BMP ACCOUNTING & TAX INC. - Blog

We Are Growing!

9/15/2021

The role: Part-time Administrative Coordinator/Bookkeeper
Do you love numbers and organization? If so, we want to chat with you. We’re recruiting a part-time Administrative Coordinator / Bookkeeper to join our growing agency.

Duties & responsibilities:

Work 16-25 hours per week, flexible schedule (potential for full-time February to April)
Answer phones
Greet clients
General administrative duties
Manage accounts payable and receivable
Record bank deposits
Process payroll and keep track of holiday time and pay, employee sick days and time in lieu
Manage benefit financials and employee deductions
Organize and distribute T4’s
Coordinate financials as directed by the partners
Reconcile accounts
Post journal entries
Prepare tax returns

Requirements & qualifications:

Candidates must have 2 or more years of experience in a related role
Adept in bookkeeping software: Simply Accounting and Quickbooks online
Proficient in all Microsoft applications including Microsoft Teams
Ability to use Zoom
Excellent English verbal and written communications skills

Personal Suitability:

Accurate
Professional
Reliability
Organized
Critical thinker
Multitasker
Problem Solver

Compensation is based on experience and qualifications. The position is available immediately.

We thank you all applicants for their interest but only applicants selected for an interview will be contacted. Please include your wage expectation. Internal training will be provided.

Please submit your resumes to melanie@bmpdevon.ca before October 15th, 2021.

Kids are Back In School - Now What?

9/10/2021

The Facebook feeds all over the country confirmed it folks – the kids are back in school. Now that summer is over, the temperatures are cooling and you are likely thinking about what this means for you. Perhaps you have started a new job or maybe you are thinking about that business venture you always wanted to dive into.

If you are thinking of starting your own business, here is a list of tips:

1. Keep a separate bank account and credit card for your business…even if you are not incorporated. Keeping things separate enables you to keep your personal expenses completely separate and if your business accounting gets unexpectantly dicey you can at least rule out having to decipher between business and personal.

2.  Get yourself an app to track your mileage. It will be so much easier to prove how many kilometers you drove for business and will be irrefutable proof in tax court.

3.  Get yourself an online bookkeeping system. We can refer some good ones to you. Some of them are even FREE!

4.  If you are thinking of hiring staff, be up-to-date with labour laws.

5.  Know your wheelhouse – your strengths, your skills and your available time.

If you are thinking of starting your own business, come talk to us. We offer free one-hour consultations that could save you big bucks down the road by avoiding foreseeable mistakes.

Public Announcement RE: TWS Form

8/2/2021

Things are starting to open up in a big way here in Alberta. As the excitement of the easing of the restrictions settles in, it may be a good idea to look back on 2020 if you have received the Temporary Wage Subsidy for Employers. 2020 might seem like a blur in the distant past, but this was a subsidy that you received by reducing your payments to CRA for payroll remittances.

If you benefited from this subsidy, you should have also filled out this form (https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/forms-publications/forms/pd27.html) in order for CRA to reconcile the payments you sent CRA with your T4 summary.

If you have not sent in this form, no worries. Go ahead and fill it out yourself or we can definitely help you out with that.

Defining "Need to Have"

7/2/2021

It is a common complaint to hear that one does not make enough money. In most cases, we have found that it is mostly an issue of a lack of a budget and follow-through. A few years back, we were faced with a sudden change in circumstances which led to me combing through all of our monthly expenses and figuring out what was a “nice-to-have” expense and a “need-to-have”.

The process was well worth it. We found out that we had subscriptions that we no longer needed and that we routinely bought too much food that led to food waste. We quickly switched to planning our menu ahead of time and strategically buying our groceries which also reduced the fuel cost to get to the grocery store.

Another quirky saving tool I have been using is ordering groceries online. When I visit the grocery stores, I often add too man “nice-to-have” items that make our monthly grocery bill bloat.

There are many budget apps out there, but the one that we have found made the best sense to us was Mint (https://mint.intuit.com/). It is a free product supported by Intuit (makers of Quickbooks). The app allows you to build a monthly budget and it will send you emails if one of your budget categories has exceeded its capacity.

The app works by linking your bank, credit and investment accounts. For the most part, it is pretty automatic. The app also creates fun graphs for you to understand where your money goes every month. It is a great way for you (and your spouse) to build a collaborative successful financial plan.

After all, take care of the pennies and the dollars will take care of themselves...

Reaching Your Growth Potential

7/2/2021

Have you reached a level in your business and do not know what your next step should be? Many small business owners do not have bookkeepers to provide accurate numbers, let alone sophisticated financial reporting and analysis capabilities. A large portion of business owners do not understand the relationship between the cashflow statement to the income statement and balance sheet.

Don’t let this stumbling block be what keeps you from moving forward. Did you know that you can rent a part-time CFO without the costs of having a full-time CFO?

Benefits of hiring a part-time CFO include:

-Help you to ensure the financial accuracy, compliance and liquidity of your business, leaving you free to focus on doing what you do best…working on your business.

-Bring financial expertise to enable you to make data-driven business decisions (not purely gut decisions).

-Optimize your processes, investments and cashflows.

-Develop a comprehensive financial plan to support long-term growth.

-Help you position your company so it is more marketable to buyers in the future.

Want to know more? Contact us for more information.

Paying Yourself From Your Corporation

7/2/2021

We know it may seem like we are repeating ourselves…but on average, a person needs to hear a message SEVEN times before they remember it. Let’s face it…owning a business is overwhelming at times and the number of plates you must maintain spinning all at once can be a daunting task. We would like to give you a few pointers to take the guesswork out of how to pay yourself.

1. Have a separate bank account for your business. It will not only make your payroll look a lot cleaner, but it will make all of your income and expenses look very clear.

