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Home
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The Site Map

The Tea Break
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The Receipts Organization
The Filing eBook
The Scanning
The Vehicle System
The Suggestions

The Tax - Canada
The CRA Compliance
The CRA News
The Small Biz News
The GST HST
The CRA Tax
The T2125 Form

The Tax - U.S.
The IRS News
The Payroll Taxes
The Rates & Dates

The Bookkeeping
The Basics
The Practice
The Training
The System
The Plan
The Tips
The Help

The Back Office
Contact/Meet Me
Hire Me
Site Policies

Bookkeeping Essentials SiteSearch

How to Find Basic Bookkeeping Information
on This Site

HST Site Links

Transitioning to HST Overview

Government Bulletins on HST

New Place of Supply Rules

Summary of Canadian Sales Tax Rates by Province

A Guide to GST/HST Registration

HST and Web Hosting / Web Design

Hello and welcome to Bookkeeping Essentials SiteSearch

You will find basic bookkeeping tips, good bookkeeping practices and other useful information throughout this site on managing the accounting side of your business. New information is added to this site each week so I hope you visit often.

Watch throughout the site for these three features: GAAP Update, The Bookkeeper's Tips on good bookkeeping practices, cashflow, and tax compliance and Let's Chat About ....

As the Bookkeeping Essentials site has grown (it is over 400 web pages now), it has become trickier to see The Big Picture and to find what you are looking for, so ...

... did you read something on this site and now can't remember where to find it? I've talked and chatted about debits and credits, financial statements and bookkeeping help. Even I have trouble finding what I'm looking for! :o)

This SiteSearch is at your disposal to solve your dilemma. The way I see it ... you have three options ...

One option is to use the Bookkeeping Essentials Search Box you see below and at the top of most pages on this site. The boxes are setup to search this site ... just be aware that if the page is fairly new and it has not been indexed by Google yet, it will not come up in the search.

If that happens, you might want to try out this second option ... check The Blog for a listing of the newest articles ... or check Sidebar Chats (at the bottom of this page) for links to popular side bar chats.


Custom Search



... or your third option is to read The Small Business Accounting Site Guide below ... it's explains how this site is laid out.

As you might have noticed, some of my pages on Bookkeeping Essentials are long ... so when you click in from a search engine executive summary ... it's hard to find the relevant line / topic that the search engines highlighted.

What I do once I have clicked to go to the page ... is to go to Edit>Find and type in a unique word or phrase that showed up on the search engine summary ... this saves me paging through trying to find the spot I need ... or near the top of some pages I have Quick Links that should take you to a general topic area.

No matter which option you choose, I sure hope you find what you are looking for ... if not, please drop me a note and I'll work at making it available on this site. I want you to know that Bookkeeping Essentials is committed to supporting work from home bookkeepers and tutoring business owners who do their own bookkeeping.



Small Business Accounting Site Guide
Table of Contents (Partial Site Map)

This website is "built" in three layers.

  1. The first layer is The Home Page. Think of the home page as "a business entity" known as Bookkeeping Essentials.

    You will find a "Table of Contents" (click the link above) at the end of the Home page. It includes overviews of all "second layer" pages ... and some of the more popular pages found on this site.
  2. The second layer is each Navigation Button on the left hand side ... easy to reach from any page on this site. Think of these pages as "departmental sections" in the business entity Bookkeeping Essentials.

    A brief explanation of what you can expect to find under each button follows directly after this section ... see How The Second Layer Works.

    ... and just so you know, there is a Table of Contents (look for "What you will find in this section") located on each page reached by a navigation button ... that relates only to that section.
  3. The third layer can be reached from a link ... sometimes a contextual inline link in an article ... but the fastest way (usually) is through an overview summary found on one of the "second layer" pages or the site map. I say usually because sometimes I muck things up .. I know, I know ... I find it hard to believe too!

    Soooo what I'm trying to say is, you access these "third layer" links through the second layer pages. Think of these pages as "procedures or issues" in each department of the business entity Bookkeeping Essentials.


How The Second Layer Works

Here is a brief overview of the basic bookkeeping procedures and/or issues (third layer) for each departmental section (second layer) ...

