Contractor accountant in Regina

We work with general contractors, framers, concrete and excavation crews, electricians, plumbers and finishing trades across Regina, White City, Emerald Park and Moose Jaw, from new homes and renovations to commercial and institutional jobs.

A season the frost decides

Regina’s building season is concentrated. Foundations and site work wait for the ground to thaw and stop when it freezes, so much of the year’s revenue arrives between spring and late fall, while equipment payments, insurance and a core crew run all year. That shape affects everything from cash flow to the choice of fiscal year-end.

A year-end in the middle of the busy season puts open jobs, holdbacks and work in progress at their largest exactly when they have to be measured. A year-end after the season closes makes the cut-off cleaner and leaves time to plan before the return is due. It is worth choosing on purpose. Choosing a fiscal year-end covers the trade-offs.

Instalments follow the same pattern. Calculated on a flat projection of last year’s tax, they can ask for cash in February that the business will not earn until June. We set them against the real shape of the year and revisit them when the season turns out bigger or smaller than planned. When a general contractor, a bonding company or a lender asks for statements before awarding work, current books mean the answer takes days rather than weeks.

Subcontractors, T5018s and who is really a sub

A business whose main activity is construction and that pays subcontractors for construction services generally files T5018 information returns for those payments, due six months after the end of the reporting period. The slips are easy once the records are right: each sub’s legal name, business number or SIN, and the total paid for services.

The harder question sits behind the slip. Whether a worker is genuinely a subcontractor turns on the substance of the arrangement: who controls the work, who supplies the tools, whether they can profit or lose, and whether they can send someone else. A labourer working only for you, on your schedule and with your equipment, looks like an employee whatever the invoice says, and reclassification brings CPP and EI with interest. Subcontractor or employee sets out the tests.

Progress billing, holdbacks and the year-end cut-off

Most Regina jobs of any size are billed in progress draws against a schedule of values, and Saskatchewan’s builders’ lien rules mean part of each payment is held back until the work is substantially complete. The work is done and invoiced, but part of the money is not payable yet. That creates a timing question at the year-end, not just a cash one.

Recording a holdback as income on the invoice date can put profit into a year before the cash exists; ignoring it understates the year the work was done. With several jobs open at once, we review billings, costs to date and holdbacks job by job at the cut-off, so the return reflects work actually performed. Construction holdbacks explains the accounting.

PST on the materials you install

Saskatchewan did not harmonise its sales tax, so a contractor deals with two. GST is charged on the contract and recovered on purchases through input tax credits. PST works differently. On many real property contracts, the contractor is treated as the consumer of the materials it installs: it pays PST when it buys them and does not charge PST on those materials to the customer. The tax becomes part of the job cost.

The treatment can change with the type of work and the type of contract, and residential and commercial projects are not always handled the same way. It is worth confirming for your contract types at registration rather than at a provincial audit. Materials bought in Alberta without PST generally have to be self-assessed when they are used on a Saskatchewan job.

WCB Saskatchewan and your subcontractors

A contractor with workers generally has to register with the Saskatchewan Workers’ Compensation Board and pay premiums on assessable payroll at the rate for its industry code. The less obvious exposure is downstream. Where a subcontractor has no WCB coverage of its own, the hiring contractor can be held responsible for premiums on that sub’s work.

The fix is administrative: confirm each sub’s standing before paying them, and keep the confirmation with their invoice. Coverage for owners and directors is handled separately from employees, so confirm your own position too. Payroll in Regina covers the crew side.

What EverStone handles for you

One CPA, one fixed fee agreed up front:

• T2 corporate return and year-end financial statements
• Progress billings, holdbacks and work in progress reviewed at the cut-off
• T5018 subcontractor information returns
• Subcontractor-versus-employee positions documented defensibly
• GST and Saskatchewan PST set up by contract type
• Equipment and vehicle CCA schedules
• Instalments planned around a short season

A typical trades-corporation bundle — monthly bookkeeping, payroll and the year-end T2 with statements — usually runs $450–$650 a month. See what it costs.

Remote contractor accounting from Abbotsford

EverStone is a sole practitioner CPA firm at 32615 South Fraser Way in Abbotsford, serving Regina entirely online. There is no Regina office and no local staff. Meetings are held by video or phone, documents are exchanged through a secure upload link and e-signature, and no visit is required at any point. Subcontractor payments, equipment and vehicle costs are tracked as they happen rather than reconstructed at year end.