Finding a good small business CPA?
Ask your colleagues!  I know that sounds obvious, but just go to where people who do your sort of business hang out (or better, find some venture capital firms and ask their portfolio companies).  It's not something people would keep secret from you... Check your local better business bureau. They can tell you who is in business, who's bonded, and who has had a lot of complaints levied against them for shoddy practices. People to ask: Granted I live in a small town, but when the same guy's name comes up more than once that's who you should hire... Ask for at least 10 references.  Ask for 10 because it will be harder for them to refer you to ringer references like their family or friends. I have had better experiences with accountants in smaller towns.  It seems they are used to working with small businesses and their reputation is very important to them. The first place to look for an accountant is the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants which has a directory of CPAs, accounting companies, and local accounting societies. I was also looking for one for my own small firm.  It really helps. Consult your local Small Business Administration office - they may have resources that can help you find what you're looking for. Look for an accountant who brings not only expertise in number crunching, but consulting and business planning - a full package.
"I, too, have worked in both small and large companies; I started with the small ones and am currently at a big one. I agree with all of your points about the upside of working for small companies. Some of the upsides I find at the big company where I work are:  - there are people around you that know more than you do. There is a huge opportunity to learn from them, which is a lot harder when you're the lone expert at a 5-person company (you rely on whatever you can scrape up from the internet, etc.). Most people learn faster with good mentoring.  - there is money to spend on things that you need. No raised eyebrows from the CEO when you say that you need a $20 lamp for your desk, or even more serious issues like adequate hardware for what you need to do, getting tools you need, etc. (Less of an issue at a VC-funded startup, until the money starts running low.)  - there are entire teams that help with things like documentation, customer support, sales, tools, and other things, which frees me up to do what I'm good at, which is making software.  I remember reading some advice a while ago that still rings true to me, which is that there isn't a single ""right"" place to work (small/large, etc.); the right thing to do is get experience with a variety of different environments - in the end you'll be stronger for it." "The difference between the provincial/territorial low and high corporate income tax rates is clear if you read through the page you linked: Lower rate The lower rate applies to the income eligible for the federal small   business deduction. One component of the small business deduction is   the business limit. Some provinces or territories choose to use the   federal business limit. Others establish their own business limit. Higher rate The higher rate applies to all other income.    [emphasis mine] Essentially, you pay the lower rate only if your income qualifies for the federal small business deduction (SBD).  If you then followed the small business deduction link in the same page, you'd find the SBD page describing ""active business income"" from a business carried on in Canada as qualifying for the small business deduction.  If your corporation is an investment vehicle realizing passive investment income, generally that isn't considered ""active business income."" Determining if your business qualifies for the SBD isn't trivial — it depends on the nature of your business and the kind and amount of income it generates.  Talk to a qualified corporate tax accountant. If you're looking at doing IT contracting, also pay close attention to the definition of ""personal services business"", which wouldn't qualify for the SBD.  Your accountant should be able to advise you how best to conduct your business in order to qualify for the SBD.  Don't have a good accountant?  Get one.  I wouldn't operate as an incorporated IT contractor without one. I'll also note that the federal rate you would pay would also differ based on whether or not you qualified for the SBD.  (15% if you didn't qualify, vs. 11% if you qualify.)   The combined corporate income tax rate for a Canadian-controlled private corporation in Ontario that does qualify for the small business deduction would be 11% + 4.5% = 15.5% (in 2013). Additional reading:" You should have a separate business account. Mixing business and personal funds is a bad practice. Shop around, you should be able to find a bank that will let you open a free checking account, especially if you are going to have minimal activity (e.g. less than 20 of checks per month) and perhaps maintain a small balance (e.g. $100 or $500). "In the US you are not required to have a corporation to use business expenses to offset your income. The technical term you need is ""deducting business expenses"", and in matters of taxes it's usually best to go straight to the horse's mouth: the IRS's explanations Deducting Business Expenses  Business expenses are the cost of carrying   on a trade or business. These expenses are usually deductible if the   business operates to make a profit.  What Can I Deduct? Cost of Goods   Sold, Capital Expenses, Personal versus Business Expenses, Business Use   of Your Home, Business Use of Your Car, Other Types of Business Expenses None of this requires any special incorporation or tax arrangements, and are a normal part of operating a business.  However, there is a bit of a problem with your scenario. You said you ""invested"" into a business, but you mentioned buying specific things for the business which is not generally how one accounts for investment. If you are not an owner/operator of the business, then the scenario is not so straight-forward, as you can't simply claim someone else's business expenses as your own because you invested in it. Investments are taxed differently than expenses, and based upon your word choices I'm concerned that you could be getting yourself into a bit of a pickle. I would strongly advise you to speak with a professional, such as a Certified Public Accountant (CPA), to go over your current arrangement and advise you on how you should be structuring your ongoing investment into this shared business. If you are investing you should be receiving equity to reflect your ownership (or stock in the company, etc), and investments of this sort generally cannot be deducted as an expense on your taxes - it's just an investment, the same as buying stock or CDs. If you are just buying things for someone else's benefit, it's possible that this could be looked upon as a personal gift, and you may be in a precarious legal position as well (where the money is, indeed, just a gift). And gifts of this sort aren't deductible, either.  