Principal
Steven is a CPA, CA with over 20 years of industry experience working with public companies in senior and executive level roles. Over this time, he has built and led successful teams in operations, finance, sales and business development with operations across North America. Even with an evolving and progressive corporate career, he has always had a passion for small business and has consistently been consulted by several business owners over the years for his high level of integrity, sound advice and well-rounded experience.
Recently, Steven made the decision to take his experience and reputation for excellent customer service and focus on partnering with Canadian small businesses enabling them to succeed. His mission is to provide excellence in all aspects of supporting small businesses. Having been an entrepreneur himself at an early age, he appreciates and respects the mindset and determination of small business owners and the challenges they face. He is driven to deliver customized solutions specific to the needs of each business he partners with, enabling them to focus on their core business and setting them up for future growth. What sets him apart is his ability to communicate and relate to his stakeholders.
Latest Insights
Balancing the Books: Insights from an Expert Accounting Firm
It is no secret that managing a business’s finances can be complicated and intimidating! Financial accounts, taxes, forecasts- the list of what needs to be done can seem never-ending. However, accurately tracking and forecasting your financial data is essential for keeping your business successful. That's why we contacted our expert accounting firm, which specializes in helping entrepreneurs easily navigate their financial journeys. This blog post will provide exclusive insights from seasoned professionals on how to masterfully balance the books without driving yourself mad! Read on for valuable tips and advice on staying financially organized and creating a secure path towards success.
Understand the Different Components of Financial Statements and How They Interact
Anybody attempting to comprehend the complexity of a company's financial health must thoroughly understand the many financial statement components and how they interact. Four main parts comprise financial statements, which all give a thorough insight into a company's economic performance. They include the statement of changes in equity, cash flow statement, income statement, and balance sheet. The income statement emphasizes a company's revenues, costs, and overall profitability, while the balance sheet displays the company's assets, liabilities, and equity.
On the other hand, the cash flow statement lays out the inflows and outflows of cash, illustrating how the company generates and uses its funds. Lastly, the statement of equity changes reveals the shareholders' equity variations throughout a specified timeframe. It is crucial to recognize the interconnectedness of these financial statements, as each one provides invaluable information relative to the others. By analyzing these four components in conjunction, one can understand a company's financial stability holistically, enabling well-informed decisions for investors and stakeholders alike.
Examine How an Accounting Firm Can Help to Ensure Accuracy and Cut Costs
Accounting companies are essential to a company's overall performance and financial stability. These experts' knowledge and direction help organizations keep correct financial records, streamline processes, and save expenses. Companies can rely on having a clear understanding of their financial situation through rigorous record-keeping, compliance with tax laws, and current financial statements when they use the services of an experienced accounting company.
Accounting companies also give management a strategic edge by spotting cost-cutting possibilities and giving them helpful information that helps them make wise decisions. Additionally, firms may lower mistakes and the risk of financial mismanagement by outsourcing challenging financial responsibilities to an accounting company. In essence, utilizing an accounting firm's knowledge and experience helps businesses to make the most of their resources, improve productivity, and create a strong basis for future development and success.
Explore Key Industry Trends and Strategies for Accurate Record Keeping
Accurate record-keeping is essential for successful businesses to track revenue and expenses, ensure compliance with regulations, and have the data needed to make informed decisions. Staying on top of industry trends, new technology, and transforming strategies can help organizations maintain complete and accurate records. For example, integrating cloud computing into recordkeeping processes makes storing and accessing data easier while preserving accuracy.
Knowledge of Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems can also help organizations efficiently manage customer details without sacrificing accuracy. By exploring key industry trends and implementing the right record-keeping strategies, companies will benefit from accurate records for years.
Learn About the Benefits of Hiring a Professional Accounting Firm
Hiring a seasoned accounting company to manage your company's finances may reduce stress and free up your time so you can focus on other crucial areas of your operation. The equipment and expertise required to assemble accurate and current financial accounts are available from a professional accounting company. They also have the added advantage of giving you tips on increasing revenue and saving expenses.
