Accounting for web design agencies in Ontario
Web and design studios run projects, retainers, and subscriptions (hosting, maintenance), often with subcontractors and the odd USD client.
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taxifi · Web Design Agencies
This month
- Bookkeeping Current
- Payroll & source deductions Filed
- HST Filed
- Year-end tax (T2) On track
The problems we take off your plate
Recurring hosting and maintenance
Subscription and retainer revenue is recognized over the period it covers, not all at once.
Subcontractors and freelancers
Contractor payments are tracked and the T4A slips prepared, so year-end is painless.
USD clients
Foreign-currency revenue and its HST treatment are handled so cross-border work doesn't complicate your books.
What’s included
Published prices for incorporated Ontario web design agencies. Everything below is handled.
- Project, retainer, and subscription revenue tracked
- Subcontractor (T4A) reporting
- USD-client and HST handling
- Year-end corporate tax (T2), from $1,000 a year
- Owner pay planning
| Area | A typical setup | With taxifi |
|---|---|---|
| Your books | Weeks or months behind | Current every day |
| Year-end (T2) | A spring scramble, billed extra | Included, no surprise invoice |
| Your accountant | Metered by the hour | Unlimited questions, flat monthly |
Foreign clients, zero-rating, and where your service is supplied
A Canadian web shop with clients in the United States is in a different HST position from one billing only Ontario businesses. Services supplied to non-resident clients can be zero-rated exports when specific conditions are met, meaning no HST charged while your input tax credits are still claimable. When those conditions are not met, HST generally applies — and the conditions are technical, not intuitive.
Two related issues follow the same logic. Place-of-supply rules determine which province's rate applies to Canadian clients, which matters when your client list crosses provinces. And retainers or milestone billings received before the work is done are not revenue yet. Getting all three right is bookkeeping design, not year-end cleanup, and it is the difference between agency books that mean something monthly and books that get reconstructed in April.
Common questions
Can you handle recurring hosting/maintenance revenue?
Yes. Recurring revenue is recognized correctly over the period it covers.
Do you handle USD clients?
Yes. Foreign-currency revenue and the related HST treatment are handled.
Do I charge HST to US clients?
Often no — services to non-resident clients can qualify as zero-rated exports, which means no HST charged while you still claim input tax credits on your costs. But the qualifying conditions are specific and depend on the client, the service, and where it is consumed. Have your accountant confirm the treatment for your actual contracts rather than assuming either way.
How should retainers and milestone payments be booked?
As deferred revenue until the work is delivered. A retainer collected in January for a build finishing in March belongs to the months the work happens. Agencies that book cash as revenue see phantom profitable months followed by lean ones, which makes both pricing decisions and tax planning unreliable.
Books and taxes for your web design agency, done
Bookkeeping from $99 a month, accountant-reviewed from $299, corporate T2 from $1,000 a year. Prices are published; a call confirms the fit.
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