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    Starting a landscaping firm? Read these 4 bookkeeping tips for landscapers

    Why is good bookkeeping crucial for landscaping businesses?

    The demand for landscaping services in Canada it’s greater than ever before and constantly increasing. The market size of landscaping in Canada has steadily increased since 2013, reaching an estimated value of nearly 13 billion U.S dollars in 2021. The industry comprises establishments primarily engaged in providing landscape care and maintenance services or installing walkways, decks, ponds and other similar structures.

    With this market sector constantly increasing, more landscaping businesses are started regularly. However, not all businesses can maintain a constant profit rate and stay competitive for a long time. Good planning and calculated decisions determine business survival or scaling in many cases. Along with the market expansion, the need for bookkeeping services for landscaping it’s also increasing. Keeping a close eye on the business finances and other financial insights helps owners make the right decisions and scale their business effectively.

    That’s where well-callibrated bookkeeping comes into play. Evaluating your service profitability puts you in a position to better understand your local market and make wiser decisions regarding your business future. Simply put, tracking your finances gives you knowledge. And when it comes to making educated decisions to guide your landscaping business towards better growth, knowledge is power.

    Hopefully, the information you’ll find on this page will help you make a better decision while choosing the bookkeeping services for landscaping or other types of business.

    bookkeeping tips for landscapers

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    What tax deductions are available for landscaping businesses?

    The Canada Revenue Agency states that businesses can claim all ordinary and necessary expenses that they collect for their business. Expenses vary from business to business. Below we’ve listed some of the most common deductible expenses for landscaping businesses in Canada:

    Vehicle expenses

    You can claim a deduction based on the mileage or a portion of your total vehicle expenses such as registration fees, insurance or repairs. This is mainly based on how much you use the vehicle for work and personal use.

    Insurance

    In case you didn’t know already, liability insurance for your landscaping business is also deductible. On the same topic, you can deduct the costs related to dental, personal health or long-term care insurance.

    Labor

    Landscaping business owners can deduct all payments made to employees or freelance labourers, including your children who work your landscaping business.

    Professional services

    You can claim a deduction when you pay accountants, bookkeepers, lawyers or other professionals for their services.

    Advertising

    Anything you spend to advertise your services is deductible. That includes printing flyers, hiring a digital marketing firm or putting ads in the paper.

    Repaired or maintenance

    From paying the reparation bill of your leaf blower to buying oil for your lawn mower, you can benefit from tax deductions on all of these.

    Essential bookkeeping tips for landscapers

    If you have a landscaping business, you should be thinking about your bookkeeping and accounting more than just on tax day. Properly calibrating your bookkeeping will help you make smarter, more documented decisions and increase your overall profit margin. Not paying close attention to your bookkeeping processes might overlook goals and important paperwork or even miss key transactions. Below you’ll find four essential bookkeeping tips for landscapers that will help you organise your bookkeeping department better.

    1.Track all revenue and expenses carefully

    All business owners in Canada must report all their income to the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA). Failure to report accurately might result in the CRA performing an audit on your return and reassessing your tax liability based on the income that was not reported. The good part is that you can subtract business expenses from your annual income. That’s why tracking expenses is so important for your overall business success and implicit profit margin. Failure to do so will result in your company facing a higher tax liability than it should. Using your bank account statements is a good way to track your expenses successfully. Nonetheless, accounting software available nowadays allows business owners to keep things neat, separate and organised.

    2. Make sure you separate business and personal expenses

    You’ll have to have an account exclusively for your landscaping business. You should only deposit income from the landscaping business into this account and ensure that it covers all the expenses related to your business. You can also have a credit card that you use exclusively for business expenses. By doing these above, you make it easier to keep track of your business-related expenses and separate them effectively. It also helps you ensure you’re not accidentally mixing up your personal and landscaping expenses.

