Help
Help for doing your own books in Canada
Short, plain answers for owner-run businesses in Canada. How to invoice, what a receipt needs, when to register for GST/HST, and what to put aside for tax.
Getting started
- Set up your business in 5 minutesThree short questions, then you can send your first invoice. Here is what each one does and how to change it later.
- The Get tax-ready checklistSix steps on Home that set up everything you need for a smooth tax time.
- Try the sample businessExplore a ready-made business with invoices and expenses before you enter your own.
- Add the app to your phonePut CollabNorth on your home screen so it opens like an app, ready to snap a receipt.
- Import customersComing soonImporting a customer list from a file is coming. Here is the quickest way to add customers today.
- Move from Wave, QuickBooks or a spreadsheetComing soonWhat you can bring in today, what to keep from your old tool, and how to start clean.
Invoices and getting paid
- Send your first invoicePick a customer, add your lines, check the tax, and send. About two minutes.
- Deposits and progress invoicesHow to invoice money taken up front, when GST/HST applies to a deposit, and how the deposit comes off the final bill.
- Recurring invoicesSet up an invoice once and have it made for you every week, month, quarter or year.
- Get paid by Interac e-TransferWhat to put on the invoice so e-Transfers arrive, why auto-deposit helps, and how to match the payment to the invoice.
- Record a paymentMark an invoice paid, in full or in part, and send the customer a receipt.
- Credit notes and refundsHow to fix or cancel an invoice you already sent, and how to record money you paid back.
- Late fees and remindersPayment terms that get paid, whether you can charge interest, and the automatic reminders CollabNorth sends.
- Estimates to invoicesSend an estimate, get it accepted, and turn it into an invoice without typing it twice.
- Invoice numbers and fixing mistakesWhy invoice numbers run in order, how annual resets work, and the right way to correct an invoice without leaving a gap.
Expenses and receipts
- Snap a receiptTake a photo, enter the total and a category, and finish the details later from Receipts to finish.
- What a receipt needs for CRA ($100 and $500 rules)The details CRA wants on a receipt before you can claim back the GST/HST on it, by the size of the purchase.
- Expense categories and the T2125Each expense category matches a line on CRA form T2125, so your year-end totals add up as you go.
- Meals and entertainment (50%)Why you can usually deduct only half of a business meal, and only claim back half its GST/HST.
- Vehicle expensesYou can deduct the business share of running your car or truck. A logbook is how you prove the share.
- Home officeWhen you can claim part of your home costs, how to work out the share, and the limits.
- Import a bank CSVDownload transactions from your bank and turn each line into a payment or an expense with one tap.
GST/HST
- Do I need to register for GST/HST? ($30,000 rule)The small supplier limit explained plainly. How $30,000 is counted, when you must register, and why some people register early.
- Charging the right tax by provinceGST, HST, QST, PST and RST rates across Canada, and how the place of supply decides which one goes on your invoice.
- What your invoice must show for GST/HSTThe details your customers need on your invoice to claim back the GST/HST you charge, by the size of the sale.
- Input tax credits explainedHow you get back the GST/HST you pay on business costs, and what the app counts for you.
- Filing annually or quarterlyHow often you file a GST/HST return, the due dates, and how to tell CollabNorth so Tax time shows the right periods.
- Using the GST/HST worksheetTax time fills in the lines of your GST/HST return from your invoices and expenses, shows where each number came from, and keeps a copy when you mark the period as filed.
- The Quick MethodComing soonA simpler way some small businesses work out the GST/HST they owe. CollabNorth doesn't support it yet.
Year end and income tax
- What to set aside, and why 25%How the Set aside for tax card works out its number, what the 25% covers, and when to set aside more.
- CRA dates for sole proprietorsThe dates that matter each year if you are self-employed with a December 31 year end, and the reminders CollabNorth sends.
- InstalmentsWhen CRA expects you to pay tax during the year instead of all at once, for income tax and for GST/HST.
- Keep records for 6 yearsWhat to keep, for how long, and how CollabNorth keeps it for you.
- Your T2125 packageTax time fills in the lines of your T2125 from your records, helps with home office and vehicle expenses, checks your receipts, and gives you a PDF and an audit archive.
- Your balance sheetWhat your business owns and owes on any date, worked out from your invoices, payments, expenses and opening balances, with a check that it balances.
- Corporations: opening balancesBring in where your corporation stood before its records in CollabNorth, in four short steps, so the balance sheet starts from the right place.
- Corporations: salary or dividendsThe two main ways to pay yourself from your corporation, what each one means for tax, CPP and paperwork, and how to record them in CollabNorth.
- Corporations: shareholder loansWhat the shareholder loan account is, the rule that can turn money you took out into taxable income, and the card that tells you when to repay.
- Corporations: T4 and T5 slipsThe slips your corporation files when it pays you a salary or dividends, when they are due, and the reminders on Tax time.
- Corporations: your T2 and GIFI packageWhat a corporation files each year, when it is due, and how CollabNorth prepares the GIFI lines and a T2 estimate for certified T2 software or your accountant.
Paid plan
- Products and stockSave the things you sell for one-tap invoicing, and on the paid plan, track how many you have on the shelf.
- Suppliers and purchase ordersKeep your suppliers in one place and order from them with purchase orders that add stock when the goods arrive.
- Team members and rolesInvite staff and your accountant, and what each role can do.
Your account
- Billing and the Tax Ready passWhat's free, what the paid plan adds, how billing works, and an update on the Tax Ready pass.
- Security and two-step sign-inProtect your account with an authenticator app, and sign out of devices you don't use.
- Export everythingDownload every record your business has, with receipt photos, in one ZIP file.
- Emails we send youThe welcome, tips, Monday summary, CRA reminders and $30,000 alerts, and how to turn each one off.
- Delete your accountComing soonSelf-serve account deletion isn't available yet. Here's what to do in the meantime.
This is general information to help you keep your own records. It is not tax or legal advice.