One of the reasons why entrepreneurs often hire an Edmonton bookkeeping company for their business is because they do not know how to do their own bookkeeping, and so they do not know what a bookkeeper needs to know. However, business owners should familiarize themselves with some of the duties that a bookkeeper does, not only so that they can hire the most knowledgeable bookkeeper for their business, but so they can also ensure that the bookkeeper is doing the right job for them.
One of the most important things that entrepreneurs should keep in mind when they are looking for the right Edmonton bookkeeping company, is there is actually no professional designation or governing body around bookkeepers. That means, that anyone can call themselves a bookkeeper regardless of the level of experience that they have. Because of that, business owners need to ensure that their asking lots of questions around the level of experience that they have. They should be looking for bookkeepers who have experience working in an accounting office or working for an accountant directly. This will give them the knowledge that they need in order to appropriately help entrepreneurs. Another way that this is owners can ensure their bookkeeper has the right knowledge base, is to look for a bookkeeper who has been through the CPA program. They often need to article for three years after they have graduated the program, and they can make it extremely knowledgeable bookkeepers.
Business owners also need to ensure that whichever Edmonton bookkeeping company they hire has knowledge about taxes in Alberta. This is extremely necessary because if an entrepreneur has a bookkeeper who is not paying taxes properly, either paying too little or not paying on time can cause a business owner to be hit with penalties and interest charges. This can significantly and negatively impact the finances of the business, so they need to ensure that their bookkeeper not only knows what taxes need to be remitted but when they need to be sent into Canada revenue agency as well.
Another way that entrepreneurs can ensure their Edmonton bookkeeping company has the right amount of knowledge, is asked them if they have ever been through an audit before. Bookkeepers that have been through audits have a good idea of how they need to keep things organized for Canada revenue agency. Since an entrepreneur typically only has thirty days to respond to an audit letter, and extremely organized and knowledgeable bookkeeper will help an entrepreneur be able to respond to the Canada revenue agency’s audit request easily. Bookkeepers that have been through the audit process, will know how to stay organized, and why it is important as well.
By asking some very important questions, it can help business owners determine which bookkeeper is right for their business, not only so that they can stay organized so that they can ensure their hiring the person with the most knowledge that can help them significantly grow their business.
Entrepreneurs often do not want to learn how to do their own finances, which is why they want to hire Edmonton bookkeeping company to work for them. They do not have the knowledge and do not want to learn, which can make hiring the right bookkeeper difficult. If an entrepreneur knows what types of information a bookkeeper needs to have, it can help them choose the right company that can help them stay organized and grow their business.
One of the first things that entrepreneurs are going to want to make sure that there Edmonton bookkeeping company that their thinking of hiring knows about, is but a shareholder loan account is. Bookkeepers that do not have knowledge working with businesses, tend to not be able to deal with these shareholder loans properly. All the transactions that an entrepreneur owes their corporation or that the corporation was them is what makes a shareholder loan account. All of the money that an entrepreneur puts into the business personally needs to be taken out of the corporation. And all of the money that an entrepreneur takes out of the corporation needs to have the right amount of tax applied to it. If a business owner had a company will that was attributed to the shareholder loan incorrectly, it could mean that they end up personal taxes on that expense when it was a business expense. Since the personal tax rate in Alberta tops out at 48%, and the corporate tax rate is only 11%, if their bookkeeper does not attribute expenses properly to the shareholder loan account, it could end up forcing the business owner to pay significantly more in taxes than they would otherwise.
Not only is it important for the Edmonton bookkeeping company to know the shareholder loan account, but they also need to know what accrual accounting is, and how to properly keep books for it. Accrual accounting is when the time between when a business owner provided the service and when they get paid is different. The reason why this needs to be done carefully is because there is a higher chance that errors can occur with accrual accounting. When the services provided, and the invoice is paid, many things can happen and if a bookkeeper does not know how to deal with it, they could trigger errors. When dealing with accrual accounting, bookkeepers need to understand that there could be late fees as well as interest charges, and what they need to do if a customer has remitted the wrong amount to the business.
Because of the importance of the day-to-day finances of the business, entrepreneurs need to be careful when hiring the right Edmonton bookkeeping company to work on those finances. Hiring the right company can help keep entrepreneurs organized, so that they have the right financial information to grow their business, and the wrong bookkeeper can trigger errors that could negatively impact the finances of the business, and be very expensive to fix.