Depending on how this is all structured, it's possible that you should both consider a different form of legal organization, such as a formal corporation or at least an official business partnership. A CPA and an appropriate business attorney should be able to advise you for a nominal (few hundred dollars, at most) fee. If a new legal structure is advisable, you can potentially do the work yourself for a few hundred dollars, or pay to have it done (especially if the situation is more complex) for a few hundred to a few thousand. That's a lot less than you'd be on the hook for if this business is being accounted for improperly, or if either of your tax returns are being reported improperly!" "First paragraph is very true. But you also have to take into consideration that the adviser and the company are 2 different ""things"" to look into. For the adviser, quickest and easiest way is to do a Facebook search. The point of this is to see how transparent they are with their personal life. Even companies are now relying on Facebook to see how they ""really"" are. I wouldn't care if the person has lots of photos with booze and girls, but I would be concerned if they are using FB for spamming purposes, have pictures with drugs, or hints that they don't like their job and want to move on to something else.  Second paragraph is spot on as well. But I would rather want to know if the company cold calls or not... which leads in to your last statement.  For one adviser, more than 100 clients is a red flag. This could mean that they push savings plans left and right, they don't contact their current clients, and/or they may not have the ability to assist clients should they get many queries.  A few good questions to ask:  1. How do you make your salary?  2. Besides this plan you are selling me, what other types of products do you work with and show me several examples?  3. How many other advisers are in your firm?  4. How many clients does your colleagues and boss have?  5. How often do you cold call?  6. Who else cold calls in your office?  7. How does your company get new clients OTHER than referrals?   Go interrogation style and ask the above questions several times using different phrases." For double entry bookkeeping, personal or small business, GnuCash is very good. Exists for Mac Os. "It's pretty easy. In the Interview Setup for Ufile, check the box for ""Self-employment business income"". Then during the process of filling everything out, you'll get a Self-Employment screen. It'll ask for the name of your business, but just put your own name since you don't have one. For the 6-digit classification code, click the ? button and look through the list for the industry that best matches the one for whom you wrote the technical report. Or you can go with 711500: Independent artists, writers and performers. It doesn't really matter that much so don't worry if it's a poor match. It will also ask you for your income and expenses.   I don't know exactly what costs you might have incurred to write your report, but you can likely claim a very tiny amount of ""home office"" expenses. Costs like rent (or mortgage interest + property tax), utilities, and home insurance can be claimed, but they have to be pro-rated for the time you were actually doing the work, and are based on the amount of space you used for the work.  For example, if you paid $1000 rent and $200 utilities for the month in which the work was done, and it took you 20 of the 31 days in that month to actually do the work, and you used a room that makes up about 10% of the square footage of your home, then you can claim: $1200 * 20/31 * 0.1 = $77.42 for your home office expenses. If you also used that room for non-business purposes during that time, then you reduce it even further. Say, if the room was also used for playing video games 50% of the time, then you'd only claim $38.71" "TL;DR: Get a tax adviser (EA/CPA licensed in your State) for tax issues, and a lawyer for the Operating Agreement, labor law and contract related issues. Some things are not suitable for DIY unless you know exactly what you're doing. We both do freelance work currently just through our personal names.   What kind of taxes are we looking into paying into the business   (besides setup of everything) compared to being a self proprietor?   (I'm seeing that the general answer is no, as long as income is <200k,   but not certain). Unless you decide to have your LLC taxed as a corporation, there's no change in taxes. LLC, by default, is a pass-through entity and all income will flow to your respective tax returns. From tax perspective, the LLC will be treated as a partnership. It will file form 1065 to report its income, and allocate the income to the members/partners on schedules K-1 which will be given to you. You'll use the numbers on the K-1 to transfer income allocated to you to your tax returns and pay taxes on that. Being out of state, will she incur more taxes from the money being now   filtered through the business? Your employee couldn't care less about your tax problems. She will continue receiving the same salary whether you are a sole proprietor or a LLC, or Corporatoin. What kind of forms are we looking into needing/providing when   switching to a LLC from freelance work? Normally we just get 1099's,   what would that be now? Your contract counterparts couldn't care less about your tax problems. Unless you are a corporation, people who pay you more than $600 a year must file a 1099. Since you'll be a partnership, you'll need to provide the partnership EIN instead of your own SSN, but that's the only difference. Are LLC's required to pay taxes 4 times per year? We would definitely   get an accountant for things, but being as this is side work, there   will be times where we choose to not take on clients, which could   cause multiple months of no income. Obviously we would save for when   we need to pay taxes, but is there a magic number that says ""you must   now pay four times per year"". Unless you choose to tax your LLC as a corporation, LLC will pay no taxes. You will need to make sure you have enough withholding to cover for the additional income, or pay the quarterly estimates. The magic number is $1000. If your withholding+estimates is $1000 less than what your tax liability is, you'll be penalized, unless the total withholding+estimates is more than 100% of your prior year tax liability (or 110%, depending on the amounts). The LLC would be 50% 50%, but that work would not always be that. We   will be taking on smaller project through the company, so there will   be times where one of us could potentially be making more money. Are   we setting ourselves up for disaster if one is payed more than the   other while still having equal ownership? Partnerships can be very flexible, and equity split doesn't have to be the same as income, loss or assets split. But, you'll need to have a lawyer draft your operational agreement which will define all these splits and who gets how much in what case. Make sure to cover as much as possible in that agreement in order to avoid problems later."