Sage 50 B.C. PST setup for engineering: GST plus 7% on 30% (2026)

Start with the C$1,071 result, not a Sage tax-code label

Confirm the engineering or geoscience classification, B.C. connection, exemptions, resale treatment, disbursements, allocations, collector or small-seller position, October 2026 transition, and federal GST treatment before opening Sage settings. A tax code calculates the rates entered; it does not determine whether the line belongs in the rule.

For a confirmed C$1,000 fully taxable engineering fee, B.C. PST is C$21: 7% × (30% × C$1,000). When 5% GST separately applies to the full fee, GST is C$50 and the customer total is C$1,071. Keep the legal 7%-on-30% workpaper even if Sage uses a 2.1% implementation component.

Reject the ordinary B.C. GST-plus-PST code on this line because 7% PST on the full C$1,000 would produce C$70. Also reject one merged 7.1% tax or any compound calculation that prevents the two statutory identities from being traced.

Set up the taxes and linked accounts before the tax code

Sage documents a two-step setup: define each tax under Setup, Settings, Company, Sales Taxes, Taxes, then create tax codes. For each tax, the current instructions call for the appropriate accounts that track tax paid on purchases and tax charged on sales, and a Yes choice for Report on taxes when Sage should generate tax reports.

Keep the ordinary GST tax for transactions where it applies. Create a separately named and dated engineering-PST candidate only in a backup or controlled test company first, with the reviewed B.C. charged-on-sales account. Do not rename or repurpose the ordinary 7% B.C. PST tax used for full-base transactions.

The purchase-side refundable setting and linked account require their own legal and accounting conclusion. Do not mark B.C. PST refundable merely to make a report net to the desired amount. Record the Sage edition, release, company file, single-user change window, active taxes, linked accounts, and reviewer.

• Preserve a backup and work in the exact company-file version that will issue invoices.
• Use distinct, recognizable GST and B.C. engineering-PST names and charged-on-sales accounts.
• Enable tax reporting only with the intended accounts and confirm the report includes the new candidate.

Create one candidate code with two independent tax components

Sage's current setup article permits tax codes of up to two letters and lets a code contain the appropriate taxes, taxable or other status, percentage rate, included-in-price setting, and refundable setting. Create a dated test code such as GE and add the existing confirmed 5% GST tax plus the separate engineering-PST tax at 2.1%.

Both components must be Taxable and Included in price must be No for the baseline where tax is added on top of the C$1,000 fee. The engineering-PST component must calculate from the net fee rather than GST-inclusive value. A compound result would produce C$22.05 PST instead of C$21.

Assign the code only to a fictional service item, customer, or transaction whose whole line has been confirmed taxable under the 30% base. Separate exempt phases, other service groups, goods, software, disbursements, jurisdiction allocations, and transition amounts before choosing the code.

Treat the customer-facing tax breakdown as a hard gate

B.C.'s regulation requires a collector who provides an invoice and levies PST to show PST as a separate item. Sage's support article says a code should charge two taxes to show a breakdown, but it also warns that when more than two taxes are configured in the company, the customer-facing document can show one total tax amount while detail remains behind a magnifying-glass view.

That company-level display limitation means the settings screen and transaction detail are not enough. Generate the invoice through the exact sales form, template, language, email, and PDF path customers will receive. Approve only a document that identifies C$50 GST separately when applicable, identifies C$21 B.C. PST separately, and totals C$1,071.

If the live company needs other taxes and Sage merges the display, do not delete required taxes merely to improve one form. Stop and use a reviewed form customization or another invoicing workflow that can meet the separate-item requirement, then confirm the result with current Sage support and the reviewer.

Run credits, cents, mixed lines, and a higher-value invoice

Test C$1,000, C$12,000, a C$100 reversal or credit, a cents-sensitive multi-line invoice, and mixed or transition work. Keep the transactions fictional until every customer, account, report, and return gate passes.

A C$12,000 confirmed taxable engineering fee produces C$252 PST and, when 5% GST applies, C$600 GST and a C$12,852 total. A C$100 correction under the same treatment should reverse C$2.10 PST and C$5 GST from the customer balance and the same charged-on-sales accounts.

Compare each line to the saved legal workpaper. Reject unexplained rounding, a code that applies to exempt lines, a credit that changes accounts receivable without reducing both taxes, or a template that shows the correct total but hides the provincial identity.

Reconcile Tax Summary, accounts, Box A, and Box B

Sage documents Reports, Tax, Summary with a remitting-period date range, purchases and sales, taxable status, and selected taxes. It also warns that Tax Summary does not include adjustments to a remittance paid in an earlier period and directs users to Transactions by Account for those changes. Run the report separately for the GST and engineering-PST taxes and reconcile both to their linked accounts.

For the baseline, trace the supported C$1,000 sale to the relevant Box A population, C$21 to Box B and the provincial charged-on-sales account, and C$50 to the federal workpaper and GST account when applicable. A Sage report showing a 2.1% component does not replace the legal 7%-on-30% bridge.

Sage's remittance workflow uses the government vendor and the charged and paid tax accounts. Record B.C. and federal payments separately, reconcile the actual eTaxBC and federal confirmations, and review prior-period entries through Transactions by Account before treating the period as closed.

• Save Tax Summary by selected tax and the supporting Transactions by Account detail.
• Test paid and unpaid invoices across the reporting-period boundary.
• Bridge invoices and corrections to Box A, Box B, GST/HST, eTaxBC, and bank evidence.
• Investigate any report that merges taxes, omits adjustments, or differs from the linked accounts.

Fail closed when the PDF or reporting trail cannot be reconciled

Approve the candidate only when the exact Sage edition, release, company file, tax list, code, linked accounts, invoice form, PDF, Tax Summary, Transactions by Account, correction path, return workpapers, and payments all preserve both taxes. A correct arithmetic total is only one gate.

Pause automated invoicing if the company-wide tax list causes a merged display, either tax posts to the wrong account, Tax Summary cannot isolate the C$21, prior-period adjustments are missing, the correction fails to reverse both taxes, or the code spreads to unsupported lines. Preserve the failed test and obtain current Sage, bookkeeping, accounting, or provincial support.

Sage 50 is a trademark of Sage Group plc. Thirty North is not affiliated with or endorsed by Sage. Editions, releases, forms, reports, and support instructions can change; the linked Sage Knowledgebase and observed company file remain the implementation evidence.