Tribes (Hardcover) by Seth Godin ISBN: 1591842336 A tribe is any group of people, large or small, who are connected to one another, a leader, and an idea. For millions of years, humans have been seeking out tribes, be they religious, ethnic, economic, political, or even musical (think of the Deadheads). It’s our nature. If [...]

Earlier this month, the Government of Canada released its 2010 Budget. It contained a number of measures and initiatives to create and maintain jobs, to grow the Canadian economy, to strengthen Canadian Innovation and to make Canada a destination of choice for new business investment. Read the full article on the SOHO web site to [...]

We’ve all heard the saying – less is more. And, more often than not, it’s true. While it’s good to be detail-oriented when sorting your business expenses by category, there’s a fine line where it can become over-categorization. For instance, when categorizing office supply expenses, it’s not necessary to break them down into separate categories [...]

Here we grow again!  We’re happy to announce the arrival of Mo Abdulla as a new member of the NALH team. With more than 30 year of experience in the accounting field, Mo holds a CGA designation and will focus his energy on preparing personal and business tax returns for NALH’s stable of clients. Want [...]

As always, our bookkeeping tips are intended to help you streamline your business paperwork and help you save money on your accounting bill. This tip focuses on designating a single credit card for business purchases. One, two, five or ten? Visa, Mastercard, American Express…Look in your wallet.  How many credit cards do you see?  Which [...]

CRA has produced several webcasts that will help existing GST/HST registrants and small businesses learn how to prepare for the transition to the harmonized sales tax (HST) which will replace existing provincial sales taxes and the federal goods and services tax in Ontario and, subject to legislative approval, in British Columbia beginning July 1, 2010. [...]

The provinces of Ontario and British Columbia have agreed to implement the harmonized sales tax (HST), which would replace existing provincial sales taxes and the federal goods and services tax in those provinces beginning July 1, 2010 and would be administered by the Canada Revenue Agency. The Canada Revenue Agency offers a number of informative seminars [...]

Selecting a financial institution to handle your personal or business financial transactions is an important decision. Like any other service-based business, banks and credit unions have a variety of services, packages and fees to choose from. SCORE’s list of 5 tips for finding & keeping a bank will help you know what factors to weigh [...]

Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking (Paperback) by Malcolm Gladwell ISBN: 0316010669 Best-selling author Gladwell (The Tipping Point) has a dazzling ability to find commonality in disparate fields of study. As he displays again in this entertaining and illuminating look at how we make snap judgments — about people’s intentions, the authenticity of a [...]

Once again, our tip will focus on small changes you can make to your paperwork prep routine. Putting your receipts and statements into good order before bringing them in helps make the most efficient use of your bookkeeper’s time which will, in turn, save your business money! When you receive your monthly credit card and [...]

Here’s a quick tip that will save you significant time when you sit down to sort receipts and get your paperwork ready to drop off at your bookkeeper’s office. When you make a purchase at a store, restaurant or other vendor, when the clerk hands you your receipt, quickly write on the receipt which account [...]

Will your clients overpay their March 15th instalment payment?  It is important that they don’t, particularly if their income has taken a hit over the past year.  Canadians taxpayers may find that due to employment layoffs or possibly due to their portfolio tanking,  overall income may have taken dropped off.  There may be a bit [...]

Victoria plans to commit every dollar raised through the HST to health services funding once the controversial tax comes into effect July 1, 2010, according to B.C. Finance Minister Colin Hansen. The provincial government budget tabled Tuesday will increase the Ministry of Health Services’ budget by more than $2 billion between 2009-10 and 2012-13. Health [...]

How to Win Friends & Influence People (Paperback) by Dale Carnegie ISBN: 0671723650 This grandfather of all people-skills books was first published in 1937. It was an overnight hit, eventually selling 15 million copies. How to Win Friends and Influence People is just as useful today as it was when it was first published, because [...]

Vancity, Canada’s largest credit union, reported a 7.5% increase in net earnings in 2009, resulting in the second highest annual profit in the institution’s history. Despite the economic downturn, net earnings rose to $50.3 million from $46.8 million on revenue of $75.1 million, which fell slightly from $75.6 million. Much of the profit gains were [...]