Business Matters News

Dear Client:

Attached are the October and December issues of Business Matters – sorry for the delay!

OCTOBER 2018

Taxation

Very interesting discussion about higher CPP contributions which are being phased in over seven years starting in 2019. The impact will be significant for companies with larger payrolls.

Something to consider. Payments to employees from profit sharing plans are CPP exempt. Perhaps there is a profit-sharing plan in your company’s future especially for employee bonuses. Contact us to discuss.

Management

How do you maintain safety in the workplace? Most employers take employee safety seriously and safety awareness has increased substantially over time. This management article provides an outline concerning how to conduct a proper safety inspection – quite detailed. Don’t forget to document and follow-up.

Investing

The investing article is all about self-directed investments – advantages and disadvantages, types of accounts and the “catch-all” category other considerations.

If you do choose to go self-directed, be willing to spend some time on investment analysis, review and tracking of income and expenses.

Moneysaver

We have definitely heard a lot about the High Cost of Stress over the past number of years. For the most part, in business, we don’t deal with people suffering from extreme stress but some level of stress will be present in the work place everyday on an ebb and flow basis.

“Controlled” stress can be healthy and some people perform best under certain levels of stress – others do not. In your business do you know which staff are which in terms of stress tolerance?

DECEMBER 2018

Technical

Not every issue of Business Matters has a tech article but The Path to Automation is well worth the read. Canadian businesses need to automate (our productivity lags).

Automation is becoming more feasible for small businesses. Think about how automation could help your business – see the points on page 2.

Taxation

Does your business include “bartering” transactions? Do you sell goods or services using the internet on more than a casual basis? The taxation article discusses tax implications (GST, HST, income tax) of bartering and internet sales. It does not discuss PST but it probably should.

Moneysaver

Detailed article outlining how to “job-cost” your equipment and vehicles.

Whether it pays to job-cost your vehicles/equipment will depend, to a large extent, on how many dollars you have invested. The larger the investment the more worthwhile the exercise. Quickbooks or Sage can help you track costs.

Management

No business likes to lose clients but it happens. Check out the article Eight Reasons Clients Leave.  I don’t think there are any surprises in the list of reasons provided in the article. Complacency needs to be avoided – how do you stay “fresh” in your workplace?

Last but not least, we have attached a one-page memo discussing a Fixed vs a Growth Mindset.  Please read.

We are in the depths of what has been a fairly benign winter season so far. We hope that you enjoyed Christmas holidays. Take time to enjoy some “snow sports” before we lose the white stuff.

Best regards,

Jim M. Smith, CPA, CA