Edmonton Small Business Accountant | Minimizing Source Deductions Problems

There are a few things that business owners should keep in mind and do consistently in order to completely mitigate any source deductions problems from their business. Edmonton small business accountant says the first and most important thing that business owners should know when it comes to source deductions, is how much money they need to remit to CRA. Not only do business owners have to take the source deductions of CPP, EI and taxes on their staff’s paychecks, but they also need to do a personal contribution themselves that is 7.37% in addition to that amount. If business owners are not aware that they also have to pay CPP and EI, they will end up sending the incorrect amount to Canadian revenue agency end up with a shortfall at the end of the year. Business owners may not be aware that they are sending a shortfall and CRA may not assess them with penalties until the end of the year, but as soon as they file their T fours says Edmonton small business accountant, this will trigger penalty payments as well as potentially audits.

The second thing that business owners should keep in mind when it comes to paying source deductions, is that even if they are a single day late in their payment, they could potentially be hit with huge interest penalties. CRA can assess business up to 20% interest rates that are hit after a business owner is only one day late in paying their source deductions. Source deductions are due on the 15th day of each month says Edmonton small business accountant, for each payroll that is one in the month before. However, business owners don’t need to wait until the day or two before the payments are due to CRA, they should get into habits of sending those source deductions to CRA as soon as they run their payroll. This makes it very easy for a business owner to remember, as well as easy for business owner to figure out the correct source deductions to permit to CRA, because they are already doing the calculations in order to take the amount off of their employees checks. This way, if the business owner is late running payroll, they’re not going to be hit with a massive penalty, like they could if they were one day late paying their source deductions.

Entrepreneurs are often very good at the product and service that their business offers, and less skilled at the business of running their business says Edmonton small business accountant. Michael Gerber, the author of the E myth has been quoted as saying” the fatal assumption is: if you understand the technical work of the business, you understand a business that does that technical work.” Unfortunately, businesses that are very good at offering the product or service that they offer may need more help when it comes to learning how to operate their business. If they don’t get this help, business owners can risk making errors that can end up costing them huge later. An example of such a risk, is paying source deductions. All business owners know that they must take source deductions of their employees paychecks and give them to CRA, but if they’re not paying that properly, either by not paid to CRA enough money, or paying them too late, can trigger high interest penalties as well as audits. These problems can end up costing the business owner precious money that their business may not recover from.

The first thing that business owners should understand when they are learning how to run payroll in their business, is how much source deductions they need to take off of their employees checks, and how much they need to pay CRA. There are actually five components of CRA remittances says Edmonton small business accountant, there is the employee CPP, EI and taxes, but employers also need to understand that there is an employer CPP and EI as well. Employers also have to contribute to CRA remittances, of the amount of 7.37%. This is in addition to the amount that they have taken off of their employees paychecks. If they do not send both of the amounts to CRA, they will be at risk for sending a shortfall. They may not get assessed with that shortfall immediately, but as soon as they file their year-end taxes, CRA will be able to see very easily if a business has not paid enough in source deductions.

The next thing that business owners should keep in mind when they are learning how to send source deductions to CRA, is when they need to send them to avoid late penalties. Small business accountant says business owners should not wait until the very last day that source deductions are do in order to pay them. Business owners should get into the habit of developing a routine that makes sense for the business owner. Recommendation is for business owners to pay CRA on the same day that they are running their companies payroll. This makes a lot of sense, because business owners will be already calculating the source deductions amounts, as well as issuing paychecks for their employees. This way, business owners will never be at risk for making a late payment.