CASE STUDY
Boxhub
From Six People and Manual Payroll to 50-Plus Staff, Automated Books, and $158K in GST/HST Recovered
- Online Marketplace
- Cross-Border CA / US
- Back-Office Outsourcing
The Impact
About the Client
Boxhub is an online marketplace for buying and selling shipping containers. The pitch is simple: purchasing a container should be as easy as booking a hotel. Customers browse available units, see upfront pricing, check out online, and have the container delivered. Boxhub USA runs the platform and customer-facing operations.
In 2020, Boxhub Inc. founded Boxhub Canada to handle the back-office functions for the broader business. That means payroll, bookkeeping, accounts payable and receivable, and financial reporting for a team that has grown from a handful of people to over 50. It also means managing intercompany accounting between the Canadian and US entities on a monthly basis.
The Situation
Boxhub Canada launched in 2020 with a small team and manageable back-office needs. But the headcount grew quickly, and the systems did not keep pace. Payroll was being handled manually. HR records lived in one place, payroll in another, and there was no integration between them. Expense reports were inconsistent. Receipts were getting lost.
On the financial side, delivering monthly statements that synced properly with the US entity required significant manual effort each period. GST/HST input tax credits were not being claimed consistently. The back-office function had been built for a six-person operation and was straining under a team eight times that size
The Core Problem
Boxhub Canada’s back-office infrastructure was built for the team it started with, not the team it became. Payroll, HR, expenses, and intercompany accounting all needed proper systems and a team that could run them reliably as the business continued to scale.
Challenges
The problems Boxhub Canada was dealing with are typical of a business that scaled headcount faster than its back-office infrastructure. Each area had its own issues:
- The team grew from 6 to 50-plus in a few years. Employee onboarding, terminations, and benefits changes were being handled manually, with no system to keep payroll and HR records in sync.
- Expense reports had no consistent submission process. Finance was chasing receipts from multiple cardholders instead of receiving them through a single workflow.
- Vacation accruals, leave balances, and taxable benefits were tracked separately from payroll, which created errors and reconciliation work each period
- Monthly financials needed to stay in sync with intercompany balances and billing between the Canadian and US entities. There was no reliable process to make that happen on time.
- GST/HST input tax credits were going unclaimed. The compliance process was reactive rather than structured, and CRA interactions were handled without dedicated support.
The Transcounts Approach
Transcounts took over the full Canadian back-office function and rebuilt it around tools and processes built to handle a growing team. The work covered three areas:
1. Building a Proper Payroll Infrastructure
- Set up Payworks for real-time employee onboarding and termination, giving HR and finance a single system that stayed current as the team grew
- Integrated HiBob with Payworks so leave balances and vacation accruals flowed directly into payroll without manual reconciliation.
- Updated taxable benefits in the payroll system in real-time as employee packages changed, keeping compliance records accurate throughout the year
2. Getting Expenses and Payments Under Control
- Implemented DEXT for expense report tracking, giving every cardholder a consistent way to submit receipts and giving finance a reliable process to process them.
- Connected expense reimbursements to payroll so payments went through a single workflow rather than being handled separately.
- Set up Plooto for supplier payments, replacing a manual AP process with a faster and less error-prone one.
3. Keeping the Books Clean Across Two Entities
- Delivered monthly financial statements timed to sync with intercompany balances and billing between the Canadian and US entities.
- Handled GST/HST tracking, return filing, and refund claims so input tax credits were captured each period rather than missed.
- Provided direct CRA liaison and audit support, handling GST/HST queries and reviews on Boxhub Canada ' s behalf.
The Results
Boxhub Canada’s back-office now runs cleanly at scale. Payroll, expenses, financial reporting, and tax compliance are all handled through systems that keep up with a 50-person operation. The GST/HST recoveries alone have returned significant value to the business.
- The Operations Manager got 20 to 30 hours back each month
- Financial reporting is now reviewed every month, on time. Cash planning, tax visibility, and hiring decisions are based on numbers the team can trust.
- The CRA demand letters stopped. Audit risk came down significantly once the books were clean and filings were current.
- GST credits that had been missed were recovered. Late-filing penalties stopped.
- Snow Cleared expanded into the United States with full financial support in place from day one.
- Snow Cleared has been a Transcounts client for over four years.
Services Provided
- Bookkeeping
- Accounts Receivable & Payable
- Audit Support & CRA Liaison
- HiBob/Payworks Integration
- Payroll (Payworks)
- GST/HST Returns & Refunds
- DEXT & Plooto Setup
- Year-End Support
Has your back office kept up with your headcount?
Transcounts handles payroll, bookkeeping, tax compliance, and intercompany accounting for growing Canadian businesses. One team, one point of contact, built to scale with you.