Furthermore, having access to professionals who specialize in understanding the complexities of taxes means that you can develop an efficient filing plan and potentially lower tax liability. Equipped with the knowledge of how economies can affect businesses, a professional accounting firm helps prepare companies for potential downturns by performance budgeting and benchmarking from past data. Hiring a professional accounting firm is an investment that will inevitably increase productivity, clarity, and profitability for any business.
Final Words
To sum it all up, taking care of your books can be daunting, and having professionals there to guide you can make the process much easier. Keep your business from suffering due to any lack of accounting knowledge. If you need insight on better managing your finances, then it's time to consult an expert accounting firm! So why wait? Contact our team today, and we'll lead you in the right direction toward financially sound success.
Strategies For Keeping Your Small Business Finances Organized
Are you a small company owner seeking straightforward strategies to manage your finances? A structured financial system is essential to the success of any endeavor, whether you are just starting or have been running a small business for years. Even while the effort may seem overwhelming, there are a few tactics you can start using right away to streamline procedures and lessen the stress associated with managing your finances. In this blog article, we'll go through the best advice for setting up your money so you may ensure long-term stability and have more peace of mind. Learn more by reading on!
Utilize Accounting Software to Track Expenses, Income and Balance Sheets
Keeping your small business finances organized is no small task! But utilizing accounting software to track expenses, income, and balance sheets can make the process easier. Accounting software like QuickBooks or Wave can help business owners gain visibility into their financial data, allowing them to understand their income better or predict patterns in upcoming expenses. This information can be used to plan for budgeting and future financial goals efficiently.
Furthermore, organized accounts simplify filing taxes – avoiding any potential headaches from annual bookkeeping chaos. With the helpful tools that accounting software provides, keeping your small business’s finances on track and in order is easy.
Set a Budget for Overhead Costs and Stick to it
One of the most critical steps when running an efficient small business is to stay organized. This means ensuring your expenses are tracked and within budget guidelines laid out in advance. Setting a budget for overhead costs such as rent, utilities, and marketing can help you save money also prevent unexpected expenditures.
By managing a budget consistently, you can create an annual financial plan that will allow your business to function best while keeping costs low. If it helps, revisit the budget regularly or adjust it seasonally if certain expenses are tied to specific times of the year. Becoming diligent in your budgeting efforts will make it easier for you to pay for any essential items without feeling the pinch on your finances.
Create Separate Accounts for Business-related Expenses and Investments
Creating separate accounts for your business-related expenses and investments is a great way to keep your financial books organized. It's essential to track these expenses to accurately assess how much of your money goes towards necessary purchases versus large investments that could help grow the business.
Creating individual accounts will allow you to review transactions quickly, which will help you identify areas of overspending or where budget cuts can be made if needed. This process also allows you to see the whole picture without going through different documents – a helpful tool for staying on top of your expected growth trajectory!
Make sure all Invoices are Paid on Time
Meeting deadlines and avoiding conflicts with creditors depend heavily on accurate and up-to-date accounting. An essential component of a small business accounting system is ensuring invoices are paid on time. To do this, hiring an accounting firm to examine accounts and guarantee payments are delivered on time could be beneficial. This may keep your financial flow on pace, save late penalties, and give you peace of mind knowing that your bills will be paid off as soon as feasible. Working with an accounting firm in Toronto enables you to concentrate more on your strengths while having confidence in efficiently managing your finances. Click here if you're interested
Automate Payments where Possible
Automating payments can streamline your finances, removing the stress of manually managing them. Automating recurring bills and other expenses with fixed pricing is a good idea. By automating these tasks, you’ll save time and ensure that nothing falls through the cracks while verifying that all of your invoices and payments are accurate. Automation will also create a record of all your transactions, letting you easily refer back and track your spending history in the future.
