🚀 go-pugleaf

Hi Mr. D.

"Mr.D" <diesel_vir@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:90a7e711.0407222024.96077b2@posting.google.com...
> """My uncle's 'mom and pop' used car dealership is situtated in
> London, Ontario, Canada.  My uncle has just purchased a new computer
> running Windows XP for this business.
>
> The dealership currently uses 'pen and paper' to keep records, and
> every tax season hires an accountant to file business taxes.
>
> I have been given the task to upgrade the 'accounting system' for the
> dealership.  Personally, I have taken only four accounting courses at
> the college.  The accounting financial statement basic are cemented
> into my head.  Now looking over the dealership books, the books are
> quite simple, seriously.
>
> I want to do two things here."""
>
> First, I am going to switch over to a computerized system of
> bookkeeping.
>
> I intend on using the Intuit's newest version of Quickbooks.

QuickBooks is an OK program, as long as this is really a small business.  If
you ever get big, there are lots of other options.

Since your inventory is relatively small, and consists of many "one time"
items (as opposed to, say, a grocery store that sells the same item over and
over), you might want to track inventory costs in an Excel spreadsheet or
something.  Then you would just add the income and cost of item sold into QB
each time you make a sale.

> What do most Canadian Chartered Accountants' recommend for small
> businesses?
>
> Second, a) I want to file the dealership/company taxes myself.
> Comments...

It is going to be pretty likely that a good accountant who is particularly
knowledgable about taxes (and that is not all accountants) will save you
more in taxes than you will spend just in finding you deductions you might
have not considered or by checking over your books for possible errors.

You can do it yourself.  Many people do.  Just remember to consider whether
that might be a false economy.

> b) My brother pays $260 a year to have an accountant file his taxes.
> He has only a t-4 and tuition to account for.  He wants to be able to
> file my own taxes.

I expect that if he is looking for the fanciest accountant in town, then
that's what it costs.  For the type of return he seems to have, he should be
able to shop around and find someone perfectly competent to do that type of
return for about half that price.

> His accountant uses 'www.efile.com'.
>
> However, Intuit's Quickbooks is 'probably' designed to be 'hassle
> free' if used together with Intuit's turbotax.

That's what they say.  It never works quite that easily for me in real life.
That's one reason I didn't feel compelled to continue using Intuit's
professional version of Turbo Tax.

> What bookkeeping software and tax software combination should I use?

Actually, I have still been using Quick Tax for my Canadian returns.  But
let me leave you with this thought on taxes: What the accountant is supposed
to be selling is their expertise as to WHAT figures are best to put on the
tax return.  The software used to print the return is cheap and probably
almost immaterial.  They will all calculate a tax return, in whatever way
you enter the numbers.  The question you want to ask is whether you feel
competent to find the correct numbers to enter -- and those that will be to
your best advantage.

There are also lots of cheap software choices, among them QB, Peachtree,
MYOB, and many others.  There are also many that are more expensive and more
appropriate to larger businesses.  One thing to consider here: you might
consider professional help in the initial set-up of the program -- setting
it up with the needs of your particular business in mind.  Again, the money
you spend up front will get you better figures at the other end, and it will
be easier to do it at the start than to make changes in mid-stream.

Good luck!

Bryan
-- 
----------------------------------------
Bryan Kellar, EA
Oregon Tax Help, Inc.   Portland, Oregon
www.oregontaxhelp.com
www.canadatax.org
New Canadian Tax discussion group at
http://finance.groups.yahoo.com/group/USCanadaTax/join