taxdetective-Sandusky-Register

There's a lot to learning to use any software.  There's the look and feel, the special tips and tricks. There's the best practices to stay out of a mess.

A couple of years ago, I spent four months writing, and then two weeks delivering a ten part series on how best to keep records, and yes, it's using QuickBooks (but really, it should be any software) because in this series, I incorporated the best ways to keep records for business paperwork. Except that anyone who uses other software isn't willing to spent the time on it, because all they see is ...blah, blah, blah QuickBooks. That's sad, but it's true... maybe this winter, I'll have to create something that is software neutral on the business paperwork angle.

This is a little 'flipsnack' I created with the content descriptions for each of the ten sessions.

http://www.flipsnack.com/TaxDetective/

Then, after IPBC (www.ipbc.ca) which now has 1,100 members... and I recorded these ten sessions in March 2011, I went on to record another five hours just on working papers in March 2012, and other answers to questions posed by the live participants who attended those two series.

In October 2012, we realized how expensive all these individual pieces had become, so to make it affordable for bookkeepers, we decided to bundle 44 products, and call it a training bundle. Bookkeepers purchased the bundle (members at half price) and sent me emails telling me they were watching the videos three times with the sample data file open so they could play while they learned. They would set up a laptop with the recordings to listen while they worked on their desktop with QuickBooks open.  Pretty effective way to learn something, by doing as you listen. Stopping, starting, pausing, rewinding to hear it again...

Business owners would call and I'd say, well you could spent thousands on training one on one with me, or you could buy my training bundle for $290.00. You choose.  Sometimes they would choose to spent several thousand, and then at $125/hour, eventually, they'd get it, and ask me, didn't you have a training video series that would cost me less and I could do it on my own time?  Then later, they'd email that yes, they wished they had listened to me in the first place. You can lead a horse to watch, but you can't make him drink...

Last fall, because members were asking, IPBC and I did another three hour series, this time in November 2012 on just Inventory Parts.

In January this year, a series on using Quicken for Investment Accounting

And in February, we recorded a tax series on self-employed record keeping, another five hours.

This fall, we're half way through a series on Internal Controls. There's nothing about QuickBooks in this series.  The tax series on self-employed, it's not about QuickBooks either, though I do use it to show how to do account for tax.

You can purchase all of these products on my website. Learn at your own pace.  If you have staff turn-over in your bookkeeping and accounting department, you can pull out the videos and start over without incurring additional training expenses to send your staff off to school. You'll know exactly what they are learning, because you've already watched it.

This winter I'm thinking about doing a new series on using QuickBooks Online. And during the Internal Control series, several people expressed interest in a course just on how to keep records, for any software, to minimize the risk of audit. I may use QuickBooks Online, and maybe add in some other software, as I did a survey of what's out there (find it under Keeping Records>Productivity Tools on my website www.taxdetective.ca

Training bundle $290 (44 products, including 20 hours content included in Flipsnack above)

Inventory Parts $134.87  (3 part series)

Quicken Series $219.80  (4 part series requested by bookkeepers after September 2012 overview)

Keeping Records - self-employed $274.75 (about tax, not QuickBooks, though it does use QuickBooks to show how to do the accounting for tax)

To register for the Internal Controls workshop, to download the first two recordings, and attend the last two sessions, which are looking really interesting, visit www.ipbc.ca to register. They'll send you a link to the protected page with the downloads and the next session is December 4th at 1 pm PST.

Oh yes, I also created along the way, something you might want to share with your teens, young adults, and teachers...it's slowly being picked up and used by business education teachers who care...

Free - Student WorkBook for Canadian High School Teachers - Case studies & YouTube videos to learn how to use TurboTax Online for free / anonymously to protect student privacy

And, if you're looking to acquire more PD hours for reading before year end, my TaxLinks Pro Portal is free links to a variety of tax topics. Everything from Artists & Writers ( a very popular page) to Personal Services Businesses, or T2125 and self-employed, or Leaving Canada.

Look under the Learn About Tax button on my website (top of each page)
or go direct to http://www.taxdetective.ca/taxlinksportal.html

If you own Seg Funds, the capital gain or loss on disposition of units of the fund is calculated and included in your T3 report slip from the company.

It isn't necessary, or even possible to calculate this gain/loss yourself.

I recently read a discussion about how to calculate the gain/loss yourself, and there was no mention that this calculation is prepared for you by the Seg Fund company.

