Accountant for Campbell River construction contractors

For an incorporated Campbell River trade or general contractor, monthly bookkeeping, payroll and the year-end T2 with statements usually run $450–$650 a month all-in. Bookkeeping on its own starts from $300 a month with GST and PST filing included. A sole-proprietor tradesperson’s T1 with a T2125 is commonly $250–$450. Every fee is on the pricing page.

Building in a resource town on the water

The City of Campbell River describes forestry as part of its industrial bedrock and the city as a hub for salmon farming, with netting, processing and boat-building businesses around the farms and dock facilities on the waterfront. That gives local construction a few distinct shapes. Residential builders and renovators work the city’s housing. Commercial and industrial contractors build and maintain shops, yards, docks and facilities for the resource and marine sectors. Civil and excavation contractors follow site work wherever it is.

Each shape bills differently, and the books have to match. A residential builder may hold houses as inventory. A renovator bills small jobs quickly. A commercial or civil contractor bills progress draws against a contract and waits for holdbacks. A one-size chart of accounts fits none of them well.

Most also carry equipment: a work truck, a trailer, an excavator or a skid steer, often financed. Each unit goes on the CCA schedule in its own class, with loan payments split between principal and interest. Weather can cost a crew days on exposed sites, which is one more reason to keep enough cash back for remittances in the quiet weeks.

Jobs over the water and up the road

A job on Quadra Island starts with a ferry crossing for the crew, the truck and the materials. Work in Sayward, Gold River or at a remote site can mean a night away, board for the crew and fuel on every trip. Those costs are deductible business expenses, but they belong in the job cost as well as the tax return. Ferry fares, accommodation and travel time coded to the job tell you whether the island quote was right, and whether the next one needs to be higher.

Crews sent to a remote site raise payroll questions too. Board and lodging at a qualifying special work site can be non-taxable, while a flat allowance paid regardless of travel is usually wages. Payroll in Campbell River covers that side.

T5018, if you pay anyone else to do the work

If construction is your main business activity and you pay subcontractors for construction services, you report those payments on T5018 slips. The slips and summary are due six months after the end of the reporting period, which can be the calendar year or your fiscal year. The CRA matches them against the subcontractors’ own returns, so names, business numbers and totals need to be right. Collecting each sub’s details before the first payment is far easier than chasing them in the spring. The T5018 subcontractor tracker helps keep the list current.

Payments that are not for construction services do not go on the T5018. A bookkeeper you pay, an engineer’s fee or equipment rental without an operator are treated differently, and some may belong on a T4A instead. Sorting payments into the right bucket as they are made saves rebuilding the year in February.

PST on the materials you install

BC PST works differently for contractors than for most businesses. A contractor who supplies and installs materials into real property, such as lumber, drywall, roofing or fixtures, is usually treated as the consumer of those materials. You pay 7% PST when you buy them and do not charge PST to the owner on the installed price. Equipment and tools you use are taxable to you as well.

It changes when you sell goods without installing them, or when you fabricate items in a shop. A contractor who also sells supplies or equipment separately may need to register and collect PST on those sales. The BC PST guide covers the registration test.

Holdbacks sit on both sides of the ledger

On larger jobs, the owner or general contractor holds back part of each payment until the work is complete and lien periods have passed. That money is earned but not yet received, so it belongs in a holdback receivable, not in revenue that never shows up in the bank. If you hold back from your own subs, the mirror image is a holdback payable. Both need tracking job by job and releasing when due. Construction holdbacks explains the entries.

WorkSafeBC, and the clearance letter

Every Campbell River contractor with workers needs a WorkSafeBC account, and construction classifications carry higher premiums than most. When you hire a subcontractor, ask for a WorkSafeBC clearance letter before paying them. If the sub is not in good standing, you can be held liable for their unpaid premiums. A clearance letter on file for each payment period closes that gap. WorkSafeBC registration covers the setup.

GST on progress billings and new housing

GST is generally due when you invoice, not when you are paid. On a progress-billed job, each draw invoice triggers GST even if the payment, or the holdback, arrives months later. That can strain cash, so the GST account needs to be watched alongside receivables. GST paid on materials, fuel and equipment comes back as input tax credits on the same return.

A builder who constructs and sells a new house, or substantially renovates one, is in a different position. The sale is taxable, and the builder may need to account for GST on the selling price and deal with new housing rebates. Get advice before the first spec house is listed, not after.

Job costing, or a year you cannot explain

Without job costing, a contractor finds out at year-end whether the year made money, and cannot say which jobs did. Labour, materials, equipment time, ferry and travel costs and subcontractors coded to each job as they happen turn the books into a quoting tool. On larger contracts, work in progress at year-end needs measuring too, so revenue lands in the right year. We set up the job structure in your software and keep it current monthly. Construction accounting in BC goes into more detail.

Fully virtual

EverStone is a one-CPA firm that works online. There is no Campbell River office. Invoices, receipts and contracts come in through a secure upload link, often straight from a phone on site. Questions go by email first, with a video meeting when one helps. The fee is fixed in writing before work starts. For the books themselves, see bookkeeping in Campbell River; for the year-end, see corporate tax in Campbell River.