This was written in 2016 and, as we all know, things have changed quite a bit since then. I’ve updated it with relevant information!
I just wanted to share a few of my useful vendors that make my job easier – from an accounting, time and task tracking, and taking payment point of view. I have tried a ton of them, some paid and some free, and settled on a few that make my life easier without a sticker shock, that balance features and functionality with that cost. Free is always better, obviously, but at some point you do need to pony up to the next level: some tools have per-transaction fees but are for the most part “free”.
So first off, accounting – I had been using Quickbooks for years, but the only problem with that is you need to either have the computer that quickbooks is on with you, and typically that one needs to be Windows based. There is Quickbooks for OSX, but I wasn’t willing to shell out the money (again) to switch to the Macbook I do web development work on. You also need to manually track payments and deposits, process payment manually, and good luck writing an invoice when it’s not with you.
Incorporation
One of the biggest things you can do for your income tax and finances is to incorporate. What this does it is offsets the tax burden from your personal taxes to the company, and from a liability point of view it shifts to the corporation instead of you personally. I am not a financial advisor – but if you’re making over six figures, then this totally makes sense. It is more work yearly to settle your accounts and submit taxes, but you can pay yourself a salary in a lower tax bracket, and use the company to pay for company related goods, such as your computer hardware, and expenses related directly to your company.
RBC is my bank of choice, and they have a ton of tools at a new site called Ownr that will help you start, manage, and grow your business. They will help you with the costs associated with incorporating, and refund up to $300! When you have to do a company name search and incorporate (you don’t need to do this federally, just provincially) this is a huge savings.
Accounting
2024 – this is still relevant and they have updated and added tons of new features.
My colleague over at UFV, Anthony, told me about the online software package he uses – Wave. To give you an idea of what it does, take a look at the screenshot below. Everything you do on it is free – invoicing, tracking expenses, linking it to your bank account to monitor transactions, reporting, etc. It lets you invoice, receive payment, and track deposits all from your browser.
Where you pay is when you want them to process payments online – yes you can send invoices and process them manually, but it’s so much easier when a client opens up the invoice, is presented with a payment option, and can enter in their credit card details right away. It takes about a week to set up payments, and requires your license to be scanned and business information to be sent over. After that, it’s smooth sailing, with about 2.9% per transaction and no monthly fee. If you want payroll options it is about $10 a month over and above that.
Task Tracking
2024 – Wunderlist is no longer. I use Microsoft ToDo now, which is the successor and is cross platform.
If you have a problem with distributed work, where you’re not in a single office all day every day, hop on the Wunderlist bandwagon. It was so good that it was bought by Microsoft, but still does everything that made it famous before, for free.
It works on all devices, has grouping for types of tasks, task checklists, notes, options for reminders (including email reminders), collaboration with co-workers and colleagues, and an app on all platforms. Again, free.
Payments
2024 – I have been using Stripe for a few years now, even though there’s lots of alternatives out there now. WooCommerce has their own payment gateway now, called WooPayments, and they have partnered with Stripe also. It’s PCI compliant and “just works”. Square is still great, but is better for the physical payment side of things.
Kind of a big one – you want to get paid for your work, right? Well you definitely have the option of using Wave, but for other transactions where you want the person to sign, maybe swipe their card, and pay slightly less per transaction, I use Square. 2.65% per swipe, no monthly fees, and all you have to do is carry your phone with you – wait, you do that already! Awesome!
I mean, really – why are people paying an arm and a leg for merchant fees, a terminal, and another cell connection for one you take on the road with you, when you can just have the ease and simplicity of something that you just need an app for?
Anyways, it takes about a week to link to your bank account, but I use it pretty regularly when I just want to quickly process a card and most clients pay by cheque.
Banking
2024 – I still have RBC as my main bank. They also have a bunch of free tools over at Ownr – including some exclusive savings towards your new bank account. See above! It took a lot of work to get a credit card as a new startup, but after awhile they look at your banking history and typically will offer you something.
Yes, that’s right, you need a business bank account in some cases, especially if you register the business or incorporate. Wave, Paypal, and Square all allow you to use your name (and subsequently your personal bank account) as your business, but if you want to be a recognized business then you need to pay up the $100-odd dollars it takes to register and run a name search. Worth it!
In terms of business banking, RBC appears to have one of the better options around – Free. I had originally started using their $6/month account, but then switched to their e-account, as you can basically do all of your online transactions at no cost. For cheque deposits it hurts the pocket as you pay a per transaction fee, so I now have both – $6/month for chequing, and free for savings (you can use the debit card anywhere for free, online transfers and transactions for free, etc). Just bring your registration papers with you and you’ll walk out with everything you need.
Web Design
Yes, you definitely need a website. Make sure it’s built in WordPress, and you have access to the entire back end of it. Get some great hosting (I know a guy! Email me!) and support, and your site will fly. You will need to ask about SEO, Marketing, keyword ranking, and much, much more. Shoot me a message and I’ll give you the basics, if you want us to work on a project for you, then we can chat about it then!
Call Direction (Phone Mailboxes)
2024 – I have done a full 180 on this, and currently use Voip.MS. You set you a DID there, and it will do literally anything you need. I have tied it into our dashboard tools, can send SMS messages online programatically, and have a virtual answering machine for a few dollars a month.
I figured I would add this in as an afterthought, as I have quite a few clients set up on RingCentral using their 1-800 service. Basically, for $30/month, you get a virtual phone mailbox (pbx) system which will answer your calls and direct them to the right mailbox (press 1 for accounting, 2 for service, etc), as well as a host of other features. Call forwarding, screening, Area-code redirection (for instance, if you have multiple locations in different calling areas, person “a” in the 123-#### calling code area can reach store “a” and person “b” in the 321-#### can reach store “b” without a huge amount of effort and setup on your end. Voicemail to email too!
Congrats!
Well, there you have it: Your business is equipped to handle everything you need, at low-to-no monthly cost. Worth it!