B.C. PST on accounting, bookkeeping, payroll, and tax returns (2026)

Start with the broad accounting-service definition

B.C.'s July 31 guidance defines accounting services by the work, not by a CPA title or the provider's marketing category. Preparing accounting records, assurance, bookkeeping, billing, accounts payable, reconciliation, and several forms of accounting all enter the definition. Advice, documents, and representation for taxes and property-tax grants are also included.

The list reaches ordinary monthly work and tax compliance. A service can therefore be within the new rule even when the provider is a bookkeeper, payroll processor, outsourced finance team, tax preparer, or another non-CPA business. Classify each engagement and invoice line rather than applying PST only to work signed by a CPA.

Do not use CPA status as the taxability test

The Province expressly says a required registrant does not have to be a Chartered Professional Accountant. The legal provider, actual work, purchaser, jurisdictional connection, exemptions, and timing control the PST analysis—not whether the business uses CPA in its name.

Two items are outside the accounting-service definition in the current guidance: services provided by a person to their employer in the course of employment, and in-person accounting training, courses, or professional development. Remote education may instead raise separate telecommunication-service rules, so do not extend the in-person exclusion automatically to a webinar or digital course.

A service outside this accounting definition can still be taxable under another PST rule. Likewise, an accounting line bundled with consulting, software, training, or another item needs its components reviewed rather than receiving one label for convenience.

Check the B.C. connection even when the accountant is elsewhere

Accounting services provided in B.C. to a person who resides, ordinarily resides, or carries on business in B.C. are taxable unless an exemption applies. Work for a purchaser outside B.C. can still be taxable when it relates to B.C. real property, goods, other property or rights, a physical or legal presence, an activity or transaction, or a contemplated B.C. presence, activity, or transaction.

Accounting services provided outside B.C. to a B.C. purchaser can also be taxable when they relate to those B.C. facts. The Province's example treats payroll accounting supplied by an Alberta accountant to a B.C. resident for a Vancouver business as taxable. If the outside provider does not charge PST, the purchaser may have to self-assess on its PST return or a Casual Remittance Return.

Keep the provider and purchaser locations separate from the subject matter of the work. An invoice address alone does not establish the entire B.C. portion, and an out-of-province provider does not remove a B.C. business, property, payroll, tax return, or transaction from review.

Calculate 7% on the confirmed taxable purchase price

Effective October 1, 2026, PST applies at 7% to the purchase price of taxable accounting services. A confirmed C$1,000 taxable bookkeeping, payroll, assurance, or tax-return fee therefore produces C$70 of PST. The 30% purchase-price base used for qualifying architecture, engineering, and geoscience services does not apply to accounting services.

Fees and charges are generally included. Transmission, printing, and copying charges are excluded only when they reasonably reflect actual cost; a markup or unsupported amount returns the charge to the PST base. Most disbursements are included, while travel, food, and accommodation are excluded when they reasonably reflect actual cost. Markups or unsupported amounts are included.

If one price combines taxable accounting services with something exempt or non-taxable, apply the provincial bundled-sale rules. Identify and support the components before calculating PST. Keep any separately confirmed GST on its own invoice line and in a separate payable account because the federal and provincial bases can differ.

Allocate multi-province work with a reasonable method

When outside-B.C. accounting services relate partly to B.C. and partly to another jurisdiction, the purchaser can claim exemption for the reasonably estimated outside-B.C. portion and must give the estimate to the seller. The Province's national-chain example allocates 50% of a matter to B.C. stores and pays PST on that 50% portion.

The same principle applies when accounting services are provided in B.C. to a B.C. purchaser but part of the work relates to another jurisdiction. In the Province's payroll example, 35% of employees are in B.C.; the purchaser claims exemption on 65% and pays PST on the 35% B.C. portion. A C$1,000 fee using that confirmed allocation would have a C$350 PST base and C$24.50 of PST.

Use a method suited to the work—employee count for payroll, locations or transactions for a chain, time records, accounts, revenue, or another supportable measure. Preserve the contract, data period, calculation, estimate supplied to the seller, and why the method is reasonable. Do not copy an official example percentage into an unrelated engagement.

Review the accounting-specific exemptions

The Province publishes exemptions for accounting services that relate to a jurisdiction outside B.C. and services purchased solely for resale. For resale, an accounting firm can give its supplier a PST number or, if not registered, FIN 490, then charge PST on its own taxable sale. A small seller cannot use that resale exemption.

Accounting services supplied by a trustee, executor, or administrator as part of a deceased person's estate are exempt. The page also exempts accounting services provided by a custodian or trustee in bankruptcy and by a liquidator, receiver, receiver manager, trustee, or similar person in liquidation or dissolution proceedings.

Accounting included in licensed residential rental-property or residential strata-management services is exempt, while accounting included in taxable non-residential real estate services is taxable as part of those services. Additional published exemptions cover qualifying First Nations facts and negotiations, certain related-corporation employee services, eligible diplomatic and federal-government purchases, and purchases from a qualifying small seller. Apply the exact conditions and retain the evidence.

Review small-seller status and register the accounting business

A provider selling taxable accounting services on or after October 1, 2026 must register online through eTaxBC unless it provides only non-taxable or exempt services or qualifies as a B.C. PST small seller. Registration can occur up to six months before the first taxable sale, and the Province recommends registering as soon as possible.

The provincial small-seller criteria include two C$10,000-or-less revenue periods, premises and activity conditions, and other restrictions. They are not the federal GST/HST C$30,000 small-supplier test. Use the dedicated provincial checker and current PST 003 bulletin before relying on the exception.

An accountant who already accesses client accounts in eTaxBC as a third-party preparer still needs a PST account for the accounting business; the clients retain their own accounts. A seller of any taxable accounting services must file PST returns and pay electronically. Test the October invoice, tax codes, separate GST and PST payables, return process, and client communication before the first affected bill.

Apply the transition to each monthly fee and delayed invoice

If consideration is paid or becomes due before October 1, 2026 and the accounting services are provided entirely before December 1, PST does not apply to that consideration. If any services are provided on or after December 1, PST applies to the consideration attributable to services provided on or after October 1.

If consideration is paid or becomes due on or after October 1, PST applies to the confirmed taxable service regardless of when it was provided, unless an exemption applies. September work first billed October 1 is therefore taxable under the provincial example, while a September 15 bill for October services is outside PST.

For C$100 per month paid or due September 15 for October through December, the Province's example calculates C$21 of PST: C$100 × three months × 7%. For a year-long monthly contract, the September 15 bill for October has no PST, while the October 15 bill for November must include PST. Save each due or payment date, service period, attribution, invoice, exemption, self-assessment conclusion, and source-review date.