Checklists

• The Bondability Checklist

  PDF, added September 2026

  The items a surety checks before issuing a first bond or increasing a program, and how to score your own file against them. Brokers are welcome to send it to clients.

  Download (PDF)

• The Contractor Profit Leak Checklist

  PDF by email, added September 2026

  The seven places margin disappears between the estimate and the bank account, and the one report that catches each of them.

  Send me the checklist

Templates

• T5018 subcontractor tracker

  Excel, added September 2026

  One row per sub: legal name, business number, what you paid them this year, and whether they belong on the return. Fill it in through the year and February takes ten minutes.

  Download (Excel)

• Next up

  Holdback and HST tracker in October. A simple WIP schedule in November. Year-end document checklist for contractors in December. Leave your email below and each one arrives the day it is added.

Short notes

• HST on holdbacks: when it is actually due

  4 minute read

  Why remitting HST on a holdback with the progress invoice ties up cash for months, and how to book it so it goes out when the holdback does.

  Read the note

• Who belongs on your T5018, and who is really an employee

  5 minute read

  The $500 threshold, incorporated subs, and the questions CRA and WSIB ask when a subcontractor only ever works for you.

  Read the note

• What a surety analyst reads first in your statements

  4 minute read

  Working capital, tangible net worth and the WIP schedule, in the order they look, and the two adjustments they make that most owners never see.

  Read the note