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

Many Canadian business owners operate their business through a corporation rather than as a Sole Proprietor. The most common question we get is whether the owner should draw their income as a salary or as dividends. The answer, like most tax questions, is: It depends!

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

Many Canadians support non-profit organisations through Charitable Contributions. But as a business owner, which is the most tax-efficient way to donate? Through your corporation or personally? The answer, like most tax questions, is: It depends!

Let’s look at a scenario of a company with $80,000 in net income and a target $5,000 donation. For the sake of this example we are assuming that this is a Corporation (not a Sole Proprietor – see below), all income is active business income eligible for the Small Business Deduction, the owner is receiving remuneration exclusively by dividend, company is distributing all available bet income to the owner and has no other income or deductions. I am using 2019 Ontario tax rates.

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

When it comes to paying bills, we often tend to be blasé and put our financial responsibilities into the too hard basket. Ignoring debt is the easy option at the time but eventually things catch up with you. When it comes to paying tax, it is even more important to stay on top of your obligations to avoid potential tax debt. So what happens if I do get behind? You should try to avoid getting to this point, but it is likely the IRD will contact you if you miss your payments.

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

Wonderful – welcome to the excitement of owning your own business. If you’re still in the early stages of starting your business here are some things you might want to do early:

Incorporate a Company

There are several advantages of trading as a Corporation rather than a Sole Proprietor. These include:

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

For the purpose of these changes a contractor is someone who supplies their labour to a third person as an “independent contractor”. Those in the trades are commonly referred to as contractors and may not necessarily be affected by these changes (although labor-only subcontractors are). The changes are:

One thing that constantly amazes us is how quickly each year passes. The days, weeks, and months seem to roll into one, and before you know it, 8 months have passed. You’re left wondering ‘where did the time go?’

Now that’s okay as long as you plan accordingly. However, most people spend more time planning their holidays than planning their time. If you plan – you get more done, much more done. If you fail to plan and set goals, it’s surprising how little you’ll accomplish.

You need to retain sufficient documentation to substantiate your claim to an expense deduction and GST Input Tax Credit. The requirements are slightly stricter for something that includes GST (Note: GST refers equally to GST, HST and QST – we’ve simplified to GST here).

Debit/Credit Card receipts and Paypal transaction receipts are generally not sufficient – they are merely proof that a transaction occurred and contain much of the same information as found on the bank statement, but not much else – you should keep the original invoice/order detail.

A s long as you provide excellent value – people will flock to your business and pay handsomely for the privilege.

Business owners often make the mistake of thinking that price is the main issue in the mind of their prospects or customers. But what they’re missing is this: if everyone is viewed by the prospect as ‘the same’ – i.e. companies don’t take the time or effort to differentiate themselves from others and add considerable value – the only way the prospect can choose is based on price.

Bookkeepers can be highly beneficial for businesses of any size. They offer expertise and insight into areas that you may not have experience in. They can also take some tasks off your to-do list, freeing up your time and energy to focus on other matters.

Receipts are vital to successfully running a business. You need receipts to track your purchases and expenses. Your clients need receipts for their tax purposes and to manage their finances. Paper receipts have been around a long time, so many people are used to them and may even be resistant to moving away from them.

Thanks to technology, paper receipts are becoming more a thing of the past. There are environmental reasons for the move. Paper receipts require millions of trees and billions of gallons of water to produce, and they emit carbon dioxide (CO2), so going paperless can be a good thing for the environment.

If you want to improve, you have to measure your results to see what isn’t working and, more importantly, what is. The good thing is, if you have a Twitter account set up, you can view your analytics for FREE.

‘Why do I need to see my analytics?’ you might be wondering. As with every other marketing strategy, you should be evaluating the results so you can prioritize your time on strategies that give you the results you want. And everything is displayed simply on your screen so you don’t have to be a marketing expert to understand what pieces of data to dig out.

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

Overtime Meal Allowances
Question : In the lead-up to Christmas the elves are required to put in long working days and to work well into the evening beyond their normal work hours.  As a result, Santa is paying the elves a meal allowance in addition to their normal wages and overtime pay.
Will the meal allowances be taxable income to the elves?
Answer :  The starting position is that any monetary benefit employees receive in connection with the performance of their employment will form part of their income. However, an amount that an employer pays to an employee for a meal while that employee is working overtime may be exempt income of the employee.

Delegate: To entrust a task or responsibility to another person, typically one who is less senior than oneself. Sometimes you’ll feel overloaded, and there’s only so much you can do. One hundred things need doing, and unless you’re superhuman, it’s physically impossible to get everything done.

So what do you do? Well, you do something. Anything that makes you stressed can’t be ignored! You weren’t born to place a heavy burden on yourself all the time. Take action by delegating. The very word ‘delegate can send a shiver down your spine. But delegating isn’t a bad thing. It can benefit you and your team.

Xero does not have any tagging or flagging system that would allow you to identify a transaction that has been coded but still needs some follow-up action or investigation.  However, you can simulate this using Tracking Categories. Xero provide two Tracking Categories that can be operated independently of each other.  Most Xero ledgers only use one or none of these two options.  If your ledger is already using both then you can’t use this approach, but for the other 99.9% – here’s how to create a flagging system.  It will only allow you to assign one flag per line, but that…

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

The suspense about whether and when a capital gains tax would be introduced to New Zealand seems to have been drawn out for well over a decade. OK, the suspense is over now. Are you relieved? The focus in this budget is on damping down property speculation rather taking a slice off the family home. There will be a two-year window for sales of residential property. If a residential property is bought and sold within two years, it will be subject to tax. This does not apply for:

There are so many social media channels available that it’s hard to keep up, but it’s important to be familiar with each platform at your disposal. And as you want to create brand awareness, you can’t afford to ignore what makes each one unique.

If you’ve found an interesting article you want to share with your ‘fanbase’, what platform do you upload it to? Facebook? Twitter? You probably think it doesn’t matter where you upload it: as long as it’s online, people might see it.

The Health and Safety Reform Bill, which started its slow progress last year, took another step forward in late July with its second reading in Parliament.
Meanwhile, tragically preventable accidents, particularly in high risk sectors such as quarrying, forestry, farming, manufacturing, transport and construction, keep the pressure on for better safety outcomes.
The lengthy gestation period of the proposed legislation has aggravated employer uncertainty about the implications of the proposed legislation and its wider definitions of who is responsible for health and safety. The Bill introduces the concept of a Person Conducting a Business or Undertaking or ‘PCBU’. PCBUs will have primary duty of care for health and safety at work.

Fuel Accounting is pleased to announce that its founder, Peter McCarroll, was awarded Xero’s “Most Valuable Professional” Award at XeroCon 2013 (Auckland). Peter’s award was for his contribution to the Xero Community where advisors and Xero staff respond to question from users all over the world. Peter is the single-most frequent commenter outside Xero staff, providing valuable tips and advice to Xero users everywhere.

Working with the guy who shows up at 9.15am with the remainder of last night’s party on his breath is fun for no one. Nor is dealing with the undecider who takes days to produce a one-page report.

The economy continues to struggle, now is NOT the time to panic. In fact, if you follow our proven strategies, you can use the recession in your favour and capitalise on the weaknesses of your competitors. What may surprise you is that numerous studies dating back to 1923 (Ronald S. Vaile—Harvard Business Review) and continuing through to 2001 (notably by Malik PIMS ) have shown that in times of recession those companies that maintain or even increase marketing spend, prosper most.