Fund Launches To Finances Entrepreneurs More Flexibly

Posted on March 30, 2014 by chris
Photograph by: Allen McInnis , The Gazette

Photograph by: Allen McInnis , The Gazette

Came across this great piece the other day, about a new fund that is helping entrepreneurs in Quebec. The fund was set up by Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec pension fund and an arm of the Desjardins Group.

On Thursday, the two partners announced that after pumping close to $190 million into 186 companies across Quebec over the last 3 years, they decided to launch a second fund.

Known as Fonds Capital Croissance PME II, the new fund will have capital of $230 million contributed in equal shares by the two financial institutions.  The idea is to offer entrepreneurs with what is being termed as “patient capital” without the worry that their loan could be called tomorrow. The program has helped companies maintain their presence in local and regional economies where they often have a disproportionate impact.

Entrepreneurship has been lagging in recent years as Quebec is not generating business startups at the same rate as other provinces. Coupled with the fact that the small business tax rate in Quebec is eight per cent, when the average in the rest of Canada is around three per cent, the program is being viewed is a step in the right direction for business owners in the province to gain access to much needed capital that can support long term growth.

Posted in Entrepreneurship, Ottawa Bookkeeper, Ottawa Bookkeeping, Small Business Canada, Startups | Leave a comment

Another Killer Series of Tips For Home Based Business Owners…

Posted on January 29, 2014 by chris

Ottawa Home Based Business BookkeeperThe good folks at Freshbooks have done it again. Late last year, they published this great piece on their blog that offered free tips for owners of home based businesses. You can read the piece here. The post is broad for both Canadian and U.S. home based businesses, but we thought we’d shed a bit of light on some tips for Canadian entrepreneurs.

Running a home based business in Canada is just like running any other business when it comes to income taxes. Assuming you have an income to write it off against and you follow the rules, you can deduct a host of business expenses, lowering the amount of income tax you have to pay – however – there are additional income tax deductions that you can claim. Curious about what they are? Check out this link at Small Business Canada’s About page.

 

Posted in Entrepreneurship, Ottawa Bookkeeping, Small Business Canada | Leave a comment

Freshbooks Asks 5 Accountants About Common

Posted on January 25, 2014 by chris

Ottawa bookkeeping serviceCame across this great piece on the Freshbooks blog. It’s about three common mistakes made by small business owners in relation to accounting and bookkeeping practices. Five accounting experts from the FreshBooks Accountant Network share common accounting mistakes they see from small business owners. They also provide insight on how to avoid making the same mistakes. Definitely worth a read.

Accounting mistakes can impede the growth of any small business and put it on shaky ground. Unfortunately, mistakes are all too common, especially for new or young businesses – but they don’t have to be!

Check the piece out here.

Posted in Entrepreneurship, Ottawa Bookkeeping, Small Business Canada, Startups | Leave a comment

ITC Tax Credits 101 For Small Business

Posted on December 1, 2013 by chris

Ottawa Bookkeeping ServiceThe input tax credit. An essential consideration for any corporation. New to small business? Let us explain what this is…

It’s GST/HST you’ve paid (goods/services/business expenses) – which counts against GST/HST you’ve collected from customers. Input tax credits need to be tallied up in a similar way to how you’ve kept track of the tax you’ve collected. You do some quick math, and you’ll have a net amount of tax that you’ll be required to remit to the CRA on a quarterly or annual basis (depending on what schedule they happen to have you on).

Your 15 digit GST/HST number (123456789RT0001) must be shown on all invoices, receipts, or other documents you use to invoice customers. It will now show up on all your invoices. This is important, as the CRA will not honour your client’s Input Tax Credit without your business number on the invoice (that wouldn’t help any of your customers who are also claiming ITCs).

So here’s a few tips if you’re starting a business and want to ensure you’re getting ITCs right:

  • Invest in a good invoicing and estimating platform. Web based softwares have a tendency to save time and money. Freshbooks and Less Accounting are great starts.
  • Ensure your GST/HST number is on every single invoice you generate. If you don’t do this, it will come back to haunt you.
  • Ensure that the GST/HST number is indicated on every invoice you receive from a supplier or a service provider.

