Changing Your Fiscal Year’s End Date

Changing Your Fiscal Year’s End Date – Why You Might and How You Could

by BusinessFinancial Planning

Looking to change your fiscal year’s end date to another time of the year? Choosing your year-end date can have strategic tax advantages, as well as operational advantages. And technically, you can change it to any date on the calendar, as long as it meets the Canada Revenue Agency’s (CRA) requirements. To learn more about why you might and how you could change your fiscal year’s end date, check out our short guide on the advantages and the process of doing so.

Benefits

Businesses with high inventory counts may prefer a year-end date to match with their offseason since a quieter time makes it easier to organize taxes and complete year-end tasks. A change may also help you to align your dates with your accounting firm’s slow period, getting you more attention, better rates, and a quicker turnaround when you need it most.

Sole-Proprietorship

When you open a sole-proprietorship, your fiscal year’s end date is automatically set for December 31 of the year you apply. However, you might want to have a date that makes filing taxes easier for you (as mentioned above). To request a change, you need to send a request to the CRA. To do this, you just need to fill out a form called the T1139 – Reconciliation of Business Income for Tax Purposes. The CRA will then review the application and determine if your reasoning is relevant enough for a change to occur. If your reasons are just, it is not likely you will be denied.

Corporation

For a corporation, the fiscal year’s end is established when you submit your first corporate tax return (T2). Technically, you don’t have to file it on December 31st. You could file it any other month, as long as the date you do so is within 53 weeks of your incorporation date. In the event that your corporation is already established, you’ll need to send a letter to the director of your local tax service office requesting a change.

Requirements for Approval

Not all applications will be approved by the CRA. They will only approve those that have sound business reasons and are not applying to attempt to minimize their taxes. An example is if your corporation is changing the fiscal year end date to match that of the date used by the parent corporation – such a reason makes sense for a multitude of reasons for both the umbrella company and for the company applying.

Special Circumstances

In some cases, you may be able to adjust your fiscal year-end date without the written approval of the CRA. For instance, let’s say your corporation is being acquired by another business and that company would like the fiscal year-end dates to match – you could just make a straight change. Other cases where this is acceptable include: when the corporation has wound-up, where a business has to end its tax year at a certain time because it’s moving abroad, or when a business has become exempt from tax.

Changing your fiscal year end is not right for every business – it also has the potential to introduce more tax reporting complexities. So, it’s always wise to talk to an advisor first before making a decision. We recommend getting in contact with us at The Beacon Group of Assante Financial Management Ltd. before you make any decisions regarding your fiscal planning.

The Dark Days: Keeping Your Staff Moving Until Spring

The Dark Days: Keeping Your Staff Moving Until Spring

by Business

Wondering how to keep your staff motivated, energetic, and productive until the brighter days of Spring? Winter time can present some challenges for keeping employees engaged and in a positive state of mind – especially with the holidays behind us and the cold season in full swing. To help you and your staff combat those winter blues, here are some practical tips to help boost the mood, morale, and productivity levels of your staff.

Recognize Good Work

Sometimes, it’s the small gestures that can really make the biggest difference. Recognizing good work with a simple handshake, or sharing a great idea presented by a staff member can help build up a culture of appreciation and support amongst your team. Simple gestures such as this can be extremely effective at boosting the morale and mood of your employees, as well as the culture of the organization

Make the Workplace More Enjoyable

Investing in your staff is important for any business to succeed. When your staff is a happy bunch, they’re more focused and productive as a whole. So, making an effort to create a more enjoyable and comfortable work environment is necessary. Simple adjustments can also go a long way. For example, switching up the lighting from harsh fluorescent bulbs to warmer, “sunnier” hues can cut down on the glare and help minimize the onset of Seasonal Affective Disorder.

Also, take a look at your employee’s workstations. What minor adjustments could help improve these areas? Maybe an adjustable chair to ease back pain, or an ergonomic mouse to help support their wrists? Even monitoring the temperature of the office to ensure it’s at a favourable level is important. Talk to your staff and learn what sort of issues can be improved upon that could help increase the comfort level at work – it will always benefit you in the present and in the long run.

