Skip to main content Skip to search

Blog

Things you should know before Starting a New Business

Finally, you have made the decision to start your own business. Unfortunately, many business ventures meet a sad end if right efforts are not made. But you should not get discouraged after looking at other business failure. All you have to do is take care of certain aspects, which will prevent you from wasting money during initial stages.

Every business start-up comes with its own set of problems and opportunities. Before you start you should be clear with some basic steps like lay down your business plan, coming out with a real concept, raising capital, and framing the legal structure. Let us take a look at some of these factors:

The Plan of Action

Making a business plan may seem like a chore, but it is critical. You don’t have to make it really long or formal, but the one that you can understand. You should pay close attention that all the basic sections are taken care of, particularly if you have to make a sales pitch to lenders or investors. There should be separate section detailing over of the business start-up.

You should also detail about the product or service you will sell, background of the industry, the strategy and business model and the team. This process will enable you to understand the risks and the opportunities better. You will get to know beforehand if the business start-up is tough and you should be aware of such things as soon as possible.

Try to find answers to the following questions in business start-up:

  • What is your target market and who is your customer?

All your efforts should be focused on a defined market segment. It may be easy in some cases. May be your product is specifically designed for lawyers but if anyone can use your product than you should narrow down the things. For example, Amazon, when this company started its business it focused just on books. Only when it made a strong presence in this market, did it moved to other areas.

Your first aim should be to find a market segment that is least taken care of and is willing to bet on fresh ideas.

  • What is going on in your market?

In order to be successful, take a deep dive in the market. You should be aware of anything and everything that is happening under the sun in that market. You should be aware of what things can help in your business start-up to grow and what things can hurt it. Be a regular at association websites and trade publications, along with doing Google searches. You should have a list of your competitors and update it regularly.

  • What is the cost of business start-up Milton?

You should be practical and realistic. The expense and time of starting and operating a business is often underestimated by entrepreneurs. Allocate budget for each allocation and have a detailed forecast in hand. As you undergo this process, also find out ways, how you can reduce the costs. It will be sufficient information to start your business.

Read more

What to look for in Accountants Service Provider?

When you started your business, it was easy to keep track of monetary matters as there was just on supplier and handful of customers. Much of the financial bookkeeping was done by counting on your fingers. It was so simple and easy back then.

When business grows, so does the requirement to maintain large accounts encompassing numerous variables. It is here we find the need of accountants who are experienced in managing finances of any business. Finding the right service is one of the most important decisions concerning your business. A responsible bookkeeping service provider can lift tremendous burden from your shoulders.

Accountants Milton: Service you can trust

Outsourcing your business’s financial maintenance is better than keeping full-time personnel. As you are not required to update software every now and then, you don’t have to provide working space and insurance and other benefits to your service provider. Some of the big names in financial service provider are Deloitte & Touch or Ernst & Young. But you should hire Service Company according to your budget.

A solo Accounting Professionals or small independent firm can be as good as big names, but they will be cost effective and will fit your budget limits. You should be aware of the fact that bookkeepers are different from accountants. As and when you hire accountants, make sure he or she is qualified. Ask him to take a “hiring test” that is available free online.

The majority of small businesses do not require full time accountants; they have to crunch number quarterly or once in a month. In case you receive lot of receipts daily or have to issue receipts in the same number, then probably you can have part time or full time bookkeepers to update things every day.

Factors when choosing accounting services:

  • Services required – make a list of service that you are require for your business, such as financial reports, tax preparation, invoicing, balance sheets, general bookkeeping, payroll services, suggestions on how to save costs, and set your books. At times, you may have to divide the task between two firms or some firms can handle all the tasks.
  • Expenditure – fees varies from $50 an hour to nearly $300 or more depending on the type of service required. Accountants has a monthly fee for a specified list of services. For services that do not require CPA-level training the charges can be less for bookkeeping.
  • Enrolled Agents – agents are licensed from the government in order to prepare tax returns. These people have passed rigorous exams to prepare these statements.

It is easy to find genuine accountants service providers these days, all you have to do some search and check the authenticity of these services providers. Bear in mind hiring a service can be of really benefit to you provided that you are able to use them to your advantage. It is your personal attributes that will get the maximum of these service providers.

