Payroll
Canada onlyPayroll is one of the few things in a business where being a little late has an immediate, mechanical cost. The arithmetic is the easy part and software handles it. What actually catches people is a remittance date, a slip that does not agree with the books, or a Record of Employment nobody prepared until somebody asked for it.
What's included
- The pay run on your cycle, with net pay, deductions and pay stubs to each employee
- Income tax, CPP and EI withheld, plus the employer portion, calculated every cycle
- Source deductions remitted on the schedule CRA assigned you, not the one that suits the month
- The payroll accounts in your books reconciled monthly to what was paid and remitted, so the year-end slips have nothing to reconstruct
- T4s and the T4 Summary prepared, agreed to the books, and filed
- Records of Employment prepared when somebody leaves
- Taxable benefits added to income as they happen rather than found in February
Who it's for
- Businesses running their first employees and unsure what gets withheld
- Owners holding a remittance for a week to get through a tight month
- Companies whose T4s and books have not agreed in a while
- Anyone who has had a payroll penalty and would rather not have another
How it runs
The actual sequence, start to finish.
- 01
Confirm the setup
Remitter type, pay frequency, who is on payroll and on what terms. A surprising number of businesses are on a different remitter schedule than they believe, and that is the one detail every deadline hangs off.
- 02
Run the cycle
Pay calculated and stubs issued on the same day each period. Run in payroll software rather than by hand, because a manual calculation is the thing that quietly goes wrong for eleven months.
- 03
Remit on the date
Source deductions go on the assigned schedule. The penalty starts on the first day late and is charged against the amount rather than the delay, so this is a date we own rather than one we remind you about.
- 04
Reconcile every month
The payroll accounts in your books are tied back to what was actually paid and actually remitted, monthly. That is what turns year end into a five-minute check instead of a hunt for a difference.
- 05
Close the year
T4s and the T4 Summary prepared from reconciled books, agreed before they are filed, and kept with what supported them.
What it costs
An add-on, quoted on how many people you run and how often you run them. It does not change your bookkeeping fee. Canadian businesses only.
Questions about payroll
What happens if a remittance is late?
A penalty applies from the first day, and it is charged against the amount rather than the length of the delay, so a large remittance a few days late costs considerably more than a small one a month late. The usual cause is not forgetting, it is a cash decision in a tight month. Worth telling us before the date rather than after it, because there are better options than missing it.
Is my worker an employee or a contractor?
That is decided by the working relationship rather than by what the agreement calls it or whether they invoice you. Control over how the work gets done, who supplies the tools, whether the person can profit or lose on the job, and how far they are integrated into the business all count. It is worth settling before the first payment, because a reassessment can reach back over the whole period and cover both the employee and the employer halves of what should have been withheld.
Do you handle US payroll?
No. We do not run, remit or file payroll in the United States: US payroll tax is federal and state, the filings go to authorities we do not file with, and we would rather say so than learn it on your file. What we do offer a US business is Payroll Bookkeeping, a separate service: your existing payroll platform keeps running and filing the payroll, and we record and reconcile what it produces in your books.
We already run payroll ourselves. Can you just take the year end?
Yes, though it works better when the monthly reconciliation comes with it. T4s are only quick if the payroll accounts already agree with what was paid and remitted, and where they do not, the difference has to be found before anything can be filed.
Which payroll software do you use?
Wagepoint or Payment Evolution, both of which sync into the accounting file, so the entries land in the books as part of running the cycle rather than being typed in afterwards. If you are already on something else, we will tell you plainly whether it is worth keeping.
More questions answered on the FAQ page.
Often paired with
Bookkeeping
Monthly reconciliation, coded transactions, and financial statements, every month.
Accounts Payable & Receivable
Bills in, invoices out, and somebody actually chasing what you're owed.
Financial Reporting
Custom KPI dashboards and reporting beyond the standard monthly statements.
Payroll Bookkeeping
Your own payroll platform calculates, remits and files. We record what it produces in your books and reconcile it to the bank.
Ready to talk about payroll?
A free 20-minute consultation, no obligation.