Burnaby Supplier Bills: Review the First Paid-or-Due Date for Accounting PST

Use the current accounting-services rules

BC's August 24, 2026 guidance includes bookkeeping in taxable accounting services at 7% PST from October 1, subject to exemptions and jurisdiction rules. Consideration first paid or due from October 1 is taxable regardless of service timing. An amount already due before that date does not gain a new trigger through late payment.

For consideration paid or due before October 1, services entirely completed before December 1 escape the new PST. If services extend into December, the portion attributable to services from October 1 can be taxable. Review the actual engagement and relevant dates rather than selecting a rule from the supplier's industry label.

Illustrative example: two outstanding accounting bills

A Burnaby technology business has a $4,800 accounting invoice for August work, contractually due September 30 and paid October 10. Under the stated facts, the October payment does not make it taxable: the amount was already due before the change and the services were completed before December.

A separate $6,400 accounting bill is first issued and becomes due in October, with no earlier payment or due event. Assuming the service is taxable and no exemption applies, its PST is $448 even if the work was performed in September. GST requires its own calculation; the example is not a combined sales-tax rate.

Make the payable review reproducible

Add columns for the original invoice, contractual due date, payment date, service period and any credit or revision. Link the agreement that supports the dates. Preserve the original terms when a supplier reissues a document; a new PDF date alone may not explain the legal timing of consideration.

Assign an owner to resolve missing information with the supplier. If a bill covers several service types or jurisdictions, keep the allocation support and ask for the appropriate review. Accounting services should not inherit the taxable base used for a different professional-service category.

Check recurring templates after the decision

Review the first affected bill against the approved treatment before letting recurring posting rules take over. Keep a separate PST balance where appropriate and ensure supplier credits reverse the correct original amounts. A late-paid September payable and a new October invoice should remain distinguishable in the file.

This article was checked September 6, 2026. Consult the current provincial guidance when finalizing actual invoices, exemptions or return adjustments. The practical deliverable is a supported decision for each relevant amount, not a blanket percentage applied to every accounting payment appearing in October.

Put this into practice

• GST and PST bookkeeping →
• Supplier payable records →
• Professional-service firms →