Has something changed? Or am I wrong? Can someone comment from the Seg Fund / Insurance Investment sector?

http://crowdfunding.cmf-fmc.ca/regulatory_updates/provincial-and-federal-tax-credits#!

http://www.mondaq.com/canada/x/267724/Income+Tax/Crowdfunding+Proceeds+May+Be+Taxable#!

Hot topic these days, crowd-funding.

It seems there are at least two types, equity, and donation with benefits.

There's also legal controversy swirling around this topic. Here's some links from Alan Baggett who has been following this topic because it's new and interesting, of course, because it's about raising money for businesses...and who doesn't want to figure out how to do that more effectively.

http://www.prweb.com/releases/2013/10/prweb11267067.htm
http://business.financialpost.com/2013/10/09/crowdfunding-financing-is-taxable-income-cra-says/
http://www.ctf.ca/ctfweb/EN/Newsletters/Canadian_Tax_Focus/2013/4/130407.aspx

As for the two types, donations with benefits, and equity funding, they are quite different.

Remember, donations, they have to be for charitable purposes, and can't come with strings attached. And most sources of income are taxable, especially when you're in profit making mode, and your source of funds doesn't fit any of the criteria in S. 81 of the Income Tax Act. 

S. 81, that's what I call the hero section, where if you provide extraordinary service, for example, you take in someone who isn't family, who is on welfare, or you're a foster parent, or...here's the actual section, which sets out exactly what isn't income.. and crowd-funding, well it's not on that list.

http://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/I-3.3/section-81.html

Equity funding has typically come about by the issuance of share capital. How exactly will it work when you're issuing shares on the street without going through the usual channels? That's where the controversy likely comes in. I'm sure we'll hear more about this in the next few months as our securities system attempts to come to grips with this new financing methodology.

Start-Up week is over. 

You might want to follow @Start-up_Canada on Twitter to see what all the fuss is about. Apparently there are so many young people starting businesses that Intuit Canada has partnered with Start-Up Canada to offer QuickBooks Online to start-ups for a full year for free.

If you're not a Start-up and you don't have a deal yet, you might want to consider contacting me because I can get you 30% off your QuickBooks Online subscription for a lifetime if you're my client.

Now you're not likely to want to switch accountants, and I'm great with that, as I don't want to do year ends or corporate tax.  But I love helping people master QuickBooks. That is what I want to do full time.

So I'm offering a Service Pack - and here's my thinking.  I've been working with several business owners on getting them caught up because they are a few years behind. I've been doing that pretty consistently for many years.  It takes time, and the business owner needs to build skills like how to organize their paperwork. It's about new habits, building them and maintaining them.

I've got several owners with whom I have a weekly meeting. We meet online because they live far away, and I'm not going to want to drive to them, or them to me. It's very convenient, we meet on the phone, and hook up our computers using a secure encrypted GoToMeeting hosted by Citrix. I pay the monthly subscription and can hold as many meetings with up to 25 people as I want to.  Been using it for years.  Try it out yourself, free for 30 days.  You can even hook up your webcam so you can see each other.

Anyway, that led me to thinking what if I offered a Service Pack for other business owners, just to make sure their QuickBooks data files were healthy. There's a lot to check up on. Everything from security, preferences, the chart of accounts setup, how the Items are linked, are the reports set up property, why doesn't the opening balance agree to my last S100 and S125 schedules on my T2 Corporate return, why doesn't my bank that is supposedly reconcile show me the right balances on my financial statements, that sort of thing. That's what I'm really good at, figuring out how to fix all of that stuff.

And that's what costs you big time at year end, if you haven't dealt with all that stuff, your accountant will get a headache just dealing with all those loose ends. And that's what costs you so much at year end.

So, what if, for $99 a month, you could have someone work on those things with you, to guide you to where your year end was a mere formality, and your accountant was sooooooooo happy with your bookkeeping that their bill was way less than last year end.

Don't believe me, go look at your last year end bill, and tell me whether you think it was too much, and what your accountant said was the reason.  I'm not here to replace your accountant, I want to make sure they like you because your books are complete and correct.  BTW, complete and correct record keeping, it's actually the law, it's not an optional thing  Sometimes CRA sends out auditors to blanket a town to check that everyone has books and records that are complete and correct. If they find that business owners don't have complete and correct records, they will issue demand letters with deadlines at which time they will come back to check to make sure you've caught up.  That means up to current, not just up to the end of last year end.

