Accountant for contractors and builders

If more than half of your business income comes from construction, CRA expects a T5018 for every subcontractor you paid more than $500 in the year for construction work, not counting GST/HST. It's due six months after the end of your reporting period.

The easy way to handle it is to tag every sub payment properly when it happens. Then T5018 time is just a report, not a weekend spent going through bank statements.

Ontario's Construction Act sets the holdback at 10% of the value of the work. On a big job that's real money, and it's still yours. Your books should show it as money you're owed, so you're not staring at the bank balance wondering where the profit went.

The Act's prompt payment rules give an owner 28 days to pay a proper invoice, and then a contractor has 7 days to pay its subs. If a payment is in dispute, that's a question for a construction lawyer. Keeping track of who owes what, and when, is the part I help with.

CRA doesn't go by what you call someone. It looks at who controls the work, who supplies the tools and equipment, whether the worker can hire their own helpers, and whether they can make a profit or take a loss.

If someone you pay as a sub is really an employee, you were supposed to be deducting CPP, EI and income tax from their pay and sending it to CRA along with your share of CPP and EI. It's worth getting right before CRA asks about it.

In construction, WSIB coverage is mandatory for most businesses, including independent operators, sole proprietors, partners and executive officers, with some exemptions. GCs will also want your clearance before you start, and WSIB only issues one if your account is up to date.

I track your premiums along with payroll and sub costs, and I keep your WSIB reporting on schedule.