... useful for finding your way around Bookkeeping Essentials.

Support This Site focuses on the different ways you can support Bookkeeping Essentials ... because this website is not free to operate ... in terms of money or time.


The Tea Break

The Tea Shoppe focuses on products or services that may be of use to bookkeepers and work from home business owners. It features basic bookkeeping training and tools.

The Virtual eGuide gives you access to a virtual bookkeeper's online training program to help you get a profitable home-based virtual bookkeeping business up and running in 30 days.

The Online Exams explains why you want to self assess your bookkeeping skills and where you can obtain exams.

The Free Ezine is a free bi-monthly newsletter. Subscriber's receive a free eBook and The Insider's Pass.

The Forum focuses on site visitor participation. Here's an opportunity to share your stories and your expertise ... or get help.

The Bookkeeping Blog Want to keep up-to-date on additions and changes to this site? Consider subscribing to the blog RSS feed ... or bookmark your favorite page using the "Share This Page" tools found at the bottom of each page including this Bookkeeping Essentials SiteSearch page.


The Receipts Organization

The Filing eBook teaches you in under 30 minutes how to organize your business files and receipts.

The Scanning provides information on a paperless guide that can assist YOU in taming your paper woes.

The Vehicle System explains how to organize your receipts if your work out of your vehicle.

The Suggestions has ideas and options on how to get your receipts and office organized.


The Tax - Canada

The CRA Compliance focuses on basic bookkeeping and tax compliance as well as useful tax rates. It has links to payroll information too.

The CRA News focuses on CRA news for the Canadian small business owner.

The Small Biz News focuses on provincial news and other useful links useful for the Canadian small business owner.

The GST/HST focuses on Canadian sales tax. It includes a question and answer section.

The Income Tax focuses on Canadian bookkeeping basics for the sole proprietor including income tax return reporting (which is different than financial statement reporting) ... and some summary information on CCPCs.

The T2125 Form focuses on how to complete the sole proprietor's CAR tax schedule..


The Tax - U.S.

The Payroll Taxes focuses on U.S. payroll taxes like FICA, FUTA, Form 940 and 941 and other topics relating to payroll such as employment tax forms such as W2, W3 and W4.

The IRS News focuses on the latest IRS news relevant to U.S. small business owners.

The Rates & Dates focuses on U.S. small business tax information ... particularly tax compliance due dates and interest rates and a link to self-employment taxes.


The Bookkeeping

The Practice focuses on discussions of the regular bookkeeping chores.

The Data Entry focuses on how to use QuickBooks®. It includes a question and answer section.

The Training focuses on financial statement reporting (which is different than income tax return reporting).

The System focuses on bookkeeping system options, procedures, and software.

The Plan focuses on financial planning, business plans and budgets.

The Tips focuses on basic accounting and bookkeeping tips. They are split into five different categories.

The Help focuses on answering the question - should you do the books yourself ... or get bookkeeping help.


The Back Office

Contact Me has a contact form and also includes information about your tutor.

Site Policies includes Terms of Use - Legal Disclaimer - Privacy Statement - Advertising Links - Compensation Disclosure for Bookkeeping-Essentials.com




The Third Layer Links - Procedures and Bookkeeping Issues

Here are Bookkeeping Essentials SiteSearch links in alphabetical order to each third level page.

Executive summaries for these pages can be found by clicking the appropriate navigation button on the left hand side. Bookkeeping Forum pages are excluded from this listing.

The Forum - Your Bookkeeping Community

Ask and Answer Bookkeeping Questions
Bookkeeping Resources
Learning How To Use QuickBooks®
Unanswered Bookkeeping Questions (share your knowledge and expertise)




The System - Developing Your Accounting System

A Portable Document Filing System
Accounts Payable Management
Accounts Receivable Collections Procedures
Accounting System Procedures - Who Does What When
Accounting Systems Software
How I Built This Website With Limited Computer Skills
Just Starting Your Own Business?
Learn How To Organize Files
Learn How To Use QuickBooks to Customize Reports
Manual or Computerized System
Paperless Technology - Going Paperless
Recordkeeping System - How to Get Your Office Organized
Record Retention Guidelines (includes visitor content)
Virtual Bookkeeper's Guide - Online Bookkeeper Training Program
What About Internal Controls? (requires Insider's Pass for some parts of the article)
Your Chart of Accounts - Blueprint of Your Accounting System



The Tax - IRS Compliance - U.S.

