T5018 Subcontractor Tracker
Track payments to subcontractors through the year so the T5018 is a filing, not a reconstruction
What is in it
- Date paid
- Subcontractor
- BN or SIN
- Invoice #
- Job / project
- Services (before tax)
- GST/HST
- Total paid
- 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.
Construction businesses that pay subcontractors have an information return obligation most other businesses do not: the T5018, reporting payments made for construction services. It is due after your reporting period ends, and it has to name each subcontractor and the total paid to them.
The reason this is worth a spreadsheet is that the number required — total paid to each subcontractor across the year — is painful to assemble afterwards from a general ledger organised by job rather than by payee. Recorded as you go, it takes seconds per payment. Reconstructed in March, it is a day's work and error-prone.
The sheet keeps a payment log and a summary that totals automatically by subcontractor. It also holds the details you will need on the return itself — business number or SIN, and address — so they are gathered at the point where you can still easily ask for them.
The habit that makes it work is asking for the business number at the first payment rather than at year-end. A subcontractor you are about to pay is responsive; the same subcontractor in February, on a job that finished in August, often is not. Recording it once, at the point where you have their attention, converts the whole filing from a chase into a lookup.
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
- Report payments in the period you PAID them, not the period invoiced.
- The T5018 covers payments for construction services. Payments purely for materials are outside it.
- You need each subcontractor’s business number or SIN. Ask at the first payment, not at year-end.
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.