Hey, Sai users! Have you begun sorting your transactions but are feeling a little unsure about where they belong? Let’s clear things up. This list is your guide to all the Sai categories, what they are, and some common examples. Categorize with confidence 💪💜
| Sai Category | Explanation | Examples | Type |
| Accounting Fees | Fees paid to an accountant or bookkeeper for preparing tax returns, financial statements, or other accounting services. Yes, the cost of Sai counts! | Tax preparation fees for your freelance business, monthly bookkeeping service charges | Business |
| Administration Fees | Fees for administrative support related to your creative business. | Virtual assistant fees for handling client correspondence, data entry charges, contract preparation services | Business |
| Advertising | Costs associated with promoting your work, services, or events. | Sponsored social media posts, printed flyers and posters, online ad campaigns, portfolio website design fees | Business |
| Aesthetics for my creative practice | Expenses related to maintaining a professional appearance or image that is relevant to your artistic work. | Hairstyling for a professional headshot, makeup for a performance | It Depends |
| Agent Commission and Fees | Fees paid to an agent or manager who represents your artistic work. | Percentage of earnings paid to your agent for booking gigs, commission to a gallery representing your artwork | Business |
| Art Supplies | General materials used in the creation of visual art. | Paint, canvas, brushes, clay, drawing pencils, sketchbooks | Business |
| Bank Fees | Fees charged by your bank for business-related transactions. | Monthly business account fees, overdraft charges, wire transfer fees | Business |
| Business Licenses | Fees paid to obtain required licenses or permits to operate your creative business. | Annual business registration fee, vendor permit for selling at markets, special licenses for certain artistic activities | Business |
| Business Taxes | Additional taxes levied on your business income or operations (but not paying your income or sales tax) | payroll taxes (if you hire employees) – don’t worry about sales tax or income tax as those will be tracked on every transaction separately | Business |
| Cellphone | Monthly cellphone bill and costs for data usage related to your creative business. Only a portion of this is generally eligible because most people use their phone for work and personal use. | Phone plan, data charges if used for work communications and marketing | It Depends |
| Coaching | One-on-one or small group instruction from a qualified professional to help you improve your artistic skills or business knowledge. | Acting workshops, singing lessons, business coaching sessions for your creative enterprise | Business |
| Convention Fees | Registration fees and associated costs for attending industry conventions, conferences, or trade shows. | Conference registration for a professional development event in your field, trade show booth rental, travel and accommodation costs for attending a convention | Business |
| Dance wear | Specialized clothing and footwear required for dance practice and performance. | Leotards, ballet shoes, jazz shoes, character dance attire | Business |
| Delivery Fees | Fees charged for delivery services related to your creative business. | Courier fees for shipping artwork to a client, rush delivery charges for time-sensitive materials, local delivery service for transporting equipment | Business |
| Donations | Charitable donations made as an individual. Unfortunately contributions of your time don’t count! | Donations to arts organizations, charities, non-profits (receipts required) | Personal |
| Employment Income | Money earned from a traditional employment position (e.g., part-time job outside your artistic field) | Wages from a part-time teaching position, salary from a non-arts related day job | Personal |
| Entry Fees | Fees paid to enter competitions, festivals, or juried exhibitions. | Submission fee for a film festival, entry fee for an art competition, application fee for a craft fair | Business |
| Equipment Repairs and Maintenance | Costs to repair and maintain equipment essential to your artistic practice. | Fixing a broken camera lens, servicing a musical instrument, replacing a worn-out pottery wheel | Business |
| Flights and Trains for Work | Costs for long-distance work-related travel. | Flights for out-of-town performances, train tickets for attending an industry event in another province | Business |
| Freight and Duty Fees | Costs associated with shipping artwork or materials internationally, including customs duties. | Shipping charges for sending sculptures overseas, customs fees on imported art supplies | Business |
| Gift Cards (Below $500) for Work | Gift cards purchased as incentives, rewards, or thank-you gifts for clients, collaborators, or team members. | Gift card to a coffee shop for a client after a successful project, gift card to an art supply store as a contest prize | Business |
| Gig Income | Money you earn from freelance work or short-term projects related to your artistic skills. | Payment for teaching a music workshop, fee for creating a logo for a client, income from selling your artwork at a craft fair | Business |
