the motivation for starting LRK tax was the personal glory and riches that came with being a business owner, the adversity that we were forced to face during COVID-19 compelled us to think about why we continued with LRK despite all of the hardships:
We want to do good and help by using the skills that we have.
I feel fortunate that we were able to face adversity so early in our entrepreneurial journey because it gave us our purpose. For us, doing good for our clients goes beyond filing taxes and making a profit. We want to help our clients succeed at every stage of their entrepreneurial journeys as well, and that is why we get to know you so we can develop a plan for you, guide you and see you succeed.
Bit about our senior team...
Partner
Martin Lee
CPA, CA, CPA (New Hampshire)
Martin Lee is an experienced tax professional with close to 20 years of experience providing business advisory, wealth management, taxation, and estate planning services to entrepreneurs.
Martin obtained his Bachelor of Commerce degree from the University of Toronto before qualifying as a CPA, CA in Canada, and as a U.S. CPA in the State of New Hampshire. He has also completed all three parts of CPA Canada’s In-Depth Tax Program.
Martin is a prolific writer and frequent contributor to The Canadian Tax Foundation, including presenting at national tax conferences. Martin works with a panel at the Canadian Tax Foundation to select award winners for certain tax publications.
Partner
Thanusan Raveendran
CPA, CA
Thanusan Raveendran is an experienced tax and accounting professional, with over 10 years of experience advising entrepreneurs on tax planning matters involving business structuring, buy-sell planning, estate planning, strategic use of trusts and their taxation, creative uses of life insurance, distribution planning for corporations and trusts, and cross-border inbound and outbound tax matters. He has worked with clients across different industries.
Thanusan obtained his Bachelor of Business Administration degree from the University of Toronto, graduating with high distinction. He qualified as a CPA, CA, while articling with PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC). He has also completed all three parts of CPA Canada’s In-Depth Tax Program.
Thanusan has published articles for the Canadian Tax Foundation and Conference for Advanced Life Underwriting (CALU) Info Exchange monthly newsletter. He was awarded the Young Practitioner of the Year Award for his contribution on Taxation of Cryptocurrencies in 2019.
Memberships and Associations
