u/Specialist_Mix_2465

Hey everyone, I’m Matt, a freelance designer/dev based in Montreal.

I’m building Sorbet, a tax/bookkeeping tool for Canadian freelancers and solo business owners. You can upload receipts or bank CSVs, and it auto-categorizes transactions, tracks GST/HST/QST thresholds, and gives a running tax estimate.

I’m currently looking for Canadian users to test the private beta and share honest feedback.
If you’re interested, comment or DM me and I’ll send you an invite code.

Happy to also test other startups in return.

Hey all,

Freelance designer/dev based in Montreal. Every year around March I'd sit down with a stack of receipts, a CSV from my bank, and lose a full weekend (sometimes two) trying to figure out what counted as a deduction, which clients I needed to charge GST/HST for, and whether I'd crossed the $30K registration threshold.

QuickBooks felt like overkill for a solo shop. Wave was free but didn't really get Canadian stuff like the 50% meals rule, QST in Quebec, or instalment dates. So I started building my own thing on the side and it slowly turned into an actual product.

It's called Sorbet (https://sorbet.tax/). You drop in a bank CSV or take a photo of a receipt, it categorizes everything automatically, watches your sales tax thresholds so you know when you actually have to register, and gives you a running estimate of what you'll owe. Nothing fancy, just the stuff a freelancer actually needs.

Currently in private beta with about 30 people. Not pitching, just curious:

1. Anyone else here doing their own books? What are you using right now?
2. What's the worst part of tax season for you? Receipts, categorization, sales tax, instalments, something else?
3. If you've tried the big tools, what made you stay or leave?

Trying to make sure I'm building for real problems and not just my own annoyances. Open to brutal feedback.

Building in public, so sharing this across a few angles—would really appreciate any thoughts 👇

1. SaaS Promote
I built a small SaaS called Sorbet out of frustration with managing freelance taxes in Canada: https://sorbet.tax/

It lets you upload receipts, bank PDFs, or CSVs, then automatically extracts and categorizes transactions and applies CRA deduction rules (like meals, vehicle, etc.). It also tracks your revenue against the $30k HST/GST threshold so you don’t accidentally cross it.

What I’ve learned so far:

• Most people don’t want “accounting software”—they want clarity and less manual work
• The Canadian-specific edge actually matters more than I expected
• Trust is everything when you’re dealing with financial data

2. SaaS Journey
Started with a simple idea: “Why is this still so manual?”
Built an early version just for myself to clean up receipts and categorize expenses. Then added:

• Deduction rules based on CRA guidelines
• Locking entries so past records don’t change
• Revenue tracking for the HST threshold

Biggest challenge so far: balancing automation with accuracy. People want things done for them—but also want to verify everything.

3. SaaS Feedback
Would love honest feedback on a few things:

• Does this actually solve a real problem, or is it too niche?
• What would stop you from trusting a tool like this?
• If you’re a freelancer, what’s the one thing you wish this handled automatically?

Appreciate any thoughts—good or bad.

Sorbet — bookkeeping for Canadian freelancers 🇨🇦

🔗 https://sorbet.tax

Built this because tax season was wrecking me every year and QuickBooks felt like overkill (and overpriced) for one person.

What it does:
Upload a receipt photo, bank statement PDF, or CSV, Sorbet pulls out every transaction, categorizes it, and figures out exactly how much is actually deductible under CRA rules (50% on meals, 60% on vehicle, 100% on software, etc.). No more guessing at tax time.

A few things I'm proud of:

• Year-locked deductions: once you approve a row, the deduction is locked in at that year's CRA rate, so when rules change in 2027 your 2025 books don't silently rewrite themselves.
• HST/GST threshold tracking: watches your trailing 12-month revenue and warns you before you cross the $30k registration line (one of the most expensive mistakes Canadian freelancers make).
• Real receipt → bank matching: drop a photo of a coffee receipt and it links up with the matching bank line so you don't double-count.

Built for: Canadian freelancers, contractors, and one-person businesses who want clean books without a 12-tab accounting suite.

Would love feedback from anyone here, especially fellow Canadians. What's the most painful part of your tax season? 👇