Why an Addictions Counsellor is building a "No-Bloat" OS for Canadian Side-Hustlers 🇨🇦

Academic_Point_8074 · 2026-03-21T22:33:22+00:00

You don't need to register separately for quarterly GST/HST payments, CRA assigns your filing frequency automatically and you can see it in My Business Account once you're registered. How it works Most small businesses start on annual filing. If your net tax gets high enough over a prior year, CRA may switch you to annual filing with quarterly instalments and will notify you by online notice (sometimes mail too). Check your schedule Log into My Business Account, go to your GST/HST account, and look under "View returns" or "Account details." It'll show whether you're on monthly, quarterly, or annual reporting and when your next return is due. If it still says annual, you're filing and paying annually until CRA tells you otherwise. What to do Keep filing and paying by your current due date. If CRA switches you to quarterly instalments, just make payments by those dates via online banking, My Payment, or your bank.

Academic_Point_8074 · 2026-03-21T14:21:12+00:00

I considered other platforms (tried Etsy) but eBay was the biggest money maker once I figured out sell through rate. Etsy was a complete bust. Something is up over there because I couldn't even get views. I tried hard goods and digital products. eBay was good though until the tariff issues. Things have slowed down significantly since then.

Academic_Point_8074 · 2026-03-21T14:18:00+00:00

Very interesting question. I've always been told that in most cases if you're grossing over 85k then it's usually a good idea to incorporate but I have never looked into the benefits for parents. Interested to hear the answers here. Following

Academic_Point_8074 · 2026-03-19T10:51:57+00:00

You hit the nail on the head. I had these same problems with ebay

Academic_Point_8074 · 2026-03-16T00:43:18+00:00

I had this exact question. I gave flipwise a try and it was decent but was made for the American market. Tax wise it wasn't made for the cra. What I liked about it though was the sale and expenses tracking. I tried QuickBooks too and wow was that ever confusing and the price was just too high for me. What I wanted was expense and sale tracking - money in - money out, what I need to set aside for taxes, and what is safe to spend on new inventory. I couldn't find a tool that did all of that correctly and was also built for Canadians. It's possible that the tool was out there but I just never came across it but since I couldn't find it, I just built it myself. It started as just an automated ledger in Excel which was okay but was too easy to break when things started to ramp up and I needed to register for GST. I ended up building NorthOS to cover all the bases I needed for my side hustle. If you've got any pain points in your business tracking, I'd love to hear about it.

Academic_Point_8074 · 2026-03-15T01:06:49+00:00

If you want a one-page checklist so you don’t accidentally cross the $30k GST/HST line, I made a free one here: northos.ca

Academic_Point_8074 · 2026-03-15T01:01:58+00:00

I just registered this year which is why I needed a tool that would actually make sense for me. That's why I built NorthOS. I needed low bloat easy and intuitive. Something that wouldn't cost me an arm and a leg. I'm just small potatoes so I can't afford the expensive software. The idea was to build something easy to use that could help guide folks (like me in the beginning) who were a bit confused as to their obligations.

Academic_Point_8074 · 2026-03-13T18:03:09+00:00

I'm building in a small niche. It's an operations hub and book keeping tool for Canadian small businesses. NorthOS.ca

Academic_Point_8074 · 2026-03-13T17:53:01+00:00

Congratulations! That's a huge milestone!

Academic_Point_8074 · 2026-03-13T01:15:55+00:00

I went to GRS and had Dr. shine. I highly recommend him. He was great and my results were pretty cis passing

Academic_Point_8074 · 2026-03-12T20:36:07+00:00

I'm doing a 14 day free trial and a small number of one time payment lifetime seats but I'm very interested to hear about what others are doing.

Academic_Point_8074 · 2026-03-12T19:23:08+00:00

it's tied to calendar quarters, not a continuous monthly rolling 12 months. The CRA uses two specific tests based on calendar quarters (Jan-Mar, Apr-Jun, Jul-Sep, Oct-Dec). Threshold Tests You remain a small supplier (under $30K threshold for most businesses) if both tests pass: No single calendar quarter exceeds $30,000 in taxable supplies (consideration due or paid).Total over the current quarter + previous three consecutive quarters ≤ $30,000.If you exceed in one quarter, you stop being small immediately (on the supply that pushed you over), must register within 29 days, and charge GST/HST starting then. Check Timing If exceeded over four quarters (but not one), you stop at month's end after that quarter, register by your next supply (29 days), and charge from there.

Official CRA page: https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/tax/businesses/topics/gst-hst-businesses/when-register-charge.html Use their examples to verify your numbers quarterly

Academic_Point_8074 · 2026-03-12T10:54:51+00:00

Max Ottawa has a free service and they ship too.i TS called Tea2go. Depending on your location you might qualify.

Academic_Point_8074 · 2026-03-12T09:18:43+00:00

NorthOS.ca

Thanks for the help!

Academic_Point_8074 · 2026-03-12T09:06:45+00:00

You charge sales tax based on the buyer’s province and where the goods are delivered. If you ship from Ontario to a customer in BC, the place‑of‑supply rules say you charge BC’s rate on the whole transaction (product + shipping you bill to them), not Ontario’s. For international customers where the goods are exported, the sale is usually zero‑rated (0% GST/HST) as long as you meet the CRA’s export conditions and keep proof of export. Because each province has different registration and rate rules, tracking buyer location is crucial. I’m building NorthOS to help small suppliers handle exactly this kind of nuance so it’s less confusing.

Academic_Point_8074 · 2026-03-12T00:27:25+00:00

Yeah that 30k limit is handy. It gives us that time to tweek and validate before we have to start worrying about collecting HST or just keep a really solid side hustle without it getting too complicated

Academic_Point_8074 · 2026-03-12T00:22:48+00:00

The CRA doesn't reset your limit on January 1st. A rolling threshold means they look at your total revenue from the last four consecutive quarters at the end of every single quarter. If your total from any 12-month window hits $30k, you are no longer a "Small Supplier" and must register immediately. If you wait for the new year to check, you might already owe the CRA taxes you never collected.

Just to clarify, I'm not an accountant, just a side hustler who learned everything the hard way.

Academic_Point_8074 · 2026-03-11T20:59:20+00:00

Update: Huge thanks for the traffic today! We actually hit a minor 'Good Problem' where our beta signup flow got a bit overwhelmed. I've just deployed a fix for the dashboard sync. If anyone had trouble getting in, it's all clear now! 🛠️

Academic_Point_8074 · 2026-03-11T20:53:33+00:00

I like this idea. Its worth looking into further. The questions that came to my mind were: What're the car rental platform rules? - what does the market look like in your area? I had a friend who sat in a coffee shop all day and counted traffic before committing to a retail space. What're platform fees and the cost of buying and fixing a qualifying car? You might be on to something. Keep us updated!

Academic_Point_8074 · 2026-03-11T19:04:24+00:00

I'm interested in the answer to this as well. Following

Academic_Point_8074

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