Welcome to the this issue of The Bookkeeper's Notes newsletter focusing on good bookkeeping practices.

If you are a regular site visitor, you know that Bookkeeping-Essentials.com is committed to educating and providing support to ... work from home business owners. I sincerely hope you find this newsletter useful and practical.

It was a long winter but with summer just around the corner, it's time to pull out the kayaks and take to the water. Each year the number of residents who kayak on our lake increases. In 2004 I saw two residents who regularly kayaked on the lake. Now I can't even count the number. Oh yeah ... and don't leave without the bug spray because the high water levels this year have made the mosquito population unbearable without it!

In this issue, I'll give you a few presentation tips for your income statement ... to make it easier for you to read, look at minimum wages in Canada and the U.S., along with news from the CRA and IRS. I'm also introducing you to a new product I found, The Paperless Organization Guide.

Thank you to my subscribers who participated in a Product Development Survey. I am now in the planning stages of what product or products to offer site visitors. If you would still like to participate in the survey, please click here. Also feel free to drop me a note to let me know what kind of product you would like to see offered on the site.

Of course, this newsletter gives you access to the links of a handful of web pages that are password protected … my newsletter subscribers have exclusive access to these bookkeeping lists and procedures. You will need The Insider's Pass (a password) to access them, which you will find in the last section of the newsletter.

For work from home business owners doing their own books, I have introduced a new service … a general review of your ledger. This service will be for those who want assurance they are on the right track. I'll perform a high level review of your general ledger to see if there are any obvious problems. You may choose to have me walk you through the problems and how to correct them. If you are interested, send me a message on my contact form.

Bookkeepers interested in advertising on the Bookkeeping-Essentials's website, can place their ad by contacting me through my website.

It is my sincere hope that the information I provide on Bookkeeping-Essentials.com, and in this newsletter, will help you learn good bookkeeping practices to manage your business finances easily and more efficiently. It can be tough coming up with ideas on what to write about. If there is something you'd like me to cover, please drop me a line.

To your success! ... and, of course, thank you for subscribing to this e-zine.

Until next time,

Laura (aka Lake) :0)
Lakeshore Bookkeeping Services
BComm CPB

P.S. I would like to remind you there is a difference between information and advice. The general information provided in this e-zine or on my site should not be construed as advice. You should not act or rely on this information without engaging professional advice specific to your situation prior to using my site content for any reason whatsoever.

In This Issue ...

• The Paperless Organization Guide - 3 Choices
• Focus on Bookkeeping - Income Statement Presentation Tips
• Focus on Payroll - Minimum Wage
• Recent Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) News
• Recent Internal Revenue Service (IRS) News
• In the Forum - Share Your Expertise
• The Insider's Pass - The Current Password is Here

Organize Your Documents With The
Paperless Organization Guide

Brooks has a diverse background that touches upon accounting, computer programming and client services. He has taken all of that expertise to produce a top notch product.

The basic guide is called “Paper Practitioner”. It includes audio interviews (and transcripts) with clients who have already gone paperless.

Want to purchase it? Skip the reading and purchase it here.

https://www.bookkeeping-essentials.com/LauraRecommendsBrooksDuncan

This basic guide is 82 information-packed pages that covers:

* folders vs software

* naming conventions

* searchable text

* remote access

* finding your documents

* backing up and workflows ... so you have the ability to successfully go paperless.

If you've been wanting to go paperless but don't know where to start, this basic guide at just $47 USD will get you started. It caters to both the Windows and Mac platforms.

But what if you want more than just a pdf guide? "The Paper Specialist" throws in audio interviews (and transcripts) with professional organizers and video Screencasts which are perfect for the visual learner.

If you are someone that likes to receive coaching, then the "Paperless Master" is the version for you. It comes with all of the above PLUS 2 one hour group coaching calls that are recorded so you can play them back later.

I urge you to visit DocumentSnap.com to find out more about this Guide.

I recommend Brooks Duncan, and I know you will learn a lot from him. This product has 3 price points so you can tailor it to your needs. You should know that I am an affiliate of Brook's, which means I believe in what he is doing. If you purchase the guide from him, he will forward me a commission.

