CLIENT SERVICES
Our firm offers a wide range of services to our individual and business clients. Our clients benefit from personalized, quality service that is beyond comparison. We have listed the services that we offer to our clients, together with a brief description.
Often, we work in tandem with specialized consultants, income tax specialists & legal advisors. If there is a service that you require and is not listed below, our network will ensure that your requirements are established and met.
(Click Service Title For Details)
Accounting Services
Professionally compiled financial statements make it easier for the business owner and third parties to understand what the numbers actually mean, in an easy to read format. They are an integral part of running your business. Meaningful, well-organized financial records ensure that your business operations will run more efficiently on a daily basis.
Providing financial information to our clients in a timely and accurate manner is a commitment that we feel cannot be compromised. Our firm provides a full range of cost effective accounting services including thefollowing:
- Financial Statements Preparation (Monthly/Quarterly/Annual): We can assist you in the preparation of your financial statements in accordance with professional standards. The financial statements produced can be a useful tool to management for making financial decisions.
- Assistance in complying with Canadian Accounting Standards
- Setting up Accounting System for new businesses
- Cash Flow & Budgeting Analysis: A business can be profitable and still run into trouble due to cash flow issues. We can forecast and evaluate your company's financial condition, estimate financing requirements, and track cash-flow sources and uses.
- Financial Forecasts & Projections: Forecasting is a necessity when trying to effectively manage and lead a business to profitability. From simple projections to complex financial modeling, we can assist you in achieving your company's financial goals.
- Assistance in Audits and Reviews.
Part-time CFO Services
Growing businesses often reach a point where they require professional financial advice, but may not find it cost-effective to have a full-time CFO / Controller, which can cost over $100,000 per year, plus bonus and benefits. A part-time CFO is a cost-effective solution for companies requiring financial expertise but without the budget or workload to require a full-time professional.
We can offer you part-time, virtual CFO services with experienced support, at a fraction of the cost.
We help you prepare budgets for profit planning, costing your products or services and setting financial targets and goals. We actively assist you in interpreting your monthly reports that monitor key performance indicators that apply to critical areas of your business..
Here's what you get with our part-time CFO services:
- More time to focus on your business growth, new services, new customers, and other core issues.
- Get a better understanding of your financial information & future projections
- Sounding board to help foresee the financial impact of any business decisions.
- Professional Advice in defining long-range plans and the financial goals.
- Smart dealings with your bankers, lawyers etc.
- Intelligent negotiation of your insurance policies, rental agreements, lease contracts, etc.
- and much more...
New Small Business Consulting & Start-Up Planning including Incorporation
As an entrepreneur you have a great idea but not sure how to convert it into a profitable venture. Our firm would help you do just that.
We want you to focus on what you do best - building your business - while we provide all the necessary background support. Here are just a few of the ways we can help you get started:
- Preparing a comprehensive Business Plan
- Determining the best structure of your business: Sole Proprietor, Partnership or Corporation
- Preparing the Articles of Incorporation for Federal and Provincial registration, Name search, submission of documents and preparation of Initial Return.
- Registering your new business with CRA
- Establishing relationships with banks, insurance companies etc.
- Preparing Cash Flow Projections and assessing finance needs
- Preparing your future Projection and the Feasibility Study for Small Business Loan purposes.
- Preparing and submitting finance applications
- General bookkeeping and payroll duties
- Tax Planning
- Management Information Systems
- Annual accounts and (where necessary) assistance in annual audit.
Setting up Professional Corporations
What is a Professional Corporation?
A professional corporation is a corporation engaged in providing professional services, where a member of a profession governed by its professional body, carries on practice through a corporation, as opposed to a sole proprietorship or partnership. Each professional governing body has its own set of rules requiring certain formalities to be followed.
Incorporating would help you accumulate wealth, by employing various key strategies such as tax-deferral and income-splitting.
Members of the following professions are eligible to operate a professional corporation:
- Lawyers under the Law Society Act (responsibility of the Ministry of the Attorney General).
- Physicians and surgeons, dental surgeons, dental hygienists, dental technologists, denturists, audiologists, chiropodists including podiatrists, chiropractors, dieticians, massage therapists, medical laboratory technologists, medical radiation technologists, midwives, nurses, occupational therapists, opticians, optometrists, pharmacists.
- Physiotherapists, psychologists, speech language pathologists, and respiratory therapists under the Regulated Health Professions Act (responsibility of the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care).
- Veterinarians under the Veterinarians Act (responsibility of the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs).
The professional corporation may not carry on a business other than the practice of the profession; however this shall not be construed to prevent the corporation from carrying on activities that are related to, or ancillary to, the practice of the profession, including the temporary investment of surplus funds earned by the corporation.
We are a CA Firm offering a wide variety of accounting, taxation, financial and planning services to diverse range of clients, including assistance with incorporating professional service firms. We guide professionals in setting up their initial professional corporation, thus providing a path for saving taxes, while helping to minimize expenses and maximize returns.
SR&ED - Scientific Research & Experimental Development
The SR&ED program is the largest single source of federal government support for industrial research and development. The SR&ED program provides tax incentives to Canadian businesses that perform SR&ED in Canada. Every business should ensure that it does not miss out on the Scientific Research & Experimental Development ("SR&ED") tax credits, that it is rightly entitled to.
