Accountant for Courtenay construction contractors

For an incorporated Courtenay 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 Courtenay sole-proprietor tradesperson’s T1 with a T2125 is commonly $250–$450. Every fee is on the pricing page.

Building across the Comox Valley

Construction in the valley comes in a few distinct shapes. Residential builders and framers put up new houses and suites. Renovation contractors work through older homes, adding suites, decks and additions. Commercial and institutional work follows the city’s role as the urban centre of the valley, with shops, offices and services that need fitting out and maintaining. Some contractors also take work in other Island communities. 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 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. The building season is busiest in the drier months, so cash for remittances and the winter payroll needs setting aside while the draws are coming in.

Business licences for contractors who travel

The City of Courtenay requires every business working in the city to hold a valid business licence, including non-resident and mobile businesses, and licences run from January 1 to December 31. For general contractors and trades who work in several communities, the city offers an inter-community business licence that also covers participating municipalities such as Comox, Cumberland, Campbell River, Nanaimo, Parksville and Qualicum Beach. It is an annual cost on top of the standard licence fee, so we code it to its own account and note the renewal. Licence fees are deductible business expenses.

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, and T5018 reporting explains who files.

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 appliances, cabinets or supplies separately may need to register and collect PST on those sales. The BC PST guide covers the registration test, and rates are on BC tax facts.

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 Courtenay 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.

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. A homeowner who builds a suite to rent can face related questions. 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 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 Courtenay 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 Courtenay; for crews, see payroll in Courtenay.