Quick Answer
Canadian e-commerce sellers need to track gross sales by platform monthly, GST/HST collected, COGS, all business expenses with receipts, and inventory balances at year-end. Filing deadlines: GST/HST (quarterly/annually), personal T1 (April 30), business income (June 15 with April 30 payment).
Monthly Tasks
- Download platform sales reports (Shopify, Amazon, Etsy)
- Reconcile each platform payout to gross sales
- Record all expenses with categorized receipts
- Separate GST/HST collected into a liability account
- File GST/HST return if on monthly filing schedule
Quarterly Tasks
- File GST/HST return (if quarterly filer)
- Review inventory on hand and update COGS tracking
- Pay personal income tax instalments (if required)
- Review profit and loss against prior quarters
Year-End Tasks
- Count physical inventory and record closing balance
- Reconcile all platform annual reports to books
- Gather all supplier invoices and expense receipts
- Calculate COGS: Opening inventory + Purchases − Closing inventory
- File GST/HST annual return (if annual filer)
- Prepare T2125 for T1 filing (sole proprietors)
- File T1 by April 30 (payment) or June 15 (return with balance due April 30)
Records to Keep (6 Years)
- All platform annual reports (PDF)
- Bank statements
- All purchase invoices and receipts
- GST/HST working papers and filed returns
- Advertising reports
- Home office floor plan (if claiming home office deduction)
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