Recognize Special Events

Building up a supportive workplace is one of the best ways to keep employees motivated and excited to come to work. Fostering a sense of community and friendship among the team can easily be achieved by making a point to recognize any special events, such as birthdays, anniversaries, promotions, accomplishments, and more. Taking the time to buy a cake or head for some celebratory drinks after work is an easy and simple way to build up that sense of community among your staff.

Remember, your staff is what makes or breaks your business. Keeping them happy, comfortable and motivated to work hard is imperative. Keep your staff moving until spring with these simple, effective tips.

Downsizing: Why It’s Not Always a Bad Option

Downsizing: Why It’s Not Always a Bad Option

by BusinessFinancial Planning

Are you considering downsizing your business but are afraid it may lead to poor results, slower growth, or other negative consequences? You shouldn’t worry – it may actually be a better idea than you had imagined. Here are just a few of the reasons why downsizing isn’t always a bad option.

Reduce Debts

Bad management and poor decisions are not the only causes of business debt. Sometimes it’s just plain old bad luck, and sometimes it’s the result of trying to grow too fast. When the debts are getting a little out of control and beginning to have a major impact on the business operations, downsizing can be the key to helping you get the finances back in order.

Remove Weak Links

Sometimes when companies grow too quickly, they must take on a large amount of staff without taking as much care and consideration in the hiring process, ensuring they can keep production in line with demand. If something happens in the marketplace, in your area, or within the company, and there is a dip in business as a result, you may find yourself over-staffed with underperforming, low-quality employees. Downsizing during this time can help you remove the weakest links within your teams and provide better opportunities for the ones who are dedicated and add real value.

Balance Resources

Another advantage of downsizing is that you can rebalance your resources. There will often come a time when certain departments may be receiving more resources than they need, putting a damper on your bottom line. It can be hard to notice when this is happening amongst the chaos of your everyday operations. Downsizing can assist you in this scenario by providing you with a good opportunity to re-evaluate and re-allocate resources to where they are most needed.

Generate Revenue

When you downsize, you will likely end up with equipment, supplies, and assets that you will no longer need. You can sell these within your industry and generate money that you can reinvest into the business to help grow your company into the direction you desire.

Improve Work-Life Balance

It’s a misconception that businesses need to be large to be successful. Sometimes bigger is more difficult to manage; it’s chaotic and more exhaustive on resources and employees than smaller businesses are. This is particularly true if you and all your managers are working non-stop to manage your large-scale operations. What’s the point if you can’t enjoy your life? Downsizing can help create a better work-life balance and keep your business structure in check as well.

Downsizing is not always a bad option.  In many ways, it can end up being the best option for your business to get back on track and succeed the way you planned. To find out if your business could benefit from downsizing, talk to one of our advisors today. We offer advice and guide you through the process when you’re ready to make a change.

5 Ways to Kick off the New Work Year Right

5 Ways to Kick off the New Work Year Right

by Business

Whether you had a great year or one that you’d consider more lukewarm than anything, now’s the time to start planning ahead so you can kick off the new work year right. Here are some ways to get geared up for a year of success and positive growth in your professional life.

Review Your Past Year & Get Organized

We’re all guilty of not being nearly as organized in both our professional and personal life as we should be.  But the reality is that it’s pretty important to handle in order to stay on top of our game. Review your past year and pinpoint some specific areas where you feel you fell short on – time management, prioritizing, delegating – and determine which areas need the most attention first. Then, begin to create a simple plan to help you combat bad habits, so you can stay focused and organized in the coming year.

Set Goals & Commit to Them

Setting goals is pointless unless you’re willing to commit to them. Write down small or big goals that you can achieve weekly, monthly, and by the end of the year. But as you’re writing your goal list down, also take a moment to really consider the reasons why you need to commit to them and what it will mean if you don’t. Finding the “why” behind your goals is what will help you truly commit this time to achieving them.

Learn to Be More Positive At Work

It’s easy to get weighed down by negativity and pessimism that is so common these days, especially in the workplace. But learning to rise above the pessimism is vital to your overall success. One important way to really kick your work year off right is not to allow others to bring you down, including your boss or coworkers. Stay focused and learn to push the negative banter away and keep your mind primed for positivity to help boost your own mood, and in turn, your productivity and your success.

Become Clear on Your Priorities

In order to handle decisions when demands and conflicts arise, you need to become crystal clear on your priorities so that you can delegate your precious time and energy most efficiently and effectively.

