Terms and Conditions - FBC Advantage Membership

Effective October 1, 2026

A straight-forward agreement. These terms apply to your FBC Advantage Membership. We want to be clear about what you can count on from us, and what we need from you. These terms travel with every invoice and renewal notice and are posted permanently at fbc.ca/terms. Paying your invoice or renewal means you’ve read and agree to these terms.

1. What Your Membership Includes

Here’s what’s included in your FBC Advantage Membership:

Tax Return Preparation

For Individuals included in the Membership we will work with you to prepare your personal T1 tax returns and all related schedules. This includes considering your social benefit entitlements as part of your return preparation.
For Corporations included in the Membership we will work with you to prepare your corporate T2 tax returns and all related schedules. This includes assisting in the preparation of shareholder T4/T5 Information returns.
For Trusts included in the Membership, we will work with you in the preparation of your trust T3 tax return
Annual GST / HST review and reconciliation included.

Planning & Support

As much phone and email support on Canadian income and sales tax as required to get the job done – call us whenever you have questions. 1-800-265-1002
Annual, pre year end planning (Early Tax Call) and Special tax planning consultation, including estate planning and general business structure advice is available when you grant us sufficient time to execute the plan.
The FBC Tax Advantage Summary will be available to assist with planning to minimize tax and maximize credits.
Record keeping advice.

Audit Representation

If CRA comes calling with an audit, we’re in your corner. While your Membership is current, FBC will represent you in any CRA audit of your income tax, GST/HST — and cover our accounting and related legal costs to do it. This benefit applies to current Members only.

Member Tools

Secure document portal to safely share information with your FBC team. https://fbc.cchifirm.ca/3/clientportal/#/home
FBC newsletters to keep you informed on tax changes that affect your operation.
We maintain your historical tax information for as long as you are a Member; this helps to prevent anything falling through the cracks year to year.

2. What’s Not Included in the Tax Membership

The following services are not part of this Membership, but we do offer many of these services separately. Ask FBC and we’ll point you in the right direction:

Dependent tax returns
AgriInvest and AgriStability program applications
T5013 Partnership Information Returns
Financial statement preparation (accrual or compilation, review engagements)
Bookkeeping services, payroll services, and wholesale software
Corporate support services including minute book and annual filings
Financial, insurance, and investment advice
Business restructuring, reorganization, deal work associated with Business sale, mergers and acquisitions
WCB consultation/preparation/audit

3. Working Together — What We Need from You

We do our best work when we’re working as a team. The quality of your tax return depends on the information you give us. Here’s what we need from you:

Give us organized, complete, and accurate records and source documents on time. We can only work with what you provide.
Review your completed tax returns before they’re filed. You know your operation best — you’re the final check.
Authorize FBC as your representative with CRA within 60 days of signing up or making your first payment. Without this, we can’t fully represent you. If we don’t receive it in time, we may need to pause your Membership until it’s in place. Reactivation fees may apply.
Respond when we reach out. If we need information or documents to complete your work, we’ll ask — timely responses keep things on track.
Let us know if something changes. New business, a sale, a major purchase — tell us so we can make sure your taxes reflect it.

If information comes to us late, incomplete, or inaccurate, we are not responsible for any errors that result. We’ll always do our best with what we have.

4. Membership Options

Your have two membership options:

Annual Membership
Monthly Membership

Each membership option has its own term, term of payment and conditions as will be explained.

5. Fees & Payment

Your fee is set out on your invoice or renewal notice. All fees are subject to applicable GST, HST, or PST. We won’t begin or continue work until payment or payment authorization is confirmed.

Amounts unpaid 30 days after the due date will accrue interest at 1.5% per month (18% per year). We may also recover reasonable costs for overdue accounts.

Annual Membership — Lump Sum

Your annual fee is collected as a single payment on the date shown on your invoice or renewal notice — by Pre-Authorized Debit (PAD), credit card, debit, e-transfer, or cheque.

Monthly Membership — Recurring Payment

Your monthly fee is collected by recurring PAD or credit card on the 1st or 15th of each month, as shown on your invoice. If we need to change your monthly amount, we’ll give you written notice first so that you can decide whether you wish to continue or cancel your membership. The new rate takes effect the month after notice.

