It’s been a busy couple of months – our Golden Horseshoe Virtual Assistants Group (GHVA.ca) has been preparing an evening event for Small Business owners – being held in Burlington, Ontario, on May 18th from 5:30 – 8:00 pm. It’s only a few days away! The goal of our event is to highlight the value that a Virtual Assistant (VA) can bring to a business – saving the business owner time, reducing stress, and saving money. Please join us to find out whether a VA could make the difference for you! Leading VA’s from the area will be speaking about how they help their clients, and what you can learn about the benefits of a VA. Then as a special treat we have Mr. Dave Howlett, founder of realhumanbeing.org, who will be giving a 15 minute portion of his presentation “How to Connect (Like a Real Human Being)”. See my links to find out more about our sponsors, and to learn more about Dave Howlett.

Attendance is only $15 if you register online by noon on May 18th (a savings of $5), and so far we have about 35 people coming. It’s an excellent opportunity to network and then find out about something you may not even know exists. Food is catered by Pepperwood in Burlington. Go to http://ghva.ca/globalvaweek/ to find out all about it! Hope to see you there!

Election day, and I don’t know what that means to everyone out there. I am not a huge follower of politics, but I try and make sure to have a general idea of what the issues and platforms are, so that I can cast a somewhat knowledgable vote on Election Day. We are fortunate in Canada to be able to vote, and too many people think it’s “not worth the time” or “what difference will my little vote make?”. Our vote makes us a democracy and makes us have the ability, in our own small way, to have our say. And you know what, as I walked out of the voting box, I felt proud to be a Canadian, and proud of myself for taking the time out of my day to be a small contributor to the “% of people who voted in Ontario”. It felt good. So go and vote. Show Canada that we’re grateful to be able to have the right to vote, and that our country, our province, our region, and our city matters to us. And do it because you’ll feel good about it!

As a bookkkeeper, I see a lot of small business owners who start out as a sole proprietorship and think that that they are either too small to incorporate, or that it’s too complicated to incorporate. I always recommend that they speak to their accountant – as I feel there are a lot of advantages to incorporating. For my own company, I have seen the benefits, and have never regretted my decision to incorporate.

Recently, the following was posted on Linked In by Doug Cumpson of the Vine Group, and he’s given his permission to post it on my blog. Thank you Doug – I hope people read this and ask the questions!

Some small business owners . . . are operating a business as a Partnership/Sole-Proprietorship and are completing your taxes and find themselves caught in the CRA TAX TRAP . . . want help? Did you know . . . the tax laws have changed considerably over the years and next year small business owners will reap the best benefit . . . by getting incorporated . . . one of the Specialty Services we at Vine Group provides is Incorporation Advice and Assistance. Most people think incorporating their business is a complicated expensive undertaking, however, I will demonstrate that it actually saves you money. New remuneration strategies permit business owners to take home upto $60,000 in income with virtually no personal tax obligation. When compared to paying tax on the profits of your sole-proprietorship or the money you paid yourself from your own company the tax savings is huge . . . and over 25-30 I can show you if you invest the difference into a TSFA or RRSP you will have huge retirement savings . . . contact me at dougc@vine.on.ca for the rest of the story . . . Vine Group . . . not your typical accounting firm.

See http://www.vine.on.ca or Doug’s LinkedIn Profile: http://ca.linkedin.com/pub/doug-cumpson/11/72b/372

It’s been a long time since I’ve posted, but today I want to share an event that we’re putting on for all Small Business Owners out there who need help. You keep wondering why you can’t get on top of your work, or wish you had an extra pair of hands to help with various tasks at times, or you hate to spend time on administrative/bookkeeping tasks when you want to be focusing on the main goals of your business – sales and customers!

Please join us on May 18th at the Burlington Art Centre (Burlington, Ontario) for our evening Networking/Information session about Virtual Assistants (VA’s)! We will share how VA’s can provide cost-effective, efficient assistance to help you get back on track, save money, and reduce your stress.

My clients hired me as a bookkeeper, but at the same time, they got a “right-hand man”! I not only do the books, but help with many other activities – and save them time and stress by dealing with multiple administrative headaches that come up, as required.

So if you or anyone you know want to learn more about Virtual Assistants and how they might be the Key to Getting Back on Track in Your Business, I hope that you will look at our site and if this is not for you, please forward it to any Small Business Owners you may know who might not have heard about Virtual Assistants, or have no idea the benefits and value that a VA can provide. http://ghva.ca/globalvaweek/

Have a great week, everyone!

As a bookkeeper, I’ve been closely following all the HST news that has been coming out over the past number of months. I’m sure a lot of people have the July 1st date in mind. However, May 1st is an important date to note.

Effective May 1st, if you are invoicing for goods or services THAT WILL BE PROVIDED on July 1st, or later, you should be charging HST, not GST, if your invoice is dated May 1st or later.

Basically, as of July 1st, any services that previously only charged GST (5%)are now charging HST (13%). And any goods or services that previously charged GST (5%) and PST (8%) will now – for the most part – charge simply the 13% HST. There are a number of small exceptions to this rule, but in the main, these are the guidelines. But as this post is pointing out, starting on May 1st, you should be charging (and paying) HST on anything you are paying for NOW that you are not “getting” until July 1st or later.

I have more information in posts to follow, but wanted to get this out to you. The key things to remember are:

• Be prepared to change your point-of-sale system on July 1st (or sooner if you bill for July items in advance)
• Know what the exceptions are and which items are eligible for HST rebates
• Ensure your bookkeeping is on track to capture the appropriate taxes properly
• Ensure your bookkeeper fully understands the guidelines for the termination of PST/RST filing and the new GST/HST filing

It’s a big change, so please make sure you are ready for it!