Commit To Continuous Growth

If you’re not growing and improving, then you’re simply stagnating. If you’ve been feeling as though you’re stagnating instead of growing at work, then let this be the year that you really reassess your situation, your goals, your ambitions and how you can change and improve your professional life.

If you’re less than satisfied when you look back over the past year at your work life, then it’s time to take back the reigns and start committing to some changes. Use these tips to stay focused so you can kick off the new work year right and make it the best year yet.

5 Ways you Can Better Organize Your Business’s Finances

5 Ways you Can Better Organize Your Business’s Finances

by BusinessFinancial Planning

Running a business can present many challenges – especially when it comes to organizing your business’s finances. If your numbers aren’t accurate or up-to-date, it can impact your bottom line, your growth, and in turn, your success. Fortunately, there are strategies that you can easily implement to coordinate and monitor the finances and day-to-day operations of your business. Check out these 5 ways you can get your company’s finances under control and get ahead.

 

Outline Financial Goals

To get your business’s finances in order, you first need to figure out what the financial goals are that you wish to achieve. Do you want to double your profits over three years? Would you like for your company to go public? Do you want to expand your company to another country? Spending time identifying your financial goals should be your first step. Then write down all the financial milestones for this coming year, along with the next three, five, and ten-year marks. Once you have an idea of how you want the future of your business to unfold, you can then start to figure out how your business will achieve each of the objectives.

 

Create a Budget

Once the financial goals have been set and you have an idea of how to achieve them, now is the time to set achievable targets. By creating a budget, you can better plan how your business will allocate money. This will help you get a grip on where your money should be going.

 

Set Company Standards

An important part of organizing your business’s finances is to set the standards and regulations for partners and/or employees to follow in order to stay within your budget. For example, if you have employees who will expense incidentals during business travel, make sure you outline what the business will cover, how much, and what they are expected to pay out of pocket. Having well defined best practices and company rules will help to ensure your employees don’t go over budget.

 

Organize Paper

Even though many processes have now gone digital, you will still need to work with paper and receipts for many of your dealings. And just throwing your hard copies into a box won’t cut it. You need to set up a properly organized system where you can find what you need quick and simply. Having a filing cabinet and a proper filing system that organizes each part of your business into separate sections – accounting, contracts, HR, operations, sales, etc. – and then by sub-sections, (alphabetically and then by date), will make everyone’s lives much easier.

 

Track Corporate Spending

When you run a business, you need to have finance software and technology to track all of your corporate spendings properly. All the outputs, such as printing, office supplies, leasing costs, utility bills, expense receipts, and extras like coffee and vending machine snacks, should be accurately inputted and accounted for. Neatly organizing all your expenses and income earned will help you to organize your business finances better.

Let us help you achieve the level of organization that your business needs. At The Beacon Group of Assante Financial Management Ltd., we help leaders and business owners fix their problems to gain more effective processes geared for success. Call us today!

Business people discussing business during conference

5 Signs You’d Make a Great Business Mentor

by Business

The modern business world could always use more decent, professional, and knowledgeable mentors, but do you have what it takes to truly be the next one? It’s important to take the time to consider the way you work and interact with others, for it’s not just about how you feel, but how you make others feel in return. With that in mind, here are five signs that indicate a great business mentor in the making.

You Provide Constructive Feedback and Guidance

It’s important in any business environment to be accepting of constructive criticism and feedback to better improve your work quality and efficiency, but do you deliver this type of professional guidance yourself? If you tend to clam up, bark out insensitive put-downs, or generally not concern yourself with the quality of results of coworkers, then the last thing you should be is a mentor.  

You Motivate Others and Encourage Opinions

Motivation is key in order to progress further and feel inspired — we all need it every so often. If you welcome the input of employees, truly respect their work ethic, and try to encourage them to do their best, it demonstrates that you care about more than just your own wellbeing and productivity. Motivational employees can turn almost any toxic and stressful situation into a stimulating challenge.

You’re Interested in Sharing Knowledge and Skills

Perhaps people come to you to request the skilled hand of an expert, or you enjoy teaching different skills or techniques to staff. Or, maybe it’s a passion of yours not to keep useful knowledge bottled up, and you enjoy sharing it with others. Either way, if you prefer to politely educate and teach new things to others, it’s a given that there is a hidden passion to mentor within you.

