An English-speaking CPA for Montreal businesses

Two tax authorities, one set of books

Everywhere else in Canada, a small business deals mostly with the CRA. In Montreal the picture splits. The federal GST and the provincial QST are both collected and administered by Revenu Québec for most Quebec businesses, so the sales tax returns go to Quebec even though half the tax is federal. Income tax runs the other way round: the corporation files its federal T2 with the CRA and a separate CO-17 with Revenu Québec, and each owner files a T1 and a TP-1.

None of that is exotic, but it means every figure has to agree in two places. A shareholder loan, a dividend or a vehicle benefit shows up on federal and Quebec forms alike, and a notice from one authority often needs an answer that references the other. The practical rule is simple: one ledger, kept monthly, with every return prepared from it by the same person.

What EverStone does for Montreal businesses

The work is organised the same way for every client, whatever the business does:

• Monthly bookkeeping, with GST and QST returns prepared from reconciled books
• Corporate tax: the T2 and the CO-17, with year-end statements
• Personal tax: the T1 and the TP-1 for owners and their families
• Payroll: federal and Quebec source deductions, T4 and RL-1 slips
• Salary-versus-dividend planning, using the salary vs dividends calculator as a starting point
• Advisory and fractional CFO support once the reporting needs more than a year-end

Published fees start at $300 a month for bookkeeping with sales tax filing included, and $100 for a personal return. A corporate return on its own is quoted after a free consultation. See the fee page for the rest.

The industries that shape a Montreal file

Montreal’s economy gives an accountant a particular mix of work. The city has grown into a real centre for video games, AI research and software. A steady share of files involve tech startups: SR&ED claims, founders deciding how to pay themselves, and stock options granted before there is any cash. The restaurant trade runs from the Plateau to the West Island, and restaurant accounting turns on tips, food cost and sales tax on meals.

The garment district along Chabanel still anchors a fashion and apparel trade that imports, holds stock and sells through wholesale and retail at once. A growing number of brands sell only online, where e-commerce accounting is mostly about reconciling payouts and charging the right tax to customers in other provinces. And construction contractors work under an RBQ licence and, for regulated work, CCQ rules that no other province has.

Payroll is where Quebec differs most

An employer in Montreal deducts QPP instead of CPP, QPIP premiums alongside a reduced EI rate, and Quebec income tax that is remitted to Revenu Québec rather than the CRA. The employer also pays the Health Services Fund contribution and CNESST premiums, and issues an RL-1 to every employee alongside the T4 by the end of February. Once total payroll passes $2 million, the 1% workforce skills development requirement applies as well. It is two remittance streams and two sets of slips for every pay run, which is why payroll is usually the first thing an owner hands over.

In English, from Abbotsford

EverStone is a one-CPA firm in Abbotsford, British Columbia, serving Montreal remotely. There is no Montreal office and no local staff. The engagement runs by video call, phone, secure upload link and e-signature, and EverStone works in English throughout. Pacific time is three hours behind Montreal, so a message sent at the end of your day is usually answered before your next morning starts. The person who answers your question in March is the one who prepared the return in June. That is the part a larger office structure tends to lose, and the part that matters when a letter arrives from either tax authority.

What a Montreal client’s year looks like

The fiscal year-end sets the rhythm. Books are kept current each month, and GST and QST returns go to Revenu Québec on the filing period the business has been assigned. Before the year closes, the planning questions come up while they can still change something: salary or dividend, whether to buy equipment now or later, how much to leave in the company. The T2 and CO-17 follow, with the balance owing due two or three months after year-end and the returns six months after. The owner’s T1 and TP-1 close the cycle by April 30. Deadline reminders keep the dates in front of you.

Two obligations come up often enough with Montreal businesses to have pages of their own. If you employ anyone, payroll in Montreal covers QPP, QPIP and the RL-1. If you are incorporated, the T2 and CO-17 covers both corporate returns.

For the province-wide picture, accounting across Quebec covers the same rules for businesses outside the city.