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What Does an Accountant Do?

Jun 14, 2021 | 11:27 AM

Accountants. They just deal with tax, right? While it’s true that many public accountants are consumed with personal tax work during the months of March and April, this represents only a small portion of our daily life.

So what do we fill our days with outside of personal taxes?

New Business Start-Ups

Deciding to venture into the world of entrepreneurship is an exciting step. However, it can also bring many challenges. Where do you even start?

We help set you up for success by walking you through the business registration process, determining your GST filing needs, and working through how to best track your daily expenditures.

Part-time Therapist

Whether you are a new business owner struggling with the decisions you have to make or a widow navigating the loss of your spouse, we are there to provide moral support.

Entering new stages of your life comes with uncertainty and sometimes, talking to us can help calm some nerves and point you in the right direction. We can even take things off your plate so that you have one less thing to deal with.

Connect You with Other Advisors

Often, we are the first phone call a client has when they are planning to make a large financial decision.

Planning to buy that family cottage? We field calls asking for advice on who they should turn to for a mortgage or how they can best access funds.

Debt Financing and Cash Flow Management

We regularly review your cash management strategies to look for ways to free up cash in your business.

If you are like the majority of Canadians, you likely have monthly debt obligations that negatively impacts your monthly cash flow. If you can’t kill the debt, we look at opportunities to restructure it to allow for a tax deduction for any interest paid.

Estate Planning

My one rule for estate planning is make sure you have a will! That serves as the foundation for any successful plan and just makes your loved one’s life easier.

While an accountant doesn’t write the will, we do regularly review wills to ensure that what you have planned meets your goals. Assets are taxed differently if being left to your kids rather than your spouse and we help make sure that you are not leaving your spouse with an unnecessary tax burden due to poor planning.

Bottom line? Personal taxes are actually a small part of our daily life. We provide a range of services to our clients. If we can’t do it, we likely know who can.