Accountant for New Westminster small businesses

A small city on a working river

New Westminster is one of the oldest cities in British Columbia, the Royal City, set on the north bank of the Fraser River. It is compact and steep. Downtown climbs from the riverfront toward Uptown, Sapperton runs east along the river, and Queensborough sits across the north arm on Lulu Island.

That geography shapes the businesses. Most are small and owner-run: a restaurant on Columbia Street, a shop near Sixth Street, a crew working out of Queensborough. Many sell across city lines every week, into Burnaby, Coquitlam or Surrey. None of that changes the tax, which is the same across BC. It does mean the books have to follow work that rarely stays inside one city.

Two sales taxes and the registrations behind them

BC charges 5% GST and 7% PST as two separate taxes. GST goes to the CRA. PST is administered by the BC Ministry of Finance, with its own registration and its own return. A business can be filing GST perfectly and still be missing a PST registration it needed.

GST registration becomes mandatory once taxable sales pass $30,000 in four consecutive calendar quarters. Below that you may still register voluntarily to recover input tax credits on what you buy. PST works differently: retailers selling goods register before they start, and contractors pay PST on the materials they install. The BC PST guide sets out who has to collect it.

Incorporating, and what the corporation then owes

Once a New Westminster business is earning more than the owner spends, incorporating starts to make sense. A Canadian-controlled private corporation pays the BC small business rate of 2% on active income, plus the federal rate, on the first $500,000. That limit is shared across associated corporations. The incorporation question turns on what you leave in the company, not on revenue alone.

The corporation then files a T2 within six months of its year-end, with Schedule 50 listing the shareholders. The balance is due earlier, two months after year-end, or three for a CCPC claiming the small business deduction that meets the conditions. Our corporate tax page for New Westminster covers the T2 in detail.

Payroll in a city of small employers

Most New Westminster employers run small payrolls with part-time and shift staff. Each pay run withholds CPP, EI premiums and income tax, and the remittance follows the schedule the CRA assigns. BC adds WorkSafeBC premiums, statutory holiday pay and vacation pay of 4%, rising to 6% after five years. T4 slips go out by the last day of February. See payroll services in New Westminster.

The five kinds of business we see most here

Restaurants and cafés split GST on food from PST on liquor, and run card tips through payroll; see restaurant accounting in New Westminster. Independent shops on Columbia Street and in Uptown need clean inventory counts and a POS that splits both taxes; see retail accounting.

Renovation contractors working in older houses and strata buildings file T5018 slips and pay PST on materials; see contractor accounting. Consultants who bill one or two large clients from a home office face the personal services business question; see accounting for consultants. Realtors often work through a personal real estate corporation; see realtor accounting in New Westminster.

Owners’ personal returns and the monthly books

The owner’s T1 is usually the last piece. It picks up salary on a T4, dividends on a T5, rental income on a T776 and any sole-proprietor income on a T2125. It is due April 30, or June 15 if you or your spouse are self-employed, with the balance still due April 30. See personal tax in New Westminster.

All of it rests on the books. Monthly bookkeeping from $300 a month keeps GST, PST and payroll reconciled as you go, so the year-end is a confirmation rather than a reconstruction. See bookkeeping in New Westminster.

What the first year looks like

A new engagement starts with a free consultation by video. We look at how the business is structured, what has been filed, and what is behind. You then get a written scope and a fixed fee. Nothing starts until you accept it.

Next comes access. You authorize EverStone through your CRA My Business Account, which lets us see filings, balances and notices directly. Prior returns and the last set of statements come in through a secure upload link. Where the books are behind, they are brought current first, then the monthly routine begins.

Most owner-managed companies have a December year-end. That puts a planning conversation in the fall, while salary, dividends and equipment purchases can still change the result. The T2 and the owner’s T1 then follow in spring. In between, GST and PST returns are filed on their own schedule, and questions are answered by email at no extra charge. The year-one walkthrough sets out each step.

Remote accounting from Abbotsford

EverStone works with New Westminster businesses virtually, from a base in Abbotsford. There is no New Westminster office, and nobody on the ground there. Conversations happen by video and email, paperwork moves through a secure upload link and e-signature, and the person who answers your question in March is the one who prepared the return. The engagement covers British Columbia only, which is the province your business files in.