Read more

Overcome the Nightmare of Filling Tax

Tax filling gives sleepless nights and heartburn to many people. Canadian authorities are aware of this fact and they have streamlined the process making it very easy for everyone to grasp the basics and file returns on their own.

Who are required to file taxes?

The majority of the Canadians are supposed to file tax returns for the income earned by them in the previous year. People who owe tax to the government must file a return or your earning requires you to make contributions to Canadian Pension plan. There are various other criteria in which you may be required to file tax. Non-resident or international individuals who have earned money in Canada in previous financial year are required to file tax return.

Important Dates

The Canadian taxation period runs from January to December, and generally people are required to file for taxes on or before April 30. For instance, for income earned from January 2011 to December 2011, the tax should be filed by April 30, 2012. Business people or individuals whose spouse run a business or self-employed people are required to file tax return by June 15.

People who are not able to pay tax by the due date, will be required to pay penalties and interest to the Canada Revenue Agency. The interest starts from May, compound interest is charged on the amount not paid by you. The interest rate is prescribed by the government. The penalty for late filling for 2011 Tax Returns is 5% of the balance amount. Apart from this you are required to pay an additional one percent for each full month the payment is late.

Gathering Documents and Information

Before you file your tax returns, make sure you have all the relevant information and documents related to tax-return. The documents include T4 slips, social insurance plans, and other tax information slips given to you by the employer. All these documents are necessary to tell the CRA and you, the amount of money earned and how much tax is applicable, it also includes information on other income earned from being self-employed. There are many by which you can reduce your tax liability. It is, therefore, necessary to keep track of the receipts which assist you in reducing tax. Some familiar deductions are provided by Registered Education Savings Plan (RESP) and Registered Retirement Savings Plans (RRSP).

How to prepare for tax returns?

You get detailed information from tax package on how you can fill out the forms and how you can calculate your tax owing. In case you are too scared or don’t have enough knowledge and just don’t want to make a mess of this delicate matter, seek help from professional Accountants Mississauga. They will fill the form for you and do all the related stuff for a nominal charge. You can also get help from easy to use tax software and other programs available online for tax filing. By making use of any of this assistance, the whole process of tax filing will become really easy for you.

Prepare and File Tax Returns in Brampton

 

Read more

Business Start up in Brampton and Mississauga

Every individual in this world is blessed with certain set of processes from which they earn their livelihood. For earning the livelihood some people choose to be a salaried person where they work for others and others chose to build up their businesses for their income prepositions and appoint others to work for them as salaried persons.

There are some others who are engaged Tax Returns where they work on commissions and act as self employed. These people can also be considered as businessman but one way or other they are also working for someone else and getting there cut. There are many stages in individuals where he has to think about which area he has to take up for generating income.

In my opinion it’s always better to build own Business Start-up, that way you are your own boss and you have to find unique ideas to earn more by utilizing other person’s capabilities.

Be it any part of world whether it is India, America, England, Brampton or Mississauga, any business start-up requires some fundamental things. Be it any business whether it’s a business of manufacturing goods, providing services or retailing of finished goods. Every business requires these fundamental. The basic fundamentals required for smooth functioning of any business are

1.  Knowledge of the field:  It’s a very common and important part of building any business. You won’t be able to function smoothly if you don’t have any knowledge of the field in which you are going to set up your business.

2.  Appropriate capital for investment:  for smooth functioning of any business appropriate capital is required. This is the major part due to which most of the people remain salaried or self employed. Most of the chunk does not have appropriate capital for investment.

3.  Vision and values: For any business to establish itself different heights it has to have clear vision and values which are followed by the employees of that business establishment. Any business person should have knowledge about Tax returns, vision and values so that he can be sure about the positive outcome of the business.

Business start-up is no different it also requires the same set of fundamentals which are discussed above. Only a person has to identify the different fields where he can set up his business in. Any business which exists in this world first existed in mind then its blueprint was made and then it was executed.

Likewise any person who has unique set of ideas which can be executed into reality can easily initiate business start-up in Brampton. It might be the business of providing service to the already existing establishments with regard to their employee’s daily needs or by establishing a manufacturing unit of cycles. It can either be a small fast food joint or it can be a chain of food giant. Any business can do wonder if done by knowledge and your heart out.

