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E-commerce & online retail · Vancouver

E-commerce accountant in Vancouver

Reviewed by EverStone CPA · July 2026

Vancouver’s online sellers face a sales-tax and inventory puzzle that trips up generic accountants: multi-province GST/HST, marketplace rules, platform fees and stock. EverStone is an e-commerce accountant and Vancouver small-business CPA handling all of it at fixed fees, fully online.

Quick answer: Vancouver e-commerce businesses face multi-province GST/HST under place-of-supply rules, the $30,000 registration threshold, marketplace facilitator rules, inventory that drives cost of goods sold, and platform and payment-processing fees. EverStone handles registration, sales-tax setup, inventory bookkeeping and corporate tax for online sellers at a fixed fee, fully online.

The ecommerce accounting hub indexes the sales tax, inventory and reconciliation guides that apply to any online seller.

GST/HST place of supply — the sales tax follows the customer’s province: BC charges GST plus PST, Alberta GST only, Ontario HST
The sales tax follows your customer’s province.

Sales tax across provinces

Selling online means selling everywhere, and Canadian sales tax follows place-of-supply rules — broadly, the tax reflects where your customer is, so the rate can differ by province. You generally must register once taxable sales pass the $30,000 small-supplier threshold over four consecutive quarters, and selling through some marketplaces shifts collection responsibility to the platform. It is the most error-prone part of e-commerce accounting, and where we spend the most care.

Inventory and cost of goods sold

For a product business, inventory is central: it must be valued and tracked properly because it flows directly into cost of goods sold and therefore your tax. Sellers holding stock across warehouses or fulfilment centres need that reflected accurately. We set up bookkeeping that keeps inventory, COGS and margin reliable rather than guessed.

Platform fees, processors and the rest

Online sellers carry costs a storefront does not — platform commissions, payment-processing fees, advertising, software and shipping — all of which are deductible and all of which need to be captured cleanly from your sales channels. Connecting your store and processor to proper bookkeeping is what turns a pile of payout reports into an accurate corporate tax return.

The sales-tax trap for online sellers

The single biggest accounting risk for a growing Vancouver online store is sales tax, because e-commerce breaks the simple assumption that you charge one local rate. Sell to a customer in Ontario and the applicable tax can differ from a sale to one in BC or Alberta; sell through a large marketplace and the platform may be responsible for collecting the tax on your behalf under facilitator rules; cross the small-supplier threshold and registration becomes mandatory whether or not you noticed. Sellers who get this wrong often do not find out until volume is high and the exposure has compounded across thousands of orders. The fix is to get the treatment right early: register at the right time, configure your store to charge correctly by destination, understand which of your sales channels handle tax for you, and reconcile what was collected against what gets remitted. We set this up before it becomes a problem, and clean it up methodically for sellers who come to us after it already has.

What EverStone handles for you

One CPA, one fixed fee quoted up front, everything below covered:

  • T2 corporate tax return and year-end financial statements
  • GST/HST registration and multi-province place-of-supply setup
  • Inventory and cost-of-goods-sold bookkeeping
  • Platform, processor and advertising costs captured
  • Reconciliation of sales channels to your books
  • CRA correspondence handled for you

Fixed fees, fully online

EverStone is an Abbotsford CPA firm, and every engagement runs online — video calls, e-signature and secure document exchange — so you never lose a day to an office visit. You are not billed by the hour or the phone call: your fee is a fixed amount agreed before any work starts, so you can ask a question in June without watching a meter. The same CPA handles your file all year, which means the person who prepares your return is the person who answers when you call. See what it costs or book a free, no-obligation consult and leave with a clear written quote.

Multi-province sales tax is the recurring problem for online sellers across Canada, and bricks-and-mortar operators carrying stock will find retail and inventory accounting closer to their situation.

Deferred revenue and shareholder disclosure are the two items that most often need attention at year end. See financial statements for Vancouver companies with outside shareholders.

About this article
EverStone CPA

Prepared and reviewed by a Chartered Professional Accountant at EverStone CPA, an Abbotsford CPA firm working with small businesses and incorporated contractors across the Fraser Valley and Canada. About the firm  ·  Book a free consult

What an online seller has to get right

The items that decide an e-commerce year-end — for a business operating in Vancouver, British Columbia
ItemWhy it matters
Platform feesGross sales and payouts differ, and only one of them is your revenue
InventoryCost of goods sold depends on how inventory is valued
Cross-border salesWhere the customer is changes the sales tax treatment
Multiple currenciesConversion has to be handled consistently, not deal by deal
Sales tax where you operate5% GST plus 7% BC PST — two registrations, two returns

Source: E-commerce accounting hub. General information, not advice.

Common questions

Vancouver e-commerce accounting FAQ

When does my Vancouver online store have to register for GST/HST?+
Generally once your taxable sales exceed the small-supplier threshold of $30,000 over four consecutive calendar quarters, you have to register for and start charging GST/HST — though selling through some digital marketplaces changes who is responsible for the tax. Because you sell across provinces, the rate you charge can depend on where your customer is (place-of-supply rules). We handle registration and get the place-of-supply treatment right.
How do I handle sales tax when I sell across Canada?+
Sales tax on cross-Canada e-commerce follows place-of-supply rules — broadly, the tax reflects where the customer is, which means different rates for different provinces. Marketplace facilitator rules can shift the collection responsibility to the platform for some sales. It is one of the more error-prone areas for online sellers, and getting it right from the start avoids costly clean-ups later.
What can an e-commerce business deduct?+
The usual business costs: cost of goods sold and inventory, platform and payment-processing fees, advertising, software subscriptions, shipping and fulfilment, and home office or workspace where it qualifies. Inventory in particular needs proper tracking because it directly affects your cost of goods sold and your tax. We set the bookkeeping up to capture all of it accurately.
Do you work with Vancouver e-commerce sellers remotely?+
Yes — e-commerce is a naturally online business and so are we. We work with Vancouver online sellers fully remotely from Abbotsford — video calls, e-signature, and direct connections to your store and bookkeeping — so location is irrelevant to how we work together.
Do marketplaces like Amazon or Etsy collect sales tax for me?+
For many sales, yes — marketplace facilitator rules can put the collection obligation on the platform rather than on you. That does not remove your own registration obligations, and it makes your platform reports essential reading, because the gross deposit you receive is not your revenue. Reconcile platform statements to your books monthly rather than treating deposits as sales.
How should I account for inventory held in a fulfilment warehouse?+
It is still your inventory and still on your balance sheet, wherever the pallets physically sit. Stock held in another province or country can also create registration and reporting obligations there. Reconcile the platform’s inventory report to your own count at year-end, because closing inventory directly sets your cost of goods sold and therefore your taxable income.
What about GST on sales to customers outside Canada?+
Exports are generally zero-rated, meaning you charge no GST on the sale but can still recover the tax paid on your inputs. That is a favourable combination for a Vancouver seller shipping abroad, but it depends on the goods actually leaving Canada and on your keeping the shipping evidence to prove it. Retain the export documentation with each order.

Selling online from Vancouver?

GST/HST, inventory, platform fees and tax handled by a CPA who knows e-commerce. Book a free consult.

Remote ecommerce accounting from Abbotsford

EverStone is a sole practitioner CPA firm at 32615 South Fraser Way in Abbotsford, working with Vancouver clients entirely online. There is no Vancouver office and no local staff. Meetings are held by video or phone, documents are exchanged securely by email and e-signature, and no visit is required at any point. Platform and processor feeds arrive electronically, which makes physical proximity irrelevant to the work.