Questions? Contact us or Request a consultation.

Posted in GST/HST Remittance, Ottawa Bookkeeping, Small Business Canada | Leave a comment

Canada and Global Entrepreneurship Week

Posted on November 24, 2013 by chris

Canadian Mentorship ChallengeGlobal Entrepreneurship Week has been going on since November 18th, and I was pleasantly surprised to come across this great piece in the Globe and Mail just a couple of days ago. To add some context, seven-and-a-half million people in 140 countries came together this week to inspire, support and promote the people who will define our economic future. Canada came out of the weeklong spotlight on entrepreneurs as one of it’s stars.

Ottawa alone held close to 100 entrepreneurship events this week. The Canadian Mentorship Challenge  is working with 10,000 people in percolating ideas and concepts for businesses. On Monday, Prime Minister Harper recognized the start of Global Entrepreneurship Week by noting that “entrepreneurs are the backbone of the Canadian economy.” – noting specifically that 90% of Canada’s businesses are in fact “small businesses”.

Check out the Global and Mail piece here. There’s also a compelling piece in the Financial Post here.

Posted in Entrepreneurship, Small Business Canada, Startups | Leave a comment

What Business Owners Need To Know If Applying For A Loan…

Posted on May 13, 2012 by chris

As a business owner, you might be considering a loan for either starting or expanding an enterprise. This is a good thing – however, it’s important to know the essentials with getting the process started and done. If the business is currently in existence (i.e. not starting up) – you’ll need the following:

  • Confirmation of personal and business earning for the most recent 2 years. Personally, it will require you to provide the last 2 years worth of N.O.A.’s (notice of assessments), and or the last 2 year’s worth of financial statements.
  • Bank statements to confirm investments or deposits.
  • An agreement of purchase if you’re attempting to acquire something – like a piece of equipment.
  • Your business registration.
  • Your business plan – if you’re business is just starting up.

The main requirements of attaining a small business loan are your personal credit history, business plan, experience, education, and feasibility of the business you are starting or expanding.

If you’re starting up – The most important item on the agenda is preparing a business plan. The business plan needs to show the lender that providing you with  financing is a low-risk proposition. Your business plan must answer the questions a lending institution would ask. These questions usually are:

How much money do you need?

If you are starting a business, this should be included at least in the start-up capital estimate. Accuracy is important, so request enough money to invest wisely.

What are you going to do with the money?

You will have to provide, in detail, the designated use of every dollar requested. A small business loan is often needed for: operations (new employees, marketing, etc.), assets (equipment, real estate, etc.), or to pay off business debts.

DSB Bookkeeping specializes in small business bookkeeping and accounting services and business plan consultation. Request a consultation, review our services, or contact us to find out how we can help you.

Posted in Ottawa Bookkeeping, Small Business Canada | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

The Changes To The Canada Pension Plan for 2012

Posted on March 3, 2012 by chris

Just read this great article at the Winnipeg Free Press by David Christianson. 2012 ushers in a series of changes to the Canada Pensions Plan for employers. These changes will affect individuals between the ages of 60 and 70 who work while receiving CPP retirement pensions. You can view a quick link here from Service Canada that outlines the details:

http://www.servicecanada.gc.ca/eng/isp/pub/factsheets/ISPB-348-11-10_E.pdf

  • Your monthly CPP pension amount will increase by a larger percentage if you take it after age 65.
  • Your monthly CPP pension amount will decrease by a larger percentage if you take it before age 65.
  • Employees under 65 receiving CPP pensions will now be required to make CPP contributions. These contributions will increase CPP retirement benefits.
  • Employees age 65 to 70 receiving CPP pensions can now elect to make CPP contributions. These contributions will increase their CPP retirement benefits.

