Entrepreneurship & Small Business

Accounting & Payroll for small start-up

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  • Jan 4th, 2016 2:59 pm
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Newbie
Aug 16, 2014
18 posts
1 upvote
Toronto, ON

Accounting & Payroll for small start-up

First time entrepreneur and trying to figure out accounting and payroll services for my business.

Do I need an outsource accountant or an online software would do or do I need both?

Is it possible to do accounting yourself?

Business: small restaurant
Me: Accounting was not my major in school but have some notions about it.
Organized, good at holding on to receipts (papers in general), average knowledge about excel.

Thank you.

S.
5 replies
Deal Addict
Feb 25, 2007
1568 posts
1129 upvotes
Ottawa
Do yourself a favour and hire an accountant, and use the software/tracking method (may be quite simple!) they recommend.

Accounting and payroll is not rocket science and doubtless you could figure it out yourself. However, starting a small restaurant will involve lots of work which is a better use of your time, and is the type of business where more elbow grease from you on quality, marketing, decor, food sourcing will all pay off. And that should be your core competency as a new restauranteur.

A decent accountant will also know how things are done to save you money (taxes and effort) in ways not written down on paper.
Since you're organized, have a good discussion with them and make sure they charge you by the hour or other disaggregated way, so the fee you pay is not a package deal intended for disorganized people who hand their accts a shoebox of receipts once a year and expect magic.

Sorry, not in TO so can't recommend specific names.
Deal Addict
Nov 13, 2006
1377 posts
1186 upvotes
An accountant is the way to go, As a entrepreneur in the restaurant business, 100% of your time should go towards the business and not to side task like accounting.
Deal Addict
User avatar
Mar 23, 2008
4059 posts
452 upvotes
Toronto
Hire an accountant to handle your finances.

There is no need to outsource your payroll since it's literally automated of you use software or even CRA's payroll calculator.

Quickbooks payroll for example (which I use) is so simple that anyone can do it: just enter in the hours, hourly wage, and it does the rest. Then all I do is generate a report and it shows me how much I need to remit every month.

CRA's payroll calculator does the same. Just enter some values and presto. Only downside is it does not generate a pay stub, nor does it update YTD values. With some experience, making pay stubs using excel can save you money when it comes to generating pay stubs for your employees. Just make sure you update the YTD values everytime you make a pay stub from scratch with Excel. Some simple excel formulas can calculate them with ease.

For new entrepreneurs who have no knowledge in payroll, I suggest you look at Payment Evolution for your payroll needs since it is the most generous for businesses with 1-5 employees.

If you're fluent in calculating payroll deductions, go ahead and use CRA payroll calculator and make your own pay stubs on Excel.
Jr. Member
User avatar
Nov 1, 2007
168 posts
43 upvotes
Toronto
Domesticity wrote: First time entrepreneur and trying to figure out accounting and payroll services for my business.

Do I need an outsource accountant or an online software would do or do I need both?

Is it possible to do accounting yourself?

Business: small restaurant
Me: Accounting was not my major in school but have some notions about it.
Organized, good at holding on to receipts (papers in general), average knowledge about excel.

Thank you.

S.
It depends if you have the time. I have taught a lot of people how to do their own payroll (you can google how to do it btw), especially the ones with fixed salaries. You can also get a cheap software that can electronically withdraw and transfer the funds to the employee's bank account, and don't have to deal with T4s at the end of the year.

Bookkeeping on the other hand does require a significant more work with a restaurant but a POS system does wonders upfront and that could save you a lot of time. Hiring a professional depends on your knowledge of tax rules and accounting.

The REAL QUESTION is: Why is your join date Jan 1, 1970? :D
Professional Accountant by Profession, Accountant by Trade. Business Entrepreneur every single day!
Sr. Member
User avatar
Jul 2, 2006
966 posts
5 upvotes
Domesticity wrote: First time entrepreneur and trying to figure out accounting and payroll services for my business.

Do I need an outsource accountant or an online software would do or do I need both?

Is it possible to do accounting yourself?

Business: small restaurant
Me: Accounting was not my major in school but have some notions about it.
Organized, good at holding on to receipts (papers in general), average knowledge about excel.

Thank you.

S.
As an entrepreneur, I always feel like it's important to know what you're really good at and figure out what tasks can you outsource/delegate. You can definitely figure out Accounting and Payroll on your own but should you do it? Your time is one of the most valuable assets to the business and you should spend it wisely. That being said, what are your plans for the future? Are you looking to significantly grow your small restaurant or remain as is? Based on what you plan to do, it'll help you figure out how you allocate your time.

Came across https://bench.co/ a while back and have heard good things about them although I've never personally used them. Might be something worth checking out.

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