I can help but you'll have to work with me.  How does once a week sound? On the phone at your desk, no tidying up, just you and me, talking about your record keeping.

http://eileenreppenhagen.fullslate.com/

Electronic sales suppression devices are in CRA's sights!

If you are involved in a business where there is sales suppression software installed, you may want to check in on your sense of morality

... and your comfort with the new proposed fines and jail time for being associated with a business who suppresses sales to cheat on their taxes.

If you aren't already subscribed to my website newsletter,
http://www.taxdetective.ca/news.html

here's today's post...Orange is the new Black...

http://www.taxdetective.ca/newsletters/newsletter/1482040/91448.htm

Instalments, once you're on the system, are to be paid March 15, June 15, September 15 and December 15.

But when you're starting up a business, they don't apply until after you've filed your first tax return, which is due June 15 of the next year.

That's when the tax preparer tells you that you were supposed to pay your taxes (estimated) by April 30, and your GST/HST for your annual return, also filed June 15, that was due April 30 as well.

Then, they hit you with the news that not only was that due, so there's interest outstanding for not having paid it on time, BUT...

you'll be assessed in the summer for the instalments for the current year, all of which is due in two instalments, on September 15 and December 15.

The reason you're freaked? You had all this money in your account, so you've booked the entire family on a summer holiday to Europe for 6 weeks. The money is gone.

That's why I Tweeted today that CRA should get addicted to your tax instalments a whole lot sooner.

Yes, you're supposed to be responsible, accountable, and responsible again, but who can resist the opportunity when that money is sitting there for soooooo long, that you forget what it's really for.

The worst part? Once it's gone, you'll never get the chance to re-coop it, it will take about ten years to catch up because you'll always be behind.

http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/tx/ndvdls/tpcs/ncm-tx/pymnts/nstlmnts/ntrst-eng.html?=slnk

I've just updated my web page on penalties and interest to include some useful links about proposed legislation

Check the moral compass of your clients or your employer

Seriously, if your clients or your employer are suppressing sales with software, where do they fit in your life?  A, B, C, ...why are they in your life at all...?

They could be looking at jail for 2-5 years if this legislation passes (see the link below to go straight to the legislation on the Finance website)

Anyone else read or watched "Orange is the new Black"?

I'd recommend the book, there's lots they don't show in the TV series.

http://www.taxdetective.ca/penalties-and-interest.html

Subscribe to my newsletter for email news

http://www.taxdetective.ca/news.html

It's after the third quarter, and several bookkeepers bought the bundle of video training on how to use QuickBooks this weekend.  Reminded me to remind you that these products exist.  I have about 100 things for sale in my shopping cart, and if you've never experienced any of them, you may be missing out on something amazing, at least that's what the bookkeepers tell me.

Since spring of 2011, I've been delivering webinars on a variety of topics to do with QuickBooks, Procedure Manuals, Inventory Parts, Microsoft OneNote, etc. for the members of the Institute of Professional Bookkeepers of Canada.  Their website is www.ipbc.ca

If you haven't gone to investigate who they are and what they are doing, I encourage you to pay them a visit. I love that they asked me to be a participant in their journey. They tell me they're up to over 1,100 members and climbing.

You'll find those products sell on my website, and I give them a cut of course, because they hosted the webinars.

I bundled everything up from March 2011 to October 2012, and then have kept on producing webinars,

November 2012, Inventory Parts (QuickBooks of course)
January 2013, Quicken, a series on Investment Accounting for everyone who has investments
February 2013, Self-employed record keeping using QuickBooks, and focused on tax.
May 2013, Microsoft OneNote, more for fun and profit, not like the working papers series included in the bundle from March 2012 which was about using QuickBooks reports to create working papers in One Note (that's cool too but this was more about procedure manuals.

Next up, I'm doing a four part series on Internal Controls, at their request, and you'll find the pricing and details on their website in their calendar.  The first part of the series starts on the 19th of November, and runs weekly for four weeks. I'm having fun putting this series together with help from a couple of CFE's (certified fraud examiners) and a CMA and a CGA who took time to answer my interview questions. 

More on that this week.  Anyway, check out my shopping cart at www.taxdetective.ca
If you want an idea of what this looks like, there's a freebie for 49 minutes on my YouTube channel, and the sample QuickBooks data file created during this process is there to download in my free stuff section of my website.

