Emmons Bookkeeping & Admin

***Public Service Announcement for new business owners and people considering registering for an HST # here in Canada.*** There are companies that will set things up for you and charge for their services for things like this and registering your business name, setting up a business account with CRA, etc. Ive done these things for clients and charged a nominal fee for my time AND Ive heard and seen people being charged hundreds to thousands of $$ for these services. You ALSO... have the option of doing these things for yourself and if youre on a budget, its not even hard. Call CRA at 1-800-959-5525 and press the * button to get to an agent. They will walk you through the process and it probably wont take much more than 5 minutes. And if youre not sure what to do, give us a call. Were happy to be of service!!

Hahahaha and also, true!! Two weeks to go. Happy Monday!

This morning, my heart is heavy. One of my favourite clients is a senior. He lost his wife a couple of years ago. When he arrived with his tax forms this year, there was one for his wife - dated 2015 but just issued in December. This slip will require that we file amendments to both of their 2015 tax returns and will cause an overdue amount of tax that should have been paid on her final return which will also result in penalties and interest because we didnt file with inform...ation the bank never provided. On top of this, the same bank sold over $50,000 worth of investments, did not provide the purchase price (cost), and didnt talk to him about there being tax that would be owed on these sales so he has capital gains income in the full amount of the sales and now owes almost $20,000.00 in tax!! How does this happen?? Hes asked me to go with him to speak with the bank but I have no idea what can be done about this now - the slips have all been filed with CRA. Crossing my fingers we can help.

After a particularly stressful day of dealing with CRA agents who were convinced they knew what they were talking about when they clearly didnt, for safety reasons and to avoid brain damage, Jackie decided to remodel her kitchen... Now shes trying to figure out if she can write it off against the income tax business or as a medical expense??? Wonder if the Dr would give her a note... Happy Friday!!

One month to go...

VERY important!! If you ever get one of these calls, make an excuse and ask for a number to call them back. Then hang up and call CRA at 1-800-959-8281 for personal and 1-800-959-5525 for business and press * to get an agent on the line. They will confirm if theres a situation and should be able to direct you to the person/department you need to speak with, or far more likely, they will tell you this is a scam. CRA will not take legal action against you without notifying you and usually having tried to reach you to resolve the issue multiple times. And if youre not sure what to do or do have an actual problem, call your bookkeeper/accountant/tax preparer or call us. Were here to help!

A couple of things came up this week that I want to share just in case anyone else is wondering. This is the second. The second thing that came up is that for some unknown reason, the claim for educational amounts has now been cancelled. (NOTE, some provinces are continuing the provincial portion but the federal claim has been cancelled.) If youre not aware, this was a claim for people attending classes for post secondary education. There were 2 parts to the claim: the tuiti...on paid for your course, and an amount for each month you attended either part time or full time. This claim could be carried forward against future earnings or could be transferred to a spouse, parent, or other closely related person, usually because they were providing support while the student studied. It was an incredibly beneficial credit and we have no information about why it was cancelled but if you qualify, this is the last year to make the claim and only if you attended before September 5th so its VERY important to file your taxes this year and take advantage of the claim if you qualify! To make the claim, youll need your T2202A from your school which you should have received in the mail and which is almost always available on your online student portal. It will very likely not be on the CRA website so check your student portal. If you have any questions, let us know. Were here to help! Happy tax season!

A couple of things came up this week that I want to share just in case anyone else is wondering. Ill post the second momentarily. First is if you have an 18 year old whos not making any money yet, what would be the reason or benefit to filing their tax return? One of the main reasons for filing your return is that there are certain credits you cannot receive without filing. In this case? The GST credit. If you qualify for the claim as a parent or family, the claim is for th...e entire family, including any dependant children. When your child turns 19, they qualify to receive the GST credit for themselves and if they dont file their taxes, they cannot claim and therefore cannot receive that money unless they file their taxes. If they had a part time job and any taxes were deducted, they will very likely get back on filing. Also important, some of your credits may be affected by the income of your dependant and if they receive a T4, CRA already has it so is already aware. If you dont report it, your return may be reassessed later so much better to file all returns and not give them a reason to reassess. If you have any questions, let us know. Were here to help! Happy tax season!

Claiming vehicle expenses?

