--- title: "New Corporation Setup Checklist (BC) | Incorporation Steps" url: https://www.everstonecpa.com/incorporation-checklist description: "Just incorporated in BC? The 12-step setup checklist — CRA accounts, bank, year-end, GST, PST, payroll, WorkSafeBC and bookkeeping. Download it free." type: tool updated: 2026-10-02 summary: "A newly incorporated BC company needs a list of setup steps before its first year-end: a CRA business number and program accounts, a corporate bank account, a fiscal year-end, a minute book, GST registration if required, and payroll setup if the owner takes salary. EverStone walks new corporations through it." faq_count: 6 publisher: EverStone CPA Inc., a Chartered Professional Accountant firm registered with CPA British Columbia and CPA Alberta service_area: British Columbia, Alberta, Ontario and Manitoba language: en-CA contact: info@everstonecpa.com · https://www.everstonecpa.com/book-online --- [Home](https://www.everstonecpa.com/) [Resources](https://www.everstonecpa.com/resources) Incorporation checklist Free checklist # Just incorporated? *The 12-step setup checklist* This page is print-friendly. Use your browser’s Print (Ctrl/Cmd⁠+⁠P) to keep a paper copy beside you. Part of the [free checklist library](https://www.everstonecpa.com/checklists). Everything a new BC corporation needs to set up in its first 90 days — in order, with the guide for each step. Print it, or have it emailed to you. [Email me a copy](#email-me) **Quick answer:** A newly incorporated BC company needs a list of setup steps before its first year-end: a CRA business number and program accounts, a corporate bank account, a fiscal year-end, a minute book, GST registration if required, and payroll setup if the owner takes salary. EverStone walks new corporations through it. A checklist gets you incorporated; it does not tell you how to pay yourself afterwards. [An email enquiry](https://www.everstonecpa.com/book-online) covers both. Twelve setup steps for a new BC corporation’s first ninety days. - 1 **Set up the minute book.** Your incorporation documents, share register and resolutions are legal requirements, not paperwork theatre. Keep them current from day one — lenders and buyers will ask for them years from now. See [what belongs in a minute book](https://www.everstonecpa.com/blog/keeping-a-minute-book-canada-corporation). - 2 **Get your Business Number and program accounts.** The CRA issues one Business Number (BN) with program accounts hanging off it: RC (corporate tax), RT (GST/HST), RP (payroll). Open the ones you need in CRA [My Business Account](https://www.everstonecpa.com/glossary#mba). [Guide](https://www.everstonecpa.com/blog/cra-my-business-account-setup-guide) - 3 **Open a corporate bank account.** The corporation is a separate taxpayer — its money is not your money. A dedicated account (plus a corporate card) is the single best defence against a messy [shareholder-loan](https://www.everstonecpa.com/glossary#shareholder-loan) problem later. [Guide](https://www.everstonecpa.com/blog/shareholder-loans-canada-taking-money-out-of-corporation) - 4 **Choose your [fiscal year-end](https://www.everstonecpa.com/glossary#fiscal-year-end).** You get one free choice within 53 weeks of incorporating. A deliberate year-end (often not December) smooths workload and can defer tax on your first bonus. [Guide](https://www.everstonecpa.com/blog/corporate-fiscal-year-end-canada-how-to-choose) - 5 **Decide on GST/HST registration.** Registration is mandatory once taxable sales pass $30,000 over four rolling quarters, and often worth doing voluntarily earlier to claim input tax credits. Guide - 6 **Check whether BC PST touches you.** Selling or leasing taxable goods, software or certain services in BC means separate PST registration, and PST expands to professional services October 1, 2026. [Guide](https://www.everstonecpa.com/blog/bc-pst-small-business-guide) - 7 **Set up payroll if you will take salary.** Salary needs an RP account and monthly source-deduction remittances; unremitted amounts carry personal director liability. Decide salary vs dividends deliberately. [Guide](https://www.everstonecpa.com/blog/salary-vs-dividends-2026) - 8 **Register with WorkSafeBC if hiring.** Registration is generally required when you take on workers in BC. Premiums are payroll-based; keep it current from the first hire. - 9 **Put a bookkeeping system in place.