You Possess a Positive and Respectful Attitude

It’s crucial to treat others the way you want to be treated, and to be a great mentor means that you must approach every situation with kindness, respect, and positivity. If you are willing to respect each and every person around you and not contribute towards drama or a negative atmosphere, then you may be the guiding hand that a business needs to shake off the dust and be a real success.

You’re Enthusiastic and Enjoy What You Do

You’ll never be able to efficiently guide and mentor others if you don’t care about what you do. If the career you’re in feels simply as a means of amassing income and you feel like nothing more than a number on a spreadsheet, then it isn’t the right environment. However, if you love what you do and are fit to burst with enthusiasm over every little detail pertaining to it, then others may consider it a privilege to learn from you and apply newfound energy to their own work.

A truly great business mentor needs to be decent, positive, enthusiastic, motivational, and possessive of a passion for teaching and politely guiding others. Whether you are a successful entrepreneur who wants to guide others to the same achievements, a retiree who wants to help the next generation start off on the right foot, or you simply have a passion for helping others succeed in business, you would make a great business mentor.

Woman video chatting with her co-workers on a laptop

5 Ways to Get the Most Out of Telecommuting

by Business

Working from home can save countless hours and untold stress when compared with commuting into the office on a daily basis and sitting in gridlock on Deerfoot Trail. Telecommuting enables you to freely perform workplace tasks from the comfort of your own home environment and gives you the flexibility to run errands or shuttle the kids from one practice to the next as needed. Working from home can supercharge your productivity, but it takes focus and discipline. Here are a few tactics that can help:

Stay Away from Social Media (During Working Hours)

This is an obvious tip, but one that many of us don’t adhere to. Minimizing our social media presence (or outright blocking it using Firefox or Chrome plugins) during preset working hours helps to eliminate distractions. That next refresh of your Twitter feed or scroll on LinkedIn can result in procrastination and a lack of focus if you aren’t careful enough. Many of us fall into this trap and there’s no shame in it, but the more you cut down or block social media out to focus on office work, the easier it will be to get things done.

Take Breaks

It’s important to not suffer from cabin fever when telecommuting. Be sure to avoid eye, neck, and back strain by getting up every once in a while to stretch, have a snack, or take a brief stroll outside. Go check on the kids, do a bit of watering, or fetch the newspaper and have a coffee — just be sure to not stray from your desk for too long, or the benefits of a restful break can turn into a nightmare for deadline-driven work. With careful balance and planning, you can fit in a brief jaunt out for lunch or a coffee and sweet treat break without impeding upon your progress. In fact, doing so may maintain your level of productivity through feeling refreshed.

Establish a Dedicated Workspace

The couch or kitchen table is not the ideal place for someone intending to work from home, as distractions abound through family interaction, visiting guests, and high traffic. Additionally, noise and sensory distractions through the barking of the dog or the smell of your spouse’s cooking can hinder progress further. Establishing a dedicated workstation for your telecommuting needs, whether comprising of an entire room or a quiet corner, can provide a psychological transition to your working hours. Filtering out noise with an ambient music playlist on your computer, putting up temporary partitions for privacy, and working in a quiet and comfortable spot free of intrusion will make it easier than ever to work. Try mimicking your office environment by utilizing similar equipment, materials, and general space to make it feel even more like a professional workstation.

Set up Adequate Security

Many who work from home worry about accessing sensitive information in areas outside of their offices. However, implementing security features to protect data can rectify these concerns. Setting up a virtual private network (VPN) is easier than ever in modern PCs and smartphones, and doing so enables for you to work with sensitive information in a private and secure pocket of the Web. Setting up a password-protected Dropbox or Evernote account is another great solution, particularly if your company doesn’t use Google Drive or Microsoft SkyDrive (just be certain to check whether or not this violates company security policies).

Video-Based Communication

It is imperative that you mimic your communications at home as closely as possible to those in a regular office environment. Higher-ups and other employees need to feel trusting of your dedication towards getting work done, and ensuring a steady and consistent method of visible communication can help in that regard. Google Talk is becoming increasingly popular for real-time communication, as is Skype’s Group Chat for paying users. Videoconferencing tools such as WebEx and Adobe Connect are other great solutions, offering face-to-face check-ins akin to poking your head over the cubicle partition at the office. That way, you won’t waste time waiting on text-based messaging replies and can instantly connect with coworkers when necessary, allowing for you to save time and be more productive. This is also where having a dedicated and private workspace at home can come in handy.

