Accountant for Squamish and the Sea-to-Sky
EverStone CPA is a British Columbia accounting firm serving Squamish businesses entirely online. A Chartered Professional Accountant handles bookkeeping, payroll, sales tax and corporate tax at a fixed fee.
Who we help here: builders and trades crews keeping up with local growth, guiding and rental outfits, cafés, breweries and restaurants, and owners who moved up from Vancouver with their business. Most have a busy season and a slow one.
Quick answer: EverStone works with Squamish contractors, trades and tourism businesses remotely: bookkeeping, seasonal payroll, GST and BC PST, and corporate and personal tax, at a fixed fee. Published fees start at $125 for a personal return and $325 a month for bookkeeping, with GST and PST filing included.
Updated .
Squamish fees match the rest of BC: personal tax from $125, bookkeeping from $325 a month, and books, payroll and the year-end T2 together for $500–$700 a month.
On this page
- A BC CPA for Squamish businesses
- Which return applies to you
- Construction and trades in Squamish
- Tourism and outdoor-recreation businesses
- Seasonal cash flow without surprises
- What BC adds for a Squamish business
- Payroll for seasonal crews
- Owner pay and year-end
- Accounting and tax services for Squamish businesses
- Getting set up, entirely online
- Remote accounting for Squamish
- Common questions from Squamish owners
A BC CPA for Squamish businesses
Squamish sits at the head of Howe Sound on the Sea-to-Sky Highway, between Vancouver and Whistler. Its economy has moved from forestry and industry toward construction, tourism and outdoor recreation. Climbing, mountain biking and the water draw visitors for much of the year.
You work with one Chartered Professional Accountant who knows your numbers year-round. Questions come by email, meetings happen by video when they help, documents arrive through a secure upload link, and returns are signed electronically.
Get My Fixed QuoteWhat Squamish owners get
- Bookkeeping built for a seasonal year
- Job costing for builders & trades
- Payroll, WorkSafeBC & records of employment
- GST and BC PST filed separately
- Corporate tax (T2) & year-end statements
- Fixed fees, confirmed up front
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, with financial statement schedules, and a BC annual report |
| A partnership | A T5013 partnership return where required, plus each partner’s own return |
| A contractor paying subtrades | T5018 slips for the subcontractors you paid, alongside your own return |
| Sales tax where you operate | 5% GST plus 7% BC PST: two registrations, two returns |
Source: Should you incorporate? General information, not advice.
Construction and trades in Squamish
Residential growth keeps Squamish builders, framers, electricians, plumbers and finishing trades busy. Job costing shows which jobs make money, with each job carrying its own materials, labour and subtrades.
Construction brings its own filings. A contractor who pays subcontractors files T5018 slips, and holdbacks sit on the balance sheet until released. A contractor installing materials into a house usually pays PST on them rather than charging it.
See construction accounting in BC and accounting for contractors.
Tourism and outdoor-recreation businesses
Guides, rental shops, tour operators, lodging and cafés all run on the weather and the calendar. Cash arrives in a few strong months, but payroll remittances, GST and PST returns, rent and instalments do not wait.
The books hold deposits until earned, show staff costs by month and set cash aside for the quiet stretch. A restaurant charges GST on meals but generally PST only on the liquor. See accounting for BC tourism operators for the wider picture.
Seasonal cash flow without surprises
A strong summer can hide a thin winter. A simple monthly cash forecast from your own history plans the slow months rather than discovering them.
A year-end after the busy season leaves time to see the result and plan a bonus or dividend. See cash flow for seasonal businesses, cash flow management and choosing a year-end.
What BC adds for a Squamish business
Provincial rules sit on top of the federal ones, and each has its own registration and calendar.
Two sales taxes
BC charges 5% GST and 7% PST as separate taxes with separate returns. The BC PST guide covers registration.
Corporate rates
BC taxes active business income under the small business deduction at 2% and other income at 12%, on a $500,000 limit shared by associated corporations. The figures are on the BC tax facts page.
Payroll layers
WorkSafeBC registration and premiums for every employer, and the employer health tax once BC remuneration passes $1,000,000. BC vacation pay starts at 4% and rises to 6% after five years.
Payroll for seasonal crews
Squamish employers hire for the season and lay off when it ends. Each departure needs a record of employment, and each pay run needs CPP, EI and income tax withheld and remitted on time. We handle pay runs, remittances, and T4 slips by the end of February.
Vacation pay applies to seasonal staff as well. Our payroll service is included in monthly bookkeeping.
Owner pay and year-end
An incorporated owner chooses salary, dividends or a mix each year. Salary creates RRSP room and CPP contributions; dividends need no payroll. The salary vs dividends calculator shows the trade-off.
The T2 is due six months after year-end, the balance in two or three. A sole proprietor weighing a company can start with whether to incorporate. Trucks and vans are a major cost here, and a vehicle log supports the claim.
Accounting and tax services for Squamish businesses
Everything an owner-managed Squamish business needs, delivered online.
Bookkeeping
Monthly reconciliations with GST and PST filing included.
Construction & Trades
Job costing, progress billing, holdbacks and T5018 slips.
GST and PST Filing
Both returns filed on schedule, with input tax credits claimed.
Corporate Tax (T2)
Returns and year-end statements, with CCA on equipment.
Personal Tax (T1)
Returns for owners, families and sole proprietors on a T2125.
Overdue Books & Filings
Books brought current after a busy season.
Getting set up, entirely online
The whole engagement runs online, from the first email to the signed return.
Send an enquiry
Describe the business and what you need. You get a fixed, written quote before anything begins.
Send your records securely
Records come through a secure upload link, and CRA access is set up through My Business Account.
Stay current all year
Books, GST, PST and payroll stay on schedule, and questions get answered by email at no extra charge.
Remote accounting for Squamish
EverStone works with Squamish businesses virtually. There is no Squamish office, and nobody on the ground there. Questions are answered by email, meetings run by video, and paperwork moves through a secure upload link and e-signature.
Nearby pages cover West Vancouver, North Vancouver and Vancouver. For the provincial picture, see accounting in British Columbia.
Common questions from Squamish owners
How much does an accountant cost in Squamish?+
Do I need to register for PST as well as GST?+
Do you work with contractors and subtrades?+
Can an accountant outside Squamish file my corporate taxes?+
Does EverStone have a Squamish office?+
Do you work with businesses outside Squamish itself?+
Related services and local guides
Nearby cities, the rest of what we do for Squamish businesses, and the reference pages behind this one.
Starting fees
Every fee is fixed in writing before any work begins.
- Monthly bookkeeping, GST/PST filing includedfrom $325 a month
- Payroll, remittances, T4s and ROEsincluded in monthly bookkeeping
- Books, payroll and the year-end T2 together$500–$700 a month
- Corporate year-end and T2 returnfixed fee, quoted in writing
- Personal tax return (T1)from $125; self-employed or rental $275–$500
- Catch-up bookkeepingfrom $2,200 per year of records
- Controller or CFO supportcontroller from $1,650, CFO from $2,750 a month
- One-off advice call with a CPA$225 plus GST