The tax deadline is approaching quickly in Canada, and small business owners may be wondering if they should have been using a bookkeeper’s experience and precision to prepare their records. This tax time scramble can leave many business owners feeling overwhelmed, which can lead to putting off all the important tasks. If these businesses had used an experienced bookkeeper such as Valley Business Centre, they would not be dreading the tax season at all because they would know that all their records were accurate, and the documents had been prepared correctly.
For everyone who didn't choose to use a bookkeeper this year, here is a quick checklist for preparing taxes in Canada with tips about how a bookkeeper could have helped. Also included are reasons why next year a bookkeeper is essential to reduced stress levels.
[ ✓ ] - Collect All Expense Records
It is important for your business that you save and document all expense records for your activities. This is important to get the maximum amount of money back. You should categorize all of your various expense records so that you know exactly how to apply each one when filing. If you have been managing all of your documents by keeping them in a shoebox, this process could be a nightmare. Wouldn’t it be better if there were an easy way to complete this task instead of trying to get your affairs in order at the last minute?
This is where hiring a bookkeeper would have saved you a ton of hassle, especially if you had gone with a bookkeeper like Valley Business Centre. They use technologies that allow you to capture your document digitally and then automatically file and record it by category. It compresses the process of collecting applicable documents from a seemingly endless number of steps to as simple as taking a picture.
[ ✓ ] - Figure Out Home Office Deductions
With the effects of the COVID-19 global pandemic, business owners found themselves stuck at home working from a home office. This may have been something that was new for a lot of business owners and created a new dimension for reporting at tax time. This would create elevated stress levels in a time when keeping stress low was essential to good health.
If the business had been using bookkeeping services such as the ones provided by Valley Business Centre, they would have no worries about classifying their expenses correctly. They could take comfort in knowing that all of their business-related expenses and deductions associated with working from home were recorded accurately. This makes the reporting process painless.
[ ✓ ] - Generate a Profit and Loss Report
For many business owners, the process of generating the key financial documents can be a bit vexing. If you couple the need to figure out how to create these documents with issues from the first two items in the checklist, it becomes an issue of compounding magnitude. This can lead to inaccuracies and eventually, fines and penalties from fraudulent tax filings. Sure, it could be done without a bookkeeper, but why take the risk when the price of bookkeeping services is minuscule compared to penalties.
An experienced bookkeeper is able to ensure accuracy across the books and then generate all the crucial financial documents for your business. This includes the profit and loss report that you will need when you go to file your taxes. Utilizing bookkeeping services makes getting this document a breeze, and there are no questions about validity.
[ ✓ ] - Gather Payroll Information
If your business has a lot of employees, gathering the required information needed for submitting taxes can be a real pain. You need information about wages, contractors, deductions, and many other items as well. If this seems like as just as big of a task as filing taxes, that's because potentially it could be. You definitely don't want any mistakes here as they can affect both the business AND the employee. By the way, did you make sure you sent the T4's on time?
Had your business decided to work with experienced bookkeepers in Canada, such as Valley Business Centre, you could have taken advantage of their payroll services to make the task so much easier. Using their services would have helped to create a system for managing and producing accurate payroll. They also could have taken care of compiling and sending the T4's out to your employees, so you didn't have to worry about it.
[ ✓ ] - Submit Your Taxes to the Canadian Revenue Agency
The final and most important step is to send all of this data for the CRA. This includes gathering all the above information, locating and filling out all the proper forms, and delivering it all before the deadline. It is also important to review all of the information to make sure it is correct one final time before sending it out. Even the final task of this checklist can be enhanced through the utilization of a bookkeeper in Canada.
If Valley Business Centre is managing your bookkeeping and payroll, they will make sure that all of the information you need to send is accurate and free of errors. Then they can submit the taxes on behalf of your company so its quick, easy, and you can get back to the business that you have worked so hard to build.
It's Just Not Worth the Stress to Do It Alone
In summary, if you have made it to the end of this article, you have seen just how useful a bookkeeper in Canada, with experience in both bookkeeping and payroll, can be. They are not just a tool to help the business keep track of financial records; they are an invaluable partner that can simplify and relieve stress on various parts of a business. Armed with this information and a free consultation from Valley Business Centre, you will be ready to file without any need for worry.