Are you or one of your staff seeking to learn QuickBooks or Sage 50? MVO® Chartered Professional Accountants understands the importance of having an accounting system that is set up and operating correctly and efficiently. Our services cover the whole spectrum of computer users, from novices to experts. Our team will help you decide what accounting package is best for your business. We will install the programs, train you to use them and provide ongoing support. We will be available to assist you whenever questions come up.

QuickBooks and Sage 50 both contain similar Financial Statement Modules. MVO® Chartered Professional Accountants will help you use the modules that make the most sense as management tools for your business.

• General ledger
• Accounts receivable
• Invoicing
• Accounts payable
• Job costing
• Inventory
• Payroll
• WCB preparation

MVO® Chartered Professional Accountants strives to maintain specialist taxation knowledge. Taxation legislation changes constantly and every day new court cases are decided, which influence the interpretation of the legislation.

It’s important to ensure you are receiving the most accurate and up-to-date advice from your accountant. Ensure your tax liability is legally minimized and that your structure is setup in the most appropriate manner by seeking our advice.

If you find you are having difficulty making decisions about your business, call us at (403) 328-8383 or contact us by email.

We have your best interest at hand and work for a lasting relationship with all our clients. Just might be the boost you need.

We gauge our worth by the personal and business successes of our clients. As accountants, we have knowledge of many different industries and can help you to grow your business efficiently. We will work closely with you to gain a full understanding of your business, help you identify your weaknesses and build on your strengths. Whether you are building a business from the ground up, acquiring an existing business, or operating a well-established business, MVO® Chartered Professional Accountants have access to the knowledge and tools required to help you succeed. Whatever your goals are, with your collaboration, we will help you achieve your goals.

The owners of most small to medium-sized business enterprises (SMBE) do not take the necessary time to prepare an effective Business Plan. Too often the owners and management team are too deeply immersed in the day to day activity of the business to think strategically.

Time spent working on the business is as important as time spent working in the business. The Canadian government legislated the BDC bank to help SMBE owners with their business financing needs. Not only does a well prepared Business Plan improves your chances of getting funding significantly, it also refreshes and invigorates your strategic thinking.

MVO® Chartered Professional Accountants is here to help you by starting or creating an effective strategic Business Plan. If you only want us to show you how to develop a Business Plan, we are here to assist you with that as well.

THE BUSINESS PLAN HELPS BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT

• A Business Plan is a forward thinking strategic roadmap for your company. It will help keep everyone in the organization focused on the overarching company goals
• A credible Business Plan will help present your organization to lending institutions as professional, strategic and well prepared
• A Business Plan is a vibrant tool that will help identify your position in the marketplace. A strategically designed Business Plan helps you realize your company’s true potential and future market position.
• The Business Plan will give you a step by step guide toward achieving your growth potential. Lending institutions look for this when approving loans
• A well designed Business Plan will also help sustain organizational efficiency.

BENEFITS OF A BUSINESS PLAN

• Steer your organization toward success in new markets.
• establish and maintain a competitive focus
• Identify emerging market opportunities

A professional and objective business valuation is a necessary component of many transactions, such as purchase, sale or reorganization of a business, shareholder and partnership agreements, matrimonial settlements, or estate proceedings. Our experienced team will provide you with an objective and accurate valuation of your business assets and goodwill.

Do you want to sell your company or business or you just want to know how much its worth? There are as many rules of business valuation as there are businesses and evaluators. The major components are the revenue and expenditure trends as well as the remaining effective life of the assets. There is a very delicate formula that takes these factors into consideration. The other important component of business valuation is discretionary cash flow. These are expenses that impact the bottom line but do not take cash. Items in this category include depreciation, owners’ expenses reimbursed by the company and other similar expenditures.  Most of the time, acquisition valuations can even be done without a spreadsheet – many professionals will work out the valuation on a whiteboard or even a napkin.

