Choosing an accountant in Victoria, and what to ask first

Why Victoria is a different search

A search for an accountant in Victoria returns long-established local firms and national offices, most perfectly capable. The narrower question for a Victoria owner: does this firm understand invoicing the Province through a corporation?

Under the personal services business rules, the CRA can treat a one-client corporation as an incorporated employee, denying the small business deduction and most expenses. Victoria’s public-sector contracting sits right there. Be genuinely in business, and have an accountant assess the facts before the CRA does.

Plus the BC basics: separate GST and PST, the Employer Health Tax above the exemption, and the Capital Region's trades, marine and tech firms. Crossing the strait no longer matters; everything is electronic.

The questions that separate firms

1. Will you tell me if my corporation looks like a personal services business?

Ask this first. Warning signs: one main client, employee-like work, few marks of independence. Ask how the firm assesses it and what it would change. If PSB means nothing to them, keep looking.

Start with the credential. CPA members and public accounting firms in British Columbia are listed in CPABC’s member and firm directories; a minute there confirms that the person and the firm you are talking to are who they say they are.

2. Who does the work, and who signs it?

Ask who prepares, who reviews and who signs, and whether that changes. A one-client corporation is a small file, and small files move around large practices. One CPA from first email to filed return keeps the judgement consistent.

3. Is the fee fixed and in writing before the work starts?

Ask for the number before anything begins and what would move it. Transaction volume, the condition of the books, the number of filings and payroll are fair answers. An hourly rate is not.

4. How should I pay myself, and when do we decide?

Salary against dividends is the decision that matters most for a one-person corporation and it has to be made before the year closes. Ask whether the firm plans it with you during the year and whether that conversation is included.

5. Do you treat GST and PST as two taxes?

For a consultant billing the Province, GST is usually straightforward; for a trades or marine business, PST is where the trouble is. Ask how each is reconciled to the books and how often.

6. What does switching involve?

Authorisation with the CRA, a file request to your previous firm, and work continues from the last filed year-end. Mid-year is fine, and a backlog is quoted separately so the cost is visible first.

How to compare two Victoria quotes

List what each includes: T2, year-end statements, GST and PST where they apply, the owner’s T1, payroll if you take a salary, and questions through the year. For a one-person corporation the salary-versus-dividend planning is the part worth paying for; check it is inside the fee.

Then compare the answers to the PSB question. The firm that engaged with it is the one thinking about your tax rather than your return.

Red flags worth walking away from

• The personal services business rules never come up for a one-client corporation.
• Salary versus dividends is decided after the year-end from the bank statements.
• A fee described as an estimate, or tied to an hourly rate.
• PST not mentioned for a trades or marine business.
• You cannot get a name for the person who will do the work.

Where to start

A free thirty-minute conversation covers the client structure, what is filed now and how you are paid, and ends with a fixed fee in writing. EverStone is a BC firm working online; nothing in the process needs a sailing.

Get My Fixed Quote See the fixed fees

For Victoria specifically: accountant services in Victoria, contractors in Victoria, the personal services business risk check, the salary versus dividends calculator and how switching works.

Choosing somewhere else? The same questions, with the local specifics, for Abbotsford, Chilliwack, Langley, Surrey, Maple Ridge, Aldergrove, Vancouver, Mission and the Fraser Valley.