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Statements

Canadian Tax Statements

If your church has a Canadian address, you can generate a Canadian Tax Statement.

This statement meets the requirements of Canadian law and will print with your Tax ID and the receipt number of each contributor.

Due to financial regulations, Canadian individuals cannot print a yearly contribution statement without first obtaining a financial administrator's signature. The function to print a yearly contribution statement has been disabled for Canadian individuals and can only be accessed by an administrator.

When two people share their giving, both names display on the statement. If one spouse passes away, only the name of the surviving spouse displays. However, if you need to display both names in this situation, mark the deceased individual as a shared giver after he or she has passed.

Generate Canadian Tax Statements

A Canadian tax statement is a summary of your contributors' tax-deductible gifts. Non-cash gifts are separated out.

  • You must have the View Individual Contributions permission to perform this task. See Responsibilities for more information.
  1. In the top-left corner, click your ministry hub then Realm. Then click Giving > Statements.
  2. Click Generate Contribution Statement.
  3. Select Tax Statements.
  4. Enter a title for your tax statements. Only administrators will see this.
  5. Select the date range in which gifts were given that you want to display on your statements.
  6. Select whether or not you want to include a Cover Letter.
  7. Enter the Location Issued. This field is the place or location that the receipt was issued. More information about this field can be found on the Canada Revenue Agency website.
  8. Enter the Starting Receipt Number.
  9. Upload an image of the Financial Admin Signature, so it displays on your statements.
  10. The Tax ID field only displays if the tax ID has not been entered in your church profile. Enter your tax ID here. It will update your church profile.
  11. Click Next step: Customize Messaging.
  12. Drag and drop the customization tags as you enter your cover letter – if selected earlier – and your brief message. See "Contribution and Tax Statement Field Descriptions" in our related topics to learn more about what these tags do. The following three steps are optional:
    1. Click Add images and a signature to your cover letter to personalize your cover letter with a handwritten signature and images of the projects your contributors gave to.
    2. Click Use a Previously Sent Cover Letter or Message if a cover letter or message from previous statements would be perfect for your current ones.
  13. Click Next step: Preview and Send.
  14. Select how you want to generate your statements.
  15. If you email your contributors, enter the email address of the person who receives responses if a contributor ever has a concern about their statement.
  16. If you email your contributors, click Personalize your email to enter a subject, body, and signature of your own. Otherwise, Realm will send an automated email from your church.
  17. Select the order in which your statements will generate and whether you want the statements to print on the front and back of your paper.
  18. If you want to preview your statements before you generate, click Preview (first 10).
  19. If you're satisfied with the preview, click one of the following to generate your statements:
    • Export PDF— Export all statements as a PDF.
    • Send Emails and Export PDF— Send statements to contributors who have emails, and export the rest as a PDF.
    • Create a List of Records in Constant Contact and Export PDF— If you have more than one Constant Contact account, select the one you want to export to. Enter the information that will display on the list of statement records, and export the rest as a PDF.
    Note: If you have 1,000 or more statements to export to PDF, they will download into a ZIP file. Statements are available for 18 months after they're generated.

Best Practices for Record-Keeping

A list of best practices to prepare you for a Canada Revenue Agency review.

We recommend the following best practices for Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) review preparation:

  1. When you begin to distribute your contributors' giving statements, make an extra copy. This can be a physical copy or a PDF that you keep on file for the future.
  2. Print or create a PDF that lists your contributors, with their contact information, for your annual file.
  3. Print or create a PDF of your annual financial statements, and download transaction details to a spreadsheet or .pdf file.

Keeping these records with other required CRA documents such as church bylaws, annual meeting minutes, and so forth is a good business practice that will better prepare you in the event of a CRA audit.

Note: The information provided is for informational purposes only and should not be construed as legal advice.
Realm

Last updated: August 20, 2024

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