That sounds simple, but valuation is quite challenging. One reason is that it’s based on the ‘type’ of company and the ‘quality’ of earnings. Growth rate, predictability, and market conditions are also significant, but difficult to quantify, every input to the valuation process.

MARKET CONDITIONS

Value depends significantly on market conditions. Changes in value can occur because certain types of companies are in greater demand, or because some sectors are perceived to be more attractive by acquiring companies.

VALUATION PRINCIPLES

The valuation process also relies on the time value of money. As such depending on how many years revenue and/or profits you factor into the purchase price, the longer the repayment period the less the money is actually worth. This coupled with the uncertainty that time brings required an educated valuator to identify and factor the risks of uncertainty and market changes. That said, the basic mechanics of valuation are straightforward. In financial terms, the value of any business is the present value of the future income stream the company will generate. The present value calculation factors in the ‘discount’ that someone would pay today for a stream of income in the future.

CUSTOMER CONCENTRATION

Customer concentration is a good example of something that affects predictability. Most valuations implicitly assume a diverse customer base. But when one customer starts to account for more than 10% of revenue, the valuation will be negatively affected because the risk that the large customer might leave becomes significant to the future earnings of the company. In situations where a single customer accounts for over half of the revenue, the fair company valuation might be reduced by as much as 80 to 90%. In these situations, agreement on prices requires the buyer and seller to reach agreement on the probability that the large customer will continue for a considerable length of time. This can be a challenge even if binding long-term contracts are in place.

BEFORE PROFITABILITY

Valuation gets even more interesting when the company and its business model has yet to be proven in the market long enough to establish profitability margins. A large percentage of the companies that are sold in the technology area have yet to reach profitability at all or are growing too quickly to generate any significant profit.

Agreeing on a value requires the buyer and seller to have a common view about what the profit margins are likely to be in the future and how fast they will grow. It’s easy to see how the difficulty in predicting these future financials can lead to wide variations in what different people think is the fair value.

SIMILAR COMPANIES

In practice, the challenges of developing even limited agreement around a company’s future growth rate, profit margins and predictability often make the whole financial model exercise too challenging to be useful. As a result, most of the time, both buyers and sellers resort to much simpler math based on experience with similar companies These are used every day by professional analysts who work for stock brokerage firms. The analysts’ job is to examine individual companies and then put their current valuation in perspective by comparing them to similar companies. Through analyses like these, it’s possible to generate broadly applicable rules of thumb, or multiples, to value similar companies. The most common multiples for tech companies are the price to earnings ratios (P/E) and price to sales ratios (PSR).

TYPES OF COMPANIES

Mature companies, with low growth rates, can be fairly valued at P/E multiples of four to five, or a PSR of one (depending on their growth rate and profitability).

For younger companies, earnings are often non-existent or extremely volatile. In these situations, most valuations are based, at least in part, on multiples of revenue. For example, these days software-as-a-service companies are regularly valued in the three to four times revenue range (PSR = 3 to 4). This relatively high revenue multiple is thought to be reasonable because these companies have a high percentage of recurring revenue and good margins. It is also believed that market growth will enable these companies to grow faster than other tech companies.

On the other end of the spectrum are service companies that are essentially ‘body shops.’ These companies can only grow as fast as new employees can become productive. Typical examples are web design firms, management consultants, and human resource companies. These types of companies are often valued at PSRs of 0.5 or P/E multiples as low as two or three. This is also partly because the revenue predictability of these types of companies is low and because they usually have small percentages of recurring revenue.

OTHER FACTORS

Every industry, and every type of company, also has its unique multiples based on key performance indicators (KPIs) applicable to that industry.

THE BOTTOM LINE:

We use software modeling to take out a big chunk of the analysis work from our detailed review. The best indicator of the true value of the business is properly reflected in properly compiled financial statements. Send us three years’ financial statements and we will prepare a valuation summary of your business within 3 working days.

We gauge our worth by the personal and business successes of our clients. We can help your business identify areas negatively affecting profitability and growth and develop solutions that are practical and technically sound. In addition to acting as a sounding board for management, we provide comprehensive, flexible strategies that address the issues affecting your business.