Ive been asked several times in the last few months about claiming automobile expenses on a per km rate vs the calculation of business and personal use portions. Because CRA has made so many changes I wanted to make sure this wasnt another one so I called CRA this morning and heres what I found out: In Canada, the only time a claim for automobile expenses can be made using a per Km rate is for employees. So if you are self employed, you are required to use the percentage w...e calculate based on how much you use your vehicle for business purposes and how much you use it for personal. This can be confirmed by going on CRAs website and searching "per km rate" or checking for information to claim automobile expenses on form T2125 Statement of Business and Professional Income. VERY important to make sure youre keeping a log or using an app that has printable reports! Without a proper log, in the case of an audit CRA will disallow your claim for vehicle expenses completely. Keeping a log can be easier than you may think. If you need help with this or have questions, give us a call. Were here to help!

Hahaha Ive had a few of these calls already this year. Were here to help!

E-file system will be back up and running on the 26th and we are ready to file your taxes!

Tomorrow morning, Highland Country Club at 9 am! Small group right now so we will have lots of time for discussion. Bring your questions!

Thanks Sherry from ANL Bookkeeping for sharing this! Good advice.

A common thing I hear from people who are new to the business world is that theyre expecting a big refund. So Id like to take a moment to provide some clarification. In almost all situations, unless you have paid taxes you should not expect a refund. If you have a job and pay deductions at source and if your business is in a loss, you may qualify for a refund but that would be limited by the amounts you paid at source. Some expenses are carried forward against future income..., and some losses are available to be applied to prior years, but if you are self employed and your business lost money, you likely wont receive an income tax refund. It seems some people have the idea that they will be reimbursed for their losses in the form of a tax refund. This is not the case. Its very important as a business owner to learn your obligations and what is required to do your taxes and keep accurate records. Find someone you trust or keep your eyes open for my upcoming workshop "7 Essentials Every Business Person Must Know About Accounting" coming late February or early March. Well talk about Income, Expenses (What can you actually write off???), Cashflow, and a few other things its very important to understand.

Working on a puzzle tonight - great way to help my mind relax - with the tv on in the background and I heard it. One of the H&R Block ads. I think its a new one, but its still the same line that perplexes me every time I hear it... "Win your taxes". How exactly does one "Win their taxes"? They seem to have a free software to file your taxes, "even if you itemize your expenses". Can I just give you a wee piece of advice? Filing your own taxes may not be a difficult thing to ...do if you have a single T4 and a simple situation. But if you have dependants, complicated medical situations, employment expenses, and ESPECIALLY if you have a business, filing your taxes without help could be a huge mistake. If you do things incorrectly you could miss out on legitimate deductions, and at worst you could raise red flags and even trigger an audit. Please dont buy into an advertising ploy. Find someone you can trust and get their advice. Take advantage of every credit and deduction available to you and unless you have the proper training and experience, dont try to do it yourself. Perhaps thats how you "Win your taxes".

Hilarious!! CRA notified me overnight (thats the middle of the night and early Sunday morning, that they tried to send me a refund but dont have a debit or credit card on file so need me to provide it in order to get my money. How many problems do we see with this? First and foremost, CRA does not work in the middle of the night on the weekend! Next, they never send a message like this by email. If you receive a message from CRA by email, it will tell you that you have a ne...w message and tell you to log in to your account to get it. And this may be the most important! NEVER, I repeat NEVER, give anyone your credit card or debit card information in response to a message like this. CRA has your banking on file if youve provided it. They will direct deposit any refund money youre entitled to directly to your account if they have one or send a cheque by mail if they dont. If you ever receive an email that looks fishy, trust your gut! Check the email address it came from and if it doesnt look right, delete it or even call the company directly and ask if they sent you anything. If they didnt, delete the email and block the sender. These thieves and hackers need us to not use our heads. Im sure youre smarter than this but just in case. Have a lovely and relaxing Sunday!

On January 31st, where will you be? Ill be sharing my 7 Essentials Every Business Person MUST KNOW About Accounting with this fabulous group of ladies! This is a half day seminar so since we have about an hour well be touching on all 7 but focusing on the top 3 Im asked about all the time. Guests are welcome and seating is limited so get your ticket now and I will see you there!!

That moment when your assistant is putting on her shoes because its the end of the work day and you realize that although youve been working all day, youve gotten almost nothing done. Phone calls and emails to book appointments and queries from new potential clients. (Plus about a million other things!) January is officially here, the start of my tax season. And so it begins... YAY!!