Indeed, too often companies dismiss the idea of a SR & ED claim because they don't know the process or don't understand what might be a qualifying expenditure. That's where we come in!
Some key SR&ED facts:
- $1.8 billion paid annually in SR&ED incentives
- 11,000 claimants annually
- 70% of claims are from small and medium businesses
Our firm will guide you through the complex rules of filing for this tax credit. Our expertise can improve your profitability by maximizing cash flow, while minimizing taxes. The benefits of SR&ED are significant and if properly planned; your tax credit can be refundable in cash. Successful filing of eligible SR&ED claims will enable you to grow your business.
Obtaining assistance from us for the SR&ED filing process saves you time, enabling you to focus on your core business issues, and minimizes the risk of a related tax audit. Currently, it is estimated that less than half of companies that are performing eligible SR&ED are claiming the tax credits. Often companies that are claiming SR&ED do not receive their full entitlement due to underestimating eligible expenditures and insufficient documentation of projects or procedures
Eligible SR&ED expenditures include:
•Wages
•Overheads and other direct costs
•Material consumed
•Capital expenditures
•Contract and subcontract expenditures
Eligible SR&ED activities include:
•Developing new products
•Developing new processes
•Developing new technical services
•Improvement to existing products, processes and technical services
•Developing prototypes
•Creating custom machinery
•Creating innovative software, e-business solutions or web-enabled applications
If your business is involved in some of these activities, you may qualify to claim SR&ED tax credits. Neither the success nor solvency of your project is a pre-requisite for being awarded a SR&ED refund.
Business Financing
We have established relationships with a firm of specialized financial intermediaries who can facilitate both debt and equity financing of business expansion, purchase or sale of a business, mergers, or financing for personal purposes.
Business Valuations
A professional and objective business valuation is a necessary component of many transactions, such as purchase, sale or reorganization of a business, shareholder and partnership agreements, matrimonial settlements, or estate proceedings. We will assist you with valuation of your business assets and goodwill.
In today's ever-changing and dynamic business world, business valuations are becoming increasingly complex. There are numerous reasons for having a business valuation prepared, including:
- Personal financial planning, as business assets represents a significant portion of net worth
- Estate and succession planning
- Resolution of shareholder and partner disputes
- Preparation or analysis of shareholder/partner agreements with specific buy-out arrangements
- Purchases, sales and mergers of businesses and/or companies
- Introduction of new equity investors
- Insurance needs
- Matrimonial disputes, including Net Family Property quantifications
- Litigation support and resolution
Payroll Services
As a business grows, it must hire more employees, which can result in increased payroll administration. Employees are instrumental for the success of any business. Therefore it is important that your employees are paid on a timely and accurate manner.
We offer a complete package to help your business manage the intricacies of Canadian payroll by :
- Processing bi-weekly and monthly payrolls
- Deducting, remitting and reporting to Canada Revenue Agency (CRA), CPP, EI, and income tax
- Calculating and reporting insurable earnings to Worker Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB)
- Issue Record of Employment (ROE) for each employee
- Sending out annually T4 and T4A forms
GST/HST, Payroll Taxes & WSIB Returns
A survey by The Canadian Federation of Independent Business identified that GST/HST, payroll taxes, and income taxes as the most burdensome activity of running a small business. Taking care of government remittances can be complicated, frustrating, and worrisome.
We keep up-to-date on the latest changes to government taxes and filing procedures. We handle your GST/HST calculations, payroll source deductions & WSIB payments.
Compilations (with Notice to Readers)
We view our role in the financial reporting process as an opportunity to provide constructive solutions for maximizing your company's profitability and efficiency. We provide Compilation of Financial Statements with Notice to Readers, based upon client information provided.
Compilations by a Chartered Accountant can benefit you more when you need to make decisions about your business. Checking that the Compilation was performed by a Chartered Accountant provides comfort that it was prepared by a qualified professional accountant.
Estate Planning
Effective estate planning facilitates the orderly transfer of assets to your beneficiaries, provides security for your surviving spouse, and can reduce or eliminate the tax due on the transfer of your business and other assets. For business owners, providing for business continuity and succession of ownership is essential. We can guide you through the complex process of getting your financial affairs in order.
Individuals who do not properly plan for their retirement, succession and estate, risk losing a significant portion of their net worth to income taxes, probate fees and other related costs. Further, the ability to pay for these costs may require the unintended liquidation of assets or threaten the future viability of an owner-managed business.
To be effective, a retirement, succession and estate plan must address your objectives and review all of your particular family, financial and business circumstances, including a thorough review of the provisions of your will.
We can prepare a specific and tailored plan to meet your objectives of achieving a comfortable retirement, the minimization of taxes, the proper level of liquidity and the preservation of wealth. Where an owner-managed business is involved, we can help ensure an effective and viable succession for the business, either through continued family ownership or by a sale to an outside party.
