Bookkeepers love and hate the months of January and February. We love the extra work, the long hours and the extra income. And, yet, we hate the extra work and the long hours.
Every year we receive paperwork from companies that have not done any bookkeeping all year. Yet the deadlines loom and the bookkeepers scramble, pull their hair and drink unhealthy amounts of coffee (or wine). That said, there is a secret to sailing through year-end: get an experienced bookkeeper and listen to your bookkeeper! You will soon find direct correlations between a strong relationship with your bookkeeper, the organization of your books, and a smooth year-end process.
So how does a smooth year-end process relate to a strong relationship with your bookkeeper? Let’s break it down.
I’m sure it’s no surprise that accountants love tidy books, and we all love to keep accountants happy. Here’s a brief glimpse into what your accountant is striving for each year-end:
2. Corporate taxes owed need to be paid within 3 months of year end
3. Corporate tax return needs to be filed within six months of year end
4. T4s and T4As need to be processed and distributed to your employees by Feb 28th and the CRA wants to see a summary of earnings, deductions and remittances
TIP: Your employees will be delighted if their T4s are correct and on time. Now they can work on their own income tax return quickly.
5. Contractor payments need to be recorded on T5018s and submitted withing six months of year end
6. Your WCB return, which WCB bases your monthly payments on, is due Feb 28th
Don’t miss out on this assistance through unnecessary mistakes; make sure it’s accurate!
7. Although your annual GST filing is due June 15th for 2021, the actual payment is due April 30th. Have you been making instalment payments to your GST account during the year. No? But you have a savings account with money stashed away to pay your GST? Yes? Great!
Does the above seem like a lot? It doesn’t have to be…
If you do the above on a regular basis, then you will sail smoothly through this year-end to the new year! If you answered “no” to any of these 3 points above, don’t punish yourself but don’t allow yourself to repeat the same mistakes and have déjà vu again next year. Handle it now. Hire a good bookkeeper and breeze through year-end every year.
How do I build a strong relationship with my bookkeeper? Here are the key points to helping your bookkeeper organize your records:
1. Hand in your paperwork monthly.
2. Hand in all business transactions (invoices, receipts, bank statements, Visa statements, etc.). I recommend keeping your paperwork in one place to avoid misplacing things.
3. For each transaction, provide as much information as possible:
b. Attach cheque stubs to invoices
c. Clarify what you bought
d. Mark personal purchases as “personal”.
Answer all those predictable bookkeeper questions in advance, while it’s still fresh in your mind!
Your bookkeeping is only as accurate as the paperwork you hand in. We categorize your expenses, record your income and payments, but please understand that unexplained amounts need to be investigated and clarified.