You may locate firms that provide budgeting tools or streamlined accounting systems suited to the requirements of small enterprises, which will further streamline the procedure. When used effectively, automation may be a potent tool for managing and organizing small business finances, freeing entrepreneurs to concentrate on expanding their companies.
Final Words
Staying on top of your small business finances can be a real challenge - but it doesn't have to be. You can make this task much more manageable with the right tools and strategies! Let us help remove some of that headache by providing our expertise today. Reach out now for assistance in making money management more accessible.
Real Estate Bookkeeping: How to Avoid Common Mistakes
For real estate investors, ensuring accurate bookkeeping is essential to maintain healthy financials and guard against potential legal issues. However, many real estate entrepreneurs can easily fall victim to common inaccuracy mistakes without an in-depth understanding of the complexities associated with managing investments accordingly. To help all owners understand the basics of property ownership accounting and stay diligent in their books, this post explores some of the most common pitfalls encountered by novice investors and actionable tips on how to avoid them.
Not Tracking Your Expenses and Income
Regarding real estate bookkeeping, one of the most common mistakes is not tracking your expenses and income. This can quickly lead to poor decision-making because you won't have an accurate picture of your financial situation. Without proper tracking, business owners can easily miss a deduction they're entitled to or be unaware of needed payments that have been missed.
Not only is it essential to stay ahead of taxes due, but awareness of income and expenses allows for greater control over budgets and increased clarity when making investment choices. Real estate businesses must maintain consistent tracking to make the right decisions and ensure profitability.
How to avoid this
To avoid this trap, log all transactions into your bookkeeping system as soon as possible. Review your records to ensure that everything is regularly updated and that no mistakes have been made. Lastly, look for tools that automate the process so you can spend less time worrying about details and more time doing the things you enjoy when managing your real estate business.
Not Reconciling Your Bank Statements Regularly
A common mistake in real estate bookkeeping is failing to reconcile your bank statements regularly. Reconciling your bank statement regularly is a critical process that will keep you informed of the inflows and outflows of day-to-day spending, identifying any errors or discrepancies between what has been transacted and what appears as the balance in your account. This allows investors to keep their finances accurate and up-to-date, preventing potential financial losses due to misunderstanding or mismanaging funds. Although it may take time, a little diligence goes a long way toward keeping track of the financial condition of your real estate investments.
How to avoid this
To ensure accuracy in your bookkeeping, reconcile bank activity frequently, review balances and transactions often, detect potential differences promptly and eliminate them as soon as possible. Taking these extra precautions when reconciling your bank accounts can help prevent future headaches caused by inaccurate record-keeping.
Ignoring to Hire a Bookkeeper
Many real estate developers need to hire bookkeeping services in Toronto. It's easy to fall into the trap of thinking that it's just yourself and your business, but bookkeeping is an essential skill that can help a business succeed. Significant numbers can easily be noticed with a qualified and experienced bookkeeper, and issues such as overspending may put future developments at risk.
Not hiring a bookkeeper can also lead to considerable tax implications if expenses are not tracked properly, or financial data is inaccurate. Overall, investing in a qualified bookkeeper is essential for establishing proper systems, staying on top of finances, and creating long-term strategies to grow your real estate portfolio.
How to avoid this
Contact a reputable accounting firm in Toronto and review potential services they could offer that could benefit your business. Look at their references and portfolio of work to conclude. These steps will ensure you hire the right person to manage your real estate bookkeeping needs and keep your investments in check!
Forgetting to Update Your Books When You Make Changes to Your Property
One of the most common mistakes in real estate bookkeeping is forgetting to update your books when you make changes to your property. Whether something as small as adding a coat of paint or something as significant as making a repair, not updating your books can lead to a lot of trouble down the road; once these changes have been made, it’s essential to keep detailed, organized records of them so that you have accurate information on the condition and value of your real estate investment. Not only will it help you assess finances and make business decisions, but if an emergency arises, having up-to-date records may be beneficial when dealing with legal or insurance issues.
