Apparel and fashion accountant in Montreal

Online-only labels will find the platform side on e-commerce accounting in Montreal; the monthly engagement itself is described on bookkeeping in Montreal.

What a garment actually cost to land

The cost of a finished piece is not the supplier’s invoice. Inventory cost includes everything spent to bring the goods to their saleable condition and location: the purchase price, inbound freight, customs duties, brokerage and, for a label that manufactures, the fabric, trims and cut-and-sew labour. Leave any of those in general expenses and the gross margin looks worse in the season the goods were bought and better in the season they sold, which is exactly backwards for pricing decisions.

The bookkeeping tracks cost by style, or at least by collection, and applies one costing method consistently. When a production run is split across colourways and sizes, the landed cost is allocated rather than guessed. Inventory accounting covers the general rules, which are the same in Quebec.

When last season stops selling

Fashion inventory loses value in a way most stock does not. A style that sold well in spring can be worth a fraction of its cost by autumn. Inventory is carried at the lower of cost and net realizable value, so stock that will only sell at a deep markdown, or not at all, is written down to what it will actually bring in. That write-down is a real expense in the year it is recognised, and it should be supported by evidence: the markdown history, the sell-through by style and the count.

Owners often resist the write-down because it hurts the year’s profit. The alternative is worse — a balance sheet carrying stock at a value nobody would pay, and a margin that collapses the year the goods finally clear. A physical count at year-end, reconciled to the system, is the anchor for all of it. The year-end count explains what it has to show.

Imports, CBSA duties and the tax at the border

Much of what Montreal labels sell is made abroad. Commercial imports are declared to the Canada Border Services Agency, which assesses duty based on the goods’ classification and origin and collects GST at the border. The duty is part of the landed cost of the inventory, not a separate expense. The GST paid on import is generally recoverable as an input tax credit by a registered importer, so it belongs in the GST account rather than in cost of goods sold.

The QST applies to goods brought into Quebec too. How it is accounted for depends on the importer’s registration and on how the goods come in. It is worth settling with the broker and the bookkeeping before the first container arrives rather than after a season of entries coded the wrong way. Customs paperwork is kept with the purchase records for six years, because it supports both the duty and the tax recovery.

Overseas suppliers usually invoice in foreign currency, and the deposit, the balance and the freight are often paid at different exchange rates. The inventory is recorded at the rate on the day it was bought, and the differences on payment are foreign exchange gains or losses rather than adjustments to the cost of the goods.

Wholesale, retail and consignment

Most apparel businesses sell through more than one door, and each door recognises revenue differently. Wholesale orders to other retailers are sales when the goods ship, with GST and QST charged to the buyer. Retail sales, in a shop or online, are sales at the till. Consignment is the one that trips people up. Goods placed in a boutique on consignment remain the label’s inventory until the boutique sells them, so the revenue is recorded when the consignee reports the sale, not when the rack is filled.

Channel margins are rarely what the owner assumes. Wholesale moves volume at a lower price; retail earns more per piece but carries rent, staff and markdowns; consignment ties up stock with no guarantee. Reporting margin by channel each month is what shows where the effort pays. Pricing and margin analysis goes further.

What EverStone handles for you

One CPA, one fixed fee agreed up front:

• T2 and CO-17 corporate returns and year-end financial statements
• Landed cost tracking, including duties, freight and brokerage
• Inventory valuation and year-end write-downs
• GST and QST on imports, wholesale and retail sales, filed with Revenu Québec
• Consignment stock and revenue recorded correctly
• Margin reporting by channel and collection

Fixed fees, fully online

EverStone is an Abbotsford CPA firm, and every engagement runs online — video calls, e-signature and a secure upload link. You are not billed by the hour or the phone call: the fee is fixed and agreed before any work starts. Monthly bookkeeping starts at $300 a month with sales tax filing included. See what it costs.

Remote apparel accounting from Abbotsford

EverStone is a sole practitioner CPA firm at 32615 South Fraser Way in Abbotsford, working with Montreal clients entirely online. There is no Montreal office and no local staff. Meetings are held by video or phone, documents are exchanged by secure upload link and e-signature, and no visit is required at any point. EverStone works in English. Purchase orders, customs entries and inventory reports arrive electronically, which makes distance irrelevant to the work.