Latest Internal Revenue Service (IRS) News - A Handy Reference
U.S. Employee Payroll Taxes
U.S. Employment Tax Forms - W2, W3, W4, I9
U.S. Independent Contractor Rules
U.S. Self Employment Income / Tax
U.S. Small Business Tax Information




The Tax - CRA Compliance - Canada

Canadian Bookkeeper News - A Handy Reference
Canadian Payroll Deductions
Latest Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) News - A Handy Reference
Minumum Wage Rates in Canada
Payroll Tax Rates (includes question and answer section)
Subcontracting Payments and T4A slips
Tax Compliance
Tax Filing Deadlines and Due Dates
Tax Rates
Taxpayer Bill of Rights
Understanding Tax Audits
Voluntary Disclosure Program
What to do if You Receive a Tax Audit Notice (includes visitor content)



The Tax - Income Tax Reporting

Canadian Controlled Private Corporation Notes (includes question and answer section)
Claiming Home Office Expenses
Claiming Business Use of Your Personal Vehicle
Home Business Tax Questions and Answers
T2125 - Deductible Expenses
T2125 - Limitations and Non-Deductible Expenses



The GST HST - Canadian Sales Taxes

A Guide to GST/HST Registration
Compare and Contrast GST/HST To PST/RST
GST ITCs and Business Use of Your Personal Vehicle
GST/HST Quick Method of Accounting Rates (includes question and answer section)
How Governments Raise Tax Revenues
HST Poll Comments and Feedback
Selected HST Bulletins
Transitioning to HST - An Overview



The Practice - Small Business Bookkeeping

Adjusting Entries (requires Insider's Pass for some parts of the article)
Always Have An Audit Trail
Basic Bookkeeping Entries (accounts receivable, accounts payable, inventory)
Bookkeeping Entries for Consignment Accounting
Bookkeeping Checklists (requires Insider's Pass for some parts of the article)
Capital Lease vs Operating Lease (includes question and answer section)
Common Bookkeeping Entries (requires Insider's Pass for some parts of the article -- capital assets, banking, taxes and year-end)
Corporate Minute Book
Good Bookkeeping Practices
How To Manage Petty Cash
Month End Procedures (requires Insider's Pass for some parts of the article)
Reconciliations - Are They Necessary?
Small Business Bookkeeping Questions and Answers
Watch Out For These Transactions



The Training - Financial Statement Reporting

Accounting Standards for Private Enterprise (ASPE)
Are You Profitable?
Basic Accounting Concepts
Basic Ratio Analysis
Cash Flow Statement Essentials
Conceptual Framework of Canadian GAAP
Introduction to Your Balance Sheet
Introduction to Your Financial Statements
Introduction to Your Income Statement
Monthly Financial Review (requires Insider's Pass for some parts of the article)
Online Bookkeeping Courses
Sample Financial Reports



The Plan - A Financial Plan is Essential

Creating Your First Budget
Does Your System Meet YOUR Needs?
How Do I Forecast My Cash Flow?
Forecasting, How is it Different from Budgeting?
Learn to Make Informed Business Decisions



The Help - Get Bookkeeping Help or Do It Yourself?

How Do I Know If I Need Bookkeeping Help?
How Does a Bookkeeper Charge for Their Bookkeeping Services?
How To Start Doing Your Own Bookkeeping
So What In The Heck Will The Bookkeeping Help Be Doing?
Things To Consider When Hiring A Bookkeeper ( a free eBook available when you subscribe to the newsletter)
What Are Your Responsibilities When You Hire a Bookkeeper?




Sidebars Found In Bookkeeping Essentials

I hope this Bookkeeping Essentials SiteSearch page assists you in finding what you were looking for ... oh and here are some Bookkeeping Essentials chats buried on third layer pages that you may find interesting.


