Explore Small Business Finance Topics
Discover our most popular topics for Canadian solopreneurs and small business owners. From income tax and GST/HST to QuickBooks tutorials and managing your business finances, these guides are designed to help you move from financial uncertainty to financial confidence.
Click on any topic and scroll down to see related articles.
đź“‘Canadian Income Tax
Guidance on filing and planning your Canadian taxes, from T1 and T2 returns to instalments
đź“ŠManaging Business Finances
From cash flow to pricing and metrics — learn to manage your business finances with confidence.
🏢 Canadian Business Structure
Should you incorporate? Stay informed on sole proprietorships, corporations, and registrations.
đź’° GST/HST & QST
Understand how to register, file, and maximize input tax credits while avoiding common mistakes.
🧾 Guides and Tutorials
Practical accounting processes like reconciliations, journal entries, and reporting.
đź“ť Deductions & Expenses
Learn which expenses are CRA deductible and how to track them for maximum tax savings.
Quebec Taxes & Business
QST, Revenu Québec filings, Quebec payroll, and provincial rules every entrepreneur should know.
👤 Paying Yourself
Salary vs dividends, management fees, and how to pay yourself from your corporation or small business.
đź’» QuickBooks Online & Tools
Tutorials, guides and time-saving tips for using QuickBooks Online effectively.
🏦 Money & Personal Finance
Personal finance strategies for entrepreneurs, from RRSPs to saving for taxes.
21 Gift Ideas to Make Any Small Business Owner Happy
Most of us know at least one small business owner or entrepreneur who maintains an unconventional work schedule, is physically attached to their laptop, sees every get together as a networking opportunity and/or enjoys passionate discussions about spreadsheets. For many business owner, gifts that make their working lives easier and workspaces more efficient (and cozier) are often greatly appreciated since so much of their time is often spent immersed in their businesses. The list of gift ideas below, many of which are fairly inexpensive, may help to toggle some inspiration for the small business owner that you know:
How to determine if your business idea Is profitable
I have spoken to and mentored many lovely entrepreneurs who have wonderfully innovative ideas for a new business. But, as any business owner can attest to, starting a new business is hard work. Before even thinking about launching, you need to ensure that the business is actually viable. You do this by assessing your market, reviewing potential demand for your product and analyzing the competition. Once you have done this, you then need to ensure that your business can be profitable.
In order to determine profitability, you need to understand both the pricing of your products and/or services and the relevant costs. This can be difficult to do especially when you don’t have any history. Your only choice is to estimate based on the best information available. In this article, I give you some guidance on the financial information that you need to compile.
3 Tools that allow you to Remotely Connect to your Computer from Anywhere
The past few years, and especially the last year has changed the way many business owners and employees work. There has been a mass adoption of virtual workspaces where people are no longer tethered to their offices. Instead the technology to make working from anywhere has increased and improved significantly and is accessible by anyone who has a working internet connection. Business can be conducted from your home, an airport, a café or (if you are lucky) on the beach.
While many software, apps and programs are available in the cloud and can directly be accessed directly from your computer or smartphone internet browser, there are times when you need access to your actual desktop or another computer so that you can access the programs and data files that reside there. Luckily, there are numerous tools out there that allow small business owners to remotely connect to their computers . Three of these are discussed below:
18 Accounting Terms that every new business owner should know.
When starting a new business, you will be subjected to a variety of financial jargon. This can come from your bank, Revenue Canada or Revenue Quebec, suppliers, customers and various other business partners. If you are unfamiliar with this terminology, these requests which are often quite straightforward, can become stressful if you are not exactly sure what they mean. It is important, therefore, to arm yourself with at least a basic vocabulary of the most common financial and accounting terminology that will give you a better understanding of your business and therefore be well equipped to answer any questions that come your way.
8 Inexpensive Ways to Market Your Services
One of the most daunting aspects of starting a new small service based business is building a client base (and nothing is quite so exciting as getting those first few clients). When trying to generate new business, it is important to cast a wide net as you never know where potential clients may be lurking. Once you have established your business, you will discover the methods that work best for you and you can finesse your marketing strategy. You can also choose to be more selective as you determine which type of client is the best fit for your business.
There are many ways to build a client base, even with limited resources, some of which are discussed below:
Tax Return Checklist for Individuals and Unincorporated Business Owners
The deadline to file tax returns is starting to loom large, resulting in anxiety for some individuals and small business owners. The good news is that the stress can be managed fairly easily with some simple organization techniques. The best starting point is to evaluate your tax situation and prepare a checklist of all the documentation that you will need with respect to your specific tax situation. A checklist can help reduce (or eliminate) important items that might get forgotten in the rush to put everything together (and its always satisfying to cross something off the list). I have compiled a list of some of the more common income, deductions and credits that the majority of taxpayers are likely to have:
Business Tax Deadlines for Sole Proprietors for 2021
While many businesses got a break from some onerous tax deadlines back in the early days of Covid, unfortunately there are no such extensions for 2021. Almost all tax deadlines are now exactly as they were in previous years and small business owners must adhere to them or risk facing penalties for late filing plus interest on any overdue balances. That being said, it is possible that a greater amount of taxpayer relief will be available this year if you can demonstrate financial hardship due to Covid.
I have compiled a list of deadlines for all unincorporated small business owners which includes sole proprietors and self employed individuals. You can also sign up to get a calendar of tax due dates (for sole proprietors) for your ongoing reference.