What’s Your Number (and a sale!)?: November 26th, 2021

Hello All,

As this year rapidly draws to a close, many of us are breathing a (cautious) sigh of relief as some semblance of normality returns to our lives. I am happy to report that, after missing it last year for obvious reasons, I will be spending American thanksgiving with family. It is a time honoured tradition that mostly involves ridiculous amounts of food, braving the shopping malls and spending cozy evenings chatting by the fire. It is one of my favourite times of year (even though it isn’t my holiday per se) as I inextricably associate it with family and warmth.

The next few weeks are a good time to reflect on what we have done over the past year, what we weren’t able to do and what we would like to do next year. As you might have guessed, I love numbers and to me it is important to measure results and goals in numbers, where possible. Numbers are tangible and objective when it comes to your business and/or your personal finances that can easily be tracked and measured. My recommendation is to pick one number, that is most important to you right now for 2022 eg. total sales or # of clients or a personal savings goal or followers on Instagram (or anything else). Once you pick a number, it takes root in the recesses of your brain and you subconsciously start to take action to achieve it. The number should be achievable and realistic without being too low. If you find that you are unable to come up with something objective, ask someone that you are close to (ideally someone whom you respect for their instincts) to give you a number (someone, with lots of experience in what I am trying achieve, gave me a number recently which is what led to this musing). Once you have a number, you can break it down into monthly or weekly goals and have a mechanism to measure it (spreadsheets can be pretty handy here). If its Instagram followers, measurement is pretty easy. Sales or profit or number of clients will require that you update your accounting regularly. Savings requires that you have an account where you can see your money accumulate or an online app that helps you track your savings (there are many free ones out there).

This “number” does not replace your other goals and objectives. It also does not require that you drop everything and become super organized with your numbers. It is simply the one that is most important, will help drive your other goals and is easy to measure. Most importantly, it allows you to celebrate small successes and feel a sense of gratification when you are achieving or exceeding it . And if you are falling behind, it helps to motivate you to work harder.

My latest post reviews the year end procedures that everyone who uses QBO (or any accounting software) and wants to ensure that their books are accurate should familiarize themselves with, even if you have an accountant.

I have also included an older post with some year end planning tips that might serve as a useful reminder.

Small Business Articles/Tips

Having an Office Party? This article from CFIB explores the responsibilities of serving alcohol at any work related social event.

As an employer, you have a legal obligation to ensure the health and safety of your employees, including during and after a business-related social event.
In the case of an accident, you can be held responsible, not only for injuries caused by or to employees who leave work-related social events intoxicated, but also to anyone who might be harmed by one of your employees.

Of course you could simply not offer alcohol at all but then risk being a labelled a (literal) buzzkill. Instead, know your responsibilities, have a policy and be prepared to take action, if necessary.

Tax News: If you are a Toronto based small business and you fulfill certain criteria you will see a reduction in your property taxes by 15%. It is estimated that 25,000 Toronto based small business will benefit from this initiative.

QuickBooks Tip - Year End Accruals: My blog posts goes through the various procedures that you should follow to ensure the accuracy of your numbers. One of these procedures is to accrue any expenses for which you might only receive a bill after the year end, but for which the service or product was received prior to year end. For example, your web developer might have done work for you for 2021, but only bill you in early 2022. In this case, you would set up a journal entry for the amount of the bill that relates to 2021 on December 31, 2021. In the journal entry you would debit the expense account (web development or subcontractor etc.) and credit accrued payable. Once you receive the bill, you would reverse this journal entry on the date on which you receive the bill in 2022. The reverse function can be seen on the journal entry itself in QBO. When you click on it, QBO automatically creates a reversing entry which you can review, change the date and enter.

Books and Resources

Black Friday Sale!

All my books will be available at a 50% discount from Friday at to Monday. Please use code “BF2021” to apply the discount to any (or all) books.

NEW: FastStart Your Corporation(Corporations)
The step by step guide to starting your small business corporation, including what you need to know about incorporation, setting up your accounting and tax considerations.

QuickStart your QuickBooks(Sole Proprietorships and Corporations)
A comprehensive guide that takes you through the many features of QBO and gives you step by step instructions on how to setup and work with QBO day to day. It is ideal for beginners who have never used QBO before and also for those who are currently using it, but have questions or need guidance.

Small Business Tax Facts(Sole Proprietorships)
For those of you want to have a better understanding of tax, how it applies to your unincorporated small businesses and how to do your own tax return (or at least understand what your accountant does). It also includes a comprehensive breakdown of deductible expenses, by category, with somewhat entertaining examples.

FastStart Your Business (Sole Proprietorships)
A step by step guide for anyone who is planning to start a Canadian business or become self employed (as a sole proprietor) and wants to know what they need to do or simply has questions.

Small Business and Your Dividends (Corporations)
Explains what incorporated small business owners need to know about small business dividends, differences between salary vs dividends and step by step instructions on how to file your own dividend declarations (T5s).

Use discount code “special” to save 20% on any (or all) book(s) when you purchase from the website (except for sale days from Friday to Monday).

If you prefer a print version, all books are also available at Amazon . Note that print versions purchased on Amazon include a complimentary PDF - you just need to email me and include proof of purchase.

Free Resources

Start Your Business Checklist
Dividend Declarations Checklist
Small Business Tax Return Checklist
Business 2021 Tax Deadline Calendar
QBO Set Up Checklist.
Small Business Calculators
Previous newsletters.
Corporation checklist coming soon

Consultations

I also provide consultation services. Additional details can be found here and here.

Reviews/Feedback

• I would love to hear your insights into existing blog posts, topic ideas for new blogs, feedback on my products/website or anything else that you want to talk to me about. You can use my feedback form or email me directly at ronika@montrealfinancial.ca. I’m always looking for ways to improve or provide value (to the extent possible) and this will be most helpful.

• For anyone who has purchased my books through Amazon or directly and found them useful, I would be hugely grateful for a review (to leave a review you only need to have an account with Amazon even if you did not purchase it from there).

• Finally, if you think anyone would benefit from this newsletter, you can send them my subscribe link.

Hope everyone has an amazing, sale-laden weekend!

Ronika