Here is that link again:

https://www.bookkeeping-essentials.com/LauraRecommendsBrooksDuncan

Focus On Bookkeeping - Income Statement Presentation Tips

I'm going to show you how a few simple presentation changes to your income statement will make it easier for you to use it as tool in your business decisions.

One of the first things I like do when formatting the Income Statement is to rename it to "The Statement of Operations". I think this more accurately reflects how the small business owner, who may not know all the ins and outs of GAAP, uses it.

Then I like to go in and remove the pennies. Think about it for a minute. Would knowing a number is $3,657.23 lead you to a different business decision than $3,657? The pennies can distract you ... so take them out of the equation.

If you glance at your income statement, you will probably notice that the report lists all your income and expenses alphabetically. I think this makes it tough for you to really focus on what's important.

It is so easy to concentrate on the small dollar accounts as you read down the list ... instead of focusing on the big money makers and larger expenses that you must control to stay in business.

To solve this problem, I sort the income and expenses not alphabetically, but by dollar value. This means your biggest sources of income and largest expenses are the ones you see first.

It lets you easily see which expenses must be monitored if you don't want cash flow problems ... or suggests product or services to play around with (your low income earners) to see if you can increase sales ... or consider dropping all together.

This simple rearranging of the income and expenses on your report lets you hone in on what drives your business easily and simply.

To make the picture even clearer for you, consider adding a column called "% of Income". This calculation presents your expenses as a percentage of your income. How is this helpful?

Hmm let me think about this. If one expense item is 25% of your income, it jumps out at and grabs your attention … or it should. It gives you a very good indication that it needs to be monitored so the costs don't escalate out of control … eating up all your profits.

You will also be able to see that probably about 20-25% of your expense accounts account for 75-80% of your total expenses. This a bonus for the small business owner who doesn't have enough hours in the day. Now you can clearly see what's important and if the costs are going up or down in relation to your income. This could be a useful tool for you, don't you think?

These are just a few of the changes I like to make to the income statement to make it easier to read … in my opinion.

You can find a presentation sample by clicking here.

You can learn more about how to read the income statement itself by clicking here.

Focus on Payroll - Minimum Wage Rates

Canada

In Canada, I found two nice sites where you can find the minimum wages for all the provinces and territories. The first one is a website called Canada Minimum Wage (www.minimum-wage.ca). The website is a public serve of Marathon Studios Enterprises. The second site is WorkRights.ca.

The problem is they don't keep the sites up to date ... but they are great starting places for looking for updated information.

When you visit the Canada Minimum Wage website, clicking on the name of each province provides a webpage with labor laws for the province. WorkRights.ca is directed more to employees than employers.

Because it was hard to find minimum wage rate information in one place that is up-to-date, I have created a table in the Compliance area.

Click here for a minimum wage rate by province table that I have added to Bookkeeping-Essentials. You will also find references/links to employment standards for each province.

When you look at the table, you will see that B.C. is still the province with the lowest minimum wage at $8.75. When B.C.'s next increase occurs in November, the Yukon will have the lowest rate at $9.00.

United States

The best place I found for a one stop location for minimum wages in the United States was recommended by The Bean Counter ... The Department of Labour.

Click here to find out information I have gathered on both federal and state minimum wages in the U.S.

Humour by Advice ... with Dr. Julia Chicken

Recent CRA News ... and Other Government News

There has not been a lot happening on the CRA News front over the past two months, so this section will not be lengthy.

CRA's 2011 Payroll Tax Tables for Canada have now been updated to reflect tax changes to Manitoba, New Brunswick and Saskatchewan effective July 1, 2011.

Prescribed interest rates for the third quarter of 2011 have been released and have held steady. The last rate change was July of last year when corporate rates for overpayment of taxes was introduced. Find the interest rate tables here ...

With the Conservatives elected with a majority, their budget was reintroduced and the next phase of Canada's Economic Action Plan was announced. It includes a temporary hiring credit for small businesses and extending the accelerated capital cost allowance rate for investment in manufacturing or processing machinery and equipment for two years.

