Bookkeeping for Surrey contractors and trades

Surrey is building at every scale at once, from four-plexes on house lots to towers and warehouses. We keep your books by job, so each draw, holdback and payroll hour has a home.

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From $225/month

Progress draw 3

Example

Framing, four-plex on a single-family lot

Billed this draw
$38,500.00
Held back, 10%
−$3,850.00
Paid to you
$34,650.00
Holdback waits on the jobPayable 55 days after completion

Amounts before GST.

House lots, towers and industrial land in one city

BC's small-scale, multi-unit housing law has municipalities like Surrey allow three or four homes on most lots zoned for a single house or a duplex. Framing crews and small builders are putting up four-plexes where one house stood, while City Centre adds towers and the industrial land adds warehouse and tilt-up work.

The Surrey Langley SkyTrain extension is under construction along Fraser Highway: eight stations from King George to Langley City Centre, with service expected in late 2029. Between the house lots, the towers and the industrial parks, most Surrey trades work several kinds of job in the same year, each billed its own way.

  • Many small holdbacks

    Four-plex framing means many short contracts. Each holdback is small and together they add up, so we list them by job, with the event each one is waiting on.

  • Every tier holds back

    On a larger job you may be several tiers down. Each payer keeps 10% from the tier below, and you keep 10% from your own subs, so holdback receivable and holdback payable are kept apart.

    Source: BC Laws

  • Two licence programs

    Surrey is in both the Metro West and the Fraser Valley inter-municipal business licences, so a Surrey trades contractor can add the licence that covers where the work is.

    Source: Township of Langley

The rules on every BC job

The same in Surrey as anywhere in the province, and kept in your books every month.

  • 10%

    Holdback on every draw

    Whoever pays you on a contract or subcontract keeps back 10% of each payment. We record it as holdback receivable against the job, not as revenue you lost, and you keep 10% from your own subs as holdback payable.

    Source: BC Laws
  • 55 days

    Until a holdback can be paid

    The holdback period ends 55 days after a certificate of completion, or after the head contract is completed. The Construction Prompt Payment Act, not yet in force, will shorten it to 46.

    Source: BC Laws
  • $500

    A T5018 slip per subcontractor

    If construction is more than half your business income, payments to a subcontractor over $500 in the period (before GST) are reported on a T5018, due six months after the calendar or fiscal year you report on.

    Source: CRA
  • PST

    Paid on materials, not charged on install

    Contractors pay PST on materials bought for a job, lump sum or time and materials, and generally don't charge it when those goods become part of the building. That PST is part of the job's cost; only the GST comes back as an input tax credit.

    Source: Province of BC
  • Before and after

    A WorkSafeBC clearance letter for each sub

    If a sub you hired doesn't pay its WorkSafeBC premiums, you can be liable for them. A clearance letter addressed to you, before and after the work, is what protects you.

    Source: WorkSafeBC
  • 1.5×

    Overtime for hourly crews

    Time and a half after 8 hours in a day or 40 in a week, and double time after 12 in a day, unless an averaging agreement applies. Payroll is run from the timesheets.

    Source: Province of BC
  • 5 days

    To issue an ROE after a layoff

    On a weekly, biweekly or semi-monthly payroll, an electronic Record of Employment is due within 5 calendar days after the end of the pay period in which someone's earnings stop.

    Source: Service Canada

Kept by someone from the trade

Liam keeps these books. Before Tallyforth he spent his career in concrete construction as a detailer, surveyor, estimator and quantity takeoff specialist, so a draw schedule, a holdback and a back-charge read to him the way they read to you.

What it costs

Monthly bookkeepingReconciled, closed and reported every month
$225/month
PayrollHourly crews, remittances, T4s and ROEs
$100/month and up
Year-end, corporationsT2 prepared and filed by a licensed CPA
$1,325/year

A contractor with a crew and a holding company

$1,950 to $2,438/month

An example estimate from our pricing page.

Estimates only, confirmed after we review your books. Plans have a 3-month minimum, and prices are before applicable sales taxes.

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Questions from contractors in Surrey

We hold back 10% from our own subs. Where does that go in the books?

Into holdback payable, a liability, until the holdback period ends and you pay it out. It is kept out of your regular payables, so your accounts payable ageing shows what you actually owe today.

Does a Surrey business licence cover jobs in Langley or Abbotsford?

Not by itself. Surrey takes part in the Fraser Valley inter-municipal business licence, which a trades contractor can add to cover Abbotsford, the City of Langley, Mission, Chilliwack and other participating communities, and in the Metro West licence for Vancouver, Burnaby, Richmond, Delta and New Westminster. The City of Surrey can confirm which fits your work.

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Sources