** Cloud accounting (QuickBooks Online or Xero) connected to the corporate bank feed, reconciled monthly — from month one, not at year-end. [Guide](https://www.everstonecpa.com/bookkeeping-abbotsford) - 10 **Plan how you will pay yourself.** Salary builds RRSP room and CPP; dividends are simpler with no CPP. Most owners land on a deliberate mix — decide it, do not default into it. [Guide](https://www.everstonecpa.com/blog/salary-vs-dividends-2026) - 11 **Calendar the deadlines.** T2 due six months after year-end (tax owing earlier), GST on your filing schedule, T4s by end of February, instalments once you owe enough. [Guide](https://www.everstonecpa.com/cra-tax-deadlines) - 12 **Book a CPA before the first year-end.** The expensive mistakes (missed elections, shareholder-loan tangles, wrong year-end) happen in year one and get fixed retroactively at multiples of the cost. A one-hour setup conversation is the cheapest accounting you will ever buy. [Guide](https://www.everstonecpa.com/book-online) ## Get the incorporation checklist by email We will send you the link to this page plus the year-end tax-moves PDF. No newsletter unless you ask for it. This checklist is general information for new BC corporations as of July 2026 , not advice for your specific situation. Steps like [PST](https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/taxes/sales-taxes/pst), payroll and WorkSafeBC depend on what your business does — [talk to a CPA](https://www.everstonecpa.com/book-online) to confirm yours. Common questions ## New corporation setup FAQ **When do I need to register for GST/HST after incorporating?** Registration is mandatory once your corporation’s taxable sales pass $30,000 over four rolling quarters, not a calendar year. Many register earlier to claim input tax credits on startup costs. Track it from your first invoice. [Ask about your case →](https://www.everstonecpa.com/quick-question) **How do I choose a fiscal year-end for my new corporation?** You choose a year-end once, within 53 weeks of incorporating, not necessarily December 31. Avoiding your busy season smooths workload and can defer tax on a first bonus or dividend. Changing it later needs CRA approval. **Do I need to register for BC PST right away?** Only if you sell or lease taxable goods, software or certain services in BC. Watch it anyway: PST expands to professional services from October 1, 2026, pulling previously exempt businesses into registration. **Should I pay myself salary or dividends from my new corporation?** Most owners choose a deliberate mix. Salary builds RRSP room and CPP but needs payroll remittances; dividends are simpler, with no CPP. The split depends on your cash needs, retirement goals and how the corporation is taxed, so decide it on purpose. **What happens if I don’t remit payroll source deductions on time?** Directors are personally liable for unremitted source deductions, even after the corporation is wound up; the corporate structure does not shield this debt. Setting up payroll? Calendar the remittance deadline from day one. **When is my new corporation’s first T2 return due?** A T2 is due six months after year-end, but any balance is due at two or three months, depending on your corporation’s status. Filing and paying are separate deadlines; a missed payment starts interest even if the return is filed later. Before working through the checklist, settle the jurisdiction: [incorporating federally versus provincially](https://www.everstonecpa.com/blog/incorporating-federally-vs-provincially-canada) compares name protection, where you can operate and the annual registry filing each route carries. ## Want the setup done with you, not just listed? Send an enquiry. We will walk your new corporation through every step and quote a fixed fee for the year. [Get My Fixed Quote](https://www.everstonecpa.com/book-online)[Ask a Free Question](https://www.everstonecpa.com/quick-question) ★★★★★ “…We switched to him last year for both our personal and small-business taxes — responsive, knowledgeable and quick.” Heather Powers · Google review This checklist sits inside a wider set of setup reading. See the [Everything for a new business](https://www.everstonecpa.com/starting-a-business-hub) for the guides that come before and after it. --- Source: https://www.everstonecpa.com/incorporation-checklist Prices: https://www.everstonecpa.com/pricing · Contact: info@everstonecpa.com · https://www.everstonecpa.com/book-online