Are you a DIYer or a Delegator?: Newsletter April 2, 2021

Hello All,

Like all small business owners, I find myself wearing many hats. Over time I have learned marketing, ITing, web development, SEO, writing, graphic design and a host of other skills. Unfortunately, I do many of these things badly and unfortunately, I’m not very good at delegating. Part of the reason, if I would were to do some self analysis, is that I don’t like relinquishing control. It is often difficult to convey exactly what I need or want and I don’t always even know what this is. The key is to find the right person for the task and in order to do that, you have to be able to have at least a high level vision so that you can define the work that you need. If not, it leaves you in a state of inertia where its easier to do it yourself or not at all.

That being said, I have read, seen and listened to some tremendous educators who have been able to help someone like me, who prefers to DIY most things unless it is completely outside my depth or until I find someone I trust. The internet is a fount of knowledge if you know where to look. My goal, with my blog and as I start to deviate towards to providing educational resources, is to impart knowledge to small business owners (and taxpayers) on all things financial, accounting and tax as I think it is really important for everyone to have a firm grasp of your own financial situation. In the spirit of DIY, I encourage many of you to do (or at least attempt to do) your personal/small business tax returns especially those who aren’t terrified of numbers (like my spouse) and have fairly straightforward situations. Doing your own taxes, for many isn’t that difficult and tax software has massively simplified it, even for accountants and tax preparers as they help to ensure that everything is entered in the right place and optimized. Others, with more complicated situations or number anxiety, should certainly delegate but before doing so should be able to have at least a basic understanding of their financial circumstances. Understanding some of the concepts, helps you feel more empowered and sets you up for more informed expectations and less unpleasant surprises.

This week’s blog post looks at the difference between a tax deduction and tax credit along with details relating to some common “tax deductions”. This is potentially applicable to everyone who files a tax return and attempts to elucidate some of the tax jargon (although as an accountant I often use technical jargon without even realizing it). Hope this helpful. Please let me know if you have any questions or if I missed anything by replying to this email.

I have also included an older post about donations, which is a “tax credit” and not a deduction but relates to personal tax.

Small Business Articles/Tips

My 2nd Q&A on CBC : A couple of weeks ago I was asked in for a second time for a Q&A session to answer some questions on CBC’s “ask an expert” lunch hour. It was a lot of fun and I actually learned some things from the callers. You can check out the interview here

Tax Tip : This article from Advisors Edge talks about the tax ramifications of buying, selling or renovating your home in 2020 including the home buyers plan and principal residence reporting. Note that you are required to report the sale of a principal residence even though you are not required to pay any taxes on its sale (assuming it was your principal residence for the whole time)

QBO Tip : I was helping a client with their QBO file this week and I noticed that the profit on their balance sheet did not match their profit-loss statement (which it should always do). After much troubleshooting, I finally figured out the answer which was the year end of the corporation was incorrect. The start of the year was reflected as January (which is the default), however, the actual start of the year for this corporation was November. This seemingly minor error threw all the numbers out of whack. Please make sure this is set up correctly in the Settings - Advanced tab.

Products

A standing thank you to everyone who has purchased my ebooks. I really appreciate it and sincerely hope they have been useful Please don’t hesitate to leave feedback on my form below.

Small Business and Your Dividends: For those of you who are doing it yourself, and have not had time to file your dividends, this book helps you understand exactly how dividends work and how to submit them to the government. There is also a free dividend checklist that you can download here.

Start Your Business: If you are planning to start a business, or already have one but not sure if you are doing everything correctly, received conflicting information etc. my book tells you what every business owner needs to evaluate from a financial and tax perspective. I’ve received a number of positive reviews (which is always nice ).

Discount: Save 25% on either guide by using the discount code “special”.

NEW: Companion to your small business taxes: I’ve made some progress on my small business/self employed tax guide. If you are interested in the guide and/or have any specific topics to recommend please let me know here.

Feedback Form:

I have created a feedback form for anyone who would like to provide their insights into existing blog posts, topic ideas for new blogs, feedback on my products/website or anything else. I’m always looking for ways to improve or provide value (to the extent possible) and this will be most helpful.

As always, I would like to welcome my new subscribers and of course my current subscribers , whom I really appreciate. Hope everyone has a fantastic long weekend!

Ronika