Label expenses accurately instead of converting contractor payments into payroll for presentation.
Make the budget match the operating model
Separate vendor costs, actual employees, premises and management resources. Explain how the model supports the applicant’s role. A credible cost plan reflects what the business will do; it does not rely on a more impressive but inaccurate staffing label.
Build one schedule for premises, payroll capacity, equipment, insurance, and working capital; another for corporate records, translations, professional services, current government charges, and family filings; and a third for the shareholder’s personal contribution. A small company sometimes underestimates the ongoing costs of maintaining two trading entities, because the Canadian parent must remain active for the whole period, including its own payroll and filings. The first budget should assign each expense to a decision: corporate-document review tests the relationship, accounting evidence tests active business, and relocation spending follows an approved plan. A generous budget does not create the qualifying relationship between the two entities, does not make a position primarily managerial or executive, does not supply the continuous qualifying year abroad, and cannot let one employee staff two operations.