Find your way with our blog

COMPASS

    We want to give you as much value as possible. Our blogs and newsletters cover everything from T slips and tax deadlines, to tips on staying organized, and recommendations on great resources for small business owners.


    Subscribe to our upcoming newsletter for small business advice, and financial and tax tips for entrepreneurs.

    Home office organization: Love your home office again

    Remember when you first set up your home office? New desk, shelves, and filing system. Stationery and pens were all organized. Wasn’t it a nice place to be? Weren’t you excited to do some work?

    Apr 09, 2019

    Rental properties and rental property tax

    Landlords, need a breakdown what to do come tax season? Find out exactly what you can write off and why you should expect to owe taxes. What happens when you sell a rental property or do major...

    Mar 27, 2019

    What is tax planning?

    Accountants, lawyers, financial planners and insurance advisors all throw this term around: tax planning. But what exactly is Tax Planning? And how is it done?

    Mar 07, 2019

    Q&A with Megan Sutherland, financial planner in Calgary

    With the RRSP deadline coming up this Friday, March 1, we wanted to bring in the perspective of an investment advisor to shed some light on the topic of investing and taxes. Megan Sutherland is an...

    Feb 24, 2019

    2018 personal tax update

     As you get ready to prepare your 2018 taxes and think about the tax year ahead, here are the big changes to personal taxes. Many of them will keep more money in your pocket, so make sure you’re...

    Feb 13, 2019

    6 tips to getting financially fit

    What does a financially fit business owner look like? They confidently take advantage of every write-off and have a tight paper trail. They've automated their instalment payments and save enough from...

    Jan 30, 2019

    True North Accounting: The best in small business accounting and bookkeeping

    At True North Accounting, we’re proud to provide accounting, bookkeeping and small business advisory services for small businesses in Calgary and Okotoks, Alberta. 

    Jan 25, 2019

    Small business owners: celebrate your 2018 accomplishments!

    The year is winding down. Although it’s a good time to look ahead, make resolutions and plot goals for the new year, we encourage you to take a moment to reflect on and celebrate the year you’re...

    Dec 19, 2018

    The universal gift of beer

    Did you know that beer is becoming one of the most appreciated holiday gifts? Beer is really an all-season beverage, but in my house it’s become one of my favourite Christmas traditions; this...

    Dec 04, 2018

    Side hustle to real deal

    Lots of people have a side hustle these days (check out Avenue’s recent article The Art of the Side Hustle). When your heart’s in the game and you start to make a few bucks, you may start to wonder:...

    Nov 26, 2018

    Starting a brewery: getting a brewery off the ground

    We’re hosting Tears, Fears & Beers* at Ol’Beautifulbrewery next Thursday, November 15, an event about how start and survive small business ownership (because we’re all about small businesses )....

    Nov 08, 2018

    Should your business own your vehicle?

    If you’ve ever asked your accountants whether you should own your vehicle in your corporation, or personally, I’m betting they didn’t tell you much. They probably said, “well it depends”. If you are...

    Oct 17, 2018

    17 small business documents to keep safe this year

    We all get bombarded with so much mail and email that it can be difficult to sort the important from the unimportant. Documents that are important for tax purposes arrive throughout the year, or...

    Oct 05, 2018

    Meet our new Partner - Curtis Gabinet

    We’re excited to introduce Curtis Gabinet as a new Partner at True North Accounting. Curtis has been with us for a couple years, so our clients know him well. But to everyone that hasn’t met him yet,...

    Sep 28, 2018

    Small business bookkeeping and tax tools that we use

    My name is Madeline and I am a co-owner of True North Accounting. I am responsible for the day-to-day administrative duties and wanted to write a blog about how True North Accounting handles its own...

    Sep 28, 2018

    We’re with you all the way

    "Running my own business is hard. While the rewards and freedom are great, I get really stressed out at tax time and am always worrying about paying enough tax, and not getting in trouble with the...

    Sep 06, 2018

    Sponsorship: how to be a smart sponsor

    If you own a business, chances are you get requests to sponsor events and teams. We want to give you our thoughts on what to sponsor, and when to say ‘no.’

    Jul 23, 2018

    How to build business credit

    The most important thing a small business owner can do is maintain a good personal credit score. But it's still very important to build good business credit. We’ll explain some of the benefits and...

    Jul 11, 2018

    Money-smart kids: how to raise financially literate children

    Money isn’t something a lot of families like talking about at the dinner table, but my family did. Growing up, my dad was (and still is) always on the lookout for a good deal and he drilled the value...

    Jun 28, 2018

    2018 personal tax changes

    It’s tax season again. and just like every other year, there are changes that we want to share with you so that you’re up to speed on your personal taxes.

    Mar 27, 2018

    17 CRA deadlines to ignore if you hate money

    Deadlines. Deadlines. Deadlines. They are approaching and while we often get anxious about meeting them, the more we know about deadlines, the less chance we’ll miss them. Here are some of the CRA...

    Feb 26, 2018

    The dilemma: dividends vs salary

    Choosing between Dividends vs Salary can be a difficult decision, that really depends on your situation. To help shed light on this topic, we’re sharing a scenario about one particular business and...

    Feb 08, 2018

    New year, new goals, new plan: setting small business goals

    If you’re like most people, you probably go through the same song and dance every January. Set goals. Fail to make plan. Then feel bad about the whole thing. Well, January is here and we have some...

    Jan 05, 2018

    Realtors: Get lean and clean in '18

    Working as a realtor sometimes means having a lot of balls in the air. You have multiple clients, multiple listings, and on top of that you’re running your business out of your home, car, and...

    Nov 22, 2017

    Passive investment income

    The information released by the minister of Finance on July 18, 2017 scared many small business owners. Right now, investment income earned in a corporation is currently taxed at about 50% - and the...

    Nov 08, 2017

    5 tips to save time and money with online banking

    We look at our clients' bank statements all the time and I see so many people not taking advantage of low-hanging fruit from the banks. Here are five easy ways to save time and money!

    Nov 01, 2017

    Income splitting in Canada (or “sprinkling”)

    This is our first blog post. We didn't intend to write highly technical blogs, but with a lot of new tax information (and misinformation), there's a lot of demand for our opinion and interpretation...

    Oct 04, 2017