    3. Make documented decisions

    Precise reporting is critical for the decisions you’re about to make in regard to your business future. Modern bookkeeping software can generate accurate reports of profit and loss, account receivables cash flow and many more. Alternatively, a dedicated bookkeeper can do the same thing, whether by analysing your data manually or by employing bookkeeping software, A cash flow statement, for example, can show you when you are most likely to have extra cash, allowing you to determine when you will be able to invest in your equipment. Other than that, precise reports can help you ensure that all your expenses align with your revenue and identify projects with the highest profit and other assets.

    4. Get professional help when necessary

    Newly started landscaping businesses usually have few clients and very few expenses to consider. However, as the business grows, the complexity of your finances will also change. You might invest in better equipment, hire extra employees, or implement other measures to scale your business. Although hiring an accountant or bookkeeper for your business might look like another expense, it can save your business money in the long run. A dedicated professional will bring expert taxes and cash flow knowledge, providing you with access to better insights into business growth and profit opportunities.

    Here’s what others say about their experience with AIS Solutions:

    I have had the good fortune to work with Juliet and her team, at AIS, on 2 business circumstances over the last few years. Her commitment, dedication and professionalism are unquestionable. In every circumstance, she and her team have treated our business like their own. A results-oriented, knowledgeable, focused team of professionals with the highest degree of integrity. It has been a pleasure to work with them.”
    Gary BrentDeblen Holdings Limited
    Gary Brent
    Just wanted to thank you for last week’s QuickBooks training. I look forward to using it…hopefully proficiently…and you provided a great framework with which I can get started. I also really appreciate the handout you supplied at the end of the session. I will make good use of that, I’m sure!”
    Buffy KnowltonWorkshop Facilitator & Author
    Buffy Knowlton
    Juliet is very professional in her business and is highly thought of by her staff, she leads by a good example. Through our years together at BNI I have also got to know Juliet on a personal level and know she has high standards and morals. This makes it easy to refer her. I would not hesitate on recommending Juliet to anyone I know.
    Sharon JackmanPresident at Service First Forwarding
    Sharon Jackman
    I have now had the pleasure to work with Juliet on 5 mutual corporate tax clients. I can honestly say Juliet and her team are not only cheerful, but they are good! The amount of time that has gone into these mutual clients has been about 20% lower than a comparable-sized client without a trained bookkeeper. The records are clean and reconciled. Any unusual items are easily explained, and the team is quick to provide any information we request. If you want accurate date books and records and to possibly save money on your year-end accounting and tax fees, I would highly recommend AIS Solutions!
    Tim MironCA Partner Beckett Lowden Read LLP
    Tim Miron
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    Frequently Asked Questions

    Most frequent questions and answers

    If you have the time and knowledge to do so, you can take care of the bookkeeping needs of your small business yourself. However, this can prove time-consuming, and bookkeeping mistakes can be costly. You can always opt for outsourced bookkeeping services for landscaping businesses and have a dedicated expert handle your bookkeeping.

    Under normal circumstances, anything that you spend for your business can be a tax write-off. This can include insurance, reparations, advertising or even bookkeeping.

    Accounting can be time-consuming, even for professionals with perfectly calibrated work processes. Taking care of the bookkeeping and accounting department will likely take even more time. Outsourced bookkeeping services will save you precious time that you can convert into capital by investing it into other important business areas.

    Our team is here to answer your questions and help clarify any enquiries you may have. Feel free to contact us through the contact page and schedule a zero-obligation meeting with one of our dedicated experts. Whether you need bookkeeping services for landscaping, QuickBooks training or any other services in our range, we’re here to help.

    Small businesses are no longer forced to work with local bookkeeping companies. The evolution of cloud technology helps bookkeepers secure access to their client’s books remotely, anytime, anywhere. This is a massive advantage for small business owners because now they can choose a bookkeeper with experience in their industry and particular operations instead of being limited to the local community.

    No, you do not. Cleaning up your books will be included as part of our work estimate. We provide every client with a clean set of books that have been updated and thoroughly checked for any eventual errors as a starting point.

    Need more than bookkeeping tips for landscapers?

    Connect with us and find out how we can help.

     

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