Payroll services in Coquitlam

Payroll is included in monthly bookkeeping from $300 a month, and a payroll-only engagement is quoted by headcount and pay frequency. Either way, the work covers source deductions for CPP, EI premiums and income tax, remittances through your payroll account, T4 and T4A slips at year-end, and access through My Business Account.

Updated October 2026.

Remittances start with the first pay run

The moment a Coquitlam business pays its first employee, it needs a payroll program account with the CRA. Each pay, the employer withholds income tax, the employee’s CPP and EI, and adds its own share of both. The total is remitted on a schedule the CRA assigns, usually monthly for a small employer, with each month’s deductions due early in the next. Late remittances draw penalties on the amount itself, even when the return work is perfect. We set up the account, the schedule and the reminders before the first cheque goes out. The first employee checklist lists everything else, and the remittance calendar shows the dates.

BC employment standards in a Tri-Cities workplace

BC sets the rules on vacation, holidays and termination, and they apply the same in a Port Coquitlam yard as in a Port Moody café. Vacation pay is 4% of total wages, rising to 6% after five consecutive years with the same employer. A qualifying employee who has a statutory holiday off is paid an average day’s pay; one who works it is paid a premium on top. Final pay is due within 48 hours of the employer ending employment. These rules catch small employers most often at the end, when someone leaves mid-month. The BC stat pay calculator does the holiday sums.

Hours matter as much as rates. BC overtime rules, unpaid breaks and split shifts all come from the time records, so the payroll is only as good as the timesheets behind it. We set up a simple weekly approval for each crew or shift lead, and the pay run is built from what was approved rather than from memory on payday.

WorkSafeBC for crews and kitchens

Employers in BC register with WorkSafeBC and report assessable payroll for premiums. The rate depends on the classification unit, so a roofing crew and a retail counter pay very differently. Builders on Burke Mountain have one more step: before paying a subcontractor, they can request a clearance letter. Without one, the general contractor may be held liable for a subcontractor’s unpaid premiums. We keep the payroll report and the clearance checks on the same calendar. The WorkSafeBC registration guide covers who must register.

Tips, part-time shifts and turnover

Restaurants and shops in City Centre and Austin Heights run on part-time staff, and many on card tips. Tips the employer controls, by pooling them or deciding who gets what, are generally run through payroll with withholdings. Tips passed straight from guest to server are treated differently. Whatever the policy, it should be in writing and the payroll should follow it. High turnover multiplies records of employment, which must be issued when an employee stops working, and the T4s due at the end of February. The tip reporting guide explains the line. See also restaurant accounting in Coquitlam.

Payroll across Coquitlam’s five industries

• Construction contractors hire up for the building season and need classification checked when a crew member works on contract. See contractor accounting in Coquitlam.
• Trades companies pay apprentices and journeypersons, often with a truck or tool allowance that may be a taxable benefit.
• Realtors with a personal real estate corporation pay themselves a salary through payroll, and sometimes an assistant. See realtor accounting in Coquitlam.
• Restaurants carry tips, split shifts and the highest turnover of the five.
• Retailers schedule part-timers around weekends and holidays, which makes statutory holiday eligibility a monthly question.

Paying yourself through payroll

An incorporated owner who takes a salary is an employee of their own company. The same deductions apply: income tax, CPP on both the employee and employer side, and a T4 at year-end. Most owner-managers who control the company are not insurable for EI, so EI premiums are usually not withheld on their pay. Salary creates RRSP room and CPP entitlement, which dividends do not. Many owners run a modest monthly salary and top up with a bonus or dividend once the year’s profit is known. That decision is made with the year-end, so the T4 and the corporate return agree. See corporate tax in Coquitlam for the company side.

Family members on payroll need the same care. Paying a spouse or a teenager is fine when they do real work at a reasonable rate. A timesheet and a job description are the records that support it. The guide to paying your spouse covers the test.

Employer health tax as the payroll grows

Most Tri-Cities employers will never pay BC’s employer health tax, because it applies only once annual BC remuneration exceeds $1,000,000. A growing builder or a restaurant group with several locations can get there, and associated employers share the exemption. Above the threshold the rates and bands are set out on the BC tax facts page. We watch the running total so the first year of liability is not a surprise. The employer health tax guide has the detail.

Remote payroll from Abbotsford

The practice is based in Abbotsford, east across the Port Mann Bridge and up Highway 1, and Coquitlam payrolls run online. There is no Coquitlam office and no local staff. Timesheets, TD1 forms and approvals move through a secure upload link and e-signature, and pay-run questions are answered by email. One CPA holds the file, so the set-up decisions made at hiring are the ones reflected on the slips in February.