Weathering the Storm

Posted on May 10, 2012 by Administrator

When CA’s are hired by companies that have been strained financially the CA knows that it is important to check the corporate level for signs of distress. When top-line income is lost or decreased you should know right away, but there are many other signs that you should look out for. If a small business has trouble paying their short-term bills, if they string along suppliers, using up resources, cleaning out bank accounts and a general decline in capital.

When you need a diagnosis and help with what to do if your company is having trouble, you can seek the help of a CA firm to set your small business in the right direction. Accountants work hard at HMA to help with financial planning, investment purchases, budgeting, succession planning and so much more. Anything that might affect your finances can be discussed and planned with your HMA chartered account.

It is important to begin working with a CA before a major overhaul is necessary. It is also important to find out which employees are not able to survive without that cash. You need to talk with your customers so that you can try to mend any foul thoughts they may have about your company so that you can keep your relationship strong with them. It might be tempting to use your tax remittances to help you with your short-term money situation, but you must resist as best as possible.

When restructuring your small business to help weather the storm before tragedy happens, it is important to work with your HMA accountant now rather than later.

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SME’s and Foreign Markets

Posted on May 3, 2012 by Administrator

SME's and Foreign MarketsYou, as a small business owner, might be wondering whether or not it is a good time for you to enter into foreign markets. Even when economic times are challenging small businesses in Canada know that their future is not dependent upon the home market but looking to grow and expand. When you enter into new offshore markets when economic times are tough, you can benefit but you can also have risks as well.

It is important to do research before to make sure that the choices you make for your business and foreign markets will be a good one. Understand the currency, payment risks and the country in which you plan to expand your business to. Some foreign suppliers and buyers have been forced to change their guarantees of credit that is required to the completion of transactions.

When choosing your bank, you also need to do your research and proceed with caution. Some banks do not do business in other countries and this may make financial transactions difficult.

Prepare for the worst case scenario. There are many financial risks that a small business takes when they export business to another country. You need to make sure that you understand the economy, the political side as well as how they are always changing so that you can make sure that country is the right choice for you and your business.

Make sure you read through import contracts. Importing into Canada has many risks to small businesses and with the help of a good bank; you can get help with shipping guarantees, documentary collections, import letters of credit, and much more.

Now that you’re expanding, it is important to make sure that you still keep up with your existing business relationships as well.

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Good Grades for Small Businesses Despite Challenges

Posted on April 26, 2012 by Administrator

There have been many challenges that small business have had to face in the recent years, but this year they can expect to see some light at the end of the tunnel. The outlook for small business owners and local businesses is optimistic and the barriers that normally face small business owners are being broken and leading to great success.

More than half of all business owners in Canada believe that 2012 will end in a positive light. 13% of those people believe that 2012 will be their best year to date!  65% of small business owners in Canada gave their company a performance rating of a B or higher, this means that they are very optimistic of their business this year.

Many business owners have had to face barriers like working long hours, recruiting and hiring employees that will help your business succeed rather than make it more difficult to do so, cash flow management, and the need for funding, have all gotten in the way of small business owners’ success. In spite of these barriers, business owners believe that they will have a much better year this year.

With the outlook of small business owners and local business owners, you can be sure that this year will be much more profitable than years past. Canada can feel optimistic in this increase in profitability and so much more this year because consumers are realizing that small business owners are more like them and are much more willing to purchase from them to help their business rather than paying a large corporation and a millionaire’s salary.

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Growing Your Small Business

Posted on April 12, 2012 by Administrator

Expanding your small business today is an important topic because this year, the outlook is optimistic for both small and local businesses. Small business owners should be looking forward to a rebound in the economy and should prepare their business plans accordingly.

The recession can actually help small businesses because when consumers purchase goods or services, they are much more likely to purchase from small business owners rather than large rich corporations. When consumers are purchasing more from small business than large businesses, you, the small business owner, will enjoy much more profit and you will also enjoy a larger customer base as well.

When hiring, it is important to hire only those employees who will help your business grow. Some employees, who show up late to work, require more supervision than others, and those who ask for too much money in salary can be thought of as a bad fit for your company. These employees will bring your company down, cost you more and counteract the optimistic outlook of small businesses excelling in today’s economy.

When the economy is bad, this is the best time for employers to locate excellent talent. You will find that people are willing to work for less with fewer benefits just so that they can actually have a job. This doesn’t mean that you should give them less, but you will find that your employees will be grateful and, in return, you will reap the benefits of having a strong team to help you grow your small business in this economy!

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Changes to the Canada Pension Plan – For the Employer

Posted on March 29, 2012 by Administrator

If you need assistance navigating the recent changes that have been made to the Canada Pension Plan, you can contact your HMA Chartered Accountants for help. Full implementation of the new CPP will be in 2016, these changes will phase slowly over a 6 year period. Most of the changes will help to reduce barriers to employment force participation for elderly people in Canada. It can benefit employers by allowing them to utilize these older workers’ knowledge, skills and experience.