I'll end this section with a note about the BC Referendum on the HST. While it is not totally CRA News, the outcome will affect GST/HST. BC residents will be receiving a voting package between June 13 and June 24. It contains the mail-ballot that must be returned by July 22, 2011. The voting results are expected sometime in August.

The question being asked on the ballot is, "Are you in favour of extinguishing the HST and reinstating the PST in conjunction with the GST? (Yes/No)"

Recent IRS News and Related News

If you have been wondering how to amend prior period payments using EFTPS, read more here ...

At the American Payroll Association's 29th Annual Congress, Steve Hodgson, CPP spoke about determining the status of a worker ... independent contractors vs. employees. As a result, I've updated my employee payroll tax article on this topic to include his information about the IRS 1099 Matching Program ... and how the IRS are using it to audit a worker's status. Read the revised article here ... psst look for the bean!

At this same conference, Larry White CPP gave a workshop entitled "Regular Rate of Pay - Are You Paying Your Nonexempt Employees Correctly?" I did not personally attend the conference but have read NACPB's notes on it. I ran out of time prior to the release of this issue to post the highlights, so watch the Employee Payroll Taxes page ... I hope to get the notes added by the first week of July.

IRS interest rates have been released and are remaining steady for the third quarter of 2011. Find the interest rate tables here ...

I get inquiries on where is the best place to start. My first year visitors grew with me and were introduced to material as I published it. My site is now over 300 web pages (not regular 8 1/2 x 11 pages) ... and the information can be overwhelming for new visitors. Click here for a site map.

I would like to take this site to the next level and be able to guide my new visitors through the site. To do this, I need time to write a series to meet this need.

It has been a tough decision for me, but there are only twenty four hours in a day ... so something has to go in the short term.

To allow me time to develop the series, I will be unable to respond to questions asked at "Ask A Free Bookkeeping Question" that require research on my part or lengthy responses.

Questions asked will still be posted even if I don't have time to respond ... however, it will now be up to you, my site visitors, to help out and reply when YOU have the knowledge to do so.

I will still moderate the responses to keep the quality of the information on the site high.

Now it's up to you, my loyal subscribers and site visitors. Here is a selection of unanswered questions:

Gilly would like some confirmation that he has handled the bookkeeping entries for the cost of painting a new vehicle correctly.

A rental property owner needs some information on how to self-assess GST/HST.

Mary wonders why the accountant gave her a copy of their working trial balance.

I'm hoping someone can help Katherine with the bookkeeping entry for Ontario's capital tax.

The May 17, 2011 comment posted on GST Mileage has quite a few questions regarding GST/HST, mileage, and personal use of their vehicle.

If you would like me to personally answer a bookkeeping question for you, my Ask A Private Bookkeeping Question service is still available.

The Insider's Pass

Here's how it works. The pages listed below will only be partially viewed by all visitors. To view the entire article, you will need your Insider's Pass for access. The password will change with each newsletter … every two months. So if you ever forget, you will always find the most current password in your current issue of The Bookkeeper's Notes.

The current password is Lemonade ... it's one of my favorite drinks in the summer. It is case sensitive. ;0)

Here is a list of the pages which are password protected so that only my very important subscribers ... that would be YOU :0) ... have access.

Internal Controls
No password page
Password protected page

Bookkeeping Checklists
No password page
Password protected page

Common Journal Entries - Journal Entry Examples
No password page
Password protected page

Month End Procedures
No password page
Password protected page

Adjusting Entries
No password page
Password protected page

Monthly Financial Review or How to Supervise Your Bookkeeper
No password page
Password protected page

There is still time to participate in my Product Development Survey. Click here to have your input towards the products I develop for this site.

This wraps up this issue of The Bookkeeper's Notes newsletter. Have a great summer everyone and see you in August.

Comments? Ideas? Feedback? I'd love to hear from you. Just reply to this e-zine and tell me what you think!

If you like this e-zine, feel free to forward it to a friend. You'd be doing me a huge, huge favour. If a friend did forward this to you and you like what you have read, please subscribe by visiting my site.