Read more

Why to file Tax Returns?

Before we get to know why to file the Tax Returns we should know what are the different ways in which the different countries in this world generate funds for development. Out of different ways of generating funds for a country, filling of income tax returns by the people of that country is one way.

As the name itself suggest the filing of the income Tax Returns Oakville shows it’s the amount the people have to deposit as tax in lieu of their income to the government of that particular state.

In this pattern of generating funds by any country or state, the people of that country have to pay the taxes on whatever Income they generate through their Business Start-up, jobs and trades. This tax is paid on a set pattern of the particular state and depends on the amount which a person generates as income. The amount which is collected as income tax is used by the government for the development of that particular state or country.

There are different norms which have to be followed by people while filing the Tax Returns and these norms are different according to the state and government. These tax returns are audit able in accordance to the set patterns as this is major part of collection of funds which is used for development of state.

Tax Return and Audit Defense

As in others states the income Tax Returns Canada also.  The government is very particular about the income and taxes paid by the individuals, companies and the other business entities and the laws regarding the income tax are very stern. Time to time audit checks are done through the different agencies empanelled by the government so that there are no flaws and escape in the submission of the taxes.

As the filing of taxes is very important and compulsory for every one the people take help from the professionals like lawyers, chartered accountants and other tax advisers. Different software’s are used for calculating their income and taxes. There are many accounting software’s which are available for Audit Defense which are used by these professionals for calculating the income and tax on that income and further filling the returns of that tax. This kind of software’s are also named as audit defense software due to its properties as these software’s provide the security of calculating the income and taxes immaculately.

This software’s are used in Business Start-up by the professionals so that the individual filing return should not be penalized for the wrong calculation of the income and the tax on that income. There are many tax advisers and agencies which provide services for filing the Tax Returns.  These people charges differently according to the services provided. As majority of people has to undergo the process of filling the income tax returns so they need to hire these agencies or individuals for them.  This is the reasons the profession of accounting is in demand in most of the countries.

Read more

Do you have the Right Stuff to Start Business?

When asked if they have the “right stuff” to start a new business, most people would answer with a resounding “yes”. We are not here to judge your potential for Business Start-up Mississauga, but we are here to help you scrutinize your strengths and weakness so that you are in a better position to make result oriented decisions that can take your small business to new heights.

As you open and run your own small, you are required to play two distinct roles each requiring specific skills. In one role you will act as a salesman or marketer of the products made by your company. You are required to play this role whether you have employees or not. The other role wants you to perform financial and administrative activities. You have to be proficient in both areas for Business Start-up to succeed.

The skill set to provide services or products will vary according to the business. Gauge the scope of activities to make your Business Start-up a success. There can be some aspects of business that can be annoying to you, be particularly careful now to overlook them. Even though you desire to start the business on your own, but if you lack required skills, there are very slim chances that you will succeed unless you are really lucky.

If you have any doubt on your capabilities, take advice from expert consultants like us. We have enabled several businesses to mushroom from ground zero and we can assist in doing it for you. At the beginning you have to make several important decisions like, should you hire a lawyer or accountant? Should you lease out office or work from home? Answers to these and many other questions may not be easy to find. Our experienced advice will come handy for you.

What Qualities you should have as an Owner?

You don’t have to be master of all trades for a successful Business Start-up. As an owner you need to have good personal relation qualities. You need good, trust worthy people around you in order to succeed. Beyond that you need to:

  • Have Willingness to sacrifice: As an Owner of a small business you should accept the fact that, you will be the last one to be paid. Your employees, your vendors and your bank are ahead of you in the line. You will have to sacrifice on your free time. If you want to have set working hours, cherish for three weeks of vacation every year and want to be certain about what you earn by the end of month, than probably you should not think of Business Start-up.
  • Strong Interpersonal Skills: Every employed person complains about his or her boss. Well, if you think that getting along with your boss is tough, wait till you have to deal with customers, suppliers, accountants, lawyers, government officials and nearly everyone. You should be able to work with all personality types and have the ability to extract the desired results with people you work with.
Read more

What to Expect from Your Bookkeeping Service?