The following are just a few of the areas in which we provide consulting services:

• Accounting software selection and implementation
• Business valuations
• Buying/selling a business
• Business process improvement
• Computer systems
• Financial & retirement planning
• Estate planning

Tax planning is a vital component of your business' success. It is also critical for meeting the long-term financial goals for you, your family and your business. Tax planning is a process of considering various tax options to determine when, whether and how to conduct business and personal transactions in order to reduce or eliminate taxes.

MVO® Chartered Professional Accountants can help you in all areas of corporate taxation. We work closely with you to understand the unique long-term financial and taxation implications of your business operations. You can be certain that we will consider all available strategies before completing your business' corporate tax returns. Our continuing professional development and regular monitoring of current taxation law ensure that we are able to offer you the most tax efficient solutions for your unique business needs.

MVO® Chartered Professional Accountants will prepare all necessary federal and provincial taxation schedules and forms and ensure compliance with all income tax laws and filing deadlines. We can also prepare and administer correspondence with federal and provincial tax authorities on your behalf.

The GST uses a value-added tax structure that will allow most businesses to claim input tax credits (ITC) on the GST/HST paid. 

In controlling related costs we can assist your company in the compilation of information; preparation and filing of GST/HST tax returns, as well as other government remittances.

We can assist you in preparation and filing of GST or PST returns and other government remittances.

• Plan for your GST/HST liability/refund
• Prepare your Business Activity Statements

Many clients ask us about the most effective way to set up their business. Their primary question is whether they should incorporate. While the details can be very complex, we have tried to simplify it as much as possible by detailing the advantages and disadvantages of incorporating:

GENERAL

The biggest advantage of incorporating lies in the limited liability for the shareholders.

Under the law, a corporation is a legal person that is distinct from the shareholders who own it. This means that individual shareholders are not personally liable for the debts and obligations of the corporation. If a corporation fails, the shareholders will lose the amount of equity invested in their shares.

GENERAL

1. The small business tax credit may lower your tax rate for the first $500,000. The breakeven on a professional or self-employment income is around $50,000 net income.
2. Business tax returns are more complex, so they cost more to prepare. This is factored into the comment above.
3. If you have major assets built into the business, such as medical equipment, you will require a section 85 roll-over again costing additional overhead.
4. While dividends are taxed twice, the tax on dividends is still less than the tax on salary dollars.
5. Finally, monitoring and reporting on corporations are more stringent than for an individual business set up as a proprietorship or partnership.

We have your best interest at hand and work for a lasting relationship with all our clients.

With years of tax return preparation experience, we welcome the opportunity to assist you with the preparation of your Personal (T1) returns.

T1 RETURNS INCLUDE:

• Residents of Canada for part or all of the year
• Individuals receiving income from employment, investments and private or government pensions
• Children who earn money through babysitting, paper routes, etc
• Terminal returns for individuals deceased during the year
• Optional returns for deceased individuals (based on the facts in each situation)

We are proficient in providing the following services relating to your tax filing:

DURING TAX SEASON

• Gathering of slips and documentation and an analysis of your personal tax situation to ensure that no claim has been overlooked
• Preparation of entire family’s returns (including spouse and children)
• Preparation of your HST return if you are self-employed
• Optimizing family income splitting
• Timely filing of elections
• Electronic filing of returns
• Preparation of Foreign Income Verification Statement if applicable

AFTER-TAX SEASON

• Verification of accuracy of Notice of Assessments
• Preparation of adjustments to previous years’ filings as required
• Handling of correspondence with CRA in the event of an e-file audit or pre-assessment review
• Communicating with CRA on a variety of issues requiring immediate attention
• Paying installments for clients who are out of the country
• Ongoing discussions with clients regarding tax planning strategies that may present themselves throughout the year

Opening your own business is exciting and thrilling. A methodical plan of action dictates whether a small business will make it or not. Success lies in the approach you take and we help you avoid the pitfalls that many small business owners make when starting.