Sidebars Found
In Existing Blogs On The Site

Standby charges.

How to track construction holdbacks in QuickBooks.

When should you incorporate in Canada?

A series of payroll sidebar chats including with How to Proof CPP and EI Tax Rates and How to Pay Employees With Cash.

The rules for shareholder / employee / spousal loans.

Owner manager remuneration for incorporated businesses.

How to reconcile vendor statements.

A few QuickBooks tips such as keyboard shortcuts for dates, period end closing procedure, how to track customer deposits.

Amending a tax return to avoid penalties.

How to book customer deposits, loan from owner and disposition/purchase of a vehicle.

Is it amortization or depreciation?

Yearend journal entries for periodic inventory.

Things to consider when gathering home office expense information.

Look for my top 5 bookkeeping tips near the top of The Tips page.

What does it take to pay zero taxes?

How to determine if a transaction should be expensed or capitalized?

Do you need GAAP prepared financial statements?

Basic entity concept, materiality, and consistency - three accounting principles.

The risk of not having business insurance for your personal vehicle.






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(Listed Under Websites NOT Under Local Business. This website is not associated with any business operating in Bonnyville Alberta.)




From the Mail Bag
Visitor Comments



Thanks for the information. It is nice to see there is an online site where I can go get answers to my bookkeeping questions. It was really a stroke of luck I came across this site. I googled my bookkeeping question to see if I could get an answer, a shot in the dark, and bookkeeping-essentials was one of the results listed. I looked over some other sites but none were as flexible as this site. I got a quick response and I will be using this site in the future. Thanks again.

Bayside, NY, United States




I love your site...its very homey!!! It's like reading/talking to a friend!! Thanks!!

Kim, Jackson, MS United States




Your website is positively BRILLIANT! I don't care at all for the numbers side of my business, but you've made it interesting, fun, comfortable--downright enjoyable! Bite-sized WELL WRITTEN bits walking me through fundamentals, encouraging me, explaining.(Note: "well written" covers everything from "interesting" to "intelligent." The reader doesn't stumble over elementary grammar errors, lots of typos, etc.) I've only just discovered this lovely gold mine!

Cherie, U.S.




I have just come across your site and it's great...thank you so much for the time it must take you to compile the data and information. I have no accountancy or book keeping knowledge and am currently trying to learn QuickBooks via YouTube. (lol) There must be an easier way as I don't have the time or finances, what with starting a new business, to attend a course at college or similar.

Debbie, Vancouver, BC Canada




As a novice at the bookkeeping game, this site has become my go to site for research. Thank you for the great resource. I do my data entry one or twice a year (very low volume) and I find I need retraining on Quickbooks for things like depreciation/CCA.

Den, St. Albert, AB Canada




A More Than FANTASTIC site! So often I've thought about putting something together like your site, but didn't have the time. Googling information about Supplies or Tools over under $500.00 was the most useful Google search I've ever done because of discovering your site. Way to go and THANKS VERY MUCH. PS.... Also loved it that you put the Tax chart for GST HST back to 1997; I spent hours trying to get this information from the CRA website. I've not had time to look at your whole site, but I will be refering to it often I'm sure and will mention anything I think is missing, should I not discover information as I might be looking for it. Thanks, Again

Leona, Sicamous, BC Canada




Thank you for your comprehensive reply to my question. I really appreciate the time you took to explain it to me.

Connie, Canada




This is an absolutely awesome site! I am not lying. I went to Chapters to try to find something just like this and they did not have what I was looking for - which your site does ... which is good definitions and explanations. I am going to book mark this page if that's okay. ... Great job and thank you. I will definitely use this resource.

PK Lethbridge, Alberta




My biggest problem in doing my books is keeping debits & credits straight in liability and equity accounts. I really liked the cheat sheet. (I think that will help me keep the debits and credits straight.)

Lisa, Williston, USA




Lake you're awesome in every way. I have had some insight about how to properly classify some accounts.

Karim, Calgary, Alberta




Thank you so much for this website. I am interviewing for my first bookkeeping position in over 10 years--and my first in Canada. I have AAS degrees in Accounting and Business Admin from the US but have never worked in "my field" since immigrating in 2000. Your website makes me feel more confident I can actually do the job I am interviewing for. So far, I have been refreshing my knowledge and preparing for a job interview. I've bookmarked the site for WHEN I get the job!