Pre-Authorized Debit (PAD)

When you authorize PAD, you’re authorizing FBC to draw your fee from your bank account on the scheduled date. Here’s what that means:

You can cancel your PAD authorization at any time by writing to your FBC branch. Cancelling the PAD doesn’t cancel your Membership — that said, any fees owing still need to be paid on time.
We’ll give you at least 10 days’ written notice before changing your debit amount.
If a payment fails (NSF), we may charge an NSF administration fee and pause services until the balance is paid. Two NSF events in 12 months may result in your Membership being cancelled.
You have the right to dispute a PAD within 10 business days of the debit date by contacting your bank. After 10 business days, disputes need to be resolved directly with FBC. For more on your rights, visit payments.ca.
Let us know at least 10 days before changing your bank account. This authorization carries over to any new account you tell us about.

Credit Card

When you authorize credit card payments, we’ll charge your card on the scheduled date. If your amount changes, we’ll let you know in writing first. Continuing to use your Membership after notice means you’ve accepted the new amount.

Cheque

Cheques are accepted for annual lump-sum payments only. Make it out to Farm Business Consultants Inc. and drop it off or mail it to your FBC branch. Work starts once the cheque has cleared.

6. Membership Duration & Expiry

Annual Membership

If you have opted for annual membership, the renewal of your membership is tied to your annual tax data collection appointment — your T1, T2, or Early Tax Call planning visit. That appointment kicks off the next membership year.

If you do not renew, your Membership expires upon the tax filing deadline for the year in question. T1 April 30 or if a T2, 6 months post the latest year end.

Monthly Membership

If you have opted for the monthly membership, your Membership starts when your first payment is received and you have signed this Terms of Service. It then continues month to month until one of you or FBC ends it, as described in Section 8.

When Your Membership Expires

Everything stops at expiry. When your Membership expires or is terminated, all services end — support, planning, and audit representation. Audit representation is for current Members only. It does not carry forward to prior years once your Membership ends.

Work already started. If we’ve already started preparing your tax returns for the covered year when your Membership expires, we’ll finish that work — as long as your fees are current and you have provided us the necessary data to complete the work. But if your data collection appointment for the current tax year hasn’t happened yet, we have no obligation to complete that year’s returns.

Everything else stops. Support calls, advisory questions, and any new requests stop at expiry. Renew your Membership to get back on track.

7. Renewal

No re-signing required. From your second year onward, your Membership renews automatically when you pay your renewal invoice. Paying your renewal means you’ve read and accepted the current Terms of Service.

We’ll provide the current Terms of Service before payment is due. The latest version is always at fbc.ca/terms.

If we’ve made any meaningful changes to the Terms, we’ll spell them out in plain language right on the Term of Service — no surprises.

If you decide not to renew, just let your FBC branch know in writing before the invoice due date.

8. Cancellation & Termination

New Membership Agreements — Your 10-Day Right to Cancel

10-Day Cancellation Right: You can cancel a new Membership within 10 days of signing up or making your first payment. Just send us written notice. We’ll return any money paid, less the value of any work already completed.

After the 10-Day Window

Once the 10 days have passed, fees are earned as work is done. If you cancel, we’ll complete any work already in progress — but we’re not required to take on new work. We won’t issue a refund for work completed or for unused Membership time.

Monthly Membership — Ending the Relationship

Either of us can end a monthly Membership at any time with written notice. The cancellation takes effect at the beginning of the following month. A missed monthly payment is treated as written notice to cancel, effective the beginning of that month.

When FBC May End Your Membership

We take our relationship with Members seriously, and we’d always prefer to resolve issues. But we may need to cancel your Membership immediately if:

You haven’t provided the information or cooperation we need, and it’s not resolved within 14 days of us letting you know.
We’ve been unable to reach you for 30 or more consecutive days.
There is abusive or threatening behavior toward FBC staff.
There’s a material breach of this agreement that isn’t resolved within 14 days of notice.
A conflict of interest comes up that makes it inappropriate for us to continue.