We help you:

• Select a business structure that best fits your needs by evaluating tax advantages, legal exposure, ease of operation and portability should you need to relocate
• Select the right accounting software by evaluating your budget, needs and hardware
• Establish billing and collection procedures to maximize your cash flow/li>
• Establish procedures to monitor and control costs
• Setup a home office so you can maximize your tax deductions
• Prepare and file all required provincial and local licenses and permits
• Prepare and file your application for your CRA Business Number
• Provide payroll and payroll tax filing when you bring on your first employee
• Comply with employment laws so you don't get hit with fines and unhappy employees
• Identify your business insurance needs
• Develop a solid Partnership Agreement. This is an extremely important document for all new partnerships and will help prevent a tremendous amount of financial and emotional problems down the road

We have your best interest at hand and work for a lasting relationship with all our clients.

As a business grows, it must hire more employees, which can result in increased payroll administration. We can assist you in implementing the controls necessary to ensure a reliable, efficient, and effective payroll system. Our firm can also help you develop a payroll system and prepare all necessary payroll tax returns in a timely manner.

When it comes to paying employees, laws and the CRA have made the payroll function a time consuming process for the small business owner.

Small business owners spend an average of eight hours a month performing payroll functions. That's 12 full days a year that could be spent generating sales, prospecting new business opportunities, improving products or services, or servicing customers.

Our Payroll Services enables you to spend time doing what you do best - running your company.

WHY OUTSOURCE YOUR PAYROLL...

• It's Cost Effective
  • Use your staff more efficiently by letting us handle payroll and the associated legal details. Reduce overhead by removing the need to hire specialized employees.
• It's a Time Saver
  • Our payroll service eliminates the burden of customizing, updating and maintaining your own payroll system--no more data entry, no more researching updates or new laws, no more worries.
• Worry Free Payroll Tax Filing
  • Eliminate the risks of calculating and filing your own payroll taxes by having professionals do it for you. Federal, Provincial tax laws are frequently changing and becoming more complex. How much time do you want to spend learning all the rules and keeping your information up to date?
• Allows You To Focus On Core Competencies
  • Our professional staff allow you to focus on the core competencies of your business. We are accounting professionals--you get the experts working for you and with you.
• Comprehensive Reports
  • You get a wide variety of user-friendly and accurate payroll reports.

GET THE PAYROLL SOLUTION THAT BEST FITS YOUR NEEDS

We know that when it comes to payroll service - no one size fits all. That's why we offer custom payroll processing options.

In order to give you an accurate price for our payroll services we need to know a little more about your business and what services you're interested in. Our prices are very affordable. Please call us at (403) 328-8383 or contact us to find out about pricing of our Payroll Processing Services.

Strategic tax planning is the key to meeting your personal goals. Whether you are a business owner, an executive or a professional, MVO® Chartered Professional Accountants can help.

We can help you minimize and/or defer taxes by developing a personal tax plan customized to your individual needs. Our team understands the importance of setting your retirement goals to best match your current earnings with tax-deferred savings. We also understand the importance of saving for your children’s education. We can help you use RRSPs, RESPs, and Tax-Free Savings Accounts to their best advantage.

At MVO® Chartered Professional Accountants, we are committed to providing personal tax services that not only comply with current tax laws but also provide our clients with the most beneficial tax treatment to ensure that no unnecessary tax is paid. Our team is proficient in all applicable taxation rules and legislation and works closely with our clients to understand the financial and taxation implications of their individual and family situations to reduce personal and family tax burdens and maximize benefits.

We provide integrated tax planning services and professional advice that helps you achieve your personal financial goals. And we stay on top of the latest tax changes and understand how such changes could impact you and your tax situation.

Different people work in different ways. That is why QuickBooks offers so many choices for moving around the system and accessing information.

Contact us here or call us at (403) 328-8383 and we will arrange to meet with you to for training. You will learn that QuickBooks is a versatile program that provides multiple access points for the information you need.