Tax Planning & Returns for Individuals / Corporations / Estates & Trusts
We prefer to take a proactive vs. reactive approach to tax services. Tax Planning is very important for success of any business, increasing cash flow & net profits after taxes. Tax Planning involves looking at various tax options to determine the best ways to complete a taxable transaction. While we all are required to pay our fair share of tax, one should not have to pay more in tax, than you are required to.
By keeping current on new tax laws and legislation, we are in a position to identify key tax planning opportunities that would help you save more money & minimize both your current and future tax liabilities. We provide our individual and business clients with the taxation expertise and knowledge that they deserve throughout the year.
Tax services offered include, but are not limited to:
- Tax Planning for Individuals and Corporations
- Tax Returns preparation for:
- Individuals (Salaried or Independent Contractor)
- Home-based businesses
- Corporations
- Estates and trusts
- Not-for-profit organizations
- Taxation in the year of departure from Canada
- Late filed returns or Amended returns
- US Tax Returns
- Tax considerations in matrimonial settlements
- Tax effects of buying & selling a business or professional practice
- Tax effective Retirement and Estate planning
- GST / HST
- SRED - Scientific Research & Experimental Development Credit
US Cross Border Taxes
We will prepare Personal US Tax returns for resident and non-resident individuals, accurately and efficiently. There is an increase in the number of Canadian businesses and Individuals doing business with Clients in United States.
Please contact us if any of the below is applicable to you:
Canadian Companies and Individuals Who Work in the United States
Employees of U.S. company in the United States are required to pay US Taxes. If you are a self-employed individual or company doing business in the United States, U.S. taxes are required to be paid, depending on how permanent their presence is.
U.S. Citizens Living in Canada
If you are a US citizen resident in Canada, you are subject to exactly the same US filing requirements as if you still lived there. This means you must file every year, reporting your worldwide income.
As a US citizen resident in Canada, you must file two returns each year, declaring your worldwide income on each:
- Canadian Tax return because you live in Canada, and
- US Tax return because you are a US citizen.
However, there are several mechanisms available to make sure you are not doubly taxed. We can help find your best options when preparing your US taxes.
Canadian Business Selling to U.S. Customers
Canadian companies that sell to customers in the United States may have to pay U.S. Tax, depending on the permanency of their presence in the United States. However, even if the above Canadian companies are not subject to U.S. Tax (depending on the permanency of their presence in the United States), they may still be required to file U.S. Tax returns disclosing their activities in the United States. Failure to file U.S. Tax returns could invoke penalties.
U.S. Property Owners
Canadians owning Rental properties in the United States must file U.S. tax returns every year. Canadians who own property in the United States for their personal use, may potentially be subject to U.S. Estate tax when they die. Capital Gains on the disposition of US real property will also be taxed in the United States.
Snow Birds
Canadians who spend a significant amount of time in the United States each year may be subject to U.S. tax and required to file U.S. Tax returns each year.
Assistance with CRA Audits
- Did you get call from CRA or any other tax office?
- Are you facing a Tax Audit?
- Have you failed to file past tax returns?
- Do you owe the government past taxes?
Do not panic! Contact us immediately when CRA sends you a notice for Tax Audit. We could save you Penalty and Interest costs which can be thousands of dollars.
What is a Tax audit?
Tax Audit is a way for the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) to monitor and inspect income tax returns, GST/HST, payroll records etc. and to maintain public confidence in the fairness and integrity of Canada’s tax system. You have the right to schedule the CRA visit at a convenient time for you. It is your responsibility to maintain the prior years’ electronic data and the software necessary to access it.
How we can help?
We can assist you with your:
- Income tax audits
- GST/HST audits
- Defend your return in a review request
- Schedule & attend all audit appointments
- Review your tax return for additional problem areas
- Review your documentation before the CRA sees it
- Handle all audit correspondence
- Provide assistance with all other income tax queries or correspondence
What happens when you get a Tax Audit?
If you are selected, an auditor will review your records at a CRA office or at your business location. An auditor may want to discuss the general nature of your business, or tour the premises to get a better understanding of the transactions recorded in your books. After the audit, the auditor may prepare a summary of the proposed adjustments or propose certain adjustments to your return. Since we are your accountant and representative, we help you to communicate with CRA auditors.
Typical Tax Audit Issues:
- Automobile expenses & Automobile benefits
- Shareholder loans.
- Meals & entertainment.
- Employee or self employed contractor?
- Related party transfer pricing.
- Travel expenses.
- Foreign reporting.
- Interest expense.
- Personal expenses.
Canadians Resident Abroad
As a Canadian citizen or Canadian Immigrant, you must continue to file a Canadian tax return for as long as you do not change your status. Canadian citizen and Canadian immigrant have unique filing obligations, unlike citizens of other tax jurisdictions. CRA imposes taxation based upon residence but you must define your status.
If you are a Canadian Resident Abroad, then you need to immediately look at the critical issues mentioned below, to avoid any unpleasant surprises later.
• Emigration
• Departure tax
• Non-resident status
• Non-resident tax – RRSP, RRIF, DSPSP, LIF
• Treaties
• Health insurance
• Overseas employment tax credit
• Moving expenses and relocation benefits
• Immigration
• Foreign property reporting rules
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