Are you a business owner that is ready to incorporate? If you aren’t sure, take a gander at our blog entitled “Should I Incorporate My Business?” (Should I Incorporate my Business?).  If you know you’re ready, there’s something you need to consider which you might not have thought about – the transfer of your business from…

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The Issue Payroll is a significant expense for most of our clients and, not surprisingly, they are often looking to reduce the financial burden represented by payroll obligations.  One way to do this is to convert employees to self-employed independent contractors (ICs).  Care must be taken when doing so, however, as expensive consequences can result…

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Many contractors face bonding requirements in the form of bid bonds and performance bonds. The companies that provide these bonds want assurance that they are taking acceptable risks when providing bonds. Risk assessment includes a regular review of a contractor’s financial statements and operations. Here are the key items to consider when preparing financial reports…

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Of course different things work for different people, but these steps could probably apply to most of our busy, distracted, multi-tasking, first world lifestyles. In a Harvard Business School survey, 94% of working professionals reported working more than 50 hours per week and nearly half said they work more than 65 hours per week. What…

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Pinnacle has the good fortune of having a new team member join us this month (welcome Melissa).  Something we have learned over the years as we’ve grown and shrunk and grown again, is how important a robust orientation for new team members is.  We know that the best people can choose to take their brain…

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I have a client who for years has held the Annual General Meeting for her corporation on Maui. She and her husband are the sole directors of the corporation (although I’m not sure her husband even knows where the office is, but that’s another matter). Every year she asks me the same question……”Can I write…

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We are often asked by clients whether they should own rental properties personally or own them through a corporation. Our advice is usually to own properties personally when rental income is nominal and when there are only a small number of properties. The advice usually changes as more properties are added to the rental pool…

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I thought we were going paperless. So why were we still using so much paper? Almost 10 years ago our office implemented “paperless” files. The decision arose partly out of a concern for the environment but mostly from the realization that we were spending a lot of money on: Storage – physical filing cabinets, office…

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If you are anything like me, you need a reminder if you are going to get anything done on time.  Fortunately for me, there aren’t any consequences to missing my hair cut appointment – save for looking like a bit of a hippy. Dealing with CRA is a different ball game.  If you owe CRA…

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Many small businesses face a common dilemma regarding financial reporting. They want to minimize tax, which means reporting low income. But they also want to keep their banker happy, which means reporting high income. I often need to counsel clients that they can’t have it both ways. Or can they? Construction contractors can have it…

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