How do I set up bank and payroll accounts after buying a business?

Bank accounts and payroll do not simply relabel themselves the moment the deal closes. Getting this wrong on day one is one of the fastest ways to disrupt the very continuity a buyer just paid for — a payroll run that fails, or customer payments landing in an account the buyer no longer controls, creates exactly the kind of visible disruption that makes staff and customers nervous.

Why the account setup differs by deal structure

In a share purchase, the corporation being bought keeps its own existing bank accounts and CRA program accounts, and what actually changes is who controls the signing authority and the corporate resolutions behind it. In an asset purchase, the buyer is typically a different legal entity entirely, so it needs its own new bank account and its own CRA business number with its own program accounts registered against it.

What has to be ready before the first payroll run

• A business bank account open and funded under the buyer’s operating entity
• Signing authority updated with the bank, supported by the corporate resolutions authorizing it
• A payroll program account registered with the CRA, with the payroll provider pointed at the new account details
• Direct deposit information collected or reconfirmed for every employee being kept on

CRA program accounts need active attention, not assumption

A CRA business number carries several program accounts underneath it — payroll deductions, GST/HST, corporate income tax — and each one needs to reflect the correct legal entity operating the business after closing. Continuing to remit under the seller’s program account by mistake, or missing the registration entirely, creates a mess that compounds the longer it goes unnoticed, so this is worth confirming directly rather than assuming the bookkeeper has already handled it.

Redirect incoming payments deliberately

Customer payments, whether by cheque, pre-authorized debit or electronic transfer, need to be actively redirected to the new account rather than left to sort themselves out, since payments continuing to land in an account the seller still controls get progressively harder to untangle the longer the gap runs. Confirming this redirection is genuinely working, not just requested, in the first days after closing is worth the effort it takes.