Responsibilities and duties of professional bookkeepers are quite different from an accountant. The former has to look after daily activities whereas the accountant of a company may audit the books at the time of tax, quarterly or monthly. Here is a list of additional duties performed by professional bookkeepers.

Keeping Financial Records

Accountant’s key role is to make sure financial records are kept up to date and current and he or she should have a regular reporting system. The person is required to keep track of every financial transaction and keep a record of that same and should reconcile the accounts every month to make sure they are in balance.

Chasing Unpaid Invoices

Professional bookkeepers not only keep records of outgoing and incoming invoices but they also have to chase down unpaid invoices that are issued by you. They are also required to keep track of purchase orders that are not been paid. This form an important part of job for bookkeepers which enables you manage your flow of cash and help you in business forecasting and make appropriate changes in business strategy.

Keep Track of Changing Regulations

Our skilled accountants keep themselves current for any changes in regulations which give you the required peace of mind. It enables you to make sure that you comply with current tax regulations and to reduce your tax liabilities. Bookkeepers must also be aware of crucial judgment dates so they can maintain the books according the requirement and send them to the accountant within the stipulated time.

Knowledge of Latest Software in Bookkeeping

Bookkeepers Brampton keeps themselves current with the latest trends in bookkeeping system. New developments are made in the computer software industry every now and then so a bookkeeper must keep himself abreast with the latest development. We are well aware of the latest trends and make appropriate changes in our working system in order to provide superior service to our clients.

Managing our finances are some of the basic requirements of being in a business. At times you are required to do things that are not in your area of expertise. Hiring the service of accountants Brampton is one of the basic required to keep your finances up to date and secure the growth of your business. Here are some services that you should expect from a professional service provider.

Among all the bookkeeping functions, accounts payable and receivable is the most basic. Every business has to make purchase and they also expect payments from things they sell. Your bookkeeper must be able to:

  • Keep track on payment status
  • Set up a system for invoice management
  • Should be able to identify clients that cause trouble in paying
  • He should be able to pay all the monthly bills on time

There are various other fields which are required to be taken care of by your accountant and we are best in doing that. Our pool of satisfied clients speaks volume of our excellent work.

Read more

Different Ways to File Tax Returns

Processing of Canadian tax returns starts from the middle of February. Regardless of how early income tax return is filed, you cannot get any update on the status of tax refund till middle of March. You should wait for additional four weeks before checking the status of refund. If the return is filed after April 15, you will have to wait for six weeks before you get any update.

Canada Revenue Agency has come up with numerous different ways by which tax returns can be filed. The authority is laying more emphasis to file return by going online. The agency discontinued filling by phone in 2012, and automatic mailing of income tax package was stopped this year. The agency still provides paper income tax package tough.

You should choose the method that is most suitable for filing tax returns.

  • Use NETFILE to file Canadian income tax return

NETFILE is used by most Canadians to file income tax return over the internet. You should only use web application or commercial software certified by the CRA to prepare your income tax form. Some software can be used for free with NETFILE.

  • Use traditional mail method to file return

This method is used since the time tax returns are filed; it is most simple method and is used by the majority of Canadians. No matter how complicated your return file is, it is really effective in any situation. The only expense you have to bear is that of stamps to mail it to the concerned department. You can get the mailing address from the CRA website.

  • Hire a service provider to file tax return through EFILE

You can prepare you income tax returns using EFILE, and then take it to a service provider who will file it electronically for you, for a charge. The benefit is your return is filed quickly.

  • Hire an accountant to file return

Small or big business houses have lots of things to take care of, so it is better for them to hire an accountant to take care of income tax returns. On the other hand, if you don’t have the inclination to go through the entire chore or just don’t have enough time, it is better to hire an accountant to get things done.

Regardless of how good we were in our school arithmetic, when it comes to filling income tax returns, may people start to sweat at the thought of it. A single wrong entry means you have to make several rounds to the agency to get the things sorted out. You may also end up paying penalty if there is any discrepancy in the return.

