Free Bookkeeping Workbook for BC Contractors
A free Excel and Google Sheets workbook for BC contractors. Paste your bank download, pick a category, and GST, mileage and year-end totals fill in.
The shoebox problem
Most trades owners don't skip bookkeeping because they don't care. They skip it because the day ends at 7pm, the truck still needs loading, and the receipts can wait. Then it's March, there's a year of bank statements to sort, and someone has to do it.
Why organized books cost less at tax time
Organized books cost less at tax time, because you're not paying someone to organize them. When your accountant gets a year of clean totals instead of a box of paper, the work is checking and filing, not rebuilding the year. It also means fewer missed deductions, since costs you paid and forgot about are more likely to make it onto the return.
What the Contractor Books Workbook does
We built a free spreadsheet for basic contractor businesses. The Contractor Books Workbook works in Excel or Google Sheets, with one version for sole proprietors and one for corporations. You paste in your bank and card downloads, pick a plain-English category on each new line (fuel, materials, subcontractors, tools), and the rest fills itself in. Repeat items categorize themselves after the first time.
How a month works
Fill in your business details once. Then, about once a month: download your bank and card activity and paste it in, pick a category on any new lines, and type each statement's ending balance. A check mark means nothing is missing. For most small trades businesses, that's around 10 minutes. At year end, the Year-End tab gives you totals by tax line, ready to hand to your accountant.
Bank only gives you a PDF?
Some banks and credit unions only hand you a PDF statement. Our free Statement Converter lists every transaction from a text PDF so you can copy it into the Workbook or save it as a CSV. It checks itself against the totals on the statement and shows green when they match. It doesn't read scans or phone photos.
GST, mileage and subcontractors in one place
The Workbook tracks GST collected and paid by period, under the regular method or the Quick Method, with due dates. If you're not sure whether you need to register, or whether the Quick Method would help, the GST Check walks through it. In one example based on 2026 BC rules, $120,000 in sales and $25,000 of costs with GST, the Quick Method meant sending CRA about $514 less in a year. Your result depends on your situation.
It also keeps a mileage log, a GST-ready invoice with your logo, and running totals for each subcontractor. If construction is your main business, subcontractors you paid more than $500 generally need a T5018 slip, and those totals make that easy. For your truck, the Vehicle Claim Calculator shows what a full log supports. A guess won't hold up in an audit.
What it doesn't do
The Workbook is a free planning tool, not tax advice. It doesn't cover payroll, inventory or more than one business. Your file stays on your computer, and we never see it unless you choose to send it to us.
How to get it
Go to murtaghco.ca/contractor-books-workbook, enter your email, and pick the sole proprietor or corporation version. Using Google Sheets? Upload the file to Google Drive and open it with Sheets on a computer. The rest of our free tools are on one page: murtaghco.ca/contractor-toolkit. When December comes, the Year-End Readiness Check tells you what's still missing.
How Murtagh & Co. Can Help.
If you'd rather not do it yourself, we do monthly bookkeeping, GST filing and year-end returns for trades and construction businesses across the Okanagan. And if you use the Workbook, we can review it with you before year end so nothing gets missed.
Devon Murtagh, CFA, FRM, is a former trades business owner who ran a roofing and siding company. He knows what the books look like from the owner's side, at the end of a long day.
Prefer to talk it through? Book a free 30-minute call at a time that works for you, or reach out at info@murtaghco.ca.