An accountant can work with your CRA information through representative authorization. They do not need to sign in as you using your password or one-time security code.
Confirm who and what you are authorizing
Ask for the representative's identifier and the scope of the work. A RepID identifies an individual representative; other identifiers can authorize a group or business. Check the name shown before approving access, and choose the access level and expiry appropriate to the task.
For a personal account, CRA provides an authorization option in My Account. A representative can also submit a request through Represent a Client, which may require your confirmation or another approved verification route. CRA's current authorization instructions.
Do not approve an unfamiliar pending request simply because you are expecting help with taxes. Contact the accountant through a known channel to resolve any mismatch first.
Keep access separate from account ownership
Use your own login privately and complete any confirmation yourself. Provide requested tax documents through the agreed secure process, not by forwarding passwords or authentication messages. CRA's account-security guidance.
Someone unable to use My Account still has authorization options. Form AUT-01 provides offline access only; it does not create online representative access. Legal representation for another person can require different supporting documents.
After the work, review who remains authorized and whether the scope is still needed. Remove or update an authorization when the relationship changes. Keep a note of the representative, purpose and end date with your tax records.
A useful handoff is specific: which years, which accounts and which issue the accountant will handle. That also makes it easier to recognize a request that falls outside the agreed work.
Checked October 20, 2026. See responding to a review letter for a common use of representative access.