2. Pay yourself out of your profits, not revenue. An easy way to do this is to look at your business bank account at the end of the month, plan out what you need to keep in your bank account for upcoming expenses and the difference can be paid out to you!

3. Put yourself on payroll! You have figured out what you can afford to pay yourself, but now you should invest in a proper payroll program. It is best to pay your payroll deductions month-to-month rather than having a surprise at tax time. A good payroll program will also allow you to keep track of what you remitted to the government so it protects your business as well.

4. Talk to your tax professional before paying yourself in dividends. Dividends can be a tax efficient strategy…but you need to understand how to use the dividends to your advantage or they can quickly become a disadvantage!

Have more questions? We would be happy to chat!

Congratulation to the Class of 2021!

6/25/2021

It’s June and there seems to be a surge of posts from proud parents because their son or daughter is graduating this year. Graduation is such symbolic event in a person’s life. It’s the end of one journey and the beginning of another.

BMP wishes to congratulate 2021 graduates! Well done. Now, here is our gift to you!

1 - Pay yourself first! I know you heard it so many times before, but honestly, if you save $25 every month today it will accumulate and it will become a habit. Starting out is hard and it seems like there are so many sacrifices, but trust me, you will be so grateful that you did start saving young because it doesn’t get any easier. If ever you feel like you will never achieve anything, think small steps…you will get there.

2 - File your taxes – on time and every year. It is so easy to put something off the first time. It’s no big deal. You will do it later…until the next year rolls around and now you are two years behind and the first thing you know it’s been five or more years that you have not filed your taxes. Don’t let this happen to you, but if it does, we still have your back.

3 - Talk to an accounting professional before you start your own business, so that your financial affairs are in order and don’t become overwhelming. Alert CRA and Service Canada if you have experienced a life event (e.g. marriage, divorce, separation, birth of a child). Failing to do so can cause you to owe money back to the government.

Above all, know that no question is a silly question. It is better to ask than for the question to go unanswered. We love answering questions even the ones you are embarrassed to ask. We are always here for you.

Planning a Profitable Summer?

6/18/2021

Well people, the moment we have been all waiting for is fast approaching. Summer is at our door step. For many, summer means long days spent with the children, on a patio sipping on a cold beverage, attending concerts (hopefully this will be a reality soon) or just dialing it down for a few months while the sun is shinning. But for some of us, it means that this is the season of opportunity. Summer gives rise to so many great seasonal business ideas from landscaping to wedding planning.

I remember helping out my friend one summer while on summer break from university. The company provided her with a business model and some pricing strategies. She worked so hard this summer – working long hours and learning how to be an entrepreneur. We were well into my favourite season when she approached me and told me that her take home pay was not what she had expected.

It is highly likely that if she had access to a bookkeeping software and some friendly advice that we would have noticed her shrinking profit margins was due to her pricing strategy and we could have righted the ship before the season was nearing its end.

An expert can give you proactive advice so that you do not end up working harder than you have to and can answer many of your questions.

Do I need to charge GST? How much should I charge? What do I need if I want to hire an assistant? Are they an employee or can I pay them as a contractor? What types of tips do you have to keep my financial affairs in order? If you are looking at starting your own business this year, please consider getting expert advice on how your books are doing. After all, you are great at what you do and we are too. Contact us for more information.

Don't Have Time To Do Your Own Bookkeeping?

6/11/2021

You are a great plumber…maybe a great electrician or a great hairdresser…but maybe keeping your books in order makes you run for the hills. You forgot your receipt in your car…maybe you forgot them in your wallet or even your toolbox…The BIGGEST favour you can do to save you countless hours (or money if you are paying a third party) is to keep a separate bank and credit card account for all things relating to your business.

For as little as $5 per month, we can set you up with a system that automatically categorizes your invoices. You can snap a picture of every single invoice via your smart phone or email any other invoices from your email address. Just like that, tax time just became easy. No more searching for lost receipts.

Have questions? Contact us for more information.

Five Ways Outsourced Bookkeeping Saves You Money

6/4/2021

If you have ever read Stretch: Unlock the Power of Less – and Achieve More Than You Ever Imagined by Scott Sonenshein, you know that buying all the best gadgets does not necessarily lead to more profits. Knowing where to invest your money is synonymous with being a good business person. We would caution, however, that trying to cut costs on bookkeeping may in fact hurt your business in the long run and here is why.

#1 : Not completely understanding your costs:
It is quite easy to nickel and dime yourself to death. We have had a few cases where the client did not understand how much money he was pulling out of their business because they lent their company money and kept mental IOU’s. In turn, they paid personal expenses through the business account. It was a real puzzle to figure out what was what at year end and they never knew why the business was not profitable.

#2: Cash Flow Woes:
Cash Flow issues is more common with seasonal businesses because it is easy to get swept up in the busy season and forget to put money away for the rainy season. However, all types of businesses can experience gaps in cash flow. This is why an experienced accounting provider can help you actively manage your cash flow and implement strategies to bridge the gaps when cash may not be as abundant.

#3: Profit Sabotages:
We have seen many different types of profit sabotages. They can come in the way of expensive or time-vampire clients. Your accounting provider can help you with your price strategies so your services or products remain profitable.

#4: Ignoring Your Accounts Receivables:
Any business person can get wrapped up in the day-to-day tasks and forget to keep an eye on who still owes you from three months ago. Shortening your turn around time on your receivables does improve your cash flow and, in lots of cases, saved a business from going under.

#5: Penalties for Non-Compliance
Last, but certainly not least on our list, are penalties paid for non-compliance. We know tons of businesses who have gotten themselves in trouble because they delayed filing for whatever reason. Delaying and avoiding has a snowball effect. A professional is there to keep you compliant and accountable.

Have more questions? We would love to chat.