Any accountants on here that could help with questions?
 

I do not know any accountants personally but may need to start my own company (get incorporated etc) and have some questions. This is totally new to me and I figured someone in the outdoor community here may be a good honest person to speak to.

Please PM me if you feel you can help answer some questions!

thanks!

Not an accountant
 

I've done this a number of times for clients. Try your bank first, they will be able to answer most of your questions and then depending on the complexity of your situation will refer you to a layer, accountant or just do it themselves.

Good luck.

Gonna need a lawyer and accountant. Don’t know what your business is but since starting my Ltd things have been very good. Lol

If you need to incorporate definitely get a lawyer and a tax accountant. It will save you some major headache later.

My wife is a high level accountant, she often suggests to small businesses not to incorporate. It's a whole lot more book keeping and reporting. Or of The biggest reason for incorporating is to avoid personal liability. Wifey says that folks are having corporations that own corporations that own corporations and it's still not enough to avoid some types of liability nowadays.

Banks and insurance companies are getting wise. Some now ask for "personal guarantees", in which case everything in your name, including any holding companies, are fair game.
Otherwise holding companies are totally sheltered.

^^^^This. And shop around, get a lawyer you can relate to, shares common interests. Accountants - I would go with a larger firm, typically more resources to fall back on when things get complicated.

As a Chartered Accountant who does this for a living, and actually just incorporated my own personal company, there are pro's and cons to incorporating. It depends on the exact situation whether it's worth it or not.

Unless you are doing something complex, I wouldn't waste money on lawyers. If it's just a basic incorp, it costs about $500-600 at a registry. A good accountant could also help you determine the number of shares to issue, directors, etc, for about an hour of their time, which is alot cheaper than the lawyer (who would add minimal value in basic situations).

And once you are incorporated for the $500 bucks or so a year it will cost to file a T2 the separate liability is worth it, and adds alot of flexibility regarding the tax situation. Also don't go to the big accounting firms (I spend the first years of my career at the largest), for four times the price you will have an un-designated junior do your file, with the partner spending 10 mins reviewing to ensure no major screw ups were found. Find a reasonable priced, competent, local accountant and you're set.

Feel free to PM me if you have any questions.

Cheers,

A single shareholder alberta ltd. company is quite easy. Get a decent accountant. My yearly paperwork (receipts, bills, ect....) gets handed to her in basically a shoebox. Cost is around $1200. Gst is easy to get a number. As is insursnce and wcb. Formed the company myself.

I have an Inc. accountant set it all up including name registration for I think $800. Does the taxes and our personal as well to make sure it all balances out. Easy peasy. So far no need of lawyer. More likely to need a contract lawyer than a tax one in my experience.

Im a plant/field operator and alot of companys want guys set up on there own. I have a few irons in the fire in terms of jobs coming up but all want me set up as a contractor. Seems that is they way alot of companys want employees now.

I incorporated in 2015 as an instrument tech. Super easy. Not a lot to worry about, honestly. But I guess it's relative as it's pretty easy for me to navigate the various websites and do the necessary things, and I was not employed full time at the time. Your mileage may vary. I never used a lawyer once, and I found a good, small accounting company that handles my year end - GST, corporate/personal taxes, etc.

You're going to want WCB, commercial liability insurance, commercial vehicle registration, commercial vehicle insurance (or possibly just business use, but if you're out in the field I doubt it) and probably a city/township business development permit and business licence for the year. You might have to/want to register with a safety authority, too. My WCB premiums pay for my membership in ACSA.

I know I got set up for well under $2000 but I did everything myself. (excluding monthly insurance payments which were not expensive at all.)

Not sure how you want to get paid, but I avoid the "60 days net" terms by accepting credit cards. I use "Wave Accounting" (free, Canadian, web-based software) to produce invoices and my clients can pay by credit card through a secure site. It costs 2.5% but the cash is in the account in 3 days.

Good luck, man! Exciting stuff.

As a Chartered Professional Accountant who currently works at a Big 4 firm, I agree with Steve on this. While Chef is correct that we have more resources to fall back on for complicated scenarios, what you are describing is very straight forward.

Find a local guy or gal in your area that you get along with and you should be set up in quickly and economically.