What Are Bank Reconciliations and Why Every Business Should Do Them
Many small business and self employed owners take on the responsibility of doing their own accounting. You may do all of your own accounting from set up to preparing your own small business tax return OR you may have an accountant who simply takes care of your year end and tax reporting. Accounting software has made doing your own accounting much simpler and allows for most business owners to do it, regardless of whether they have some sort of accounting background. There is however a learning curve and certain accounting steps that not everyone is aware of and that are very important to ensure the accuracy of your books. One of these is are bank reconciliations.
Should You Pay Yourself a Salary or Dividend? 7 Considerations For Small Business Owners
While incorporation has many benefits for small business owners, it does introduce additional complexities that are not faced by registered businesses. Unincorporated business owners are essentially taxed on their net business income, which allows for more time to devote to tax planning and how to spend all of your richly deserved profits. Incorporated business owners, on the other hand, cannot just withdraw cash from their businesses as the need or whim arises. There needs to be a formalized structure in place which usually takes the form of either salary or dividends. Either type of remuneration has tax and other implications that need to be considered before making a decision.
10 Tax Facts that every corporation Owner should Know
Preparing your Small Business and Self Employed Tax Return with UFile Tax Software
Why you should register for CRA and RQ My Business Account (and how to do it)
With all data moving to the cloud these days and ubiquitous online access to banking, customer and supplier portals, it makes sense that Revenue Canada (CRA) and Revenue Quebec (RQ) have followed suit. Considerable resources have been spent by the revenue agencies on developing their online portals and encouraging both individual taxpayers and businesses to move the majority of their tax related interactions online (almost every accountant conference has an appearance by a CRA representative talking about the improvements to their online portal and imploring accountants to convince their clients to make the switch). The upfront investment has resulted in significant cost savings for CRA/RQ (postage costs alone have dropped dramatically) while improving accuracy and perhaps most importantly increasing the effectiveness of tax collection efforts. CRA personnel have been able to move away from verifying calculations and manually reviewing tax returns to more value added analysis which has allowed them to identify tax miscreants with higher accuracy.
For both the individual taxpayer and small business owner there are numerous benefits to registering online:
How to Pay Dividends: Completing the T5 Slip and Summary
If you are the owner of a Canadian corporation, you can choose to pay yourself (and other shareholders) dividends instead of a salary. Alternatively, some shareholders also take dividends in addition to a salary depending on their tax planning strategy. If you do decide to pay yourself dividends, it is important to ensure that you prepare the proper documentation for Revenue Canada (CRA) and if you live in Quebec, Revenue Quebec (MRQ) since this must be reported as investment income on your personal tax return in the calendar year in which the dividends are paid. If you are paying dividends to a Canadian shareholder, you must issue a T5 slip while non resident shareholders receive an NR4 slip. The T5 dividend slips are generally due by February 28th of the calendar year following the year in which the dividend was paid Although no income taxes are due at the time of filing the T5 slips with the government, interest and penalties apply for late filing . The process of submitting preparing and submitting the dividend declarations and the documents that need to be filled out and returned to the CRA and MRQ are discussed below:
4 Alternatives for Preparing Your Small Business Payroll
Paying salaries to employees (or yourself) requires more than just determining the gross amount to be paid. The Canada Revenue Agency and Revenue Quebec require that employers calculate a variety of taxes on the salaries paid, remit them to the federal and provincial governments and prepare annual reports demonstrating that the calculations are correct and all salary deductions have been paid. This can be a lot of work for business owners whose time is better spent generating sales and building their businesses. Luckily there are many options for small business owners to calculate their payroll and salary remittances, many of which simplify the process:
What Version of QBO Is Right for your Business
If you are thinking about upgrading from your current accounting system or spreadsheet or starting your new business venture with accounting software, QuickBooks Online is a good way to go. It is perhaps the most well known accounting software and, having used both the desktop and online versions for many years, it can be a great tool for anyone who wants to track their self employed/small business finances.
When you have made your decision, you will have to determine which version of QBO to get. This requires that you understand what features are necessary for your business.
