Accountant for Hamilton manufacturers

For a one-owner Hamilton manufacturer, monthly bookkeeping, payroll and the year-end T2 with statements usually cost from $500 to $700 a month all-in.

Steel in the yard, parts on the floor, goods on the dock

A fabricator’s inventory sits in three places. Raw material (plate, bar, tube or food ingredients) waits in the yard or cooler; work in progress sits part-done on the floor; finished goods wait on the dock. All three are at cost, and each year-end figure flows into cost of sales and profit. Overstate stock and you pay tax on profit you did not make; understate it and a later year pays.

Work in progress is the hard part. It needs a consistent way to attach material, labour and overhead to a half-finished job, applied the same way every year. We set that basis once, document it, and count and value the three stages at year end so the T2 rests on stock that was actually there. Inventory, WIP and CCA for small manufacturers works through a similar shop.

Job costing, and the HST on what you buy and sell

Most Hamilton job shops quote from experience, which works until steel prices move, a drawing changes or a setup runs long. Job costing that captures material, direct labour and a fair share of overhead shows which customers and work actually pay, turning the next quote into arithmetic.

Ontario’s 13% HST on steel, consumables and equipment returns as input tax credits, large enough to matter every period. Parts shipped to US customers are generally zero-rated exports: no HST charged, credits still claimed, so keep the export proof. HST on exports covers the evidence the CRA expects.

Presses, cranes and CNC: equipment and CCA

Equipment is a shop’s largest asset and deduction. Machinery is recovered through CCA at its class rate, and class matters: manufacturing and processing equipment differs from a pickup or computer. Selling or trading an old machine reduces the class, which can bring unplanned recapture or a terminal loss when a class empties. We keep CCA by asset, so a trade-in’s tax result is known upfront. Recent changes for manufacturing buildings matter if you are expanding the plant.

SR&ED on process improvement

Hamilton shops solve technical problems constantly: a weld procedure that stops cracking in thicker gauge, a jig holding tolerance on a new alloy, a cooking step extending shelf life. Work resolving genuine technological uncertainty through systematic trial and error may qualify for scientific research and experimental development credits, claimed on Form T661 with the T2. A Canadian-controlled private corporation can earn an enhanced refundable credit, paid even in a loss year. The claim needs records kept during the work: what was tried, failed and learned. We set that habit up early.

A plant payroll brings Ontario with it

Shift work and overtime make a real payroll, and Ontario adds two costs beyond CPP and EI. Employer health tax applies once total Ontario payroll passes the $1,000,000 exemption, with the rate band chosen before the exemption. WSIB premiums depend on classification, and a shop that installs on site may have two. We accrue both monthly and build them into the job-costing labour rate. Payroll in Hamilton covers the pay runs.

What EverStone handles for you

One firm, one fixed fee agreed up front:

• T2 corporate return and year-end financial statements
• Inventory and work in progress valued on a consistent basis
• Job costing set up so margins are real numbers
• Equipment CCA schedules, disposals and recapture
• HST input tax credits and export documentation
• SR&ED record-keeping support and the T661
• Employer health tax and WSIB built into labour cost

Fixed fees, fully online

EverStone is a CPA firm and every engagement runs online — video, phone and secure upload, so nobody has to leave the shop floor. The fee is fixed and agreed before work starts. See what it costs.

Remote accounting for manufacturers

EverStone is a CPA firm serving Hamilton online. There is no Hamilton office and no local staff. Meetings are by video or phone, documents by secure upload and e-signature, with no visits. Inventory, job costs and equipment schedules stay current all year, not rebuilt at the count.