Accountant in Oshawa for owner-run businesses
Oshawa built its economy on making cars, and Durham Region now adds contractors, carriers, restaurants and realtors to that base. EverStone is a one-CPA firm serving Oshawa, Whitby, Ajax, Pickering and Clarington remotely from Abbotsford, at a fee fixed before any work starts.
Quick answer: EverStone handles corporate tax, personal tax, bookkeeping, payroll and Ontario’s 13% HST for Oshawa and Durham Region businesses, entirely by video, phone and a secure upload link. One CPA does the work from start to finish, and the fee is agreed in writing after a free consultation. There is no Oshawa office; the work is remote by design. Published fees start at $100 for a personal return and $300 a month for bookkeeping.
What an Oshawa business actually files
The filing list for a Durham business is mostly federal, with a few Ontario pieces layered on. An incorporated company files a T2 within six months of its year-end, and Ontario’s corporate tax rides on that same return, so there is no second provincial income tax filing. The balance owing is due earlier than the return, two or three months after year-end depending on the company, and that gap is where penalties and interest usually start. Owners who pay the balance when they file, rather than when it is due, pay interest on money they already had set aside.
On top of the T2, the corporation files an annual return through the Ontario Business Registry within six months of year-end. That is a registry filing, not a tax one, and it is easy to miss because the CRA never reminds you about it. If you employ people there is payroll, WSIB and possibly Employer Health Tax. If your sales pass $30,000 over four consecutive calendar quarters, you register for HST. Our Ontario tax facts page holds the current provincial rates, each with its source.
The services, one page each
Every service below has its own Oshawa page, written for how Durham owners use it:
- Bookkeeping in Oshawa: monthly reconciliations and HST filing, from $300 a month.
- Corporate tax (T2) in Oshawa: the year-end return, statements and the registry annual return.
- Personal tax in Oshawa: T1 returns from $100 for a simple file, and self-employed returns with schedules.
- Payroll services in Oshawa: source deductions, WSIB, Employer Health Tax and T4s.
Most owner-run companies need more than one of these, and they work better together: the books feed the HST return, the HST return feeds the year-end, and the year-end decides what the owner’s personal return looks like.
Durham’s main industries, and a page for each
Oshawa and the towns around it have a recognisable business mix, and each part of it carries its own accounting problems:
- Construction contractors: new subdivisions across Whitby, Oshawa and Clarington mean holdbacks, progress billing, T5018 slips and WSIB.
- Manufacturers: the automotive heritage left a base of machine shops and parts suppliers that live on inventory, job costing and equipment.
- Trucking and logistics: the 401 and 407 corridor puts carriers and owner-operators here, with IFTA, IRP and heavy equipment on the books.
- Restaurants: tips, cash, food cost and HST on every bill.
- Realtors: commission income, HST on commissions and the Ontario personal real estate corporation.
Incorporating in Durham, and what changes after
Many Oshawa owners start as sole proprietors and incorporate once profit builds. Incorporating changes more than the tax rate. You gain a second set of returns, a registry filing, a bank account that must stay separate, and a choice every year about salary versus dividends. It also creates the shareholder loan account, which catches owners who pay personal costs from the company card: a balance not repaid within one year after the company’s year-end is generally taxed as your income.
We look at whether incorporation makes sense before you do it, not after. The when to incorporate guide sets out the trade-offs, and the salary vs dividends calculator shows how the pay decision moves between the two returns.
What it costs
Fees are fixed and confirmed in writing before any work begins, and the published pricing shows where each service starts. A personal return starts at $100 for a straightforward file. Monthly bookkeeping starts at $300 a month with HST filing included. A typical trades corporation with bookkeeping, payroll and a year-end T2 usually lands between $450 and $650 a month. A T2 on its own is quoted after the free consultation, because the state of the books drives the work.
If you only need one decision made, a 45-minute Advice Call costs a flat $200 + GST, with no ongoing engagement attached.
Remote, from Abbotsford
EverStone is based in Abbotsford, British Columbia, and serves Oshawa remotely. Your ledger lives in cloud software you hold your own login to, documents arrive through a secure upload link, and signatures are electronic. Returns are filed electronically to the CRA, and the Ontario registry filing is made online, so none of it depends on being in Durham. The free consultation runs by video or phone at a time booked in Eastern time, and the same CPA who quotes the work is the one who does it and answers the follow-up questions in the months after. Pacific time runs behind Eastern, which means a question sent at the end of your day is often answered before your next morning. If you have never used an accountant at a distance, working with a CPA outside your province covers what changes and what does not.
Prepared and reviewed by a Chartered Professional Accountant at EverStone CPA, an Abbotsford CPA firm working with small businesses and incorporated contractors across the Fraser Valley and Canada. Updated September 2026. About the firm · Book a free consult
Which return applies to you
| If you are | You file |
|---|---|
| A sole proprietor | A T1 personal return with form T2125 for the business |
| An incorporated business | A T2 corporate return, then the annual return through the Ontario Business Registry |
| An employer | Payroll remittances, T4 slips by the end of February, and WSIB |
| A partnership | A T5013 partnership return where required, plus each partner’s own return |
| Sales tax where you operate | 13% HST, a single registration and a single return |
Source: When incorporating starts to pay. General information, not advice.
Questions from Oshawa business owners
Is there an EverStone location in Durham Region?+
Can an accountant in BC file my Ontario corporation’s taxes?+
How much does an accountant cost for an Oshawa business?+
I missed the Ontario annual return. Is that a problem?+
Can you take over from my current accountant mid-year?+
Do I need to register for HST?+
Do you work with businesses outside Oshawa itself?+
Related services and local guides
Nearby cities, the rest of what we do for Oshawa businesses, and the reference pages behind this one.
Running a business in Oshawa?
Corporate tax, books, payroll and HST handled by one CPA, at a fixed fee, fully online. Book a free consult.
Remote accounting for Oshawa from Abbotsford
Accounting for Oshawa and Durham Region businesses is delivered remotely from Abbotsford, British Columbia. There is no Oshawa office and no local team. Meetings are virtual, documents are signed electronically, and you deal with the CPA directly rather than a front desk.
Talk to a CPA about this
One Chartered Professional Accountant, start to finish. Fixed fees, quoted in writing before any work begins, and no obligation from a first conversation.