B.C. PST professional-services invoice example: 7% and the 30% base (2026)

Show B.C. PST as its own invoice item

Section 85 of the Provincial Sales Tax Regulation says a collector who provides a receipt, bill, or invoice and levies PST on a taxable retail sale must show that tax as a separate item. Tax-included pricing does not remove that document requirement when an invoice is provided.

Keep the ordinary transaction facts visible: the legal seller, customer, invoice number and date, payment terms, service description, price, adjustments, and a separate B.C. PST amount. Federal GST or HST remains a separate tax decision and payable; this guide does not combine the two regimes into one rate.

When a specific exemption depends on a purchaser's PST number, the Province says the collector must record that number on the invoice, bill, receipt, or written agreement and retain the supporting documentation. Do not place an exemption code on an invoice without the evidence required for that exemption.

Classify every line before selecting the purchase-price base

The five new professional-service groups do not all use the same purchase-price base. Confirm the legal service definition, B.C. connection, exemption, resale treatment, small-seller position, bundled components, and disbursements before choosing a tax code or percentage.

Architecture, engineering, and geoscience use the Province's two-step formula: 7% multiplied by an amount equal to 30% of the taxable purchase price. Accounting, security, and non-residential real estate services generally use 7% of the confirmed taxable purchase price. A service title in accounting software does not prove either treatment.

Use a visible 7%-on-30% workpaper for architecture and engineering

Assume an engineering firm has confirmed that C$10,000 of professional fees and C$2,000 of disbursements are taxable engineering services connected to B.C. Most disbursements are part of the purchase price. The resulting taxable purchase price is C$12,000, the 30% PST base is C$3,600, and the PST is C$252: 7% × (30% × C$12,000).

The invoice can show one separate B.C. PST item of C$252. The internal workpaper should retain the C$12,000 classified amount, the 30% base, and the 7% statutory rate. GST, if applicable under the federal facts, is calculated and shown separately rather than being absorbed into the PST label.

Actual-cost travel, food, and accommodation disbursements can be excluded under the service-specific guidance when they reasonably reflect cost. A markup or flat recovery that does not reasonably reflect actual cost is included in the purchase price. Review each disbursement before copying the example.

Use the full taxable base for accounting, security, and non-residential real estate

Assume an accounting provider has confirmed C$1,000 of taxable accounting work and C$100 of taxable charges or disbursements. The taxable purchase price is C$1,100 and the B.C. PST is C$77: 7% × C$1,100. The price plus PST is C$1,177 before any separately determined GST or HST.

Do not apply the 30% base simply because an engagement contains technical work or because another service line uses it. The reduced base belongs only to confirmed taxable architectural, engineering, and geoscience services. Security and non-residential real estate services also use the full confirmed taxable purchase price under their current service pages.

Separate exempt, non-taxable, bundled, and allocated amounts first

A single engagement can contain taxable services, exempt service phases, goods, software, non-taxable work, work related to another jurisdiction, and disbursements with different treatment. Separate those components or determine a supportable fair market value before applying the PST formula.

The Province's engineering example uses a C$100,000 bundled contract whose taxable engineering services have a C$75,000 fair market value. The PST is C$1,575: 7% × (30% × C$75,000). Charging 2.1% on the entire C$100,000 would overstate the published result by C$525.

If an exemption relies on resale, a purchaser PST number, an exemption certificate, another jurisdiction, First Nations facts, a related corporation, government status, or another condition, retain the exact evidence. A zero-PST line without support is not a substitute for the required documentation.

• Create separate items for confirmed taxable full-base services, confirmed taxable 30%-base services, exempt or non-taxable services, and excluded actual-cost disbursements.
• Record the method used to allocate mixed jurisdictions, phases, property uses, or bundled prices.
• Keep the customer-facing service description understandable without replacing the legal classification workpaper.
• Recalculate credits, refunds, or price reductions using the same supported base rather than editing only the invoice total.

Configure invoicing software around separate taxes and liabilities

Software labels vary, but the control objective is stable: the invoice must show PST separately, the workpaper must preserve the 7% rate and the correct base, and the books must post B.C. PST to its own payable account rather than revenue or the GST or HST payable.

A 2.1% software code can reproduce the arithmetic of 7% × 30% only when the entire coded amount is a confirmed taxable architecture, engineering, or geoscience purchase price and the software rounds as expected. Treat 2.1% as an implementation shortcut, not the statutory rate. Keep the 7%-on-30% calculation in the saved record and test cents, credits, bundles, multiple lines, and transition allocations.

Do not create a combined 7.1% or 12% label that prevents the invoice and ledger from distinguishing GST from B.C. PST. Test one sample invoice through issue, payment, credit, return, remittance, and reconciliation before assigning a tax code to every customer or service item.

Make the paid-or-due date part of the invoice control

For the October 2026 change, the contract date or work date alone does not settle the result. The service pages use the first date consideration is paid or becomes due. The Province's general collection page says an amount generally becomes due at the earliest of specified invoice and agreement events, including the day an invoice is first issued, the invoice date, or the written-agreement payment date.

When consideration is paid or due before October 1 and all covered services are provided before December 1, the published transition pattern does not apply PST. If any covered service is provided on or after December 1, PST can apply to the consideration attributable to services provided on or after October 1. Consideration paid or due on or after October 1 is subject to PST regardless of when the service was provided, unless an exemption applies.

Use separate calculations for retainers, milestones, recurring bills, credits, and delayed invoices with different paid-or-due dates. Save the source invoice, agreement terms, payment evidence, service period, and any attribution used.

Close the invoice to the return and retain the evidence

B.C.'s small-business guide says businesses must keep sufficient records of taxable and non-taxable sales, tax charged, collected and remitted, purchases, exemptions, price reductions, refunds, and credits. It states that books, records, and supporting documents generally must be kept for five years.

At period close, reconcile the total separate PST items on issued invoices and credits to the B.C. PST payable ledger and the amount reported or remitted. Keep the classification and base workpaper beside the invoice so a reviewer can reproduce why C$70, C$21, C$252, C$77, or C$1,575 was charged.

This workflow organizes invoice implementation after taxability is confirmed. It does not determine whether the provider is a collector, whether the service is taxable, whether GST applies, whether an exemption is valid, or which product-specific steps a software vendor currently supports.