GBA LLP Blog

COVID-19 and Your Business

Today we wanted to update you on the CRA deadlines, extensions and other important information that has been implemented during the Corona Virus outbreak.  Today's compilation is in part from the CRA website and CPA Canada, our regulatory body.

Filing Deadlines

Personal tax returns originally due by April 30th have been extended to June 1st.  Amounts originally due on April 30th, have also been been extended to September 1st.  This means that you will not incur interest or penalties if you pay the amount on your personal taxes owing by September 1st.

COVID-19 and Your Business

Today we wanted to take a moment to talk about the 10% wage subsidy that the federal government has implemented. We have been receiving many calls from our customers looking for some direction of how to take advantage of this subsidy.  

Who is Eligible

You are an eligible employer if you:

• are a non-profit organization, registered charity, or a Canadian-controlled private corporation (CCPC);
• have an existing business number and payroll program account with the CRA on March 18, 2020; and
• pay salary, wages, bonuses, or other remuneration to an employee.

Note, CCPCs are only eligible if their taxable capital for all associated companies is less than $15 million.

COVID-19 and Your Business

We have been receiving many calls from our business customers and what they should do with respect to COVID-19 or Corona Virus.   We wanted to take this time to give you some brief information about Employment Insurance.

The Federal Government has waived the one week waiting period for EI due to sickness benefits.  Meaning that the employee will receive payment as soon as they apply for EI.  Payments are made bi-weekly, and their first payment is likely to be 3 weeks out.

For Your Business

From an employers' perspective, you have 5 days to issue the Record of Employment (ROE).  The ROE is generally filed on line and the employee will receive a copy on-line as well. This link will take you to the Service Canada page for filing the ROE.

The following codes should be used when completing the ROE for your employee:

CRA Audits Increasing Every Year

Do a Google search on CRA (Canada Revenue Agency) Audits and you will find hundreds of articles about how CRA is spending more money to hire more auditors and improve statistical analysis to improve targeted audits. A few years ago, CRA reported to Parliament that random audits detected significant non-compliance in 12.2% of cases.  However, targeted audits based upon certain risk assessments detected a whopping 46.7% of non-compliance. To this end, CRA has proposed to increase spending by $1.2 billion by 2024-25 to hire new auditors to improve tax compliance -- and they expect to recover and collect $5.8 billion more in taxes as a result.

We should first understand why taxpayers get audited, then we can talk about things you can do to alleviate the anxiety.  So what activities or characteristics will increase your risk of getting audited?

CRA Audit Project - Reviewing Your Vehicle Expenses

The team at GBA have observed an increased number of CRA reviews and audits surrounding vehicle expenses.  We normally see a number of these each year, but this year, we feel like it has become a project for CRA to target these expenses, and we feel that it is important enough to not only tell our clients how they can ensure that they are protected, but to tell the general public as well by way of this blog.

These expenses can be found in several scenarios with individual and/or corporate taxpayers.  With individual taxpayers, if you are using your vehicle as part of your business as a sole proprietor, or as part of employment expenses, your risk of being audited has increased over the past year.  So, if one of the above situations applies to you, please continue to read the following as we explain how to audit proof your taxes.

In this blog, we will be looking at the 6 critical reports that you need to look at to ensure you success with your small business.

Choosing an accountant for your business is one of the most important decisions for you and your business.  The right accountant can help you do more than just file your taxes, they can help you grow your business, keep you from increasing your risk of being audited and save you time and money in the end.

With that in mind, we created a list of the most important questions you should ask your prospective accountant when the time comes to hire one or change.

1. Do They Have a Designation?

In Canada, there use to be 3 different designations that have all amalgamated under the Chartered Professional Accountant (CPA) designation.  With this designation, you can feel assured that the individual or firm has had to undergo a certain amount of training and education and are regulated by CPA Canada and one of the Provincial organizations as well, such as CPA Ontario.  These regulatory bodies give the public some peace of mind as the individual accountant or firm is monitored on a regular basis to uphold the standards in place.

FATAL MISTAKES’ You Must Absolutely, Positively Eliminate From Your Business Right NOW!

Here is part 4 of our 5 part series. If you have not read parts 1 - 4, please read those blogs first.

FATAL MISTAKES’ You Must Absolutely, Positively Eliminate From Your Business Right NOW!

Here is part 4 of our 5 part series. If you have not read parts 1 - 3, please read those blogs first.

Marketing Mistake #6

Failing To Use Testimonials

Let’s be honest - selling isn’t easy. Unless a prospect is convinced, the product or service will give them the result they’re seeking, the sale won’t be made.

And what people say themselves about their business and their products or services is often taken with a ‘pinch of salt’. After all, we are all skeptics these days. So how can you almost instantly prove to the prospect you can deliver on your promises?

It’s actually much easier than you may think. All you need to do is use ‘customer testimonials’.

Again we can’t tell you how often we see businesses trying to sell and market their products or services without the use of testimonials. They make life very, very difficult if they don’t use testimonials. Testimonials have the power to get customers by the bucketful (we also call this ‘Social Proof’).

FATAL MISTAKES’ You Must Absolutely, Positively Eliminate From Your Business Right NOW!

Here is part 3 of our 5 part series. If you have not read parts 1 and 2, please read those blogs first.

Marketing Mistake #2

Not Having A Unique Selling Proposition (USP)

This will knock your socks off.....

This is by far the most common Marketing Mistake people make. Let us explain…USP is the one thing that differentiates your business from your competitors in the minds of your customers and prospects.

The USP is what makes the difference between having a truly outstanding business or merely a good one, or worse still, a poor one.

Occasionally the USP already exists in your business – you just need to discover it and then articulate it in a way that makes you stand out from the crowd. However, in most cases the USP has to be created, often out of ‘thin air’. We can’t stress enough how important this is to you. How can you expect your customers to be able to choose you, over and above any of your competitors, if the customers can’t quickly see what it is you do that is so unique and beneficial to them?

Outstanding businesses have been founded on a USP alone. For example, here's a very well known USP…

"Red hot pizza delivered to your door in 30 minutes or less - guaranteed."

Tom Monahan of Domino’s Pizza created one of the most successful fast-food franchises in the world from the strength of this USP. So did Fred Smith of FedEx (“When it absolutely positively has to be there overnight – FedEx”).