Vancouver, BC Trades Records: Materials, Progress Payments and Subcontractors

Open a job file with the actual sites

A Vancouver repair or installation business can buy supplies for several jobs, sell an unused item directly and hire another trade during the same week. Use one job number across the quote, accepted changes, supplier bills, customer invoices and receipts. Record the contracting customer, business doing the work, site address and municipality.

Keep location and licence evidence together. Vancouver describes a Metro West inter-municipal licence for eligible construction and trades businesses, with specified participating cities and eligibility conditions. Check the actual licence coverage rather than treating a Vancouver address as permission for every nearby job. This workflow concerns records for service and installation jobs; a property development or sale needs a different review.

• City of Vancouver: Metro West Inter-Municipal Business Licence

Record where the materials end up

Give material lines a factual description: installed at the site, supplied without installation, retained in stock, returned to the supplier or used by the business. Keep quantities, supplier references and the job attached. A line labelled parts does not explain whether the item becomes part of real property.

BC generally requires contractors to pay PST on taxable goods acquired to fulfil a real property contract unless an exemption applies. Its customer-charging guidance distinguishes taxable goods sold directly from services to real property, and includes exceptions for certain machinery and off-site work. Preserve the installation and service-location facts before selecting the tax code. Do not copy a goods-only sales treatment onto every supply-and-install job.

• BC: Paying PST on the purchase of goods used in contracts
• BC: Charging and collecting PST for contractors
• BC: Defining real property

Preserve purchases and changes in stock use

A mixed supplier order may include goods for direct resale, materials for an existing job and tools the business keeps. Retain the itemized invoice and tax shown, then connect each relevant line to its actual use. Keep a supplier credit linked to the original purchase; it does not automatically change the customer invoice.

BC describes several methods for mixed inventories, with conditions for acquiring goods without PST and rules when goods move into contract use. Keep the original acquisition, quantity transferred, date, value and destination job visible for review. Do not assume every item bought by a registered contractor qualifies for resale treatment. Ask the reviewer which method and supporting documents fit the business.

• BC: Managing mixed inventories
• BC: Paying PST on the purchase of goods used in contracts

Give each construction payment an event date

Maintain separate fields for the contract milestone, payment request, invoice or certificate, contractual due date, money received and any earlier amount applied. Keep a genuine security deposit distinguishable from an advance or progress payment. A payment-app label is not enough to establish its GST treatment.

CRA distinguishes security deposits from construction progress payments; progress payments can relate to work still to be done. Its guidance also has separate holdback and substantial-completion rules. GST/HST can become payable before the contractor receives cash. Supply the actual terms and event dates to the reviewer instead of assigning every amount to the bank-deposit month. Track an overdue invoice separately from a contractually supported holdback.

• CRA: GST/HST and home construction

Work one staged job through the customer account

For a simplified fictional example, ignore taxes and assume Canadian-dollar bank transfers with no fees, credits or holdbacks. The accepted job price is C$12,000. An approved C$1,200 addition raises the agreed value to C$13,200. A first C$6,000 progress invoice covers the work completed so far; the remaining C$7,200 is future work, not yet performed or invoiced.

Apply C$2,000 collected earlier to the C$6,000 invoice. A new C$3,500 receipt leaves C$500 unpaid on that invoice: C$6,000 minus C$2,000 minus C$3,500. Keep the C$7,200 of future scope separate from the C$500 customer receivable. The earlier C$2,000 is a payment application, not a discount.

Neither the current bank receipt nor total collections of C$5,500 measures job profit. Match material, labour and subcontractor costs separately for management. This example explains the customer account only; it does not decide GST timing, income recognition, the tax treatment of the earlier collection or legal entitlement to an unpaid amount.

Keep subcontractor evidence with the service period

Create a vendor file with the correct legal party, agreement, services and dates, invoices, payment trail and required identity information held securely. WorkSafeBC advises obtaining clearance before and after subcontractor services. It explains that protection against a subcontractor’s unpaid premiums requires a letter addressed to you confirming good standing for the entire contract period. Save the letter and covered dates rather than only a screenshot of a search result.

CRA’s T5018 guidance has construction-activity, residency and payment conditions. Keep goods-only purchases distinguishable from construction-service payments, and preserve payment totals and tax detail for the reporting review. Have the preparer decide the applicable information return. A clearance letter, vendor invoice and reporting slip each serve a different purpose; keep employment-status questions on a separate review list.

• WorkSafeBC: Why do I need a clearance letter?
• WorkSafeBC: Get a clearance letter
• CRA: T5018 slip — Statement of contract payments

Close the job with a short exceptions list

Compare approved scope, work completed, invoices, applied payments, outstanding amounts and material returns. Look for approved additions never billed, stock moved without a job reference, missing supplier credits and subcontractor letters that do not cover the service period. Assign each exception a person and next action.

Give the accountant the job register, payment-event schedule, purchase support, stock movements, subcontractor evidence and unresolved questions alongside reconciled company accounts. Ask who reviews GST, PST and information returns, and whether job-costing or catch-up work is included. Confirm the Canadian entities, periods and services in writing before assuming a general filing offer covers the complete handoff.