Updated Checked by the Tax-Services.ca editorial team How we check
Any accounting software can handle GST/HST if it lets you set the right rate for each sale, tracks the tax you pay on purchases and reports both on your return. This page doesn’t rank brands, because we haven’t verified what any named product does. It lists what to test instead. Canada has more than one sales tax system, and a tool built for one can trip over another.
Which rates must accounting software for GST/HST handle?
Where your customer is matters more than where you are. Ontario, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, Prince Edward Island and Nova Scotia use a single HST. The other provinces and territories charge 5% GST, and some add a provincial tax on top that you track separately. Nova Scotia is the one people forget, since its rate dropped on 1 April 2025 and an old tax code can still be sitting in a file someone set up years ago.
| Province | Tax on a sale |
|---|---|
| Ontario | 13% HST |
| New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, PEI | 15% HST |
| Nova Scotia | 14% HST (cut from 15% on 1 April 2025) |
| Alberta, Yukon, Northwest Territories, Nunavut | 5% GST |
| British Columbia | 5% GST plus 7% PST |
| Saskatchewan | 5% GST plus 6% PST |
| Manitoba | 5% GST plus 7% RST |
| Quebec | 5% GST plus 9.975% QST |
PST, RST and QST are not part of your GST/HST return. Quebec’s QST is reported to Revenu Québec, and a good package keeps it in its own column. The CRA’s guide to which GST/HST rate to charge confirms the Nova Scotia change. You can check any single sale with the GST/HST calculator.
What does a correct file look like?
Use a $2,000 sale before tax and see what comes out. Ontario should show $260 HST and $2,260 in total. Alberta should show $100 GST and $2,100. A Quebec sale should show $100 GST plus $199.50 QST, so $2,299.50. If the software rounds differently by a cent or two on single lines, that’s usually fine. It shouldn’t differ by dollars.
Now check the other direction. A customer pays you $1,130 in Ontario, tax included. Can the program pull out the $130 HST? The HST reverse calculator does the same split and lets you confirm the numbers.
Do you track what you pay as well as what you charge?
People miss this half. When you’re registered, the GST/HST you pay on business purchases is generally claimable as an input tax credit, and your return nets it against the tax you collected. Software that only tracks sales tax on sales leaves money behind, and at tax time that can be a few hundred bucks you never get back. Make sure each purchase line keeps its tax separate from the expense. Keep the supplier’s paperwork too: once a purchase hits $100, the supplier’s GST/HST registration number has to be on it to support the credit.
One route can cut the work for a small business. The CRA describes a quick method of accounting, open if your worldwide taxable revenue, including the tax, is no more than $400,000 over the periods it sets out. You remit a set percentage of sales, and you can’t claim input tax credits on most operating expenses. The percentages differ by province and by what you sell, so take them from the CRA’s guide to the quick method. The method isn’t open to everyone, either: people who sell bookkeeping or tax return preparation services are shut out. Ask whether the program supports it before you choose that route.
When do you have to register?
The CRA sets the small supplier line at $30,000 of taxable revenue in a single calendar quarter or across the last four quarters in a row. Go over it and you must register. You start charging tax from the date registration takes effect, including on the sale that took you over. Stay under and you needn’t, though you can register voluntarily, which lets you claim credits on purchases. A decent package should flag this threshold.
Check that yours does, and don’t assume.
When is the return due, and does the software file it?
The software adds up the numbers. You (or whoever keeps your books) still send the return to the CRA, and the filing date depends on your reporting period. Monthly and quarterly filers have one month after the period ends. Annual filers have three months after the fiscal year end. A sole proprietor with a December 31 year end pays by April 30 and files by June 15. If the program shows due dates and sends reminders, that’s worth more than a pretty dashboard.
Mistakes that break a return
One mistake does most of the harm: a single default rate. A seller in Ontario who ships to Alberta shouldn’t charge 13%. Another is letting provincial tax drift into the GST/HST line. And a third is not keeping the books in a form the CRA can read. Records generally have to be kept six years from the end of the last tax year they cover.
A caution on our own tools. The BC GST/PST calculator applies 12% to everything, so it overstates tax on items that carry GST only. Your software should be stricter than that. For the payroll side, the payroll remittance calculator is a separate check.
Where the rates and rules come from
Rates and thresholds are from the Canada Revenue Agency‘s GST/HST pages, read in September 2026, plus Revenu Québec for the QST rate of 9.975%. The Nova Scotia change, the quick method limit and the filing dates are also CRA items. We didn’t verify any product’s features or prices. No level of government runs or endorses this site.
Frequently asked questions
Which accounting software works with GST/HST?
We couldn't verify named products. Test any package on sales in Ontario, Alberta, British Columbia and Quebec and compare with the official rates.
Does software file my GST/HST return?
That varies by product, so ask. You can always file through the CRA's own services.
What is the small supplier limit?
The CRA says $30,000 of taxable revenue in a single quarter or over four quarters in a row. Above it you must register.
Can the software track input tax credits?
It should keep the tax on each purchase separate from the expense so you can claim it on your return.
Is QST part of my GST/HST return?
No. QST is reported to Revenu Québec, so the software should track it separately.
- GST, HST, PST and QST explained for every province
Which GST, HST, PST or QST applies where you shop or sell in Canada, the 2026 rates for every province, who must register and how to add or remove tax