Our Top 4 Recommendations for Sole Proprietors

We always strive to foster great relationships with our clients. We want you to feel confident taking our recommendations.

So, here’s a little about me. My name is Melody McClain. I live here in Airdrie with my husband and two kids – my son is 9 and my daughter is 11.

I received my accounting designation in 2000 and went to work in Calgary. I had kids, we moved to Airdrie, and I found the commute into downtown to be a bit much. So, in 2013 I partnered into an existing Airdrie accounting practice. The original accounting practitioner has since retired and now it’s just me, and some great ladies that I work with. We handle mainly corporate year ends, corporate tax returns and personal tax returns. Along with the personal tax returns, of course, comes sole-proprietors and partnerships.

As a business owner, I know firsthand how much there is to consider. Here are our top four recommendations to implement today:

• Hire a good bookkeeper. For a sole proprietor, this is almost more important than hiring a good accountant. The bookkeeper is making the day-to-day decisions as to what to include and what not to include. The information sent to the accountant is only as good as the work the bookkeeper did. Or, hire someone who does both.
• Don’t use Excel, use an accounting software. It’s a bit of an investment. Quickbooks costs about $300 and Sage 50 (Simply Accounting) costs about the same.
• Don’t use Quickbooks Online if you’re planning on growing. It’s a bit of an accountant’s nightmare. You don’t really own the data.
• Keep your business and your personal as separate as possible. This might mean opening a separate bank account and designating a certain credit card as business only.

Always feel free to get in touch with us if you have any questions.