For the employer; there are a few changes that are most important to you:

  • Contributors can receive their CPP without work interruption
  • If you have an employee under the age of 65 who is receiving their CPP, you and your employee still have to make contributions to that CPP
  • If you have an employee that is over the age of 65 but less than 70 and is receiving a CPP, that employee gets to choose whether or not to contribute and you will have to contribute if they so decide.
  • The CPP contribution rate is currently 9.9%. This rate will stay the same for many years.

If you are not fully educated on what you need to do with the new Canada Pension Plan changes, you need to make sure that, as a small business owner, you educate yourself or work with an HMA chartered accountant to make sure that you fully understand what you need to do, what your employees need to do and the recent changes to the pension plan. There are many things that have changed and some that need to be implemented as of the beginning of 2012.  If you haven’t begun to implement these changes, talk to your HMA accountant immediately!

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Add Value to your CA Experience

Posted on March 26, 2012 by Administrator

At HMA Accounting, we are more than accountants – we are partners in your success. We offer a comprehensive range of services to help you achieve the success you aspire for. From audits, business startup, compilation reports to taxation and strategic planning, we add value to your CA experience. Contact us today to see how our expertise can help your small business.

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Business Outlook for 2012

Posted on March 15, 2012 by Administrator

Despite the European debt crisis, it is expected that Canadian executives can expect to stay above the recession this year. The outlook for both Canada and America’s economies are much more improved than they were last quarter. Small and local business can expect a resilient local market, neither booming or slow, but a steady stream of business to help them stay on track.

Above-inflation salary increases are expected to remain the same in Canada, in Europe, they are still steadily declining. The US is expected to continue to increase which helps Canada as well because they are close by and you can expect to see much more spending from Americans in Canada. The overall global increase of salaries is steadily increasing as well.

In real estate and construction, Canada, and the entire world, we have seen a decrease in optimism and will likely see this continue to decrease. For large real estate projects you will find that there is not much interest in this right now although many buyers will find that it is not difficult to get financing.

In manufacturing and distribution you’ll find that in Canada we are expected to over exceed the US in profitability, revenue, selling prices, investment and machinery in plants, employment, R&D, and new building investments. The US should continue to excel in exports, but not by much.

In the mining field, Canada is should continue to do the same as last year. Many expect the mining sector to increase and have an optimistic result in the next year.

In transportation and trucking, Canada, again, is doing much better than the world as a whole. With a steady rise in profits, revenues, employment and work available, this seems to be booming in Canada and does not seem to have a decline in sight.

Small businesses, local businesses, and large businesses alike can all expect to do well this year, while not booming in cash and profits, they can expect to stay afloat while Europe continues to decline.

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Would Your Company Benefit from a Virtual CFO? Find Out!

Posted on July 11, 2011 by Karen

Have you ever wished you had a controller on staff that could review and analyze your financial data for you? Someone who could oversee your accounting processes to make sure that everything is setup properly and kept running efficiently? Or maybe there are certain sales reports you would like generated on a regular basis to keep you abreast of your company’s financial position.

Unfortunately, finding the right person to fill that position can be a time consuming process. Providing the space and additional overhead to cover the costs of the position, may seem hard to justify as well. You may feel like you could benefit from having such a person on staff, but you aren’t quite at the place where you are ready to make the commitment to another staff position. HMACA  has seen many companies in this position. That is exactly why we created our ‘Virtual CFO Service’.

First, what is a ‘Virtual CFO’? A virtual CFO is a system in which our CA firm would provide you with all the services you would expect to get from hiring an individual to fill a CFO position in your company. But instead of having one individual sitting in an office at your location, the staff at HMA provides those same services.

We put together the financial reports that will keep you up to date on what is going on in your business. We oversee your accounting processes to make sure that they are operating smoothly and efficiently.

If this sounds like a solution you might be interested in, we would be happy to discuss how our Virtual CFO services could make a positive impact on your company.

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Why Your Billing Process is so Integral

Posted on June 27, 2011 by Karen

In today’s economic climate, maintaining full control of your business’s finances is crucial. Credit is not as easy to come by and the competition is stiff. Your billing process is an essential part of the financial control.

How you handle your billing process determines how long it takes you to turn your sales into cash in the bank. The slower you on collecting funds from your customers, the slower you will be in paying your own bills. It can become a vicious cycle that can easily spiral out of control.

An easy way to understand how your uncollected receivables cost you money, is to think of in the terms of borrowing money to your customers. The longer it takes you to collect on your receivables, the more credit it requires you to use. Having $100,000.00 receivable on the books for 30 days is the same as taking out a loan for $100,000 and handing the money to your customer interest free. Meanwhile you have to pay the interest on the $100,000 you borrowed, plus you can’t use that $100,000 to pay for any of your costs, so you may end up with additional finance charges for those 30 days.

Getting your bills out faster and collected faster can save you money and help you establish good credit with your own creditors. You’re in business to make a profit. Allowing your receivable collections to get out of hand can cost you profit and the ability to get the credit you need to keep your business going.

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