It's never just the DTC, it's the supplement for a child under 18 that must be clawed back by child care costs, it's the extra child care costs eligible because of the DTC, it's the DTC supplement to the fitness and now the arts credits for $500 if at least $100 is spent on that child. There's more, but you get the idea. And now, we have Bill C-462 which requires us to report if we charge someone for assisting them with claiming the DTC. Doesn't say anything about all these extra bits though. He already claimed the DTC, it's all the extra bits that weren't claimed.

Because he filed his personal returns manually for the past three years, he didn't add the bonus extra $500 children's fitness amount for a child with a disability who had a claim for at least $100 of fitness costs. He just claimed $500 per year for each child.

That equates to $75 per year for 2010, 2011 and $100 for 2012, BC added a children's fitness credit for 2012, so $500x 15% federal, plus 5% provincial for 2012, that's $100. More than enough to pay for using the online TurboTax program to file their returns next year.

Then, for last year, he forgot to claim the DTC supplementary amount for a child under 18, net of child care costs paid and claimed by his spouse. There is a significant refund for the DTC Supplement for a child under 18. $4402 x 20% is $875 for BC.

After we met online to review the changes he would have to make once he found all of his receipts for child care and children's fitness amounts for both children,  I had a moment of doubt, did they claim the infirm amount for the child with the disability, so I called back.

Can you spot a fraud? or have you been the victim of a fraud that could have been prevented with internal controls?

Week #4 on December 11 is about identifying fraud and not providing opportunity for someone to commit a fraud by taking preventative actions

So tell us your story (change the names to protect yourself) and share your tip!

I've already had a few accountants share their tips, and incorporated their wisdom into the content,

But you never know, your tip could help someone

Someone much wiser than me said that as much as 50% of all fraud is because there was an opportunity and someone took advantage. Are you doing everything you can to protect yourself?

Register for the series, Nov 19, 28, Dec 4 and 11, right here at

http://www.ipbc.ca/events/event_details.asp?id=370626&group=

If you can't attend, you can get the recordings after each event if you sign up for the event, or you can purchase the series after it's over on my website, but it will cost more. So registering now, whether you attend or not, is a better deal.

If you've got a tip for bookkeepers on how to practice safe record keeping, post your tip here, or email me if you don't like posting to a blog, at eileen@taxdetective.ca

If it's not already there, I'll add your tips to my list of tips for bookkeepers in lesson #4

Well, I did it, with only a few small vocal tremors. I stood up #331, and spoke in front of Council, in a room with people in red hats waving little hand size placards, and people with green shirts, who spent a lot of time rolling their eyes behind me.

Most helpful, big smiles on the faces of the council members, Sylvia's smile, and Mayor Jackson's smile stood out, but there were others. I was very grateful as it made it easier to speak. Thank you, Mayor and Council.

Like the woman who spoke a few numbers before me, I wore a purple hat and boots, to reflect a mix of green and red. We wore purple on purpose. We felt conflicted.

There's two parts to this deal. I like the donation of the land and it's subsequent maintenance, but it's tied up with an unacceptable development of 20% with its 950 homes.

950 homes in the wrong place, plunked smack dab in the middle of two low density neighbourhoods with about 600 houses in each. The impact on these two neighbourhoods is dramatic, in the build-out and on-going. The cost to the closest neighbourhoods can't have been calculated.

I wish the two issues to be treated separately. One should not be contingent on the other.

Whether the donation is 80% or 100%, I'm ok with that part. If it's 80%, I'd be prepared to live with a few estate homes, with hobby farming and horses maybe as that used to be a big part of life in Beach Grove and Boundary Bay.

Why not a town centre with more people, more density, one that's vibrant, alive, safe, one that is re-designed so it isn't necessary to traipse across several major intersections, risking life and limb, whipped by the prevailing wind and rain?

A town centre should have character, and feel welcoming. Where there are people out and about in the evening, even in the winter. Where when you drive through, you want to park diagonally, to get out of your car and look in a shop window or walk and talk. It sounds like the design of the 20% Southlands is exactly this. So why not move that design to the town centre, and built it there instead?

What would I want to see? I'd like to rent a single level suite with street access, pet friendly, with a little patio out front where I can sit and people watch. What good is it to me to live down by the border, miles from services, in a secondary town centre, without public transit, down a hill from town when I'm old? I want to be in the middle of things, with services within walking distance, and I want to feel safe to walk at night with my dog, just like I do now in Beach Grove.