How to incorporate? Start book keeeping

Yup that's pretty much it!

You will quickly learn that you will need a bookkeeper/accountant for your business unless you are willing to learn accounting. Though I will recommend that every business owner learns some accounting so that you can understand financials.

you need a ontario account you can do it all online now a days

Incorporate federally is my advice:

Corporations Canada | https://ised-isde.canada.ca/site/corporations-canada/en
Ownr is useful if you like to get free banking with RBC for a period (? 6m-12m)

DecayHeat wrote: ↑ So whats the simplest way to incorporate?

The basic process as I understand it is as follows

1. submit incorporating documents and form to the provincial gov, (or use a service like ownr)
2. open business bank account at big 5
3. book keep expenses and income with a service like quickbooks.

is this the basics? Am i missing something?
I read a thread here to DIY incorporation but was wondering if that was still up to date.

There are many threads about how to incorporate. You just go to industry canada website and select your options. It's quick and easy. So you got the first step right. Many people also debate if they should incorporate provincially or federally. In the vast majority of cases, it's a moot point. I'd say do federally.

There's no legal requirement to open a business banking account. But you're well advised to do so because it's less onerous when you get audited. You yourself probably want to have a way to separate personal from business affairs.

There's also no legal requirement to use a professional software. I mean...if your business is not taking off and you only have 20 transactions, you might as well use Excel to track stuff. As your business grows (IF it grows), you'd want a software because it gets more complex. There's nothing wrong with sending out invoices in Excel in the beginning. Every little service you get is a cost. Aside from $, it's also an extra thing to manage a tool.

The other things you should do is register with the CRA. As business owner, I imagine you want to be able to pay yourself. For that, you need to open a payroll account. Then you become responsible for the filings, remittances, and T4s each year. You also want to open an HST account if you anticipate making more than $40k in sales annually.

Depending on what kind of business you are doing, there could be a million other things you need to do. If you are running a food establishment, you need to check for municipal regulations. Many cities have a requirement for your staff to have a food handler certificate. Some require you to pay for a permit to operate

ohnabatko wrote: ↑Incorporate federally is my advice:

Corporations Canada | https://ised-isde.canada.ca/site/corporations-canada/en
Ownr is useful if you like to get free banking with RBC for a period (? 6m-12m)

Ownr is $300 + incorp fee (could be different for incorporating federally as I did it provincially) but ownr gives $300 back if you sign up for an RBC Bank account. Cheapest RBC banking package is $5/m. Have to keep account for a year I believe.

Hey guys, just to keep this thread updated,

I ended up incorporating federally online. was pretty easy and costed $200. Waiting on a confirmation code via snail mail for my GST/HST number.

Going to be doing my bookkeeping with quickbooks online. Seems like a decent solution. I think i hjust need to take a photo of my receipts with their built in app.

DecayHeat wrote: ↑ ..,.
Going to be doing my bookkeeping with quickbooks online. Seems like a decent solution. I think i hjust need to take a photo of my receipts with their built in app.

For starters as well you can use Wave apps - for one my businesses I do it as well ...as it's a Solo adventure.

You should follow a couple of online courses that explain how to use QuickBooks (setting up the tax centre, etc). If you do it now it will save you a lot of money later, since you might avoid needing a bookkeeper to redo everything.

A bookkeeper or accountant can also determine if you might benefit from the quick method for GST, etc.