The order file runs on two clocks
Cash and revenue move on different schedules in this trade, and the gap between them is measured in months. The customer signs and pays a deposit; the order goes to the manufacturer; product arrives at your warehouse weeks later; the crew installs it weeks after that; the balance is collected at completion. Only at install does revenue exist.
So the centre of our End-to-End Accounting work for window and door companies is a customer-deposit liability that reconciles, every month, to the open-order list in your quoting system. If the liability account and the sold-not-installed report disagree, something was booked as a sale too early or a cancelled order was never unwound. Catching that monthly keeps the margin on your statements real instead of flattering.
Deposit or part-payment: the HST clock cares
What your contract calls the up-front money decides when 13% HST becomes collectible. A true deposit is not treated as payment under the GST/HST rules until you apply it against the price or the customer forfeits it. A scheduled instalment of the price is different: tax becomes collectible when it is paid or becomes due, whichever comes first.
Many window contracts say 50% down without saying which one they mean. We read the wording, set the HST treatment once, and apply it consistently, because remitting tax on every deposit you have not earned yet is an interest-free loan to the CRA, and remitting late on true instalments is an assessment waiting to happen.
Rebate and co-op money only exists if you claim it
Manufacturer programs put real money on the table, and both kinds get lost in sloppy books:
- Volume rebates. Tiered credits earned as your annual purchases cross thresholds. They are a reduction of what your product cost, not miscellaneous income, and they should be accrued as earned so your gross margin by month is honest. When the manufacturer issues a credit note that adjusts HST, the input tax credits you claimed on those purchases need adjusting too.
- Co-op advertising credits. The manufacturer shares the cost of ads that carry its brand, but only against a claim backed by invoices and proof the ad ran. We track approved claims as receivables and net them against advertising cost, so marketing spend reads at its true net price and no claim quietly expires unfiled.
Supplier statements get reconciled to the rebate schedule at each program period. A missed tier or an unpaid credit shows up as a variance, not as a shrug.
One order, start to finish
| Moment | What the books show |
|---|---|
| Contract signed, deposit collected | Customer-deposit liability; no revenue; HST per the contract wording |
| Order confirmed with the manufacturer | A commitment on the open-order list, not an expense |
| Product lands in the warehouse | Inventory at cost including freight, matched to the supplier bill |
| Crew installs, job signed off | Full contract price to revenue, deposit applied, product and crew cost to cost of sales |
| Service call eight months later | Cost tagged back to the original job, so its true margin is visible |
That last row matters more than it looks. Remakes from mis-measures, warranty visits and adjustment calls all erode a job that once looked profitable. Tagging them to the original order, and to the measurer or crew involved, turns your service log into a management report.
Crews, slips and a monthly rhythm
Install crews paid per opening are a different payroll animal from hourly employees, and many shops run both. We keep the split clean all year: employee crews accumulate toward T4s, subcontracted installers toward T5018 slips, since installation work makes construction your primary activity. The filing mechanics live with our Corporate Tax Filing work; the bookkeeping discipline that makes those slips painless lives here.
The stack is deliberately boring: QuickBooks Online as the ledger, Dext capturing supplier bills the day they arrive, Plooto paying manufacturers on terms rather than on panic. Every month you get statements where the deposit liability ties to the backlog, margin is stated net of rebates, and the season's shape is visible early enough to act on. That is the whole point of one firm doing the books, payroll and filings together.