Accountants and related service providers are experienced and knowledgeable professionals. They are taught how to do it and many have been doing it for years. These people have dedicated staffs who are expert in this field. Don’t try this on your own unles

Read more

Things too good to be true, are in fact good

Jack, one of our clients, received a noticed from the IRS, they have asked for $8,700. He was quite worried as he was not able to understand what it was about, and this was easily seen on his face as he came to our office. We consoled him that we will explain as to why he received this notice, but felt sorry that nothing can be done to revert it back. We did not promise but said we will try our best to avoid this penalty.

The notice was due to missing social security income and Cancellation of Debt. After discussing with him, it was later found out that cancellation of debt was true. The forms that were listed on the notice were pointing towards a short sale, there was no income reported on his return. Our task as audit defense was to find out if he qualifies for any provisions that enable taxpayers to eliminate COD from income.

In concern to social security income, the notice from IRS claimed that he did not include any such income of his tax return. He only reported the amount that IRS had been looking for, he manipulated with the social security income of his disabled son on his return.

As audit defense, the information received by us regarding our client showed that he had manipulated with the figures several times in the past over debt cancellation. This way he was able to exclude income generated from cancellation of debt for short sale from his taxable income. When asked about his social security and if he received any lump sum payment, he confirmed he received payment for two previous years.

As audit defense, we asked for returns of previous two years and hoped that he will have them. We than calculated the taxable amount on his social security income. We prepared all the related documents and send them to the IRS. We informed out client that it will take eight to twelve before we get any answer from them.

After forty-five days when we called the IRS, they told they had recomputed the amount and a notice will be sent shortly to the member for a refund of $ 950. When we called our client to convey this message, he was his usual self, may be because it was difficult for him to digest what we said. We asked him to call us back as and when he receives the refund. The recomputed notice arrived in his mailbox two weeks later, and he gives us a call.

His voice crackled with emotions as he was talking on phone, and said he was really grateful. His voice was filled with excitement and was surprised too that he received the refund. He expressed his thanks over and over again.

As H&T audit defense service provider we are here to help anyone who walks to our door. This is what we have been doing since years.

Read more

Benefits of Hiring Accountants Mississauga Service

You may be the most respected chemical engineer in your company, might be an expert in designing dresses, or an acclaimed writer but when it comes to managing your finances, it is best to leave it to experts. The secret for a successful business is to keep doing what you are in good at and outsource your financial matter to accountants Mississauga. Here are some advantages of hiring a service.

Cost Effective

Hiring H&T bookkeepers in Mississauga service is more cost effective than employing a full time bookkeeper. You will not only have to pay your employee regularly but you are also required to purchase computer systems, expensive accounting software. You will also have to purchase updated version of software as and when it comes. Above that, you will also have to allocate office space for that person to work.

Time Effective

H&T Bookkeepers in Mississauga has the expertise and technical know-how to maintain your accounts in a proper way on a daily basis. You can arrange meeting with us around your busy working schedule, as and when you have time. This allows for you to concentrate on your task. We can generate figures and reports at a moment’s notice to fulfill the requirements of last minute meetings.

Accountants keep your accounts up to date, this enables you to keep yourself current with annual tax returns and can find out unpaid invoices as and when you want. With up to date information you are in a better position to make business decisions and can focus more accurately on growth prospects and administrative tasks.

Higher Profits

With detailed knowledge of your financial position, balance sheet or profit and loss statement you are in a better position to fix the errors. It enables you to make future financial allocations in a better way and ultimately result in giving you more profit. With our expertise and knowledge you get better ideas on how to save on taxes.

By hiring bookkeepers Mississauga service you make sure that your finances are in expert hands that will use all their expertise in providing new impetus to your business. With up to date and timely information you can take appropriate measure so that you do not have to pay huge tax at the end of the year.

Peace of Mind

With a regular reporting system in place you get the peace of mind you had always been searching for. When you know your accounts are in safe hands, that all the invoices will be paid in time, and all the process is kept current, it naturally gives you the sense of security and peace of mind. A good bookkeeper should always keep you abreast with any changes in regulation related to financial matter and for any discrepancy in your balance sheet. Moreover, they should be able to sort the issue on their own.

Avail the benefits of H&T Accountants in Mississauga now and feel the difference right from the start. For us, your business is our priority and gives every client the personal attention

Read more