Accounting is a systematic process of identifying, recording, measuring, classifying, verifying, summarizing, interpreting and communicating financial information (source: businessdictionary.com). Small business owners may not be conversant with such process. Improper classification of financial transactions leads to incorrect presentation of financial position (i.e., balance sheet) and results (i.e., profit or loss) of the business. Right financial information at right time helps the small business owners taking right and informed financial and operational decisions for success.
Bookkeeping is an integral part of accounting, which usually covers the function of identifying, recording, measuring and classifying the transactions. While small business owners usually remain busy with their core business activities, they should have up-to-date financial information about their business condition so as to take prompt decision for success in this highly dynamic technology-driven world. For this reason, small business owners should obtain the assistance of an accountant and/or a bookkeeper, as the case may be, on regular basis.
Technology plays a very important role in accounting and bookkeeping. Numerous software vendors with successful and proven track records are continuously upgrading their system with real-world bookkeeping and accounting requirements and in compliance with Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) as well as requirements of tax authorities. Few popular and good bookkeeping and accounting software being used by accountants, bookkeepers and small business owners are QuickBooks Desktop, QuickBooks Online, Sage, Xero, FreshBooks, and Wave.
According to Canada Business Network, there are numerous benefits of keeping organized records. Good records can help the small businesses plan for decisions that will affect the future of their business. The more organized the records are, the more the small business owners can get from them. Organized records can help:
- Track and compare past and present financial positions
- Plan and forecast future financial positions
- Provide information to make good business decisions
- Satisfy reporting obligations, notably to the Canada Revenue Agency
- Save time and energy if the business gets audited
MAQ CPA Professional Corporation (MAQ CPA) is a small business accountant/bookkeeper which has been assisting many small businesses in Greater Toronto Area (GTA) especially Toronto and Scarborough cities by providing full-cycle bookkeeping and accounting services in Toronto ; Scarborough to small businesses. MAQ CPA accounting services Toronto cover many tasks, but are not limited to, the following:
Sales and Accounts Receivable:
- Recording sales/create invoices for customers
- Record receipts from customers
- Reconcile accounts receivables
- Records all sales and customer related transactions in properly classified accounts
- Track sales, items, and customers by class
- Generate sales reports, detailed and summarized
- Generate customer reports, detailed and summarized
- Generate customer-wise overdue / aging reports
Purchases and Accounts Payable:
- Recording purchases/enter bills of vendors
- Record items from vendors
- Reconcile and analyze vendor accounts
- Records all purchase and vendor related transactions in properly classified accounts
- Track purchases, inventory items and vendors by class
- Generate purchase reports, detailed and summarized
- Generate vendors reports, detailed and summarized
- Generate vendor-wise overdue / aging reports
- Process and file Tax slips (T-slips) such as T4A, T5018
Bank and credit card reconciliation
Small business owners should always cross check bank balances between its books with bank accounts. This ensures availability of physical bank balances as per book records, maybe after reconciliation for the discrepancies. This is the most important function of bookkeeping, and it give the small business owners peace of mind. MAQ CPA prepares bank and credit card reconciliation statements periodically for each of your account based on your book records and bank records made available. Once a small business owner receives a bank reconciliation statement s/he can satisfy own self about how and where the bank balances exist.
GST/HST, EHT, WSIB Returns
Compliance with government agencies is the most important factor of success of any small business. Sometimes, even a minor non-compliance can be a very big contributor to the failure of small businesses. MAQ CPA professionals take utmost care and ensure proper compliance of government reporting in time. MAQ CPA calculates GST/HST, WSIB, and EHT accurately and prepare these returns periodically and submit them within the deadline as approved for your business.
Financial Statements Preparation / Analysis
Seeing the clear picture of a small business requires preparation and analysis of financial statements that include balance sheet, income statement, cash flow statement, and notes. MAQ CPA provides the small business owners with a set of financial statements every month/quarter/year based on their needs. These statements are prepared based on financial information provided by the small businesses. To take a business decision on right time, small business owners require analysis of their financial position and results between different periods and/or between budgeted and actual results. For example, if there is a loss in a period, a small business owner will certainly be eager to know why the loss incurred, what went wrong with the business. Small business owners should ask for more in-depth analysis of financials.
MAQ CPA uses and is capable of using various bookkeeping and accounting software that include, but are not limited to, QuickBooks Desktop, QuickBooks Online, Sage, Xero, FreshBooks, and Wave. MAQ CPA provides full cycle bookkeeping and accounting services for small businesses using error-free and updated bookkeeping and accounting software stated above. Accounting and bookkeeping services can be provided online, onsite and offsite and all these services can be tailored to match your specific requirements. We have a good reputation for providing accounting services for small business Toronto and other cities in Canada.
Small businesses can benefit from taking MAQ CPA’s accounting services and help them in:
- enjoying peace of mind
- succeeding in business
- becoming cost effective
- saving money and time on payroll, hiring, and layoff and avoid maintenance of big setup
- spending more time and thoughts to their core business
Please contact us at 416-901-4126 or send us your query at abdul@maqcpa.ca
Disclaimer: The content/information provided on these pages are intended to provide general information only, which are up-to-date as of the date of publish, and which may not reflect the latest position/state of the relevant laws/standards/facts/opinions. As such the readers are advised to take an expert opinion or consult related laws before taking any actions in this respect. In case there is any confusion, readers are advised to consult relevant rules and regulations published by the respective government authorities or consult with an appropriate competent professional. MAQ CPA Professional Corporation cannot be held liable for reliance on or usage of the general information provided on this page/blog/article, under any situations whatsoever.