Its official! Registration and orientation completed, lesson plans and related texts printed off, watched the first half of the course overview, and started reading on the 1st chapter of T2 Corporate Tax for Small Businesses! What a way to end 2017 and start 2018.

Blessed beyond words. One client had all of this waiting for me at his office today. When I said it was far too much his response was, "We appreciate everything you do for us around here, its probably not enough!" How does it get any better than that??

The new year is upon us and Ive made a decision thats been a long time coming. Registering for a program that will give me an actual designation and allow us to expand our services to offer the things that we havent until now. I didnt actually know or believe that this was even a possibility until recently when I started asking questions and looking for more information. WOW Ive been answering the question, "What services do you offer?" for years with "Everything up to t...he corporate tax return, the only thing we dont do are corporate taxes." And that is about to change! Surprised how excited I am about taking on this new challenge and what it will allow me to create moving forward. So let me ask you this, is there something youve been wanting to do but didnt believe was possible that if you asked some questions you might find actually is possible? And could that help you create something in your life or business that would create some excitement for you? Hmmmm... what else is possible??? Happy humpday!!

Finally!! Those of us who are required to deal with CRA on behalf of our clients - who often dont know what is required, what to say, and are anxious about their situation - have been having a difficult time this year. The automated system telling us to call back later often requires that we spend hours dialling and trying to get through before we can speak to an agent. Add that they often dont know what theyre talking about although theyre convinced they do (and wont l...et you speak to someone who does) or that their level of proficiency with the English language makes it difficult for them to understand your question or for you to understand their response and it has truly been an incredibly frustrating year. Several times, Ive had to call back and spend more time trying to get through to someone who actually CAN help and received different information. I SO hope they do overhaul the system and quickly because another tax season is right around the corner. http://www.ctvnews.ca//cra-call-centre-staff-blocking-call

I know this minimum wage thing is a sensitive subject. Here is the reality it is creating. And this is a major corporation. More self serve means less employees are needed and we see this happening already in many locations. Its not unlike what robotics did to the manufacturing industry a few decades ago. Less expensive and more reliable than living human beings... If the major stores who make millions cant absorb the increase without changing the way they do business, what... can we expect for and from people like myself and other small business owners? I dont tend to live in this sort of energy, but Im concerned about what this means for all of us, even the very people who believe they will benefit from this. What good is a 30% increase if your hours are cut, you have no job, or if costs also increase to cover the higher expenses? I guess we can only wait and hope the impact isnt what we expect. Heres hoping Im wrong! See more

We are expanding!! Please share the link.

My friend Katy Takaoka has some great advice, especially if youre in a direct selling business!

Thank you Andrea VanderWeide of Trillium Bookkeeping for sharing this reminder!

What a great headline! "Morneaus tax changes are so complex and unfair, theyll turn accountants baldand rich". In case youre looking for more info, heres the link to that article and a few others. Happy Wednesday!

My primary business, Emmons Bookkeeping & Admin is expanding. Weve hired another lovely young woman and are working on building the client load so need to get back out there networking. What groups do you belong to that are looking for a bookkeeper or income tax professional to join?

So LOVE my work!

And so, this happened last week. New desk, back in my happy zone in the sunroom where there so much light. How fantastic! Thanks Dave and Tracy for your help in setting this up. More changes coming... Interview tomorrow, working interview Monday, new clients, trainings... Growth it everywhere. And this is "supposed to be" our slow season! Ha!

What a busy start to a busy week. HST quarterly deadlines for 3 companies, phones ringing off the hook, meeting with new client, phone interview with a potential new hire, all followed by a phone meeting with my trainer for Motivational Maps to review 10 maps so I can deliver the results and complete my certification process. Tomorrow, onsite with a client followed by meeting with a tax client and hopefully booking debrief sessions for the new Maps and putting another big dent into the work that piled up while I was under the weather. Wednesday Toronto. Thursday meeting out of town and potential new hire coming for proper interview. So grateful for the ability to focus, work that keeps coming, and for the growing pains were going through. How does it get any better than this?

I am SO looking forward to this!!

Back to work after a few days away and Ill be honest, this beautiful weather is making it hard to concentrate. Anyone else want to be outside on such a beautiful sunny day?

Days like today remind me why I love what I do. Delivering news of a refund large enough to bring her to tears and SO much more than either were hoping was even possible. How did I get so lucky to get to be that person for this lovely young couple?? So grateful for that and thrilled for them. How does it get better than that?