A fixed-fee CPA for Courtenay and the Comox Valley

What Courtenay owners get from a BC CPA

A Courtenay company is not an unfamiliar file here. EverStone is a BC firm whose clients file BC PST returns, pay WorkSafeBC premiums and keep the BC annual report on the same calendar as the T2. There is nothing to learn about the province before your file can start, and nothing about the Island that changes the tax rules.

The work is remote, and that suits most Comox Valley owners. A question sent from a job site in Courtenay, a farm stand off the back roads or a boat at Union Bay reaches the same CPA who prepares the return. There is no office in Courtenay and nobody on the ground there, so meetings happen by video, documents move through a secure upload link, and returns are signed online. EverStone serves businesses in BC, Alberta, Ontario and Manitoba this way.

The urban centre of the Comox Valley

Courtenay describes itself as the urban and cultural centre of the Comox Valley, on the east coast of central Vancouver Island and in the traditional territory of the K'ómoks First Nation. Downtown sits between the Courtenay River and the view of the Comox Glacier, and the city calls it the commercial, cultural, social and culinary hub of the valley. Comox, with its marina and the air base, is the neighbouring town. Cumberland, which grew up as a mining town, is a short drive away. Royston and Union Bay are coastal communities on Baynes Sound.

That layout explains the shape of a typical Courtenay file. Shops, restaurants, professional offices and trades operate from the city but sell across the whole valley. The North Island Hospital Comox Valley campus is in Courtenay, 19 Wing Comox is next door, and Mount Washington Alpine Resort is close enough to bring winter visitors through town. Farms surround the city, and some operate inside its boundaries. The result is a local economy where many businesses have more than one kind of customer and more than one busy season.

Two sales taxes on one Courtenay sale

A Courtenay sale can carry two taxes that never meet. The 5% GST is a federal tax filed with the CRA. The 7% PST belongs to the province, with a separate number and a separate return to the Ministry of Finance. BC is not an HST province. On purchases the two part ways again: GST you pay is normally recovered through input tax credits, while PST you pay is simply part of what the item cost you.

Each local trade meets the two taxes in its own way. A builder pays PST on lumber and fixtures it installs into a house, as the consumer, rather than charging it to the homeowner. A restaurant charges GST on meals while PST generally does not apply to the food. A farm selling basic produce usually makes zero-rated sales for GST but still recovers GST on its inputs. Whether you need a PST number at all is set out in our guide to BC PST registration.

Six Comox Valley industries, six dedicated pages

Most of the Courtenay work falls into a handful of sectors. Each one has its own Courtenay page on the filings and records it lives with.

• Construction contractors: T5018 slips, PST on installed materials, WorkSafeBC clearance letters and holdbacks.
• Electricians, plumbers and other trades: many small invoices, the work van, apprentices and the inter-community licence.
• Restaurants and cafés: tips, liquor PST, point-of-sale reconciliation and a summer and ski-season rhythm.
• Farms and food producers: the cash method, zero-rated sales, direct marketing and passing the farm on.
• Realtors: commission with nothing withheld, GST, the PREC decision and the vehicle log.
• Shellfish and marine businesses: equipment and boats through CCA, seasonal crews and zero-rated food sales, handled through the same core services below.

What a Courtenay corporation files each year

Federal and BC corporate tax travel together on a single T2, so there is no second provincial income tax return. Using the rates on our BC tax facts page, a Courtenay company pays a combined 11% on income that qualifies for the small business deduction and 27% above it. That 11% band covers $500,000 of active business income a year, and associated companies split one limit between them. The return is due six months after year-end, but the tax is due earlier: two months, or three for a qualifying CCPC.

Outside the tax system, the company also owes BC Registries an annual report within two months of each incorporation anniversary, and nobody sends a reminder. Then there is how you pay yourself: a salary reported on a T4, dividends on a T5, or some of each. Money drawn from the company that is neither becomes a shareholder loan. If it is still outstanding a year after the year-end, it generally lands on your personal return as income.

A sole proprietor files differently. Business income goes on form T2125 inside the T1, CPP is paid on both halves of net earnings, and instalments start once the tax bill grows. Our page on whether to incorporate sets out when a company starts to pay for itself.

Licences and local rules that sit beside the tax returns

The City of Courtenay requires every business operating in the city to hold a valid business licence, including home-based, mobile and non-resident businesses, and licences run for the calendar year. Contractors and trades who work in several Island municipalities can apply for an inter-community business licence, which covers Comox, Cumberland, Nanaimo, Campbell River and other participating communities. A short-term rental also needs a city licence and provincial registration. None of these are tax filings, but each is a cost and a renewal date that belongs in the books.

Services for Courtenay businesses

The four core services each have a Courtenay page of their own.

• Bookkeeping: monthly reconciliation with GST and PST filing included, from $300 a month for a Courtenay business.
• Payroll: source deductions, CPP and EI premiums, WorkSafeBC, vacation pay and year-end slips.
• Corporate tax (T2): year-end statements, the T2 itself, and owner-pay planning done while it can still change the result.
• Personal tax (T1): returns for owners, employees, retirees and landlords, with personal tax from $100 a return.

For an incorporated Courtenay trade or restaurant, books, payroll and the year-end T2 together usually come to $450–$650 a month. The full list sits on the pricing page. A T2 without the other services is priced once we have had a free consultation.

Remote accounting

EverStone works with Courtenay businesses virtually. There is no Courtenay office and nobody on the ground there. Meetings happen by video and paperwork moves by secure upload link and e-signature. The CPA who reads your email in the spring is the one who signs off your year-end, so nothing gets lost between people. For the provincial picture, see accounting across British Columbia.