An Accountant for Incorporated Contractors, Anywhere in Canada
Reviewed by EverStone CPA · July 2026
Construction accounting is not general small-business accounting with a hard hat on it. Three things make it different, and all three are places where a general practitioner quietly costs a contractor money.
Quick answer: Contractors need three things from an accountant that other businesses do not. Holdback has to sit in its own place on the balance sheet, because a lender or a surety reads your receivables before anything else and lumped-in holdback makes a well-run company look slow-paying. T5018 subcontractor reporting is a separate filing on its own schedule with a per-slip penalty, and most contractors meet it by letter rather than by advice. Equipment is a capital cost recovered over time, so when in the year you buy changes the claim. Everything else is ordinary corporate work.
Holdback: money you have earned and cannot collect yet
Statutory holdback is the line that separates contractors from every other kind of business. It is revenue you have earned, invoiced, and are not yet entitled to receive — and if your bookkeeping records it as an ordinary overdue receivable, your ageing report tells a lender that your customers do not pay you. That is the opposite of the truth, and it is read by exactly the people whose opinion is worth money: banks, sureties, and anyone considering buying the business.
Holdback belongs on its own line, released on the terms your contracts and the applicable lien legislation actually set. Getting this right costs nothing at the time and is expensive to reconstruct two years later from statements alone.
T5018: the filing most contractors meet by letter
If construction is your primary business activity and you pay subcontractors, you have an information return to file that is entirely separate from your corporate return, on its own schedule. The T5018 statement of contract payments is the form; the penalty is charged per slip, so it scales with the number of subcontractors you used rather than being a flat annoyance.
Most contractors discover this obligation from a CRA letter rather than from their accountant, which is the wrong way round. Our T5018 subcontractor tracker is free, and it turns the year-end version of this into a ten-minute job.
Equipment, and the difference between a deduction and a claim
A truck, an excavator, a scissor lift or a trailer bought this year is not a deduction against this year’s profit. It is a capital cost recovered over several years, and the class it falls into decides how quickly. The CRA’s guidance on business expenses is the reference; the practical point is that a purchase made just before your year end is treated differently from the same purchase made just after, and that is a five-minute phone call rather than a project.
What a contractor’s year actually looks like
| Obligation | Runs on | What we need |
|---|---|---|
| Corporate return and year-end statements | Your fiscal year end | Statements to the year-end date, equipment invoices, the receivable listing with holdback separated |
| T5018 subcontractor reporting | Its own reporting period | Subcontractor payments by payee, with business numbers |
| GST/HST | Monthly, quarterly or annual | Sales and purchases for the period; place of supply where you work across provincial lines |
| Payroll, if you have staff | Remitter schedule | Pay runs, and the source deductions sent on time |
| WCB / provincial workers’ compensation | Provincial schedule | Assessable payroll, and clearance letters when a general asks |
The CRA’s remitting guidance covers the payroll timing, which depends on your remitter type rather than being the same for everyone.
Working with us from anywhere
The practice is in Abbotsford, British Columbia, and works with contractors across Canada. Corporate tax, GST and the subcontractor reporting are federal; the provincial pieces — workers’ compensation, provincial sales tax where it applies, and the lien legislation behind your holdback — are handled for the province you actually work in. If you operate in more than one, say so at the first conversation, because it changes the setup rather than the year end.
Everything runs online: secure upload, video calls, e-signature. Fixed fees, agreed in writing before the work starts and published.
More for trades businesses: contractor accounting, construction and trades, construction accounting in BC, and if you contract to one client, the personal services business assessment, which is free and takes two minutes. If you are behind, catch-up bookkeeping is a defined job with a flat fee per year.
Prepared and reviewed by a Chartered Professional Accountant at EverStone CPA, an Abbotsford CPA firm working with small businesses and incorporated owners across the Fraser Valley and Canada. About the firm → · Book a free consult →
Questions contractors ask
Do you work with contractors outside British Columbia?+
What if I have not been filing T5018s?+
Can you work with my existing bookkeeper?+
Should I buy the truck before or after my year end?+
Talk to a CPA who has seen your file before
A free 30-minute consultation, at a time that suits a day that starts early. Fixed fee quoted in writing before anything begins.