How to avoid this
Luckily, investing in the right accounting software or bringing on an experienced accountant can help alleviate some of this stress and ensure accurate and timely updates occur.
Final Words
So there you have it, some of the most common bookkeeping mistakes real estate investors make – and how to avoid them. All joking aside, we know that managing your finances can be tricky (to say the least). If you need help keeping your business’s books in order, don’t hesitate to contact us. We would be more than happy to chat with you about our services and see if we’re a good fit for each other.
Benefits of Getting Your Personal Taxes Filled Online
Filing taxes is often an intimidating, daunting task. It’s complicated and time-consuming, and you want to ensure everything is done perfectly. Fortunately, there are plenty of options available today that make the process significantly more straightforward for those preparing personal taxes. In particular, filing your taxes online has become increasingly popular thanks to its speed, convenience, accuracy and cost-effectiveness. Gone are the days of completing long pages of paper forms by hand; now, all it takes are a few clicks with online tax filing services! Keep reading more about the tremendous benefits of electronically filing your taxes.
It's Easy and Convenient - You can do it From Anywhere, at Any Time
Like most of us, you dread the time of year when taxes roll around. But filing your taxes doesn't have to be a monumental chore: with online filing, you can do it from anywhere, any time. Working on your schedule, around your existing commitments and from the comfort of your own home or device makes taking care of this task a breeze - no more late-night trips to the accountant's office or trying to finish in time for the post office deadline!
With online filing, keeping up with your taxes is quick and straightforward; plus, it offers the added convenience of securely tracking all your documents and forms in one place. Get on top of this annual chore now - file those taxes quickly and conveniently with online filing.
You Can Get Your Refund Faster - In Some Cases, You can Get it Within 48 Hours
Filing your taxes online is becoming more popular, especially after hearing that it can get you your refund quicker. In many cases, you can receive your return within 48 hours of filing, making it much faster than if you mailed a physical tax return. This convenience and speed make for an attractive option, quickly allowing you to put that money towards savings or paying down debt. Additionally, the convenience of working from home and filing from multiple devices instead of only having access to brick-and-mortar locations makes it incredibly easy to stay on top of your taxes all year round.
It's More Accurate Than Filing by Hand
Filing your personal taxes online is becoming increasingly popular due to its ease and convenience. One key benefit of using digital technology for this task is that it offers greater accuracy than filing by hand. You can minimize errors and potential headaches by taking advantage of the streamlined process.
Filing your taxes online not only ensures safety and accuracy but also allows you to get organized in a timely manner so that deadlines are easier to meet. Furthermore, you have the assurance that the CRA will accept the digital version without question. Overall, making this switch to an automated system can make filing taxes a more effortless experience for everyone involved.
You can Track the Status of Your Return Online
Filing your taxes online from an accounting firm in Toronto offers a whole range of benefits, from having access to online support to tracking the status of your return. The ability to quickly and accurately monitor updates on your submitted tax return progress is desirable; with no more wondering or worrying if your return was received and accepted by the tax authorities, you can take comfort in knowing that you'll have timely updates about the status.
Furthermore, the convenience of electronically filing (even when using a professional) minimizes data input errors. It improves accuracy – saving time and eliminating potentially costly mistakes later on. The online filing provides peace of mind for those who value efficiency and accuracy.
Time-Saving - if You Have All Your Documents Ready, it Should only Take About 30 Minutes to Complete Your Return
Forget the days of spending hours trying to untangle your financial documents to complete your tax return; it doesn't have to be such an uphill task. Being well-prepared means, you can easily breeze through the entire process. Having all your documents ready and in possession before filing means, the process should take at most 30 minutes. It pays off to be organized: having paperwork at hand makes completing a return a simple and efficient task, saving you precious time. So if you want an easy, stress-free tax season, ensure you get your documentation sorted out well beforehand!
Final Words
So, why put off filing your taxes? By using an online service to prepare and submit them, you can experience various benefits that make the stress-free tax season well within reach. Contact us now and see how easy it is to get started down this path!