| Grants I Received | Financial awards or funding received to support your artistic projects. | Government arts grants, artist residencies, scholarships or bursaries | Business |
| Home: Electricity | Costs for electricity in your home. | Monthly electricity bill | It Depends |
| Home: Heat | Costs for heating your home. | Natural gas bills, electricity bills (if primary heat source), cost of firewood | It Depends |
| Home: Insurance | Homeowner’s or renter’s insurance premiums. | Monthly or annual insurance payments for your home | It Depends |
| Home: Internet | Monthly internet service fees for your home. | Internet bill for your home wifi | It Depends |
| Home: Maintenance | Costs for repairs and upkeep of your primary residence. | Fixing a leaky faucet, hiring a plumber, replacing a broken window | It Depends |
| Home: Mortgage Interest | Interest paid on a mortgage for your primary residence. | Monthly mortgage interest payments | It Depends |
| Home: Property Taxes | Taxes levied on your home by your municipality. | Annual property tax bill for your house or condo | It Depends |
| Home: Rent | Monthly rent payments for your primary residence. | Rent for your apartment or house | It Depends |
| Insurance | Premiums for business-related insurance policies. | Liability insurance for your studio space, equipment insurance for your camera gear, event insurance for a performance or exhibition | Business |
| Interest Charges | Interest paid on business loans or credit cards. | Interest on a business credit card balance, interest charges on a loan for studio equipment | Business |
| Legal Fees | Fees paid to a lawyer for contracts, copyright advice, or other legal matters related to your business. | Contract review by a lawyer specializing in entertainment law, legal consultation for copyright infringement issues, fees for trademark registration | Business |
| Local Transit | Public transportation costs directly related to your creative business. | Bus or subway fares for traveling to auditions, train tickets for attending a conference | Business |
| Major medical expenses | Expenses for any health-related products or services. Therapy is not a deductible expense UNLESS you have a disability tax credit, which means you’ve been documented to have a disability by a Doctor | Glasses, Eye exams, Dentist appointments, Hearing tests | It Depends |
| Meals I Ate Alone | Food and beverage expenses when dining alone (not related to business travel or meetings). Unfortunately CRA doesn’t count eating by yourself as a business meal, in the same way that a person working a job at an office buying lunch isn’t a business expense. | Picking up a quick lunch during a break from working in your studio, grabbing coffee while running errands | Personal |
| Meals I Ate While Travelling for Work | Food and beverage expenses incurred during work trips. These are eligible business expenses because if you were at home you may not have needed to eat out. | Restaurant meals during a conference, snacks purchased at the airport while traveling to a performance | Business |
| Business Memberships | Fees paid to professional organizations or associations related to your artistic field. | Annual membership dues for an actors’ union, subscription to an online platform for creative professionals | Business |
| Music Supplies | Items specific to your musical practice, excluding instruments themselves. | Sheet music, instrument reeds, guitar strings, rosin for bows | Business |
| Networking Meals and Entertainment | Costs of meals or entertainment while networking with clients, potential collaborators, or industry professionals. | Lunch meeting with a potential client, tickets to an industry event for networking purposes | Business |
| Office Rent | Rent for a dedicated office space outside of your home. | Monthly rent for a shared workspace, studio rental in an artist co-op | Business |
| Office Supplies | General supplies for running the administrative side of your creative business. | Printer paper, ink cartridges, notebooks, pens, file folders | Business |
| Other Business Fees | Miscellaneous fees related to your business that don’t fit into other categories. | Website hosting fees, online course platform subscription, domain name registration | Business |
| Other Business Services | Costs for professional services that support your creative business, not covered in other specific categories. | hiring ASL interpreters for your event, translation services for international projects. | Business |
| Other Car Expenses | Costs associated with operating your vehicle for business purposes (not including those other listed car categories). | Tolls incurred while driving to a client meeting, car cleaning costs after it got dirty from carrying paint supplies. | It Depends |
| Other Income | Income earned outside of your primary artistic practice. | Interest income from investments, non-arts-related side jobs, rental income from a property you own | Personal |
| Other Marketing Expenses | Marketing costs that don’t fall under “Advertising.” | Printing business cards, hiring a graphic designer for promotional materials, website development costs | Business |
