Accountant and CPA in Kelowna and the Central Okanagan

A BC firm, so the province is home ground

Most remote accountants must learn a second province’s sales tax before touching your file. EverStone does not: its clients already file BC PST, remit to WorkSafeBC and pay the BC employer health tax, and the provincial annual report is on the same calendar. A Kelowna company is a BC file that happens to be over the Coquihalla and the Okanagan Connector.

There is no Kelowna office or Okanagan staff. A question sent from a job site, winery floor or showing is answered by the CPA who prepares the return. If you need a West Kelowna accountant, the arrangement is identical: the same firm, the same remote process and a fee fixed in writing before work starts.

Two sales taxes on almost every Okanagan invoice

BC is not an HST province. The CRA administers GST at 5%; the BC Ministry of Finance administers PST at 7% separately, with its own registration, return and taxability rules. GST paid on business inputs usually comes back as an input tax credit; PST paid on inputs generally stays a cost.

Each trade meets the split differently. A winery collects PST on tasting-room sales. A restaurant charges GST on meals but generally PST only on the liquor. A contractor installing materials into a house usually pays PST on them rather than charging it. PST can reach what a software company sells to BC customers. The BC PST guide covers registration.

A year that turns on the summer

The Okanagan runs on a calendar. Lake traffic, patios, tasting rooms, weddings and visitors peak between the long weekends, and many businesses earn most of their year in a few months. The often-ignored consequence: cash arrives in a lump, but payroll remittances, GST and PST returns, rent and instalments do not wait.

We plan back from the fiscal year-end: sales tax and source deductions set aside as collected, instalments sized to the real income pattern, and a year-end chosen after the busy season is counted. Cash flow for a seasonal business sets out the method.

The industries with pages of their own

Five kinds of Kelowna business come up often enough that each has a page covering its own filings, records and questions.

• Wineries: the licence under the Excise Act, 2001, the vineyard as a farm, and wine that sits in barrel for years before it becomes revenue.
• Restaurants and hospitality: tips, a short and intense summer, and point-of-sale totals that have to match the bank.
• Construction contractors: T5018 slips, progress billing, WorkSafeBC clearance and GST on new housing.
• Realtors: commission income, GST registration, the vehicle and home-office claims, and the BC personal real estate corporation.
• Tech startups: SR&ED claims on Form T661, grants that reduce the claim, and stock options for early staff.

What a Kelowna corporation actually files

A BC corporation files one T2 covering federal and provincial tax. Per the current BC tax facts, active business income eligible for the small business deduction is taxed at a combined 11% (9% federal, 2% BC) on the first $500,000, a limit shared by associated corporations; general income at 27%. A qualifying CCPC generally pays the balance three months after year-end and files six months after.

BC Registries also expects an annual report within two months of the incorporation anniversary; the CRA never reminds you, so it gets missed. Owner pay is the other recurring choice: salary, dividends or a mix. A shareholder loan not repaid within one year after the corporation’s year-end is generally taxed as the owner’s income.

Services for Kelowna businesses

Each service has a Kelowna page setting out how it works for an Okanagan business.

• Bookkeeping: monthly reconciliation with GST and PST filed, from $325 a month.
• Payroll: seasonal hiring, source deductions, WorkSafeBC, the employer health tax and year-end slips.
• Corporate tax (T2): the return, year-end statements and the planning that has to happen before the year closes.
• Personal tax (T1): owners, families, retirees and anyone with a rental or a second property in the valley, from $125 per return.

Fees for each are published on the pricing page, and corporate tax on its own is quoted after we review your enquiry.

Remote accounting

The firm serves Kelowna remotely. There is no Kelowna office and no staff based there. Work runs by video, phone and secure document exchange, and the CPA who answers your March question is the one who prepared the return. For the provincial picture, see accounting across British Columbia.

Nearby in British Columbia

The same fixed-fee service, online, for owner-run businesses in Cranbrook. Every city is on the British Columbia page.