Cornerstone
Our Services
Our team works with a wide range of industries and successfully assists clients in strengthening and achieving their financial goals.
Our services include but are not limited to:
Tax preparation
(Personal, Corporate, Not-For-Profit, and Charities)
Financial Statement Preparation
(Notice to Reader and Review)
Advisory
(Tax Planning and New Business Start-Up)
Income Tax Appeals
(Personal and Corporate)
Tax Preparation
Tax compliance can be difficult to manage with constantly changing laws and regulations. Cornerstone professionals have the resources, training, and experience to make sure that you remain compliant and on track.
Cornerstone serves a wide range of individuals and companies, from small businesses to large corporations. Each client is unique, so we make certain to focus on the individual needs for each situation. Our knowledgeable and dedicated team has years of experience dealing with clients from a wide variety of industries.
Financial Statement Preparation
Although financial statements are a necessary part of running a successful business, they usually are not something business owners look forward to doing. Most owners start their business because they either love working for themselves or they are passionate about a particular field. Financial reporting is a necessary task that many owners put off until it absolutely must get done.
When done properly, financial reporting is actually very insightful. Hiding behind all those numbers, figures and formulas are the keys to analyzing the overall performance of a business and to becoming more successful.
Here are 10 important things every business owner should know about financial statements:
1. There are three Basic Financial Statements
- Balance Sheet – Assets = Liabilities + Equity.
- Income Statement – Net Income = Revenue – Expenses.
- Statement of Owners Equity – Ending Equity = Beginning Equity + Investments – Withdrawals + Income.
2. Each Financial Statement Tells a Different Story about the Business
The reason there are multiple statements in financial reporting is because they contain different combinations of information that offer unique insights into a business. Here are the stories they tell:
- Balance Sheet – Shows the company’s financial position (health) at any given time.
- Income Statement – Shows how much money is coming into the business during a given time period.
- Statement of Owner’s Equity – Represents the change in equity for a given time period.
3. Financial Reporting Reflects Real Life Events
For business owners who get overwhelmed by financial statements remember that each figure represents a real event for the business e.g. purchasing supplies, selling goods and services, getting a loan from the bank, etc. By focusing on the real events and how they impact financial reporting, the financial statements will make more sense.
4. Financial Reporting is Full of Industry Jargon
Jargon is one of the reasons why financial reporting is sometimes difficult to grasp, so it is important to take the time to learn the key terms.
5. Financial Reporting is Guided by GAAP
GAAP stands for Generally Accepted Accounting Principles. These are standards that guide how financial statements are recorded, summarized and prepared. GAAP is regulated by the Financial Accounting Standards Board which periodically reviews and changes GAAP as needed.
6. Financial Statements Lack Important Context
Financial reporting is meant to show how a business is performing but outside contextual factors also impact performance e.g. the state of the economy or industry, competition, market forces, quality of workers, etc. As a business owner, it is important to read and interpret the financial statements with an understanding of the context that may have impacted those figures.
7. For Parent Companies, Consolidated Financial Statements are Also Important
Parent companies that have a majority stake in one or more subsidiaries should prepare consolidated financial statements. These statements combine the standalone financial reporting of the parent and all subsidiaries into overall statements to better judge the health of the parent company.
8. Notes are Also Important
There is a lot more going on behind the scenes of financial reporting than one can convey in numbers alone. Therefore, financial statements also contain notes to explain specific accounting methods and the reasons behind financial results. It is important to look at the footnotes to get a clear understanding of the figures within the report.
9. Financial Analysts Translate Figures in the Financial Statement into Ratios and Indicators
Interested parties such as the owners, financial institutions, or potential investors need a more meaningful way to interpret the figures found in financial statements. Analysts will therefore take these figures and create indicators and ratios to show current company performance and projected performance for the future.
10. Financial Reporting Can Help with Your Corporate Strategy
Although financial statements give only a snapshot of the business at a particular time or time period, the information within can help the business plan for the future. Understanding and evaluating financial documents is crucial to business growth.
SUMMARY
Although preparing and interpreting financial statements can seem like a daunting task, the information provided from these statements can help business owners understand financial reporting at a deeper level and use the information to further improve their businesses.
Advisory Service
Success in today’s fast ever-changing world requires access to professional accounting advice and support, acquisitions, divestitures, Initial Public Offerings, privatizations, and restructurings could involve complex accounting or reporting requirements, and new accounting standards can bring widespread change to an organization. Cornerstone Accounting can be an invaluable resource to help guide your thru these complex challenges while ensuring that everything is handled correctly.
Income Tax Appeal
For individuals and small business owners in Canada, having to deal with the Canada Revenue Agency and a tax dispute can be a daunting and stressful process. Understanding the basics about the tax dispute process in Canada can help you to know your rights if you find yourself in a situation with the CRA. From the Audit, Reassessment, Objection, Appealing to the tax court of Canada, Appeals to the federal court of appeal and the supreme court of Canada to the Conclusion of a Tax Appeal Cornerstone Accountants can help you.
Tax disputes can be challenging to manage, we can help. Let us know about your tax problem and our team will contact you to arrange a consultation.
Trust, Estate & Final Tax Return
Cornerstone Accounting works with individuals and families who have made a commitment to securing their future financial needs. Our clients choose us for a variety of reasons: the expertise of our investment services and the integration of the tax, retirement, and estate plans; while combining the simplicity we bring to what can be a complex financial plan.
We understand that your family, values, interests, and peace of mind are all connected. This is why we use a comprehensive, personalized financial planning approach to create, maintain and manage your wealth.
Get in Touch
Here to Work with You.
Address
Unit# 1231
200 Southridge Drive
Okotoks, AB
T1S – 0N8
Phone
403-938-5063
Fax
403-938-2299
