Trades accountant in Coquitlam

For a one-owner trades corporation, monthly bookkeeping, payroll and the year-end T2 with statements usually cost $450 to $650 a month, fixed in writing. A sole proprietor’s self-employed T1 with a T2125 is commonly $250 to $450. The year-end covers the CCA schedule, the small business deduction, T4 slips for the crew, T4 or T5 slips for the owner, and GST and PST reconciled to the ledger.

Vans, trucks and the vehicle log

For most Tri-Cities trades, the work vehicle is the second-largest cost after labour. A van fitted with racks and used almost entirely for work is treated differently from a pickup that also does the school run. The difference is documented by a log: dates, destinations and kilometres for business trips. A full year’s log is the strongest support, and a representative period can work once a pattern is established. Driving from home to your own shop is usually personal; driving from the shop to a job in Port Moody is business. If the company owns a vehicle that you also use personally, a taxable benefit can follow. The vehicle benefit calculator and the vehicle log page explain both.

Tools and equipment are capital

A drill or a ladder is a small expense. A pipe threader, a scissor lift, a generator or a trailer is capital, and it is written off through capital cost allowance by class. The CCA class sets the rate, and the timing of the purchase changes the first year’s claim. Buying a major piece of equipment just before year-end can help, but only if the business needs it and the cash is there. Equipment financing changes the picture again, because interest is deductible while principal is not. The equipment CCA guide lists the common classes.

PST on parts you install, and parts you sell

When a plumber installs a hot water tank or an electrician installs a panel, the trades company is usually treated as the end user of those materials for BC PST. It pays the 7% PST when it buys them and does not charge PST to the homeowner on them. That PST is a job cost. The labour is subject to GST but generally not PST.

It gets more complicated when you sell a part without installing it, or sell equipment over the counter from the shop. Then you may need to register and collect PST. Many trades companies have both kinds of sale and need the point-of-sale and invoice templates set up for each. The BC PST guide covers registration, and the rates are on the BC tax facts page.

Service calls and small invoices

A service company sends far more invoices than a builder, and most are small. Each one carries GST, and many are paid on the spot by card. That means a clearing account for card settlements, matched to invoices, with processor fees recorded as an expense. Receivables need watching too. A dozen unpaid service calls can add up to a month’s payroll. A weekly aged receivables list, followed up by email, usually fixes it. Once taxable sales pass $30,000 in four consecutive calendar quarters, GST registration is mandatory, and most trades companies pass that early. The receivables guide sets out a simple routine.

Renovation in older Tri-Cities homes

Coquitlam’s older neighbourhoods, such as Maillardville and Austin Heights, have many mid-century houses now being renovated or rewired. That work often uncovers more than the quote expected. Extras need a written change order and their own invoice line, or they disappear from the margin. Deposits for larger renovations put GST in your hands when invoiced or paid, before the work is done. A trades company doing substantial renovations, rather than service calls, starts to share the contractor’s issues: holdbacks and T5018 slips for any subtrades it pays. See contractor accounting in Coquitlam for that side.

Apprentices and crew payroll

Trades payrolls carry apprentices on school breaks, journeypersons on overtime and sometimes a tool or truck allowance. Each pay withholds CPP, EI premiums and income tax, remitted to the CRA on the assigned schedule. BC vacation pay starts at 4% and rises to 6% after five years. WorkSafeBC premiums depend on the classification unit for your trade. A flat tool allowance is generally a taxable benefit; reimbursing actual receipts usually is not. See payroll in Coquitlam.

When a trades business should incorporate

Many trades owners start as sole proprietors and incorporate once profit grows beyond what they need to live on. The company pays tax at the small business rate on what it keeps, and you pay personal tax only on what you take out. Incorporation adds a T2, a separate bank account and annual BC filings, so it is not worth it for every business. The incorporation calculator gives a first look, and the conversation is part of the free consultation.

Remote, and there is no Coquitlam office

EverStone has one office and it is in Abbotsford. Every trades engagement is delivered online: receipts photographed on site and sent through a secure upload link, questions by email, and video meetings when a decision needs one. The same CPA prepares the return and answers questions through the year. For the provincial context, see construction accounting in BC.