When carried out with dedication and careful planning, telecommuting can be a great opportunity to work from home and still remain highly efficient. In fact, many who work from home find they generate better results and are more focused due to being in a comfortable and personal environment. By applying these tips to your living and workplace arrangements, you too can reap the rewards.

 

Mother reading a book with her daughter

Making Financial Sense Out of Stay-at-Home Parenting

by BusinessFinancialFinancial PlanningInvestment PlanningTax Planning

When you and your spouse decide to start a family together, you have to make an important decision together: will both parents return to work, or will one remain as a stay-at-home parent? While there is no right or wrong answer, it is crucial that you first weigh whether or not it is suitable from an earnings and expenses-related standpoint.

Guaranteeing Sufficient Income

The most important thing to do is work out a budget with your spouse in advance of making such a change. It is important to ensure that the household can remain financially secure with a sole breadwinner. Factor in additional bills, investments, and savings to determine whether opting to be a stay-at-home parent is a viable option. Staying at home will also shift expenses; you’ll save on gas and lunches out, but you’ll have whole new expense categories for diapers and baby clothes.

Taking into consideration the age of your children, hours that they’re home, and amount of attentive care they require (special needs, etc.), the stay-at-home spouse may be able to work part-time or launch a home-based business. This can help to maintain a steady income flow as home office-based expenses and other legitimate costs associated with a home business are tax-deductible.

Saving Opportunities

If you are looking to save on expenses as a household, having one parent remain at home with the children can be a blessing in disguise. The biggest contributor is the lack of daycare costs, which in Calgary top $1000 per month per child. Child care for infants is even more expensive. If the family unit includes an older parent or in-law in need of consistent support, there may be an opportunity to save even more money. Having someone at home helps to reduce for care-related expenses either via facility or home care.

Tax Planning and Maintaining Insurance Coverage

Income-splitting opportunities are ripe for the picking for households with a stay-at-home spouse and the other being the primary source of income. The main breadwinner can contribute towards a spousal Registered Retirement Savings Plan (RRSP). Additionally, they have the option to give funds to the spouse with a lower income to invest in their own Tax-Free Savings Account (TFSA). Combined, expect a considerable deduction on taxes. Clever spousal loan strategies involving higher earning spouses lending money to their lower-earning partner to invest and be taxed at a lower rate are also applicable. In this sense, having a stay-at-home spouse can allow for lower taxes and higher return rates.

These savings may be important in regards to maintaining adequate insurance coverage. With one spouse no longer earning an income, it is more crucial than ever that the appropriate amount of insurance is readily available to cover the cost of replacing their services. Also, you may want to consider critical illness insurance to compensate for whoever remains at home with no income being ineligible for disability insurance.  

By considering your options and weighing the pros and cons appropriate for your income and expenses, becoming a stay-at-home parent may be more of an opportunity than a burden. Making sense of the financial aspects of such a lifestyle change is important to maintain a sound future, and reaching out to The Beacon Group of Assante Financial Management Ltd. to speak with one of our financial advisor will help make sense of it all. Feel free to contact us if you require further assistance with financial planning, investment planning, tax planning, and insurance planning with stay-at-home parenting in mind.

Should You Register Your Business Name, And How Do You Do It?

Should You Register Your Business Name, And How Do You Do It?

by BusinessFinancial

In the province of Alberta, the act of registering one’s business name is required by law unless if it is a sole proprietorship using the owner’s legal name with no additions. Therefore, it is important that prospective business owners understand the process of selecting a form of ownership and company name, as well as how to register it successfully.

Choosing Your Form of Business Ownership

Before even registering, you need to carefully consider how your business will be organized legally. After deciding whether you intend to function as a sole proprietorship, a partnership, corporation, or a cooperative, you are then ready to take the process further. Be sure to recognize your needs as a business owner and the type of ownership best suited for your company before moving further.