If FBC ends your Membership, all fees earned up to that point are due immediately. We’ll give you a summary of the work completed, but we’re not required to finish anything in progress. Ending your Membership for these reasons doesn’t create any liability on FBC’s part.

9. Our Service Guarantee

FBC stands behind its work. If a CRA penalty results directly from a mistake we made preparing your tax return, we’ll credit that penalty amount against your FBC fees — even after your Membership has expired, as long as the error happened while you were an active Member.

To make a claim under this guarantee, you need to:

Let us know in writing as soon as you receive the CRA assessment and believe there’s an error on our part.
Give us a fair chance to review the assessment and the original work, and to try to correct it with CRA before any credit is issued.

This guarantee doesn’t cover:

CRA interest charges or instalment penalties.
Penalties caused by information you gave us that was incomplete, inaccurate, or late.
Situations where FBC wasn’t given the chance to review and respond before you pursued other action; we require notice at least 30 days from the date of the assessment, failing which you agree that FBC shall not be liable for the penalties.

10. When We May Pause Your Service

In some situations, we may need to temporarily pause your Membership services. We’ll always notify you in writing first. Reasons we may need to pause include:

Fees that are overdue or a payment that’s been missed.
Information, authorizations, or documents we’ve asked for that haven’t been provided.
A situation where continuing the engagement could put FBC at legal, ethical, regulatory, or reputational risk.
An unresolved dispute between you and FBC.

Once the issue is sorted out to FBC’s reasonable satisfaction, we’ll resume your services. Pausing your Membership doesn’t reduce any fees already owed and doesn’t limit our right to cancel under Section 8 if things can’t be resolved.

11. Our Liability to You

Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in this agreement, if at any time we make an error or our found to be liable to you, you agree that our liability to you is limited to the penalties charged to you by the CRA. We’re not responsible for business decisions you make based on our advice, for errors that came from information you provided, or for things outside our control.

It is important for you to take note that if you do not retain FBC to assist you with any audit or objections or appeals, then you agree that FBC shall not be liable for the result of any audit or assessment, including interest and penalties. You agree that you must allow FBC the opportunity to defend its work and if you do not, FBC shall not be liable to you in any way.

Furthermore, you agree that if you post anything disparaging or defamatory or negative online about FBC, then FBC shall in no way be liable to you for any amount including penalties.

Our work is prepared for you. The advice and documents we prepare are for your use only. FBC isn’t responsible to any third party — such as lenders, government programs, or investors — who may see or rely on work we’ve done for you.

12. Your Privacy

We use third-party cloud service providers to store, process, and protect information. Personal information may be stored in Canada or other jurisdictions where our service providers operate. Some processing activities, including AI services, technical support, security monitoring, system maintenance, telemetry, and disaster recovery services, may occur outside Canada. We require our service providers to maintain appropriate safeguards to protect personal information and comply with applicable privacy laws. Information processed outside Canada may be subject to the laws and lawful access requirements of the foreign jurisdiction in which it is processed.

Your financial and personal information is yours. We treat it as strictly confidential.

We won’t share it with anyone outside FBC without your permission — unless the law requires it, or it’s shared with FBC-affiliated companies to deliver your services. By agreeing to these terms, you give us permission to share your basic contact information with FBC-affiliated companies for relevant marketing. You can withdraw that permission any time by contacting your branch.

FBC follows all applicable Canadian privacy laws, including PIPEDA and applicable provincial legislation.

13. A Few More Details

The whole agreement: These Terms of Service, together with your invoice or renewal notice, are the complete agreement between you and FBC. They replace any earlier conversations or documents on the same subject.

Which province’s law applies: This agreement is governed by the laws of the province where your FBC branch is located.

Transferring this agreement: This Membership is yours. You can’t transfer it to someone else without FBC’s written consent.

Changes to these terms: We may update these Terms from time to time. If we make material changes, we’ll highlight them on your next renewal invoice. By continuing your membership, you are agreeing to be bound by any such changes. The current version is always at farmbc.ca/terms.

If part of this doesn’t hold up: If any part of this agreement is found to be unenforceable, the rest of it still stands.

Questions? Reach your FBC branch any time, or visit fbc.ca — Farm Business Consultants Inc. · A Harvest Company · 1-800-265-1002