The real duties and resources need explanation for the actual proposals. A total payroll figure does not show who performs operating work or whether each role is primarily managerial or executive.
Allocate resources without double-counting facts
Identify genuine staff and functions supporting the applicants. Keep commercial budgets separate from government and professional costs. A shared financial plan cannot replace the individual role assessment.
Mostly into accounting and evidence work: producing reliable financial statements, reconciling internal figures with filings, assembling payroll and contract records, and paying counsel to assess whether the position now supports the claim. Employers budget for legal fees and then find that the real effort falls on their own finance and corporate secretarial staff, who are asked for ownership chains, audited statements and historic board minutes while doing their normal work. 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. Cost allocation does not change L-1A eligibility: the entities need a parent, branch, subsidiary, or affiliate relationship; the beneficiary needs the generally required continuous year of full-time foreign employment inside the relevant preceding three-year period; and the American role must be managerial or executive.