WMF 
To prevent fraud in your small business, make sure from the beginning that more than one person handles all your essential bookkeeping and accounting functions. No matter how busy you are as an owner, if your company is just you and one other person, you need to have in place protocols from the start that protect you and your firm. In an earlier article, … Read more
One out of every five small businesses in Canada will be victimized by fraud this year, costing them on average a loss of $6,200, according to the Canadian Federation of Independent Businesses. I have often heard their stories and seen what happened to them since many decide to outsource their accounting services after they have been impacted negatively by someone they thought they could … Read more
As many of my small business clients struggle to get themselves off the ground and into the profit-zone, at tax time they ask me: “How many years can I claim an operating loss on my business before Canada Revenue Agency gets on my case?” And my answer is open-ended. “It depends.” There isn’t a hard and fast rule. Some companies see a red flag … Read more
Whether you outsource your tax preparation or do it yourself, it is important to keep up with the yearly changes that impact what you can claim as a legitimate expense. According to Canada Revenue Agency (https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency.html), there are a number of changes you need to be aware of this April as you prepare your 2018 tax returns. One of the areas we are receiving … Read more
Cheryl (named changed to protect her privacy) is a client of Piligrim Accounting who has a wonderful habit of saving all of her receipts in freezer size plastic bags each year. She has one for household expenses, one for major purchases, one for financial papers, one for medical receipts with copies of prescriptions, etc. It is a simple system, but it allows her to … Read more
As the popularity of house-flipping grows through an ever-expanding range of reality television programs about people who buy properties time forgot, fix them up, and sell them for a profit, many Canadians are looking at how this could work for them. Initially they do it as a side-line to their full time jobs, working on days off and weekends to renovate, repair and paint … Read more
The dawn of a New Year is a perfect time to re-examine any bad habits that are detracting from the growth of your small or medium size business or from your personal development if you work for someone else. Our work at Piligrim Accounting as an in-person and on-line accounting firm gives us a unique insight into what most people and businesses could do … Read more
As 2018 wraps up and we plan to bring out a new calendar, it’s time to make sure that you take the essential steps you need to protect yourself next tax season. Here are six things to consider to minimize your tax bill next year: 1. If you are self-employed and this has been a particularly good year for you and you anticipate a … Read more
If you have a small business and you want to thank your employees with a holiday season bonus this year, you need to let the person or team handling your payroll about it now. That is because if the gift is going to be cash or a gift card that can be used as cash to purchase what the recipient want, it is taxable … Read more
The Canada Pension Plan will be undergoing significant changes in 2019, and it’s a good idea to look now at the impact of them on businesses and individuals. Small business owners need to be familiar with the new rules that essentially permit retired Canadians to receive higher CPP benefits than they do now. As of this point, the CPP retirement benefit is 25 percent … Read more