In a nutshell, there will be some corporate bookkeeping changes that will be required with CPP contributions as monthly remittance. As the employer, it’s your responsibility to be aware of the age of your employees in order to comply with these changes. Employers must withhold and remit all CPP deductions on pensionable earnings for any employees between the ages of 60 to 65 and they must also withhold CPP deductions on pensionable earnings for all employees between the ages 65 to 70 unless they have chosen to stop contributing to the CPP. In line with these changes, you’ll also have to check if the employee has previously filed to stop contributing to the CPP with a previous employer.  If they have, you’ll have to request a copy of the filing for your records.

DSB Bookkeeping specializes in small business bookkeeping and accounting services. Request a consultation, review our services, or contact us to find out how we can help your small business grow.

Posted in Ottawa Bookkeeping, Small Business Canada | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Small Business 101: Getting Your Business Number

Posted on February 16, 2012 by chris

Congratulations. You’ve decided to start a business! In what has no doubt been an unsettling last few years of employment high and lows, more Canadians than ever are deciding to venture out on their own and forge their own paths through small business. There’s one thing that’s an essential when it comes to getting your venture off the ground. Your business number.

What’s a business number? Good question. According to the CRA:

The Business Number (BN) is a numbering system that simplifies and streamlines the way businesses deal with the federal government. It is based on the idea of one business, one number. Each business requires one BN for its legal entity. A legal entity is defined as a sole proprietor, partnership, corporation, trust or other organization.

It’s a 15 character identifier of your business. It has two parts; a nine digit number that identifies your legal entity, and a 6 character portion composed of letters and numbers that identifies the particular tax account. The nine digit number part of the Business Number never changes; the second part of the Business Number will change depending on which tax account the number refers to.

This number is the single key in dealing with the federal government on payroll, tax remittance, import/export activities, and a variety of other items.  Your business number is what’s required to be referenced with the CRA when it comes to discussing the details about anything related to remittance, tax, or business activity subject to tax.

You need to register your business and get a business number. A good resource for this is the Canada Revenue Agency’s website. You can find the link here:

http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/tx/bsnss/tpcs/bn-ne/menu-eng.html

You can also register your business online here:

http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/tx/bsnss/tpcs/bn-ne/bro-ide/menu-eng.html

DSB Bookkeeping specializes in small business bookkeeping and accounting services. Request a consultation, review our services, or contact us to find out how we can help your small business grow.

Posted in GST/HST Remittance, Ottawa Bookkeeping, Small Business Canada | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Some Important Government Remittance Dates To Remember

Posted on February 13, 2012 by chris

HST, if done monthly, needs to be be remitted by the end of any given month. If you are a quarterly remitter, then the dates are:

  • January 30th, April 30th, July 31st, and October 31st. 
  • Payroll Deductions are due by the 15th of every month. 

T4’s are due by February 29th, 2012. If you have more than 50 employees, they need to be filed electronically. You can do that with that here:

http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/esrvc-srvce/rf/menu-eng.html

The CRA has a good resource for everything T4 related here:

http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/tx/bsnss/tpcs/pyrll/rtrns/t4/rtrn/menu-eng.html

If you have more than one payroll account, you will have to file a separate information return for each one.

DSB Bookkeeping specializes in small business bookkeeping and accounting services. Request a consultation, review our services, or contact us to find out how we can help your small business grow.

Posted in GST/HST Remittance, Ottawa Bookkeeping, Small Business Canada | Tagged | Leave a comment

The Globe & Mail’s Favourite Canadian Small Businesses of 2011

Posted on February 10, 2012 by chris

Canadian entrepreneurship is some of the most original and creative in the world. The Globe and Mail published this great piece at the tail end of December 2011 about their faves for the year. Note – the very cool Ottawa based company, CanvasPop, was ranked as part of the list. Check out the article here:

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/small-business/sb-growth/success-stories/our-favourite-small-businesses-of-2011/article2278218/

Posted in Ottawa Bookkeeping, Small Business Canada | Leave a comment