British Columbia payroll software: small-business guide

Build holiday reviews from earnings history

B.C. uses an average day’s pay for eligible employees’ statutory holiday pay. The calculation and treatment of work on the holiday have their own rules. Use the province’s statutory holiday pay guidance to verify the earnings and days included.

For a team with changing shifts, do not copy the value of the last shift and call it holiday pay. Keep the historical records available to the reviewer. Record whether the employee worked on the holiday, because that is a separate fact from whether they qualify for holiday pay.

A remote worker’s address is only the start

A B.C. business may employ someone who works remotely in another province. Check the CRA’s province-of-employment guidance before selecting withholding treatment; the employee’s home address alone does not settle it.

Document the arrangement and the basis for your setup decision. Review employment standards obligations separately rather than treating a tax-withholding determination as an answer to every employment-law question. If someone moves or their working arrangement changes, make that a payroll review task rather than just an address update.

Example: a café adds staff before a holiday

Imagine a Victoria café with long-serving employees and two recent hires. The preparer brings the employee list, start dates, earnings history and holiday work schedule to the review. A single identical holiday amount for everyone would skip the eligibility and earnings checks.

The manager confirms attendance information; the payroll preparer verifies the applicable treatment; the owner checks the resulting statement. Keep the explanation beside any adjusted line. This fictional example is about preparing evidence, not promising that all new hires qualify or prescribing a particular holiday amount.

Test the workflow with an ordinary run and an exception

When evaluating payroll software in B.C., ask to see a routine run and then a run with a changed schedule or holiday. Check how employee records, timesheets and the payroll statement connect. Review what happens when an input must be corrected after approval.

Before moving from a spreadsheet, reconcile year-to-date earnings and deductions against your existing reports. Preserve the source reports and identify who checked each balance. Our first payroll checklist covers this preparation in more detail.

What PayHr costs in British Columbia

PayHr Manual has a $0 service fee and includes unlimited employees, contractors and manual payroll runs. Your business arranges and verifies manual payments and remittances. Approving a run records payroll; approval alone does not move money.

Optional automated employee, contractor and tax payments cost $6 per person per automated run, with a $25 one-time automated-payment setup fee. Optional automatic ROE filing is $5 per document, and T4 or T4A filing is $15 per document. Prices are in CAD; applicable taxes, wages and remittances are separate. Use the PayHr pricing calculator to budget your actual schedule.

PayHr supports payroll in every Canadian province except Quebec. Province coverage does not establish suitability for every industry, exemption or employment arrangement. Review your specific workflow before approving the first run.

Before your first run

1. Confirm employee information, applicable payroll treatment and supporting employment records.
2. Reconcile opening earnings, deductions and vacation balances with their source reports.
3. Review hours, changed rates and provincial exceptions before approval.
4. Assign separate owners for employee payments, remittances and confirmation checks.

Consult the CRA payroll guidance alongside the provincial sources linked above. Source review: October 1, 2026. These guides address ordinary provincial payroll preparation; federally regulated employment and specialised arrangements need their own review.

Frequently asked questions

Can PayHr be used for B.C. employees?

Yes. British Columbia is a supported province. Review your employee situations and required payment workflow during setup, especially for staff working across provincial boundaries.

Is PayHr Manual free in British Columbia?

Yes. Manual payroll has no PayHr service fee. Optional automation and document filing have the charges described above; your business remains responsible for completing and checking its chosen workflow.

Put your next payday in order

Explore PayHr’s payroll software and free manual payroll plan, or follow the workspace setup guide.

Payroll guides for other provinces