GST/HST Filing Tracker
Collected, paid, and what you actually owe — per period, with the net calculated
What is in it
- Period start
- Period end
- Filing due
- Sales (before tax)
- GST/HST collected
- ITCs (tax paid on purchases)
- Net owing
- Paid on
- Notes
Ships with one worked example row and live formulas — the totals recalculate as you add rows, and the example is labelled so you know to delete it.
GST/HST is the tax most likely to produce an unpleasant surprise, for a structural reason: you collect it during the period and pay it after, so the money is in your account for months before it is due. Businesses that treat it as revenue while it sits there find the filing deadline arrives without the cash.
The return itself is arithmetic — tax collected on sales, less input tax credits on purchases, equals the net owing or refundable. The difficulty is never the sum. It is that neither figure exists in a usable form unless someone has been tracking it, so the days before a filing deadline get spent assembling numbers that could have been maintained continuously.
This sheet keeps both sides by period, calculates the net, and shows a running total of what you should be holding. Filing then becomes transcription.
The single change that prevents most GST/HST trouble is moving the tax collected into a separate account as it comes in. It is not your money, and an account that holds it is an account that cannot accidentally spend it. This sheet then tells you what should be sitting in that account at any point, so the balance can be checked against the figure rather than hoped about until the filing deadline.
Want the updated version each year?
Tax figures and filing dates move. Leave your email and we will send the refreshed copy when it changes — that is all we use it for. The download above works either way.
Before you use it
- Registration is generally required once revenues pass the small-supplier threshold, and the obligation starts with the sale that crosses it.
- Input tax credits generally require a supporting document showing the supplier’s GST/HST number.
- Filing frequency depends on your revenue. Confirm yours rather than assuming it is annual.
- GST/HST collected is money held on the CRA’s behalf. Keeping it in a separate account is the simplest way to never be short at filing.
General information, not tax advice. This worksheet is a general aid for Canadian business owners. It does not account for your circumstances and does not create a professional relationship. Speak to a CPA before acting — book a free consult.