Bookkeeping for Nanaimo businesses
A Nanaimo ledger carries costs a Mainland business rarely thinks about: ferry crossings, freight that arrives by sea, and a summer peak followed by a wet, quiet winter. EverStone keeps books for Nanaimo businesses remotely, from Abbotsford, at a fixed monthly fee.
Quick answer: Bookkeeping for a Nanaimo business means reconciling the bank and card accounts every month, coding ferry, freight and travel costs so their GST can be recovered, and filing GST and BC PST on time. It also means keeping enough cash visible for the slower months on the central Island. EverStone does this remotely for businesses in Nanaimo, Lantzville, Parksville and Ladysmith. The CPA who keeps the ledger is the CPA who prepares the year-end return from it.
Monthly bookkeeping for Nanaimo businesses starts from $300 a month, and GST and PST filing is included in that fee. The published fees list every starting point. The books then feed everything that follows: the T2 or T2125, the GST34 return and its input tax credits, the CCA schedule and any instalments.
Ferry crossings, freight and island costs
Plenty of Nanaimo owners cross the Strait of Georgia for work. A contractor collects materials on the Mainland, a retailer meets a supplier, a consultant meets a customer in Vancouver. The sailing from Departure Bay or Duke Point is a business travel cost when the trip is for the business, and it belongs in travel rather than in the owner’s pocket. Keep the receipt, because it supports both the deduction and any GST you claim back.
Freight is the other island cost. Goods shipped over for resale carry their freight into the cost of inventory, not into a general expense line. That matters for margin. A shop that books freight as overhead overstates its gross profit on every sale. Whether PST applies to a delivery charge depends on who charges it and how it is invoiced, which is worth settling once with each supplier.
A summer peak and a quiet winter
Anything that touches visitors moves with the season here. Ferry traffic, the harbourfront, the beaches toward Parksville and Qualicum Beach all bring more trade in July than in February. Outdoor work slows in the rainy months too. Monthly books turn that rhythm into numbers you can plan with, because they show what the summer actually left behind once GST, PST and payroll are paid.
The practical habit is a holding account for sales tax collected in the busy months. GST and PST are not your money, and a filing that lands in a slow quarter is easier to pay when the tax was set aside as it came in. Our guide to managing cash flow in a seasonal business sets out the method.
GST and PST, kept in separate accounts
British Columbia charges 5% GST and 7% PST as two separate taxes, with two registrations and two returns. GST registration becomes mandatory once taxable sales pass $30,000 in four consecutive calendar quarters. Most small Nanaimo businesses then file annually or quarterly, depending on revenue and choice. PST is administered by the BC Ministry of Finance on its own schedule, and it catches goods and some services.
The bookkeeping rule is simple: never mix them. GST paid on business costs comes back as input tax credits. PST paid on your own purchases generally does not, so it belongs in the cost of the item. Combining the two in one account makes both returns unreliable. See the BC PST guide for small businesses and the GST registration guide for the detail.
Owner draws and the shareholder loan account
In a small company the owner often pays a personal bill from the business account, or the business from a personal card. Both are fine if they are recorded. They go through a shareholder loan account, which nets what you owe the company against what it owes you. A balance owed to the company that is not repaid within one year after the corporation’s year-end is generally taxed as the owner’s income.
That is why the account is reconciled monthly rather than guessed at in June. It also lets the year-end decide salary or dividends cleanly. Shareholder loans explained covers the one-year rule.
How Nanaimo’s main industries use the books
The same monthly routine looks different by trade. Construction contractors building on the north end or in Cedar need job costing, holdback schedules and T5018 records. Electricians, plumbers and other trades need vehicle logs and PST on the materials they install. Restaurants and pubs need a nightly sales close and tip records that feed payroll.
Fishing businesses working out of the harbour may keep cash-basis books, with crew shares and gear tracked through a short, intense season; fishing and seafood accounting covers that case. Realtors need commission statements reconciled and GST tracked on each deal. The ledger is built around the business, not forced into one template.
Catching up a year that slipped
Books that fell behind are common, and they are fixable. Bank and card statements are the backbone, and most of a missing year can be rebuilt from them. The CRA expects records to be kept for six years, so receipts you still have are worth gathering before the work begins. Catch-up work is quoted on its own, then the file moves onto the normal monthly fee. Catch-up bookkeeping explains how it runs.
What is covered
One Chartered Professional Accountant handles the ledger:
- Bank, card and loan accounts reconciled every month
- Ferry, freight and travel costs coded so the GST can be recovered
- GST and BC PST returns prepared and filed on schedule
- Payroll entries, CPP and EI premiums and remittances recorded
- Shareholder loan account kept current
- Books closed cleanly for the year-end T2 or personal return
Software is your choice. QuickBooks or Xero both work, and the monthly bookkeeping checklist shows the routine.
Remote, from Abbotsford
EverStone is a one-CPA firm based in Abbotsford, serving Nanaimo remotely. There is no Nanaimo office and nobody needs to book a sailing to meet. Bank feeds arrive electronically, receipts come in through a secure upload link, and questions go by email first, with a video meeting when it helps. If your books need a closer look before you commit, book a free consultation.
Prepared and reviewed by a Chartered Professional Accountant at EverStone CPA, an Abbotsford CPA firm working with small businesses and incorporated owners across British Columbia. 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 or annually | GST and PST returns prepared and filed on the schedule each registration sets |
| 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.
In Nanaimo, EverStone also handles payroll, corporate tax and personal tax.
Nanaimo bookkeeping questions
Can I deduct a ferry crossing to the Mainland?+
Where should freight on goods for resale go?+
Do I need to register for PST as well as GST?+
How far back can you catch up my books?+
What does bookkeeping cost for a Nanaimo business?+
Do you work with businesses outside Nanaimo itself?+
Related services and local guides
Nearby cities, the rest of what we do for Nanaimo businesses, and the reference pages behind this one.
Running the books between sailings?
Get ferry, freight and seasonal sales kept straight, with GST and PST filed, at a fixed monthly fee.
Talk to a CPA about this
One Chartered Professional Accountant, start to finish. Fixed fees, quoted in writing before any work begins, and no obligation from a first conversation.
