Tuesday, June 5, 2007

Business Registered and To-Do List

I went this morning and officially registered my business with the province. The only painful part of the process was finding the right form online that I had to fill out. They also offered it in PDF form where you can actually type in the fields...but this is buggy: If you hit enter, then it doesn't start a new line...it leaves the box. So I just printed it out and wrote in the details (it wasn't a huge form either). I took it down to the registration office and they said I'd get an official...well, I'm not sure what I'll be getting officially, but it'll be in the mail 6 - 7 business days. ;)

Yesterday I went and registered with the city I'm in. It turns out that I didn't need to pay the Fee-In-Lieu-Of-Business-Tax (although I will in January when they get sent out), so it was just the fee for a home-based business permit that I had to pay for. Home based businesses need to pay the Fee-In-Lieu-Of-Business-Tax because, being that its home based, there is no "commercial" property or office that can be taxed on like a typical business...so it just keeps it fair.

So now that my name is reserved and will be attached to my registered business, and now that I'm setup with the city...um...I guess I'm open for business? The process was way easier than what I thought it would be...I guess now I just collect receipts for items for the business and start making money, and the real work comes at tax time.

Some things that are still outstanding that I need to plan and address:

Sick Fund
When you're sick as a contractor, you don't get paid. It's a good idea to ensure that you have some money set aside to cover for the days that you're unavailable for work.

Personal Health and Disability Insurance
Although I'll be paying into EI and CPP, I'm pretty sure that EI will only kick in if I dissolve the business (although I should look into that). But either way, its a good idea to get personal health insurance to cover any disability or health issues that come up.

House Insurance Changes
I'm not sure if there are any, but since I now have a home-based business registered it "may" have some affect on my home insurance...

Still no word from the head-hunter about the contract or interview...I'm hoping to hear something back by today though.

CC

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