How To Close Your Year End (or Period End)in QBO
Doing your own accounting in accounting software such as QuickBooks Online (QBO) is relatively straightforward especially if you have set up your QBO file optimally. You periodically enter invoices, expenses, bills and allocate transactions from the banking download. And while QBO is designed for non accountants, it is also equally appreciated by many accountants for its simplicity and user friendliness (although, as with any software product, there are grievances).
There does come a point, however, when you might notice that some things don’t look right. The bank balance or credit card balance might not match to the QuickBooks balance or your income and/or expenses might seem much too high or inconsistent with previous years. The solution to identifying and fixing these discrepancies is to perform what accountants refer to as year end (or month end) closing procedures, that if done properly, should correct any discrepancies that crop up. The ultimate goal of closing the books monthly or annually is to ensure that you can rely on the integrity of your data.
Consider These Factors When Deciding Whether to Take Salary or Dividends
One of the most common questions I get asked by corporate business owners is whether to take salary or dividends and how much tax can be saved by taking only dividends. The answer unfortunately, like most issues relating to tax, is that it depends on your circumstances. The concept of integration in the Canadian tax system theoretically strives to make taxes payable the same whether you take salary or dividends or a combination of both. In reality, there is always a difference as everyone’s tax situation is distinct.
Know Your Small Business Tax Deadlines In 2025
As we approach the new year, it is time to start thinking about a subject near and dear to your heart i.e. taxes (insert appropriate emoji).
Below are the deadlines that all small businesses need to know for 2025.
Why a Separate Bank Account is Essential for Your Small Business
If you are self employed or a small business owner taking care of your own accounting and business finances, you have probably discovered that this can be time consuming and occasionally frustrating. It can sometimes be difficult to know if you are doing things correctly. Consequently, you procrastinate, which makes things worse at year end or tax time. To combat the problem it is important to have tools in place to facilitate the process and make it less painful, which could include accounting software and/or a bookkeeper as well as a good organization system for your documents, whether you have a paperless office or a manual filing system. Another very simple measure that you can take is to have a separate bank and credit card account for your business.
10 Year End Financial and Tax Tips for Your Small Business
As the end of the year approaches, some of us find ourselves overwhelmed by top 10 lists, the shopping masses and endless renditions of Christmas Music. Businesses tend to experience a slowdown, which makes it the perfect time for small business owners to take a closer look at their overall business, financial and tax situation. When you are not buying gifts for your customers, family and friends, a review and analysis of your business will allow you to optimize your current financial situation, implement some beneficial changes that can help avoid last minute tax preparation stress and also prepare for the future.
Revenue Canada Interest, Penalties and Payment Arrangements for Income Tax and GST/HST Returns
Whether you are an individual or a business in Canada, taxes are an inescapable part of your existence. All sources of income need to be calculated, tax returns needs to be filed and taxes owing must be paid. This is somewhat facilitated if you are an employee as your employer tends to take care of the majority of remittances. Self-employed individuals, sole proprietorships, partnerships and corporations on the other hand, must account for their income and expenses , determine taxes payable and remit the appropriate amounts. Additionally, businesses are also responsible for other filings including GST/HST and QST and payroll. A lack of knowledge, imperfect accounting systems and the business of running a business sometimes interfere with the timeliness of filings. The Canada Revenue Agency attempts to curb these tardy behaviours by imposing penalties and interest on late filings as follows:
Unincorporat
Is the Quick Method of Reporting GST/HST & QST the Right Choice for your Small Business
If you are self employed or a small business with annual sales between $30,000 and $400,000, it might make sense to select the Quick Method of reporting your GST/HST and QST, which is essentially a simplified method of reporting sales taxes . While regular reporting of sales taxes requires that you calculate all amounts collected and paid on eligible expenses, the quick method (or simplified method as it is also referred to)requires the application of a single reduced rate to your sales while GST/HST and QST paid on expenses is not deductible. The key details of the Quick Method and its suitability for your business are discussed below: