Learn how to structure your Finance & Accounting function

Learn how to structure your Finance & Accounting function 👇

Each company needs to have a “chain of command”…with roles & responsibilities outlined for each member in the org.

But depending on your company size & industry, that can all vary…Let’s take a look through some common Finance & Accounting org structures across different organizations:

➡️ MICRO

Typical company size: less than 10 employees

Most common approach here is to outsource everything for a few reasons:

• Odds are you don’t have enough work to justify a full time hire
• Even if you do have enough work to go around, odds are you need a bit of a junior hire, a bit of a senior hire, and a bit of a CFO
• Companies at this stage are often times cost conscientious, and you save money on payroll taxes & benefits when you hire an agency

Shoutout to Mighty Digits for outsourced Finance & Accounting!

➡️ SMALL

Typical Company size: 10-20 employees

At this stage, companies usually make their first in house hire as a senior role (manager, senior accountant / analyst), while continuing to outsource a junior role.

For those who have enough work to hire an in house junior role, it would typically be a staff accountant / analyst

➡️ MEDIUM

Typical Company size: 20-100 employees

Now comes some serious investing in Finance & Accounting

It’s common to start segregating your Finance & Accounting into both Accounting & FP&A…

with multiple layers of review at each department.

➡️ LARGE

Typical Company size: 100+ employees

There’s no limit now to where things can go with your Finance & Accounting…

most companies at this stage requires audits, and may have so much cash that they build out an entire treasury department.

Companies can still be privately held…or can even go public, in which case the need for resources & oversight would increase.

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As mentioned above, a lot of dependent on your team size, and industry…

but the general idea is that the bigger an organization gets, the more need there is for oversight…

and the more need for DELEGATING work.

Each department has their own nuances in what is required…

and each industry requires a different investment in resources

Josh Aharonoff, CPA

Home Office Expenses

Senior’s Tax Return

I am a senior. How can I file my taxes? What should I include in filing taxes?

*** Rbtj.ca offers a 10% seniors discount on the regular price for income tax filing.

If you are 65 or over, you are considered senior in Canada. You are required to report any source of income you had during the tax year. The most common types of income are listed below:

Old Age Security Pension (OAS)

This is a monthly payment that is paid to Canadians whose age is 65 or older. You will receive T4A(OAS) which includes all the information needed to file your taxes.

Canada Pension Plan (CPP) or Quebec Pension Plan (QPP) benefits

Once you retire, this plan gives you and your family a part of your earnings. You will receive T4A(P) which includes all the information needed to file your taxes.

Registered Retirement Savings Plan income (RRSP)

If you made a payment or transferred from a plan, you need to report it while filing your taxes. You will receive a T4RSP, a statement of RRSP Income Slip, which includes all the information needed to file your taxes.

Registered Retirement Income Fund (RRIF)

If you made a payment or transferred from a plan, you need to report it while filing your taxes. You will receive T4RIF, a statement of income from a Registered Retirement Income Fund, which includes all the information needed to file your taxes.

Annuity Payments

If you have an annuity payment, you receive a payment on a regular basis, including a general annuity. You will receive a T4(A) slip, Statement of Pension, Retirement, Annuity, and other income which includes all the information needed to file your taxes. Annuity payment can be seen on the T4RIF slip, Statement of Income from a Registered Retirement Income Fund, as well as the T5 slip, Statement of Investment Income.

Other income

Retiring allowance, other pension and superannuation, Pooled registered pension plan (PRPP) payments, Retroactive lump-sum payments, and other types of income.

In addition to your retirement income, if you have any other income, such as employment income, investment income, self-employed income, rental income or etc., you need to make sure that everything is claimed accurately as well.

Seniors might be eligible for some credits such as GST/HST credit based on their family income level, and related provincial or territorial tax credits.

If you end up with an amount owing, you can use some non-refundable tax credits to reduce your taxes owing. This includes medical expenses (not covered by insurance), disability tax credit, Canada caregiver credit, home accessibility expenses, age amount, and pension income amount.

If you have any questions regarding seniors’ tax returns, you can simply call us at +1250.376.0305 or email us at [email protected].

T2200 – T777 Employment Expenses

I am an employee and receive T4, but I also spend some money for the business, i.e., I use my phone or my car. May I claim employment expenses?

As a full-time employee you will be able to claim employee expenses if you have T2200 signed by your employer. This form, which needs to be filled out and signed by your employer, gives you the right to deduct eligible expenses under two conditions:

(1) You have not received reimbursement or a non-taxable allowance for the expenses you paid.

(2) It is mentioned in your employment contract that you are required to pay for the expenses.

Some common eligible expenses are listed below:

Accounting and legal fees

Allowable motor vehicle expenses (including capital cost allowance)

Traveling expenses

Parking costs

Supplies (Office supplies)

Other expenses, such as salary expenses, Office rent, long-distance calls, work-space-in-the-home expenses

This information helps your tax preparer to fill out the T777 and deduct expenses from your income while filing your taxes, reducing your tax amount payable.

If you have any questions regarding employment expenses, contact us at [email protected].

T2200 – Declaration of Conditions of Employment

Home Office Expenses

I work from home.

Can I claim home expenses while filing taxes?

The short answer is yes but the rules are different considering whether you are self-employed or an employee working remotely.

If you are self-employed and using a part of your home to do your business, you can claim home office expenses against your self-employment income.

If you are an employee working remotely, you need to meet some criteria in order to be eligible to claim home office expenses. The first criterion is that you did 50% or more of your job from home during the tax year. The second one is that you have a T2200 signed by your employer confirming that you should be deducting home expenses from your employment income. For more information about home office expenses for employees, you can visit the CRA website.

Usually in both cases, what is needed is the area you used for the work and the total area of your home (sqft), which gives the workspace use percentage.

You should provide your tax preparer with the total expenses (both personal and business), and they calculate the business portion of it based on workspace use percentage. You may find more information on how it is calculated on the CRA website.

The common home office expenses are heat, electricity, insurance, maintenance, mortgage interest, property taxes, rent, and other expenses which need to be specified.

We have prepared a template that you can use to record your expenses.

If you have any questions, contact us at [email protected].