Bookkeeping for Mission businesses
When a business owns machines rather than stock, the fixed asset register is the part of the ledger that decides whether the numbers mean anything. EverStone keeps books for Mission businesses remotely, at a fixed monthly fee.
Quick answer: Bookkeeping for an equipment-based Mission business means maintaining a fixed asset register, splitting loan payments between principal and interest, and coding fuel and repairs to the machine that incurred them. EverStone keeps those books remotely at a fixed monthly fee. Monthly bookkeeping starts at $325 a month, GST/HST filing included.
Monthly bookkeeping for Mission businesses starts from $325 a month, with payroll and GST/PST filings handled in the same package.
On this page
- The asset register is a ledger, not a list
- Deciding what gets capitalized
- Loan payments are two entries, not one
- Cost by machine, not just by category
- Work in progress across a month end
- PST on the machines themselves
- How a Mission operator keeps the register straight
- Working with a Mission bookkeeper
- What gets done, and when
- Mission bookkeeping questions
The asset register is a ledger, not a list
Most equipment owners have an asset list, usually a spreadsheet last touched at the last purchase. A real register records each machine's date, cost, invoice, later additions, and how it left and for what. Without one, depreciation is rebuilt yearly from memory and disposals are missed, so a departed machine keeps claiming deductions it is not entitled to.
Deciding what gets capitalized
Repair or improvement is a monthly judgement in an equipment business, and it needs a consistent policy. Restoring a machine to its previous condition is generally a current expense; materially improving it or extending its life is generally capital. A rebuilt engine, new attachment or hydraulic upgrade each needs a decision and recorded reasoning, since the same invoice can be defensible either way. A sensible dollar threshold for expensing removes most argument and keeps drill bits out of the register.
Loan payments are two entries, not one
A financed equipment payment is not an expense. Part repays principal and reduces the liability; only the interest is a cost. Posting the whole payment to expense overstates costs, freezes the loan balance and makes the balance sheet meaningless. The split changes monthly as the loan amortizes, so take it from the lender’s schedule. For a Mission operator with several financed machines, this is the correction most often needed.
Cost by machine, not just by category
Fuel, repairs, tires, permits and operator time usually go to one account each, showing total fleet cost but not which machine is losing money. Tracking cost by unit, via classes, sub-accounts or job tags, answers a real question: is the old excavator worth another season? It also explains the annual repair figure. No new software is needed, just a coding structure decided before transactions start.
Work in progress across a month end
Equipment work is rarely invoiced the day it ends, so one month shows costs without revenue, the next the reverse. It evens out yearly but ruins monthly decisions. Record unbilled work at the close and reverse it on invoicing. See Cash versus accrual accounting.
PST on the machines themselves
BC charges 7% PST alongside the 5% GST, and for an equipment business the key effect is on purchases. PST on a machine for business use is generally not recoverable, so it is part of the asset's cost and depreciated with it. Booking it as recoverable overstates refunds and understates the asset. The two taxes have separate registrations and returns, and the ledger must keep them apart.
How a Mission operator keeps the register straight
Equipment records reach the register the day they happen, so nothing is rebuilt in March. EverStone is a fully virtual, one-CPA firm with no Mission office. Invoices, lender schedules and disposal records arrive by upload or phone photo. The register keeper prepares the depreciation on the corporate return, so they agree. See Monthly versus annual bookkeeping.
Working with a Mission bookkeeper
People search for a bookkeeper rather than for bookkeeping, and the difference is a fair one: you are hiring a person, not a service line. Here is who does the work and what happens on your file.
EverStone’s bookkeeping team keeps your books; the CPA who signs your year end reviews them, which a standalone bookkeeper cannot offer. It matters on borderline calls: repair or capital? Salary or dividend? Real subcontractor? Decided once, correctly.
The moment there are employees, payroll in Mission becomes the recurring obligation.
Keeping the books accurately and knowing what they mean are different jobs, and it is worth being deliberate about which level of finance support you actually need.
Monthly: transactions coded and reconciled, receipts matched, GST tracked as it accrues, and a short readable report. Problems surface that month, not at year end.
You are not passed between people. One firm holds the bookkeeping and the year end, so nothing is explained twice and nothing falls between two providers, which is where most Mission owners we speak to have lost time before.
If fractional CFO in Mission and Mission GST filing is the more pressing job, start there instead.
Books kept monthly are what make filing season short. See getting the Mission returns filed for how the returns themselves are prepared and filed.
Prepared and reviewed by a CPA at EverStone CPA, serving businesses in BC, Alberta, Ontario and Manitoba. Updated . About the firm · Send an enquiry
What gets done, and when
| Cadence | What we do |
|---|---|
| Monthly | Transactions categorized, bank and credit card accounts reconciled, source documents filed |
| Quarterly | GST/HST return prepared and filed, where you report quarterly |
| Annually | Books closed and handed clean to the year-end file |
| Ongoing | Payroll entries and owner draws tracked so nothing is reconstructed later |
| Sales tax where you operate | 5% GST plus 7% BC PST: two registrations, two returns |
Source: Which bookkeeping cadence costs less. General information, not advice.
Mission bookkeeping questions
What should a fixed asset register contain?+
Is a rebuilt engine a repair or a capital cost?+
Why is my equipment loan payment not fully deductible?+
Is the PST on a new machine recoverable?+
Do you have an office in Mission?+
Do you work with businesses outside Mission itself?+
Related services and local guides
Nearby cities, the rest of what we do for Mission 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 monthThis page
- 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
