Farm accountant in Richmond

Monthly bookkeeping for a Richmond farm starts from $300 a month, with GST filing included. A sole proprietor farmer’s T1 with the farming schedule is commonly $250 to $450, and an incorporated farm with bookkeeping, payroll and the T2 usually runs $450 to $650 a month. The farm and agriculture accounting hub sets out the national rules behind all of this.

Cranberry and blueberry operations

Berry farming in East Richmond is capital-heavy before the first crop. Cranberry beds have to be built, levelled and fitted with water control, and blueberry fields take several seasons to reach full production. Those establishment costs are not ordinary expenses. Land is not depreciable at all, while drainage, irrigation and bog construction may be depreciable in their own classes, and the distinction affects the deduction for years. Harvest equipment, from cranberry beaters to blueberry harvesters, is CCA property on its own schedule.

The selling side varies by farm. Some sell most of the crop to a processor or packer, some sell at a farm stand along the East Richmond roads, and many do both. Each channel should be recorded separately, because the payment timing, the deductions taken by the buyer and the GST treatment can all differ.

The cash method and timing

Farming is one of the few businesses where the CRA permits the cash method. Income is reported when it is received and expenses when they are paid, rather than when they are earned or incurred. For a berry farm that is paid by a processor months after harvest, the cash method matches how the year actually pays out. It also gives some control over which year income lands in, within the limits of the mandatory and optional inventory adjustments. The method has to be applied consistently, so it is chosen deliberately rather than switched year to year. Cash versus accrual compares the two.

Farm support programs add their own reporting. AgriStability works from the farm’s income and expenses as reported for tax, adjusted for inventory and receivables, so a program year is only as reliable as the books behind it. Keeping crop sales, input purchases and inventory on hand recorded by season, rather than reconstructed from bank statements, is what lets the program figures and the tax return agree without a second round of work.

GST on what a farm sells and buys

Most basic agricultural products, including fresh berries and vegetables, are zero-rated. That means no GST is charged on the sale, but GST paid on fuel, fertilizer, equipment and repairs is still recovered as input tax credits. A farm that is not registered loses those credits, which is why registering is usually worthwhile even below the $30,000 threshold. Not everything a farm sells is zero-rated: processed products, prepared foods at a farm stand and agritourism activities can be taxable. Each product line should be checked. The zero-rated versus exempt guide explains the difference.

BC PST adds another layer. Qualifying farmers can buy certain farm equipment and supplies exempt from PST by providing the required documentation to the seller, while other purchases carry PST as a cost. The BC PST guide covers the rules.

Seasonal crews and payroll

Harvest brings extra hands for a few weeks or months. Each seasonal worker is an employee with CPP, EI premiums and income tax deducted, a record of employment when the season ends and a T4 at year-end. The farm also needs WorkSafeBC coverage, and BC Employment Standards rules on vacation pay apply to seasonal staff too. Payroll in Richmond covers the pay runs, and the WorkSafeBC guide covers registration.

Fishing out of Steveston

Richmond’s farm economy has a sea-going neighbour in the commercial fishing fleet that works out of Steveston harbour. Fishing income follows rules close to farming. It can also be reported on the cash method, and qualified fishing property, including vessels, licences and gear used in a family fishing business, can qualify for the lifetime capital gains exemption and the intergenerational rollover. A fisher’s year is seasonal and gear-heavy, with licence costs, boat CCA and crew shares to account for. The same CPA handles both kinds of file.

Passing a Richmond farm to the next generation

Farmland in the Agricultural Land Reserve is often held by one family for decades, and the tax on its transfer is the largest single number most farm families will ever face. Qualified farm property can be transferred to a child under the intergenerational rollover, deferring the gain, and can qualify for the lifetime capital gains exemption on a sale. Whether it qualifies depends on who owned it, for how long and how it was farmed. Because those tests look back over years, the plan is made well before a transfer, not during one. Farm succession and the rollover sets out the conditions.

Fixed fees, fully online

EverStone is an Abbotsford CPA firm serving Richmond farms remotely, and every engagement runs online — email first, video meetings when they help, e-signature and a secure upload link, so you never lose a day to an office visit. You are not billed by the hour: your fee is a fixed amount agreed before any work starts, so you can ask a question at harvest without watching a meter. The same CPA handles your file all year. See what it costs or send an enquiry and get a clear written quote by email.