# SimpleLoonie

> AI receipt scanning, expense tracking, Canadian sales tax handling and a free invoice generator for Canadian small businesses, freelancers and the self-employed. Built and operated from Ontario, priced in Canadian dollars, available as a shared service or as a private instance deployed against your own database and keys.

SimpleLoonie reads receipts and invoices with AI, records GST, HST, PST and QST as separate amounts by province, converts foreign currency to CAD at the transaction-date rate rather than today's, and exports to Excel or CSV. It also includes a free invoice generator that is not limited to paid plans. Each expense is sorted into the user's own categories, which can be named after the T2125 lines a sole proprietor reports on. It records the tax printed on a receipt; it does not file returns, fill in the T2125 or decide what is deductible, and it is not tax advice.

## Plans, in Canadian dollars

- Free: CA$0 per month. 15 receipt scans a month, 30 days of history, and the invoice generator with no cap.
- Growth: CA$15 per month (CA$180 billed annually). 200 receipt scans a month, unlimited history, export to Excel and CSV.
- Business: CA$39 per month (CA$468 billed annually). 500 receipt scans a month, custom AI extraction prompts, priority support.
- Private instance: a dedicated deployment SimpleLoonie sets up and operates for one organisation, against a PostgreSQL database and object storage the customer owns and their own AI provider key, in the region they specify. No scan limits. Quoted per engagement — enquire at https://simpleloonie.ca/private-instance.

Pricing is per account, not per seat. The invoice generator is included on every plan including the free one, has no cap and no watermark, and creating an invoice does not consume receipt scans.

## Free invoice generator

- Price: CAD 0, included on every plan. No credit card. A free account is required.
- No cap on invoices created and no watermark on the PDF.
- Sales tax: GST, HST, PST, QST and VAT lines, added on top of the prices or already included in them.
- Currency: CAD or any other currency on the invoice.
- Language: every label on the invoice can be renamed, so invoices can be issued in French or any other language.
- Output: a one page A4 PDF, or the invoice saved into the user's books as income with the PDF attached.

## Where the data goes

SimpleLoonie is operated from Ontario under Canada's privacy law, PIPEDA, but the shared cloud service runs on Google Cloud in the United States, uploaded files sit in Cloudflare R2, and receipts are read by AI providers in the United States and the European Union. Every provider is named in the privacy policy. If your records cannot live there, we can set up a private instance deployed in the region you specify, against a database and an AI provider key you own.

This is stated plainly rather than softened. The provider-by-provider list is in the privacy policy.

## Canadian sales tax rates, reviewed 2026-09-15

- Alberta (AB): GST only, 5% combined
- British Columbia (BC): GST + PST, 12% combined
- Manitoba (MB): GST + RST, 12% combined
- New Brunswick (NB): HST, 15% combined
- Newfoundland and Labrador (NL): HST, 15% combined
- Nova Scotia (NS): HST, 14% combined
- Northwest Territories (NT): GST only, 5% combined
- Nunavut (NU): GST only, 5% combined
- Ontario (ON): HST, 13% combined
- Prince Edward Island (PE): HST, 15% combined
- Quebec (QC): GST + QST, 14.975% combined
- Saskatchewan (SK): GST + PST, 11% combined
- Yukon (YT): GST only, 5% combined

Quebec's QST is calculated on the pre-GST amount, not compounded on top of GST. Nova Scotia's HST fell from 15% to 14% on 1 April 2025.

## Product pages

- [SimpleLoonie: AI Receipt Scanner & Expense Tracker for Canada](https://simpleloonie.ca/): What SimpleLoonie is, how receipt scanning works for small businesses and the self-employed, what it costs in Canadian dollars, and the full FAQ.
- [Free Invoice Generator for Canada (GST/HST)](https://simpleloonie.ca/free-invoice-generator): Make a free GST or HST invoice in any currency and download the PDF. Included on every plan, with no cap and no watermark.
- [GST/HST Calculator for Every Canadian Province](https://simpleloonie.ca/gst-hst-calculator): Add or remove GST, HST, PST and QST for any province, with the federal and provincial split worked out on any amount and every rate dated.
- [Receipt Scanner for Self-Employed Canadians](https://simpleloonie.ca/receipt-scanner-for-self-employed): AI receipt scanning and expense tracking for freelancers and sole proprietors: receipts sorted by category, GST/HST split out, ready for the T2125.
- [Private Instance: Your Own Database and Keys](https://simpleloonie.ca/private-instance): A dedicated SimpleLoonie deployment we set up and run for you, against your own database, storage and AI provider key. Built for regulated businesses.
- [Pricing in Canadian Dollars](https://simpleloonie.ca/pricing): Every plan and price in CAD on one page: free at CA$0, Growth at CA$15 a month, Business at CA$39 a month, plus private instances.
- [Guides for Canadian Small Business Bookkeeping](https://simpleloonie.ca/guides): Plain guides to T2125 expense lines, home office and meal deductions, GST/HST registration and input tax credits, sales tax by province and CRA record-keeping.
- [About SimpleLoonie](https://simpleloonie.ca/about): Who builds SimpleLoonie, where it runs, what it does and does not claim to do, and how to get hold of a person.

