When you think of financial planning, you probably imagine ways to increase your wealth, such as making a budget, reviewing what’s coming in and going out, and creating a plan for how to make the most of your money. You may think of investing in stocks or bonds, or of starting a retirement fund. Perhaps you think of saving for a major expense, like a home or education for your children. And that all counts as financial planning. But lately, the concept of lifestyle planning is giving financial planning a run for its money. What is lifestyle planning? Lifestyle planning is the idea of…

IMPORTANT: This post is specific to Canada. If you are not a Canada business/taxpayer then it is probably not applicable to you.

If you are a business or non-profit organisation in Canada then the answer is YES. You are required to issues a T4A slip to ANYONE who you pay any of the following types of revenue to:

• pension or superannuation
• lump-sum payments
• self-employed commissions
• annuities
• patronage allocations
• registered education savings plan (RESP) accumulated income payments
• RESP educational assistance payments
• fees or other amounts for services
• income replacement payments made under the Veterans Well-being Act
• other income such as research grants, payments from a registered disability savings plan (RDSP); wage-loss replacement plan payments if you were not required to withhold Canada Pension Plan (CPP) contributions and employment insurance (EI) premiums, death benefits, or certain benefits paid to partnerships or shareholders

Most companies need a website to conduct their business, but it’s also a critical piece of the puzzle in attracting amazing team members. Here are a few things you can do to make sure your website is always making a great impression, so you can attract great people to join your team. 1. Think of your website as your storefront These days, your website is the online face of your business. It can be even more important than your physical office. Potential employees are going to check it out first to decide if you’re a good fit for them. They will decide…

Complaints are an unfortunate part of running a business, but they do happen. No matter how hard you work to please your clients, eventually someone will have something negative to say. However, with the right approach, you can turn complaints into a useful tool to strengthen your business. Here are 6 tips to effectively responding to complaints: 1. Remember that this is not an argument The reason that a client complains is disappointment. It’s a symptom of a need that wasn’t met. They are not looking to fight with you. In fact, taking the time to complain signals that they wish to continue…

Preparing your End of Financial Year (EOFY) information often feels stressful—there are receipts to sort out and reports to review, and you need to make sure you have all the necessary information about your income and expenses. It can be overwhelming, and it can make the EOFY feel daunting.

Buying a property is a big investment. It’s often one of the most important investments people make in their lives. When it comes to getting a mortgage, many buyers focus solely on the immediate steps they have to take and fail to consider the right protections.

Sales is about addressing your customers' needs and problems. By understanding the issues clients face, you can show them how your solution solves their problem.

Businesses are increasingly moving online to expand their reach and provide the best possible experience to their customers. Being online, however, means more competition, so business owners must come up with ways to amp up their game to gain a bigger market share.

Traditionally, employers have relied on giving employees raises as a way to retain their staff and reward them for being hard-working and loyal. Raises can get expensive, and there is often an upper limit for what you can offer when it comes to increasing salaries and wages.

Keeping your employees happy makes business sense. You want to keep your good employees, and it costs money to find, hire and train new staff. Beyond that, employees that are satisfied and feel valued are more motivated and productive.

If you’ve been considering making the move to a cloud-based accounting system, you’re not alone. Cloud technology has impacted many business functions, including making managing financial aspects of your business easier and more efficient.

Cloud-based accounting moves your accounting from being hosted on your computer’s hard drive to an online platform. Cloud-based platforms like QuickBooks and Xero offer important features that save you time and money, freeing you up to focus on other important business activities. 

From calculating taxes on online sales to inventory management to figuring out shipping logistics, running an eCommerce Fulfilled By Amazon (FBA) business comes with a whole host of challenges and considerations. Your bookkeeping and accounting solution needs to be able to keep up. As experts, we at Fuel Accountants want to help our clients by ensuring their books are clean so that you can run your business efficiently.

Early retirement may sound like a big dream, but it is achievable if you’re willing to do some planning and stick to your strategy.

Virtually everyone can use a savings account to help build up their wealth, but with so many options available, how do you pick the best savings account for you?

The number of options available might make it more difficult to select which savings account to choose, but it also means that with a little bit of knowledge, research and strategy, you can almost certainly find a savings account that fits your needs.

Sometimes you want to try something new when it comes to networking with other business owners.

If you want your business to continue growing and thriving, you’ll need to find ways to bring in new clients. Here are 5 ways you can find new clients for your business. Set aside time for marketing Regardless of whether marketing is your preferred activity, you need to set aside time for it. It’s easy to put marketing at the bottom of your priority list, but doing so makes it more difficult for you to bring in new clients. If you set aside a certain amount of time every week, or even every day–ideally at around the same time of day…

You don’t have to be an expert in every aspect of your business. If there are areas you aren’t certain of, or want to learn more about, you can hire outside parties to guide your decision-making. Consultants can help you with managing your business, evolving your career, building your relationships, and even marketing your goods and services.

Last night the Canadian government released its 2022 budget.  For all of the $327.7 BILLION DEFICIT, what does this mean for us small business owners?

Businesses are increasingly moving online to expand their reach and provide the best possible experience to their customers. Being online, however, means more competition, so business owners must come up with ways to amp up their game to gain a bigger market share.

If putting together your estate plan isn’t at the top of your priority list, you’re not alone. It’s something that people typically don’t want to do–for a variety of reasons. It’s not fun to think about what happens after we’re gone, and we often believe we have a lot of time to get our affairs in order.

No matter how large or small your estate is, you need a plan to ensure your wishes are carried out and your loved ones are taken care of in the way you see fit. A will is an important part of your estate plan, but your estate plan is bigger than your will.

Steady, reliable cash flow is crucial for the survival of your construction business – so taking steps to ensure your customers pay promptly is a key priority.

Debtor days refers to the length of time it takes clients, on average, to pay you for the work you’ve done. A higher number of debtor days means clients are taking longer to pay you. A lower number of debtor days means clients take less time to pay you, which means there’s more cash available for your business to use.

In the construction industry, debtor days can average as long as almost three months. Shortening that length can have a huge impact on your cash flow.

When your clients consistently pay on time, you’ll avoid the dreaded “feast or famine” cycle. You’ll be able to pay your vendors, suppliers, and employees on time, and, not least of all, yourself. Additionally, if clients start taking too long to pay you, you may leave money on the table in exchange for collecting anything at all.