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  • Hogg Shain & Scheck, A Great Place to Work

    September 25, 2014 by

    I started working at HSS in 2011, my second year of university. While the majority of my classmates chose co-op terms at the “big four,” I chose to work at a smaller Toronto firm. This decision was definitely right for me. If you believe the quality of your performance is based on your work environment
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  • Should You Transfer Your Sole Proprietorship into a Corporation?

    September 24, 2014 by

    Many businesses – even some of today’s top companies – begin as sole proprietorships, simply because it’s the simplest and most straightforward type of company for beginners to undertake and understand. But as a business grows, the sole proprietorship often is not the ideal choice, and many businesses choose to convert to a corporation. While
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  • Travelling to the USA?

    September 19, 2014 by

    On a recent trip to Niagara Falls, New York, my friends and I were stopped at the Rainbow Bridge border for overspending. Little did we know that our spending limits were so low, and that we would have to pay taxes and duties on what we brought back to Canada to the Canadian Border Security
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  • Small Business Job Credit

    September 19, 2014 by

    On September 11, 2014 Federal Finance Minister Joe Oliver announced the creation of the Small Business Job Credit.  This credit will apply to Employment Insurance (EI) premiums paid by small businesses in 2015 and 2016 and will result in a 15% net reduction in EI over those years. The credit is effective for two years,
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  • Asking your boss for maternity leave

    September 12, 2014 by

    Telling your boss that you will be taking a year off for maternity leave can be a stressful discussion. How soon do you tell them? Will they be supportive? Will they like my replacement more? I have had to have this conversation twice with my HSS bosses, the most recent one being only five months
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  • How an Income Statement Measures Performance

    September 8, 2014 by

    An income statement is one of the many financial tools that Canadian entrepreneurs can use to measure profitability. Learn how to use an income statement to evaluate your business’ sustainability. What is an income statement? A calculation of a company’s revenue and sales less its expenses over a designated period of time. What profitability measurements
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  • Penalties and the CRA’s Matching Program

    August 29, 2014 by

    If you’ve received a notice of reassessment from the CRA, you are not alone; millions of Canadians are hit with reassessments each year. Most of these reassessments aren’t aimed at uncovering fraud or malfeasance; instead, they’re triggered by the CRA’s matching program, a system designed to look at every return and match it to the
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  • Cash Flow Pitfalls for Canadian Entrepreneurs

    August 27, 2014 by

    Every business owner has heard the saying that, “cash is king”. However, too often, businesses find themselves short on liquidity at the times they need it most. Monitoring and understanding an enterprises’ cashflow provides cushion in times of hardship and ensures that your employees are paid the right amount on time. Read on to learn
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  • The “Real World” of Accounting

    August 27, 2014 by

    I studied at Brock University for 4 years in the Bachelor of Accounting program, but it wasn’t until I worked at HSS that I learned about what actually goes on in an accounting firm. In school, we were obsessed with audits. We glazed over the terms “review engagement” and “compilations”, but we had 3 courses
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  • Financial bootstrapping: Generate cash with a little ingenuity

    August 22, 2014 by

    Financial bootstrapping is a term used to describe all the different ways companies can generate the cash they need for growth and expansion without turning to outside investors. While the amount of cash available for your use may be limited compared to funds you could obtain through, say, issuance of stock or taking on an
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  • What Is Capital Structure?

    August 20, 2014 by

    Every business needs some type of capital to grow and thrive, and for business owners who are just starting out, that capital may come in the form of personal savings, personal lines of credit or loans. Those sources may be fine for starters, but as your business grows, you need to understand capital structure at
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  • The Differences Between Traditional Volume-Based & Activity-Based Overhead Cost Allocation Systems

    August 15, 2014 by

    Understand the differences between Traditional Volume-Based & Activity-Based overhead-cost allocation systems to enhance your business operations and create more accurate balance sheets. You need a strategic way to calculate how much profit your products and services are generating in relation to overhead costs. Each cost-allocation system has its benefits and shortfalls. Therefore, it is always
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