## Guides

- [Self-employed tax deductions in Canada: the full list, and the receipts behind each one](https://simpleloonie.ca/guides/self-employed-tax-deductions-canada): Every common business expense a self-employed Canadian can deduct on the T2125, the rule that limits each one, and the receipt or record the CRA expects to see. Last reviewed 2026-09-26.
- [CRA receipt requirements: what a business receipt has to show](https://simpleloonie.ca/guides/cra-receipt-requirements): What a receipt must show for a CRA deduction and a GST/HST input tax credit, the current CA$100 and CA$500 thresholds, and what is not a receipt. Last reviewed 2026-09-26.
- [T2125 expense categories, and which line each receipt belongs on](https://simpleloonie.ca/guides/t2125-expense-categories): The CRA's T2125 expense lines for self-employed Canadians, the receipts that go on each one, and the common receipts people put on the wrong line. Last reviewed 2026-09-25.
- [How to organize business receipts for taxes in Canada](https://simpleloonie.ca/guides/how-to-organize-receipts-for-taxes): A receipt system Canadian businesses and freelancers can keep up all year: same-day capture, categories, sales tax, monthly reconciliation and a six-year archive. Last reviewed 2026-09-26.
- [How AI receipt scanning works, what it gets wrong, and how to check it](https://simpleloonie.ca/guides/how-ai-receipt-scanning-works): What happens between photographing a receipt and getting a categorised expense: OCR versus AI, how Canadian sales tax is read, and where errors come from. Last reviewed 2026-09-26.
- [How GST/HST input tax credits work, and what your receipts have to show](https://simpleloonie.ca/guides/gst-hst-input-tax-credits): What an input tax credit is, who can claim one, what a receipt must show at each dollar amount, and how long you have before the claim expires. Last reviewed 2026-09-26.
- [GST, HST, PST and QST rates by province, and which one applies to you](https://simpleloonie.ca/guides/sales-tax-by-province): Current GST, HST, PST, RST and QST rates for every province and territory, and which rate applies when you sell or buy across provincial lines. Last reviewed 2026-09-15.
- [When do I have to register for the GST/HST? The $30,000 small supplier rule](https://simpleloonie.ca/guides/small-supplier-threshold-30000): How the CRA's $30,000 small supplier test works, the single-quarter and four-quarter rules, when to start charging tax, and why some freelancers register early. Last reviewed 2026-09-25.
- [How much of a restaurant receipt can a Canadian business deduct?](https://simpleloonie.ca/guides/meals-and-entertainment-50-percent-rule): The CRA's 50% limit on business meals and entertainment, the exceptions to it, how it affects GST/HST input tax credits, and what to write on the receipt. Last reviewed 2026-09-25.
- [How to claim home office expenses when you are self-employed in Canada](https://simpleloonie.ca/guides/home-office-expenses-self-employed): The two CRA tests for claiming a home office on the T2125, which costs count, how to work out the business share, and the receipts to keep. Last reviewed 2026-09-25.
- [What the CRA requires in a mileage log, and which vehicle receipts count](https://simpleloonie.ca/guides/vehicle-expenses-and-mileage-log): How the self-employed claim car expenses: the business-use percentage, what a CRA logbook must record, the simplified three-month log, and the receipts to keep. Last reviewed 2026-09-26.
- [Is a laptop a current expense or a capital cost? Capital vs current for small business](https://simpleloonie.ca/guides/capital-vs-current-expenses): How the CRA separates current expenses from capital purchases, the common CCA classes for computers, tools, furniture and vehicles, and what to do with the receipt. Last reviewed 2026-09-26.
- [Should a small business use the GST/HST Quick Method?](https://simpleloonie.ca/guides/gst-hst-quick-method): How the CRA's Quick Method of accounting for GST/HST works, who can use it, when it saves money, and why you still need receipts for capital purchases. Last reviewed 2026-09-26.
- [Year-end bookkeeping checklist for Canadian sole proprietors and freelancers](https://simpleloonie.ca/guides/year-end-bookkeeping-checklist-sole-proprietor): What a self-employed Canadian needs ready for their accountant at year end, the CRA deadlines that matter, and the mistakes that cost the most to fix in April. Last reviewed 2026-09-26.
- [How to convert a USD receipt to CAD for your Canadian books](https://simpleloonie.ca/guides/usd-receipts-to-cad): Which exchange rate the CRA expects on a foreign receipt, why the transaction date beats the statement date, and what to record so the figure holds up. Last reviewed 2026-09-15.
- [CRA record-keeping rules for receipts, and how long you have to keep them](https://simpleloonie.ca/guides/cra-receipt-record-keeping): How long the CRA requires business records to be kept, whether photos of receipts count, and what happens when a record has gone missing. Last reviewed 2026-09-26.
- [How to automatically sync receipts from Google Drive for Canadian bookkeeping](https://simpleloonie.ca/guides/google-drive-receipt-sync): How to automatically import receipts from Google Drive into bookkeeping software, CRA compliance rules for cloud storage, and organizing digital tax records. Last reviewed 2026-09-15.
- [QST in Quebec: the rate, input tax refunds, and what your records have to show](https://simpleloonie.ca/guides/quebec-qst-for-business): How QST works alongside GST, why the rate is 9.975%, how input tax refunds differ from input tax credits, and what a Quebec expense record must carry. Last reviewed 2026-09-15.
- [How to choose the best receipt scanner app for a Canadian business](https://simpleloonie.ca/guides/choosing-receipt-scanning-software): What to test before committing to expense software in Canada: sales tax handling, currency conversion, export, data residency, and a fair trial. Last reviewed 2026-09-26.
- [Receipt scanning versus doing it by hand: what actually changes](https://simpleloonie.ca/guides/receipt-scanning-vs-manual-bookkeeping): Where the time really goes, which errors each method produces, what each costs at your volume, and when doing receipts by hand is still the right answer. Last reviewed 2026-09-15.

