Why the Goat is Paperless

I have worked in accounting, been a financial controller, and have started multiple businesses; one of the most notable being S.H.A.R.E. Nelson in Nelson BC.  Needless to say, for a young guy, in my mid 30’s, I’ve been around the business block of finance in the East and West Kootenays for quite a while.

 

One of the most exciting changes I’ve seen over the years is the shift to paperless offices.  I’ve now worked in both types of offices and there are pros and cons to having paper and being paperless.  Paper Goat has decided to go the paperless route.

 

Four reasons the Goat is paperless:

·      It’s safer for your information.  By having offsite backups of your information you mitigate the chance of losing your information.

·      It’s faster to recall documents when you need to find them.

·      It’s easier to find documents.  Having everything stored in a digital filing cabinet means staff members can all access the information at the same time.  Gone are the days of spending time running around the office finding the person that has the file you’re looking for tucked in the bottom drawer under their bag of gummie bears.

·      It’s more organized and there is less clutter.  Bookkeeping and accounting firms attract a lot of paper from clients.  Only having the current month of paper from your client means there is a lot less stuff to keep track of and a lot less piles around your office.

 

There are a few very important things to be aware of though when considering whether or not paperless is right for you.  I was speaking with an auditor from CRA one time and they told me CRA still requires people to keep the paper copies of all their documents.  This means keeping books and records in paper form for a minimum of seven years.  I advise all my clients to keep their paper records somewhere safe and secure.

 

The second important thing to consider is the security of your information from loss or theft.  I recommend speaking with someone that has experience with computer network systems before making the plunge into paperless.

Getting ready for the Zombie ApocAlypse

It's October, the season of changing colours, plaid flannel shirts and pumpkin spice lattes.  I love pumpkin spice...and plaid flannel shirts...I own eight of them.  Before we know it, snow will be on the ground.  We'll all be wearing mittens and scarves and I'll be dusting off my big hot chocolate mug for the cold winter days I don't feel like going outside.  For business owners this is a season of conflicting emotions; reflection on the past year, anticipation for the next, excitement of the holidays and times with family and of course the dread of the Zombie Apocalypse, or as some business owners like to call it, the fiscal year end.  For many small business owners the regular bookkeeping gets abandoned by mid March and is miraculously revived by fearful dread on December 27th.  Here are a few things you can do as a business owner to start getting ready to make the upcoming Zombie Apocalypse...er I mean tax season better than the last one:

1.  Start compiling all your books and records and organizing your receipts and invoices.

2.  Sort your receipts by categories, i.e.. fuel, office supplies, repairs and maintenance...etc.

3.  Highlight the GST on your receipts and invoices with a yellow highlighter.

4.  Organize all your payroll information in it's own folder.  Make sure you have all your payroll remittance forms and pay stubs for all your employees.

5.  Organize all your GST and PST returns in their own folder.

6.  Make a list of any outstanding invoices from customers.

7.  Print off all your bank, credit card, loan and line of credit statements for the year.

8.  Phone Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) to see how much you have paid in income tax installments.

These simple things go a long way to getting you ready for the end of the year.  If nothing else, remember what the Zombie Survival Guide says, “If you believe you can accomplish everything by "cramming" at the eleventh hour, by all means, don't lift a finger now. But you may think twice about beginning to build your ark once it has already started raining."