Robin, Toronto, ON




I love your website. Just love it.

Carolann
CPB Bookkeeping, Inc.
"The Organizer"
Lake Worth, FL




I posted a question on Accumulated Surplus and you asked me to comment on your comments. I really appreciated reading what you posted and it did help. Especially the part of talking to the accountant. That really makes sense. I find more and more that I interact with the accountants to keep on learning. Love Love Love your website. Just discovered it about 3 weeks ago and have been on it lots since then.

Jan
Red Deer, Alberta




Wow. I'm so thankful to have stumbled across your site, with the assistance of Google. :) I love your style of writing, your approach, and your message. Thank you for your time and efforts. In a nutshell, your light humor and simple approach is refreshing and uplifting.

Kathy, Hillsdale, United States




Your site is great by the way. I just came across it.

Trish, Canada




Thanks for responding so quickly ... I really appreciate all the forum help ... I do Love the forum and have looked through other questions on it and feel it will greatly help in the future. Your site is fantastic and I will recommend it to anyone asking about bookkeeping help.

Cindy, Calgary, Canada




It (your site) is very helpful and thank you for your tips and advice. I am so glad I found your site.

Lee, Calgary, Alberta




Thank you so much for your hard work on your site ... I find I learn quicker and easier with you than I did with courses. Your site has helped my knowledge, learning new things and with the explanation of terms/items. Keep up the good "BookWORK"!

Naomi, Balance Your Books, Squamish, B.C.




This website has been very helpful. It's been too many years since school and I'm a bit rusty.

Sue, Medicine Hat, Alberta




I just found this site tonight. It's going to help me a lot as I learn how to use my Quickbooks more fully (I've only used it for payroll). Don't ask me how I've managed to keep the books this long -5 years- without knowing much more than how to balance a checkbook. I'm getting some help from a professional now, but your site will keep my pro costs down. Thank you. I will definitely donate once I begin to use it with my QuickBooks. It's [your site] easier to understand than Help in QuickBooks. QuickBooks assumes I know bookkeeping concepts. It [your site] appears to be very thorough, though I've only scratched the surface of what I can learn. I took an online bookkeeping class a couple of years ago, but this site has direct application to quickbooks and it's a searchable site!

Ruth, Dos Palos, CA USA




Thank you for providing valuable information regarding home business taxes on this website.

U.C., Toronto, Canada




I started my own bookkeeping business two years ago and enjoy your site. I literally grab my cup of coffee and look around for hours. :D It's a wonderful site with loads of information and I'm all about learning from my peers who might have the answers to some of the questions I may have. Keep up the good work. :)

Tania, TaniasBookkeeping.org
Taking the worry away
Belledune, New Brunswick




BTW, did you say Bookkeeping? Cuz I fell asleep... just kidding!

Dr. Julia
www.advice-with-dr-julia.com

(I love her humour!)




Absolutely a great site! I have often dreamed of having a similar site but figured I might have to wait until I retire to get the time. I have bookmarked this site and will return again.

C.H.
Alwyn Enterprises
Scarborough , Ontario




You have a wonderful website. Thank you so much for letting me know you have one now. [It] is really well done and very, very informative. Also really charming.

R.P.
Reliable Recordkeeping
Toronto, Ontario




I'm enjoying reading your blog! Thought I'd drop you a quick note of encouragement.

Loralee, Red2Black.ca
QuickBooks "one
on one" coaching
Edmonton, Alberta




This is a marvelous site and one that I would like to use as the basis for training bookkeepers. I am a CPA here in the states and am in the process of building a what will hopefully become a substantial bookkeeping business (not a dark wood & gold lettered CPA firm). I want to serve the small business owner with the day to day service they need. You have obviously put in an enormous amount of time and effort here (there is no doubt there) and provide a wealth of fantastic information.

R. Keith Pierce, CPA, P.A.
I'll Sweat The Small Stuff For You - JaxTaxPro.com
Jacksonville, Florida