If you walk dogs or pet-sit in Canada, most of your clients want to pay the same way: a quick Interac e-Transfer after the visit. The trick is making it effortless to bill them, keep a clean record, and know when the Canada Revenue Agency expects you to start charging tax. Here's the short version.
What to put on a dog-walking invoice
You don't need accounting software to send a proper invoice — you need the right details on it. A clean dog-walking invoice has:
- Your name or business name and a way to reach you.
- The client's name (and the pet's name — it reads warmer and avoids mix-ups).
- An invoice number and the date.
- What you did — "5 × 30-minute walks, week of June 2" beats a single lump sum.
- The total, and if you're registered, GST/HST as a separate line (or a note that the total includes it) plus your GST/HST registration number (more on that below).
- How to pay — your Interac e-Transfer email and a note to put the invoice number in the message.
If you want a head start, our free invoice generator produces a clean PDF with e-Transfer instructions already on it.
Getting paid by e-Transfer
Interac e-Transfer is free to receive on personal accounts (some business accounts charge after a monthly allowance), instant, and every Canadian client already has it set up — which is exactly why it's the default for pet-care work. Two things make it painless:
- Turn on Autodeposit so you're not answering security questions for every walk.
- Ask clients to put the invoice number in the message field so you can match the payment to the right invoice later.
Heads up on limits: several banks cap a single e-Transfer at $3,000, and daily limits vary. That's rarely an issue for weekly walks, but for a big monthly boarding bill you may need to split it or use another method. Limits vary by bank — see the bank-by-bank breakdown.
The $30,000 GST/HST line
You generally don't have to charge GST/HST until your business taxable revenue goes over $30,000 in a single calendar quarter or over four consecutive calendar quarters (the CRA "small supplier" threshold). Below it, registration is optional; above it, you're expected to register and start charging tax. For a busy dog walker doing daily visits, that line arrives faster than people expect — a few recurring clients can get you there in a year.
The catch is that it sneaks up on you. Our free e-Transfer income tracker keeps a running tally of what you've received, so you see the threshold coming instead of finding out at tax time. For the rules in plain English, read the GST/HST threshold guide.
A simple book → walk → bill → get-paid loop
Most solo walkers run their whole business out of texts and a notes app. A lighter loop:
- A client requests a walk (a shareable booking link beats back-and-forth texts).
- You schedule it and do the visit.
- Marking it done queues the walk for billing, priced from your service list — then invoice it in one tap, or bill the whole month at once.
- The client pays by e-Transfer or card, and you see the payment the moment it lands.
That's the loop Biller is built around for Canadian pet-care businesses — book it, do it, bill it, and get paid.
Common questions
Do I have to charge GST/HST as a dog walker?
Not until your taxable revenue passes $30,000 in a single calendar quarter or over four consecutive calendar quarters. After that, you're generally expected to register and charge it. Some walkers register earlier to claim input tax credits — that's a judgment call worth discussing with an accountant.
Is a receipt different from an invoice?
An invoice asks for payment; a receipt confirms it was paid. Clients sometimes want a receipt for their records — you can generate one with our receipt generator.
What if a client pays in cash?
Still record it. Cash counts toward the same $30,000 threshold, and the CRA expects every dollar of business income to be tracked.