Charlottetown businesses, served remotely
Accountant for Charlottetown businesses
Charlottetown accountant for shops, salons and restaurants: tips through payroll, seasonal staff and records of employment, and Island HST.
Prepared by HBT Accounting, a CPA led firm in CalgaryUpdated 5.0 on Google, 59 reviews
Shops, salons and the businesses visitors keep busy
Charlottetown is Prince Edward Island's largest city, with 38,809 people in 2021, up 7.5% in five years. Statistics Canada's latest count found 2,343 businesses with employees, led by retail (355) and the group Statistics Canada calls other services (258), which takes in salons, repair shops and personal care, ahead of health care (230).
In salons and restaurants a good share of what staff take home arrives as tips, and the tax treatment turns on who controls the money. It decides whether CPP, EI and income tax come off through payroll, and getting it wrong means an expensive correction later. Seasonal staff add records of employment at the end of every season. HBT works from Calgary and handles Charlottetown files remotely.
Charlottetown in numbers
| Population, 2021 Census | 38,809 |
|---|---|
| Change since the 2016 Census | Up 7.5% |
| Size among Canadian municipalities | 131st |
| People per square kilometre | 876.6 |
| Businesses with employees | 2,343 |
| Largest sectors by employer businesses | Retail trade (355); Other services (except public administration) (258); Health care and social assistance (230) |
Source: Statistics Canada: Population and dwelling counts, census subdivisions, 2021 Census and Statistics Canada: Canadian Business Counts, with employees, June 2026.
What a Charlottetown engagement covers
Tips in payroll
Controlled and direct tips sorted out and handled the right way.
Seasonal staffing
Hiring, layoffs and records of employment at the end of each season.
Island HST
HST at 15% on sales, with input tax credits claimed.
Do tips at a Charlottetown salon go through payroll?
It depends on who controls them. Tips the business controls, for example by pooling them and deciding how they are shared, are controlled tips: income tax, CPP and EI are deducted through payroll, and the tips appear on the T4. Tips a client hands straight to a stylist, with no involvement from the business, are direct tips: the stylist reports them as income, and the business takes no deductions.
Starting prices are published on the fees page. Final fees depend on scope, and we quote a fixed fee once the work is clear. See starting fees. The first conversation is free and takes about 10 to 15 minutes.