What running payroll in BC actually involves
Published on Published · Updated
Paying someone is four obligations, not one: the accounts, the deductions, the remittance on schedule and the slips at year end. Each has its own deadline.
Download the checklist · text file
Before the first paycheque
You need a CRA payroll account attached to your business number before you can remit anything. Most BC employers also need WorkSafeBC coverage. Both are set up once and neither is instant, so open them before the first pay date rather than after it.
Whether a particular worker belongs on payroll at all is a separate question, and getting it wrong is expensive in a way that a late remittance is not. If you are paying someone who invoices you, read the classification guide before you set up a payroll account for them.
Contractor or employee — how the CRA decides
What comes off a paycheque
Three things are withheld from employment income: Canada Pension Plan contributions, Employment Insurance premiums and income tax. CPP and EI also carry an employer portion, which is your cost on top of the wage rather than something deducted from it. Payroll software calculates all of it from the CRA’s current tables once the employee’s TD1 forms are on file.
Taxable benefits belong in the same calculation. A vehicle allowance, a paid parking spot or an insurance premium the company covers can be employment income even though no money moved through the bank. Benefits are the most common reason a T4 disagrees with the payroll register at year end.
Remitting on schedule
The amounts withheld are not yours to hold. They are remitted to the CRA on a schedule the agency assigns you, based on your average monthly withholding. Unless the CRA tells you otherwise, a new employer starts as a quarterly remitter, due the 15th of the month after each quarter, for as long as withholding stays under CAD 1,000 a month and every remittance is on time; otherwise it becomes a regular remitter, due the 15th of the month after the pay date. The CRA sets and changes your remitter type in writing; do not infer it.
T4s and the year-end reconciliation
At year end each employee gets a T4, and the summary you file has to agree with what you actually remitted across the year. A gap between the two is a discrepancy notice, and it is far easier to find in January than after the CRA raises it. Reconciling payroll monthly is what makes the year-end filing a formality.
An employee who leaves also needs a Record of Employment, and its deadline runs from the last day paid rather than from year end.
BC employment standards sit alongside all of this
The CRA rules govern deductions and remittance. Provincial employment standards govern minimum wage, pay frequency, statutory holiday pay, vacation pay, overtime and termination — and the current figures are published by the province rather than fixed here, because they change. Payroll software will apply rates; it will not tell you whether your pay period or your holiday calculation is compliant.
What to keep, and what we need to run payroll for you
Send the account numbers and the pay structure. Do not put a Social Insurance Number, a date of birth or a banking detail in the enquiry form — we agree a secure way to exchange those when the engagement is set up.
Do I need a payroll account to pay myself from my corporation?
It depends on how you are paid. Salary from a corporation is employment income and goes through payroll with deductions and a T4. Dividends do not. Which is appropriate is a tax question about your corporation, not a bookkeeping preference, and it should be decided with whoever prepares the return.
When are payroll remittances due in BC?
Payroll remittance is federal, so the schedule is the same across Canada and is set by your CRA remitter type rather than by the province. Regular remitters pay by the 15th of the month following the pay date; larger employers remit more often. The CRA notifies you of your type and of any change to it.
What happens if I miss a payroll remittance?
The CRA charges a penalty on the amount remitted late, and it applies from the first day — this is stricter than most filing deadlines. If you have missed one, remit it and get current rather than waiting for the next period, and tell whoever handles your books so the year-end summary still reconciles.
Do I need WorkSafeBC coverage if my only employee is part-time?
Most BC businesses that hire and pay workers need coverage, and hours are not the deciding factor. WorkSafeBC publishes who does and does not need to register, and registering is separate from your CRA payroll account.
Can you run payroll if my books are behind?
Yes — payroll runs forward from the current period, and catching up prior months is separate work. We would quote them separately so a pay date is not waiting on a backlog.
The BC small business tax calendar: what is due, and when
Paying yourself: salary or dividends
Payroll, T4s and the rest of what we handle monthly
How payroll appears in your monthly reports
BC Employer Health Tax: who pays →
Want this handled for you
This is the work we do for clients every month. Tell us what you sell and where your books stand, and a written plan and a fixed monthly price follow within one business day.
Payroll, T4s and ROEs, run for you →
info@orbisaccounting.ca