| Other People I Paid for Work | Fees paid to freelancers, contractors, or temporary workers for their services on your projects. | Hiring a project coordinator for an event, compensating a videographer for editing footage | Business |
| Other Services | Professional services for your business not covered in other categories. | Hiring a translator for international collaborations, website maintenance services, consultation with a business strategist | Business |
| Performance/Exhibition Space Rental | Fees for renting a venue for a performance, exhibition, or similar event. | Renting a theatre for a play, booking an art gallery for a show, securing a convention booth | Business |
| Personal Assistant I Hired | Fees paid to a personal assistant who supports your creative work. | Virtual assistant for administrative tasks, personal assistant who helps coordinate schedules and meetings | Business |
| Personal Car: Gas | Fuel costs for personal driving. | Filling up your gas tank for errands, commuting, or personal trips | It Depends |
| Personal Car: Insurance | Insurance premiums for your vehicle for personal use. | Monthly car insurance payments | It Depends |
| Personal Car: License and Registration | Government fees related to owning and operating your vehicle for personal use. | Annual license plate renewal, vehicle registration fees | It Depends |
| Personal Car: Maintenance and Repairs | Costs to keep your vehicle in good working order for personal use. | Oil changes, tire replacements, regular servicing for your personal vehicle | It Depends |
| Personal Car: Parking | Parking fees for personal errands or commuting. | Parking garage fees while shopping, on-street parking meters for personal appointments | It Depends |
| Personal Car: Payments (lease, purchase, financing) | Payments related to owning or leasing your vehicle for personal use. | Monthly lease payments, car loan instalments, interest on your car loan | It Depends |
| Personal Expenses | Expenses related to your personal life, not your creative business. Anything that doesn’t fit into any of the other categories and not relevant for your professional activities can go here. | Groceries, shopping, non-work-related clothing, Christmas presents, travel to Vegas for fun. | Personal |
| Physical Care for my Practice | Costs related to maintaining your physical health and well-being in order to sustain your artistic practice. | Physiotherapy for a dance-related injury, massage therapy for musicians, ergonomic equipment for your studio, a gym membership if you’re a dancer, | Business |
| Private Healthcare Plan | Premiums for private health insurance plans that supplement your provincial health coverage. | Monthly payments for dental insurance, vision care plan, extended health benefits | Personal |
| Professional Associations | Dues paid to professional associations relevant to your artistic field. | Annual membership in a dance association, fees for belonging to a musicians’ guild | Business |
| Professional Development | Courses, workshops, or conferences that enhance your professional knowledge and skills within your artistic field. | Online courses in graphic design, attending a dance technique intensive, industry conferences | Business |
| Project: Artist Fees | Fees paid to other artists or collaborators for a specific project. | Paying a guest dancer for a performance, hiring a musician for a recording session, compensating a co-writer | Business |
| Project: Artist Per Diems | Daily allowances paid to artists or crew members for a particular project or event. | Providing a stipend to cover meals and incidentals for artists during a residency, per diems for actors on a film shoot | Business |
| Project: Costumes | Clothing, accessories, and other items specifically used for performances, productions, or creative projects. | Costumes for a theatrical performance, period clothing for a historical reenactment, props for a photoshoot | Business |
| Project: Crafting, Framing, Presentation Fees | Costs associated with preparing artwork for shipping, exhibition, or sale. | Custom-built crate for transporting a sculpture, professional framing for photographs, archival-quality print presentation | Business |
| Project: Exhibition Fees | Fees charged for participating in art shows, fairs, or festivals. | Booth rental fee at an art market, submission fee for a group exhibition, installation costs for a solo show | Business |
| Project: Fundraising Fees | Costs associated with raising funds for a specific creative project | Platform fees for a crowdfunding campaign, printing costs for a fundraising event, postage for a mail-out campaign | Business |
| Project: Gear/Equipment Rental and Insurance | Costs for renting specialized equipment for a short-term project and insuring it. | Renting a camera and lens for a photoshoot, insuring a rented instrument during a tour | Business |
| Project: Gifts (thank you, opening night, etc.) | Small gifts given as a gesture of appreciation related to a specific project. | Flowers for the opening night of a play, thank you gift for a project sponsor, branded merchandise for collaborators | Business |
