Choosing an accountant in Victoria, and what to ask first

Why Victoria is a different search

A search for an accountant in Victoria returns a mix of long-established local firms and national offices, and most of them are perfectly capable. The question a Victoria owner needs to ask is narrower: does this firm understand what it means to invoice the Province through a corporation?

The personal services business rules let the CRA treat a corporation with one main client as an incorporated employee, denying the small business deduction and most expenses. The public-sector contracting that defines much of Victoria’s incorporated economy sits squarely in that territory. The way to stay out of it is to be genuinely in business, and the way to know where you stand is an accountant who assesses the facts before the CRA does.

Alongside that sit the usual BC items: GST and PST filed separately, the Employer Health Tax once payroll passes the exemption, and the trades, marine and tech businesses that make up the rest of the Capital Region. Working across the strait is not the issue it once was; every part of the process is electronic.

The questions that separate firms

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

Ask this first. The signs are one main client, work that resembles employment, and few of the marks of an independent business. Ask what the firm does to assess it and what it would tell you to change. If the letters PSB are new to the person across the table, keep looking.

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 call 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 from Abbotsford; nothing in the process needs a sailing.

Book a free consultation See the fixed fees

For Victoria specifically: the Victoria accounting page, 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, Calgary, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Ottawa, Toronto, Mission and the Fraser Valley.