Selecting Your Business Name

For sole proprietorships in Alberta using your legal name — known as a trade name — without any additional words, you don’t need to worry about registration at all. However, this can’t apply to every company out there and as a result, any other type of business ownership requires name approval by the provincial Corporate Registry. Try searching online for your intended business name to see if it is already being used, as doing so will better protect you from trademark and other legal issues later on. Also, it is important to note that LLP names must be unique, so a bit of research goes a long way in making the process easier. Aim for a name that is short, uncommon, concise, and to the point to make it easy to search.

The Registration Process

Now that you’ve decided upon the name for your business, it is time to move on to the registration process. Owners first need to submit their name through Alberta’s Corporate Registry. Their computer system (CORES) enables for business information to be keyed digitally, which in layman’s terms means that you don’t need to worry about filling out forms. Next, you’ll need to present your information to an authorized service provider or Registry Agent. As the government doesn’t regulate registration fees, prices can vary from place to place. Try downloading the Registry Agent Product Catalogue to get a clearer picture of where you can find the best rates. For trade name declarations, the Alberta Business Service Centre lists sample applicable registration fees at $40 to $50.

Corporations require extra work and a larger investment for successful registration. You’ll need to provide the corporate name and address, describe your corporate structure, identify what type of corporation you intend to establish, and also provide detailed information about the directors, complete with their names, addresses, and Canadian residency status. Corporations require a NUANS search performed in your chosen name, and the report from the search needs to be brought to an accredited service provider. Also, you’ll need to prepare Articles of Incorporation, a cover letter, and an incorporation application that accompanies your fee. Be sure to consult the Alberta Corporate Registry site to learn what other information or procedures are required, and to get an idea of what the extra fees are. Note that as with partnerships, cooperatives or sole proprietorships, rates aren’t regulated.

In conclusion, you are required to register your business name in Alberta unless it is a sole proprietorship only using your legal name. Therefore, understanding the mechanics and intricacies of the appropriate process for your type of ownership is key in order to avoid extra fees or legal hurdles. If you require assistance with name registration or financial planning for business owners, consult your financial advisor at The Beacon Group of Assante Financial Management Ltd. to learn your best course of action.

 

Should You Trademark?

Should You Trademark?

by Business

Your business logo and name are your company’s unique symbols of your brand and reputation. It’s also what consumers use to distinguish you from other businesses and your competition. And by registering a trademark you can protect your rights to your brand and prevent others from trademark infringement. If you’re currently not sure whether you should initiate the process, first check out these five reasons why registering a trademark can be beneficial to your business.

  1. Increase Brand Trust

The purchasing decisions of consumers are highly influenced by trademarks. Your brand and image capture customer attention and build trust that leads to sales. Without a trademark, customers may not be able to find you and will struggle to distinguish you from your competitors. Plus, your brand and trademark are the first things customers will search for online when looking for your products and services. Without a trademark, you risk your competitors getting the upper hand on market share.

  1. Own Legal Rights

In Canada when you register your trademark, you gain exclusive rights to use it for a period of 15 years, with the options for renewal afterward. Your trademark is then protected from misuse by law through legal title. And by registering your trademark with the Canadian Intellectual Property Office, there is official evidence that you own that trademark. If someone wants to dispute it, then they will have to prove they own the trademark, not you.

  1. Avoid Trademark Infringement

You don’t want others using your company name and branding, otherwise known as trademark infringement. But it can easily happen, especially since anyone can register a domain name online. Cybersquatters are common threats to your business if you do not have a trademark. These are people who buy up domains that use the existing businesses name and then sell them back to the owner for a large sum of money. By registering your own trademark, you ensure your brand cannot be vulnerable to cybersquatters.

  1. Own a Valuable Asset

Your trademark can be bought, sold, licensed, or even used to help you secure a loan. And as your business and reputation grow, your brand becomes more valuable. There may come a time that other businesses may even wish to purchase your brand and for a very attractive price.

  1. Attract Employees

Employees are attracted to brands that have good reputations. You can simply improve your employee retention rate by having a recognizable trademark that people are familiar with and grow to trust.

Registering a trademark can promote branding of your business, leading to increased sales of your product and services, along with providing protection from trademark infringement.  If you’re still unsure if trademarks are right for you, seek advice from your financial advisor at The Beacon Group of Assante Financial Management Ltd.