Learn how to work quickly and efficiently in QuickBooks by understanding the workflow to access transactions. You will be shown how to make QuickBooks easy to navigate using the workflow arrows on the Home page, various menus, QuickBooks centers and icons.

As a small business owner, you have more important things to do than to keep your own books. MVO® Chartered Professional Accountants takes care of your books for you, so you can get back to the job of running your business and generating profits!

Each month or quarter we'll do the following things for you...

• Reconcile your bank account
• Generate an income statement
• Generate a balance sheet
• Clean up your general ledger
• Provide unlimited consultations

These tasks form the solid foundation of your small business accounting system. You can customize the package of services you receive by adding payroll, tax planning, tax preparation, or any of our other services.

BANK RECONCILIATION

Reconciling your business checking account each month allows us to keep your bank account, accounting, and taxes up-to-date.

Having us reconcile your account each month allows you to...

• Identify lost checks, lost deposits and unauthorized wire transactions.
• Detect and prevent excess/unjustified bank charges and ensures transactions are posted correctly by your bank.
• Detect and prevent embezzlement of funds from within your company.
• Know how your business is doing? You can't really know unless all accounts are reconciled and properly accounted for on your financial statement.
• Manage your cash more effectively. Proper management of funds not only saves money, it makes money for you.
• Protect yourself. By timely reconciling and promptly objecting to your bank about any unauthorized, fraudulent or forged checks presented to your bank and paid by that bank, you can relieve your agency of responsibility for the shortfall and transfer the risk to the bank. This reason to reconcile alone should be enough. Crime exists.
• Sleep Better. You will sleep more peacefully at night knowing your bank accounts are reconciled, in balance and that all escrow funds, accounts, checks and disbursed funds are properly accounted for.

INCOME STATEMENT

An income statement, otherwise known as a profit and loss statement, basically adds an itemized list of all your revenues and subtracts an itemized list of all your expenses to come up with a profit or loss for the period.

An income statement allows you to...

• Track revenues and expenses so that you can determine the operating performance of your business.
• Determine what areas of your business are over-budget or under-budget.
• Identify specific items that are causing unexpected expenditures. Like phone, fax, mail, or supply expenses.
• Krack dramatic increases in product returns or cost of goods sold as a percentage of sales.
• Determine your income tax liability.

BALANCE SHEET

A balance sheet gives you a snapshot of your business' financial condition at a specific moment in time.

A balance sheet helps you...

• Quickly get a handle on the financial strength and capabilities of your business.
• Identify and analyze trends, particularly in the area of receivables and payables. For example, if your receivables cycle is lengthening, maybe you can collect your receivables more aggressively.
• Determine if your business is in a position to expand.
• Determine if your business can easily handle the normal financial ebbs and flows of revenues and expenses?
• Determine if you need to take immediate steps to bolster cash reserves?
• Determine if your business has been slowing down payables to forestall an inevitable cash shortage?

Balance sheets, along with income statements, are the most basic elements in providing financial reporting to potential lenders such as banks, investors, and vendors who are considering how much credit to grant you.

MAINTAINING A CLEAN GENERAL LEDGER

The general ledger is the core of your company's financial records. These records constitute the central "books" of your system. Since every transaction flows through the general ledger, a problem with your general ledger throws off all your books.

Having us review your general ledger system each month allows us to hunt down any discrepancies such as double billings or any unrecorded payments. Then we'll fix the discrepancies so your books are always accurate and kept in tip-top shape.

UNLIMITED CONSULTATIONS

We are always available to spend time with you so you fully understand how to interpret and utilize the financial information we provide. Our consultations are already included in our price, so please feel free to call us whenever you have a question or concern.

If you'd like to receive a consultation on our Small Business Bookkeeping Services,  please email us  or call (403) 328-8383 19052658400.

We have your best interest at hand and work for a lasting relationship with all our clients. Accounting services for small businesses from MVO® Chartered Professional Accountants just might be the boost you need.