Accountant for Small Business in British Columbia
Reviewed by EverStone CPA · July 2026
From our Abbotsford office we look after incorporated businesses across BC — corporate tax, the province’s GST-plus-PST system, bookkeeping and planning — entirely online, wherever you are.
Quick answer: British Columbia corporations file a T2 return six months after fiscal year-end and may also need to collect both 5% GST and 7% PST, which are registered and filed separately. EverStone is a BC-based CPA practice preparing T2 returns, GST/PST filings and year-end statements online for a fixed, pre-agreed fee.
BC’s GST-plus-PST split, and where contractors get it wrong
British Columbia pairs the 5% federal GST with a separate 7% provincial sales tax (PST) — unlike HST provinces, the PST is filed separately to the province, and it applies differently (many services are exempt). Getting the PST treatment right is one of the most common things BC owners get wrong.
On the corporate side, BC has one of the country’s more competitive small-business rates. Active business income eligible for the small-business deduction is taxed at a combined 11% (9% federal + 2% BC), up to the $500,000 limit.
PST is where most BC corporations trip up, because the exemption list is not intuitive: most services are exempt from PST, but a defined list is not — telecommunication services, and a growing category of software and SaaS subscriptions, are taxable, and getting the taxable-versus-exempt call wrong on an invoice either means undercharging a customer or over-remitting tax you never should have collected. Contractors selling installed goods face a related wrinkle: labour to install materials into real property is generally treated differently for PST purposes than a straight retail sale, which changes how PST should be applied on a renovation or build contract. On the employer side, once a BC business’s annual payroll passes the province’s employer health tax exemption threshold, Employer Health Tax applies alongside CPP and EI — a cost that catches growing BC firms much the way EHT catches growing Ontario ones, just calculated against a different threshold and rate.
| Sales tax | 5% GST + 7% PST (PST filed separately) |
|---|---|
| Small-business corporate rate | 11% combined (9% federal + 2% BC) |
| General corporate rate | 27% combined |
| Small-business limit | $500,000 |
Rates current as of 2026 (source: Canada Revenue Agency). General information, not advice specific to your situation.
Need the full set rather than the summary? The British Columbia tax facts tables set out the corporate rates, the sales tax position, the provincial payroll levies, the workers’ compensation authority and the registry filing, each with its government source and the date it was checked.
Who we serve across BC’s building & resource economy
The province’s economy skews toward two very different PST realities: the Fraser Valley and Lower Mainland’s building trades sell installed materials and labour, largely PST-exempt on the service side but taxable on many materials, while BC’s software, e-commerce and professional-services sector increasingly sells taxable digital products and subscriptions. We work with both, and it’s exactly this contrast that makes correct PST coding matter so much for a BC file:
Construction & trades
Holdbacks, work-in-progress, subcontractor T5018 reporting and equipment — plus PST correctly split between exempt labour and taxable materials on the Fraser Valley and Lower Mainland building projects that are our backyard.
Professional corporations
Consultants, medical and legal professionals incorporating to access BC’s 11% small-business rate, then structuring owner pay around a salary-and-dividend mix that keeps the rate working for them.
Tech & online business
SR&ED-adjacent startups, SaaS platforms and e-commerce sellers who need PST correctly applied to software and digital subscriptions, and GST tracked cleanly across the provinces they ship into.
Agriculture & food
Fraser Valley farms, greenhouses and food producers managing seasonal cash flow, equipment capital cost allowance, and the PST exemptions that apply to specific farm inputs.
Everything a BC corporation needs under one file
One CPA handles it all, coordinated instead of scattered across a bookkeeper, a tax preparer and a payroll service:
- T2 corporate tax returns & BC year-end statements
- BC GST + PST filed and reconciled correctly
- Bookkeeping & payroll on the cloud, PST-coded from day one
- Personal T1 returns coordinated with your BC corporation
- Salary-vs-dividend planning built around BC’s small-business rate
- CRA & BC PST correspondence handled year-round
The PST question that costs BC service businesses the most
BC owners who’ve operated in an HST province before consistently underestimate how differently PST treats a service business. Because most services are exempt from PST by default, it’s tempting to assume software, consulting deliverables and digital tools carry no PST exposure at all — and for a genuine consulting fee, that’s usually correct. The exposure shows up at the edges: a subscription to project-management or accounting software, a bundled software-plus-installation contract, or a purchase of taxable equipment for the business all carry PST that many BC corporations either forget to self-assess on out-of-province purchases or apply inconsistently on their own invoices.
For a contractor, the PST question is different again: labour to install materials into real property is generally not taxed the way a retail sale of goods is, but the materials themselves usually are, which means a single renovation contract can carry two different PST treatments depending on how the invoice is structured. Getting this wrong in either direction is expensive — undercharge, and you’re personally on the hook for the PST you should have collected; overcharge, and you’ve made your quote less competitive for no reason.
We code PST correctly into your bookkeeping from the first invoice, flag whether your specific deliverables are taxable or exempt before a quoting mistake becomes a filing problem, and track the BC employer health tax threshold as your payroll grows so it’s never a year-end surprise.
Keep exploring British Columbia tax topics
Keep exploring, or run your own numbers first.
British Columbia accounting FAQ
Does BC’s PST apply to the software and subscriptions my business uses?+
How does PST work on a construction contract where I supply both materials and labour?+
What is BC’s small-business tax rate, and does all my income qualify for it?+
When does BC’s Employer Health Tax start applying to a growing business?+
Do you work with BC businesses outside the Lower Mainland?+
Do I need a BC PST number if I sell online to customers in BC?+
What provincial filings does a BC corporation have on top of its T2?+
Why clients stay with EverStone
Verified 5-star Google reviews from EverStone CPA clients.
“Sunny and his team have been completing my bookkeeping, taxes and financials for the last 2 years and they have been amazing. Thank you!”
“I have worked with Sunny for the past 2 years. He is very knowledgeable and has saved me tons in taxes by restructuring my group of companies — the best accountant I've worked with in the last 10 years, after switching from three different firms.”
“Highly recommend working with Sunny. We switched to him last year for both our personal and small-business taxes — responsive, knowledgeable and quick.”
Working with us in Vancouver
If your business is in or around Vancouver, the virtual accountant in Vancouver page covers how a remote engagement works there, the local industries we see most, and the British Columbia specifics that come up. You can also read about working with an accountant in Vancouver if you have not worked with a CPA at a distance before.
Two Vancouver sectors have their own pages because the tax questions differ so much from a general small business: realtors and commission income in Vancouver, and e-commerce sellers handling PST and multi-province sales tax.
Related reading
Ready for a BC CPA who knows the province?
Book a free consultation — corporate tax, GST/PST, bookkeeping and advice at a fixed fee, anywhere in British Columbia.