Are you looking to save yourself some time come tax time?
I received a letter from my accountant in the mail this week about an ‘Audit Shield Fee Waiver’ service, which is a service that protects you against the increasing audit, enquiry, investigation and review activity by the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) and other provincial agencies. This fee helps assist against additional costs associated with audits.
CRA continues to allocate millions of dollars for compliance activities which could mean (and probably means) increases in the number of audits/investigations etc.
This fee (offered by my accountant) is around $757.
Believe it or not, I was audited twice as a student in University. I think I’m still scandalized by receiving the paperwork and thinking, “why would the Gov’t want to audit a university student working part-time not one but TWICE?”. It was a real head-scratcher for me.
I’m a bit audit-sensitive and want to ensure I’m always doing things well.
So I reached out to my accountant to get the low down if this is something that I should be investing in.
The short answer is no!
The longer answer is: I use various systems that simplify my monthly accounting. Because of these & how I do all my accounting, she figures my taxes are pretty simple, and I could likely pass on this service.
Look at those systems and processes coming in for the WIN again ;) I tell ya, that ISO9001 Process Manager job I had (which was by far the most boring job I have ever had) is like the gift that keeps on giving.
Coles Notes version of how you can save yourself some potential time with the gov’t and your accountant?
Systems and processes ensure that you are running your business efficiently. Efficiently means you are likely not throwing money out the window. Definitely good for your bottom line.
It makes your annual tax filing time significantly easier (and also your monthly bookkeeping if you do that)
Need to look up a bill or see how much you spent on marketing - easy peasy.
If I did get audited, answering questions would be a lot easier because everything is in the cloud. Not to mention the time to compile everything would be dramatically reduced.
Back in the day (or if you still do everything with paper), you would have to make copies of everything and mail it to the government. Now you can do things electronically, so having a proper accounting system in place means less paper around your house and easier filing with the Gov’t.
Do you see the theme? EASY! That’s what systemizing your business can do. Make. Your. Life. Easier!
Even if your filing is correct and filed on time, people can still be randomly selected for audits and investigations. I guess you can pick how you would like your CRA future to be: me, and I prefer the easy way.
Note: check with your accountant to verify everything I’ve written and to discuss your unique personal situation as I’m not one of those. I just like to make life easier with systems and processes.