Bookkeeping for Richmond businesses

Monthly bookkeeping for Richmond businesses starts from $300 a month, and GST and PST filing are included in that fee. The books feed everything that follows: the T2 or the T2125, the GST34 return and its input tax credits, the CCA schedule, and the T4 slips once there is a payroll.

Imported stock is more than the supplier’s invoice

Many Richmond businesses sit within a short drive of the airport on Sea Island and the warehouses along the Fraser, and plenty of them buy goods overseas. The supplier’s invoice is only the first line of the cost. Freight, insurance, customs brokerage and duty all belong in the cost of the stock, not in a general expense account. Booked that way, gross margin means something. Booked as overhead, the margin on every product looks better than it is until the year-end count corrects it.

The GST paid when goods clear customs is a separate item again. It is not part of the stock’s cost for a registrant, because it comes back as an input tax credit on the next return. That only works if the customs paperwork is kept and matched to the shipment. A broker’s statement that lumps several entries together needs to be split before it is posted.

Suppliers paid in another currency

A purchase invoiced in US dollars or another currency and paid weeks later is two amounts in Canadian dollars. The stock goes in at the rate on the invoice date and the payment comes out at the rate on the day it leaves the account. The difference is a foreign exchange gain or loss and it needs its own account. Left inside cost of sales, it makes margins move for reasons that have nothing to do with pricing. Foreign exchange gains and losses sets out the treatment.

Two sales taxes, kept apart

BC charges 5% GST and 7% PST as separate taxes. GST goes to the CRA and PST to the BC Ministry of Finance, with separate registrations and separate returns. A Richmond retailer collects both on most goods. A restaurant charges GST on the meal, while PST generally applies to the liquor on the same bill rather than the food. PST paid on the business’s own equipment and supplies is generally a cost, not a credit, so it belongs in the expense or the asset. Mixing the two taxes in one liability account makes both returns unreliable. The BC PST guide covers registration.

Cash, cards and delivery apps at the daily close

City Centre restaurants and shops along No. 3 Road take card, cash and app orders in the same day. Each arrives differently. Card processors pay out net of fees on their own cycle, delivery platforms deduct commissions before they settle, and cash has to be counted against the till report. A clearing account for each channel, with gross sales in and fees and deposits out, is what lets the deposits tie back to the point-of-sale report. When a clearing account does not return to nil, something has gone missing, and it is found in the month rather than at year-end.

Farm and seasonal sales in East Richmond

The berry farms and growers on the East Richmond side of the city keep books on a different rhythm. Sales cluster in the harvest months, farm-gate and wholesale sales are often recorded differently, and farm income can be reported on the cash method. Bookkeeping that knows which method the return will use avoids a year-end conversion. The Richmond farm accounting page covers the tax side in more detail.

Payroll entries that match the remittances

Once there are staff, every pay run creates three things the books must hold: wages, the employee’s CPP, EI premiums and income tax withheld, and the employer’s matching share. Those balances should clear to nil each time the remittance goes to the CRA. If they do not, the year-end T4 summary will not agree with what was paid, and the CRA will notice the difference before you do. Payroll in Richmond covers the full payroll engagement.

Remote, from Abbotsford

EverStone is a one-CPA firm based in Abbotsford, serving Richmond remotely. There is no Richmond office and no local staff. Bank, card and processor feeds arrive electronically, documents and receipts come in through a secure upload link, and questions go by email first, with a video meeting when it helps. The person reconciling the accounts each month is the CPA who prepares the year-end return from them, so nothing is rebuilt in the spring.

One account gets particular attention in an owner-managed company: the shareholder loan. Personal spending paid from the business card, and business costs paid personally, both land there. A balance owed by the owner that is not repaid within one year after the corporation’s year-end is generally taxed as the owner’s income, so the account is reconciled monthly rather than discovered at year-end. The shareholder loan tracker shows how the balance moves.

When the books are ready for the year-end, corporate tax in Richmond picks them up without a handover.