| Project: Instrument Rental, Cartage, and Insurance | Costs associated with renting, transporting, and insuring musical instruments for a project. | Renting a piano for a concert, fees for specialized movers to transport a harp, insurance for a borrowed vintage guitar | Business |
| Project: Marketing Service Fees | Fees paid to marketing professionals or agencies to promote a specific project or event. | Hiring a social media strategist for a project launch, paying a publicist to secure press coverage, graphic design fees for a show poster | Business |
| Project: Payroll | Wages, salaries, and benefits paid to employees for a specific project or event. This category should be used for paying people who are employees – i.e. they are receiving a T4 from you. | Part-time creative associate on permanent contract, or full time general manager | Business |
| Project: Photo-labs and Processing Fees | Costs associated with developing and processing film or prints for a photography project. | Film developing and printing costs at a professional lab, darkroom rental fees, chemicals for self-processing film | Business |
| Project: Postage, Courier, and Shipping Fees | Costs for sending or receiving items related to a specific project. | Postage for mailing out promotional materials, courier fees for shipping artwork to a gallery, shipping costs for sending merchandise to customers | Business |
| Project: Set Materials | Materials used to build or decorate sets for performances, film shoots, or photoshoots. | Lumber, paint, fabric, and other supplies for building a theatrical set, props and set dressing for a film production, backdrops for a photography studio | Business |
| Project: Supplies and Materials | Essential materials you use to create your art. This includes things you use up or wear out in the process of creating your work. | Paints, brushes, canvas, clay, musical instruments, software (design programs) | Business |
| Project: Technician Fees | Fees paid to technicians for specialized skills or services on a specific project. | Hiring a lighting designer for a dance performance, paying a sound technician for mixing a live show, fees for an art installer to hang an exhibition | Business |
| Reference and Research for work | Expenses incurred to gather information or materials directly related to your creative projects. | Purchasing books for a historical fiction project, museum admission for research, stock photo subscriptions | Business |
| Rehearsal Space Rental | Costs specifically designed for practice and rehearsal. | Renting a music practice room, dance studio rental by the hour | Business |
| Rental Vehicles | Costs of renting vehicles for business purposes (not personal travel). | Renting a van to transport artwork to an exhibition, short-term car rental for a client meeting in another city | Business |
| Ride Share (Uber, Lyft, etc.) | Ride-sharing fees for business-related trips. | Taking an Uber to a client meeting, using Lyft to get to a photoshoot location | Business |
| Sales Income | Money earned from selling your artwork, products, or creative services. | Sales of original paintings, revenue from teaching art classes, income from merchandise sales | Business |
| Software Subscription for Personal Use | Subscription fees for software you use primarily for personal reasons. | Streaming services (Netflix, Spotify), personal photo editing software, gaming subscriptions | Personal |
| Software Subscriptions for Work | Subscription fees for software used primarily for your creative business. | Adobe Creative Suite subscription, music production software, project management tools for artists | Business |
| Space Rental | General term for renting any space essential for your artistic practice. | Use this if more specific rental categories don’t apply | Business |
| Storage Rent for work materials | Fees for storing work-related materials, equipment, or finished pieces. | Renting a storage locker for excess inventory, off-site storage for sculptures, archiving documents | Business |
| Training in my professional practice | Formal training programs designed to develop or upgrade your core artistic skills. | Tuition for a multi-week photography program, enrollment in a ceramics course, apprenticeship fees | Business |
| Transfer between accounts | Money moving between your own bank accounts. | Transferring funds from your chequing to your savings, paying off your credit card. | Personal |
| Travel Accommodation | Hotel or short-term rental costs for business trips. | Hotel room for a multi-day conference, Airbnb rental for a week-long residency | Business |
| Union Dues | Membership dues paid to unions representing artists and professionals in your industry. | Annual dues to an actors’ union (like ACTRA or SAG-AFTRA), fees for membership in a musicians’ union, membership in a stage technicians’ guild | Business |
| Workshop Space Rental | Costs for renting temporary spaces for workshops, rehearsals, or short-term projects. | Renting a dance studio for a rehearsal, booking a classroom for a weekend workshop, using a community space for a temporary exhibition | Business |
Â