taxdetective-Sandusky-Register

I just received this email from another accountant today and I quote..

On Saturday we had a garage sale. It felt really great to get rid of so much stuff we never use, hopefully to someone else who will use it. 

My biggest thrill was finding a woman to adopt my cross country skis (wood with soft lignite edges, not these plastic boards with metal edges). Those skis were magical, they got me up and down some amazing mountain trails in the Rockies around Banff in my 20's and 30's.  And around here when we would get snow, I'd throw them out to season, and sometimes get Jim across the back fence to apply some wax, and off I'd go until I was too tired to move, but I'd have this huge grin that would last for days.

The bear trap bindings that hugged the backs of the boots and clipped down up front were as shiny as when I bought them 40 years ago in Calgary in a little ski shop in SW Calgary.

The woman was taller than me, but the buttery soft leather boots with down filling fit, and yes, we checked, she could wiggle her toes to keep them from freezing. Those leather boots had metal pieces protecting the flanges on the front to fit in the bear trap bindings. And the blue leather handled bamboo poles, they were still so pretty. I forgot to give her the spare aluminum tip, so if she reads this, please come back for it.

What was bitter sweet were the memories. Gigantic crunchy garlic pickles at the top of Stanley Park Glacier in the sunshine sitting on green garbage bags to keep our bums dry. Drinking from surgical tubing strung over the snowy puffed edges of the Paint or Ink Pots, whichever they were, at the top of Johnston's Canyon just outside Banff on the old road.

Old army wool pants from the Army Surplus by the Stampede, cut off at the knee to adapt to cross country, wool sweaters, and in those days, there weren't gortex jackets, but green garbage bags were perfect for sitting on for lunch, and did double duty as wind protection on the way down. It would take about 2 or 3 hours to climb up, 45 minutes for lunch and 45-75 minutes to whiz down. Days are short in the mountains in winter.

Another memory was the time the temperature was dropping so fast on the way back from a lake that I ended up with about 12 inch blocks of ice all the way down each ski because the wax we figured would work - well let's say it didn't even come close.

There was this couple, I thought they were elderly, but they were probably in their 60's that we used to often meet on those trails. I always thought that I'd be like them, out there in the winter on sunny days with the sun on bright snow in the Rockies. Wasn't meant to be.

Resources for accounting for lawyers

• Sample legal file for legal WIP -
• http://www.taxdetective.ca/Samples/sampledatafiles.html
• Scroll down to the middle of page to find the link to a file called
• Qbb 2011-03-13 - Lawyer's WIP
• This QBB file is a QuickBooks data file and it has to be saved and restored in QuickBooks before it can be opened
• This file shows Inventory of unbilled costs as a Current Asset
• Two articles - ask me for a copy
• Eileen's Article - QB AA - WIP those Lawyers into Shape - 2006-04 - Reppenhagen, Eileen, Tax Detective
• Esther Friedberg Karp's Article - QB for Law Firms - Its Street Legal, 2005, Esther

Considering setting up a sample in the QuickBooks Online Plus as a trial file to see how it will work in the cloud version of QuickBooks in Canada.

If this interests you, let me know by email eileen@taxdetective.ca and I'll set up a working class in my new scheduling program

eileenreppenhagen.fullslate.com

Register now for 30 minutes on how to organize your paperwork

If you're self-employed this is for you!

https://eileenreppenhagen.fullslate.com/book?day=2101&services%5B%5D=29&time=68400

I've been thinking about how to communicate about what it takes to keep your records current, and accurate.

Current means up to date, so that if you're wondering where you're at, to estimate your taxes, or if you're wondering who owes you and what your obligations will be, that your books are current.

Accurate means that they are reconciled, and that you've considered the items that didn't balance to determine whether or not they should be recorded because they will happen, and when that will be, or if not, that you've deleted those transactions so they don't confuse anyone looking at your financial statements.

I say this seriously, because every time I look at someone's QuickBooks file, there are entries to the bank that don't belong there that have never been deleted. They'll ask me why their financial statements don't agree with their bank reconciliation. It's because they've never deleted transactions that don't belong on the books.

Not to say you should just go deleting transactions without knowing for sure, but if you've got entries in the bank register that don't reconcile, and they will never clear the bank, the way to deal with them may be to delete them! But if they tie to other transactions in the books, it may be your links to other transactions are linked to the wrong place and that needs revision at the same time.

I'm going to be talking about the ten steps to organizing your records on Monday night at 7 pm Pacific time.

Sign up to attend the 30 minute webinar here and I'll open up the webinar ten minutes early.

If you've never used GoToMeeting.com  before, you can run the free trial, or to make it really easy, load the mobile APP for your iPhone, iPAD or Android device to listen in.  The APP is on their website. 

You won't be talking during the webinar, just listening, but you can type in your questions in the chat room.

eileenreppenhagen.fullslate.com

I received this email today from Carroll Lefebvre. If you're in the lower mainland, this powerful play may interest you. Here's what Carroll had to say and I quote

Bravery, Responsibility, Integrity and Tenacity.

I'm borrowing the new Britannia HS BRIT acronym this morning because it definitely applies to anyone tackling a backlog of tax returns for a family.

Bravery
The act of starting anything requires a plan. Being willing to plan and execute something of this magnitude when you're this far behind, you're very brave.

Responsibility
Canadian are responsible for filing their own tax returns, and for understanding what those rules are. Not taking responsibility can be very expensive, could cost in penalties and interest if you owe tax, or in lost benefit programs. What programs could you lose out on? I can think of three right off the cuff but there's many programs that require the provision of Net income calculation. 
1) CPP, OAS, GIS top up for old age pensioners
2) Pharmacare
3) Premium assistance reduction on BC Medical plan premiums.
For sure your banker won't provide you with financing if your tax returns aren't filed and tax paid

Integrity
The loss of integrity that comes with non compliance can cause you to lose sleep. Being in integrity means sleeping at night. It's that simple. Out of integrity? You aren't sleeping.

Tenacity
Remember, when tackling a backlog of anything, it isn't going to take any less time than it would have taken if you'd done the work every year. If self-employed, your bookkeeping may take 4-5 hours a month. Multiply that by 60 months for five years backlog, and you're looking at a significant commitment in time, and the cost of assistance by someone qualified to help with the planning, organizing and execution of compliance.
Tenacity is sticking with it.

Catching up may take a few months.
You may choose to request a voluntary disclosure if you meet the criteria. You may need legal assistance. It just got more difficult to communicate with Canada Revenue Agency about disclosure as they no longer accept phone calls due to the volume of work in the system.

It's necessary to complete a form, send it in and expect, that if it's not completed correctly, to get the whole thing back in the mail. In the mean time, if you receive any demands to file, your ability to disclose voluntarily is lost.

Be prepared to be complete
It's necessary to meet all four criteria, especially to estimate how much is owed, and be prepared to pay what you owe.

Oh yes, you only get one kick at the can, so be prepared to deal with not only your taxes, but your GST/HST, and payroll disclosures.

Penalties for non compliance can be significant
An approved voluntary disclosure will eliminate all the penalties but only if you qualify. Voluntary disclosure won't forgive interest. But there is a Taxpayer Relief program that in limited circumstances may be helpful.

For more information about voluntary disclosures
http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/gncy/nvstgtns/vdp-eng.html

For more information about Taxpayer Relief
http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/E/pbg/tf/rc4288/

For rates, dates, and penalty information, scroll down to the relevant links
http://www.taxdetective.ca/whatsnew2009.html