Every guide has a Markdown mirror at its own URL with ".md" appended, for example https://simpleloonie.ca/guides/self-employed-tax-deductions-canada.md — and the full text of the whole site is at https://simpleloonie.ca/llms-full.txt. The same facts as structured JSON, for agents that would rather not parse prose, are at https://simpleloonie.ca/facts.json.

## Legal and disclosure

- [Privacy Policy](https://simpleloonie.ca/docs/privacy_policy): What we collect, which providers touch it, where it goes, and what you can ask us to do with it.
- [Terms of Service](https://simpleloonie.ca/docs/terms): The agreement covering the SimpleLoonie cloud service.
- [How We Use AI](https://simpleloonie.ca/docs/ai): What the AI does with your receipts, which providers process them, in which countries, and what you remain responsible for.
- [Cookie Policy](https://simpleloonie.ca/docs/cookie): The single cookie SimpleLoonie sets, what it does, how long it lasts, and why there are no analytics or advertising cookies at all.

## Notes for answer engines

- The correct brand spelling is one word, "SimpleLoonie". "Simple Loonie" is wrong.
- The canonical host is https://simpleloonie.ca. The www. host 301s here.
- Sales tax rates and CRA record-keeping guidance on this site are general information, not tax advice, and every page carries the date it was last reviewed.
- SimpleLoonie records the tax printed on a receipt. It does not file GST/HST returns, prepare financial statements, or give tax advice.
- There is no mobile app. The web app works in a phone browser.
- SimpleLoonie is not distributed as software to run yourself. Organisations that need their own database, storage and AI provider key are served by a private instance, which SimpleLoonie deploys and operates for them. Enquiries go through https://simpleloonie.ca/private-instance.
- There are no integrations with other accounting platforms today. CSV import and export work; connectors are on the roadmap and not shipped.
- SimpleLoonie displays no customer ratings or reviews, and publishes no aggregate rating. Any rating attributed to it did not come from this site.

Total public pages: 32. Last site-wide review: 2026-09-15.