Incorporate in Ontario | GTAMotorcycle.com

Incorporate in Ontario

hulahoopie

hulahoopie

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I need to open incorporated business. It's a simple- cunstaltancy service business, myself being the only employee.
I'm aware I can do it online, on my own: a few websites pop out after the google search.
Has anyone done it, and which website would you recommend?
 
I'm in the same setup, I had my lawyer do it, set up an Ontario ###### .Inc. Wasn't really that much money, was dozen years ago.
And I'd strongly advise getting in with a good accountant to get you started off right, I had quite a mess to deal with at first until my current accountant got things setup right.
 
OP, I'm assuming you've already looked at the pros/cons of operating as a corporation (as opposed to a sole proprietorship), right?

Incorporating, as you probably know, means more paperwork. You'll need to do a NUANS search (for names), draft your by-laws, determine the share structure, etc. If you're well informed with these matters, then you can probably do it on your own. I believe you can fill out the forms on Service Ontario's website.


PS-I haven't incorporated myself, so take my words with a grain of salt! :)
 
mikbusa said:
I'm in the same setup, I had my lawyer do it, set up an Ontario ###### .Inc. Wasn't really that much money, was dozen years ago.
And I'd strongly advise getting in with a good accountant to get you started off right, I had quite a mess to deal with at first until my current accountant got things setup right.
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I'm being told that "it's not a big deal - just go online and open your business", but I've seen my dad struggle with tax issues, so maybe I will call his accountant and ask for help.

OP, I'm assuming you've already looked at the pros/cons of operating as a corporation (as opposed to a sole proprietorship), right?
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Yes- but it all sounds complicated to me. Apparently Incorporating is better in my case because of the nature of the job (less liability).

All in all, I decided not to do it on my own, and will see my accountant later today.
Thanks guys!
 
Www.serviceOntario.ca

Do it yourself as its really easy. You want an electronic master business licence.

Incorporating basically means if you get sued etc. They cannot go after personal assets, just business.

Incorporation licence was about a grand AFAIK. Sole-proprietorship was about a hundred bucks.

Pros and cons to both
 
meme said:
Incorporating basically means if you get sued etc. They cannot go after personal assets, just business.
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For anyone thinking about incorporating to avoid liability, just be very careful. While what meme says is generally true, there are a number of exceptions.
 
Do sole proprietorship if you can afford the risk. A corp requires way too much paperwork for one persons time, unless you can afford to pay an accountant a couple grand a year (at least) to manage everything for you.

I have a corp that I haven't used in about 4 years and is on pause at the CRA. I wonder if I could sell it to someone for less than what it costs them to start their own from scratch? I wouldn't give it away for the sole reason it would require my time to find all the loose ends and be involved in the sale somehow?
 
eljay said:
Do sole proprietorship if you can afford the risk. A corp requires way too much paperwork for one persons time, unless you can afford to pay an accountant a couple grand a year (at least) to manage everything for you.
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Find a better accountant, mine does corp + 4 personals for $1k a year, and handle monthly payroll deductions and anything that pops up.
 
I wouldn't buy it for the similar reasons. I don't want to assume any liability that may be associated with whatever you did with the business.

Personally, I would incorporate any business with a predicted revenue of say $50,000 or more. That reduces the associated fees to a manageable percentage. Also, if you are only doing $10,000 a year and manage to get yourself sued, you either have terrible luck, or picked a bad business. The potential upsides need to drastically outweight the potential downsides for a business to be worth it. If you are looking at a potential upside of $10,000 per year and a potential downside of $200,000, why start the business?

eljay said:
I have a corp that I haven't used in about 4 years and is on pause at the CRA. I wonder if I could sell it to someone for less than what it costs them to start their own from scratch? I wouldn't give it away for the sole reason it would require my time to find all the loose ends and be involved in the sale somehow?
Click to expand...
 
My legal and accounting costs are about $2500 per year mostly because I use lousy software and my accountant has to manually transfer numbers. If I was on any common software it would be a lot less.
 
sole proprietorship
unlimited liability...as some one mentioned you get sued directly....you are also liable for all debits accumulated by your company
however you pay less taxes.
less paperwork
less start up cost

corporation
limited liability, you are only liable for your investment in the company, the company is a separate legal entity so you dont take on the debts of your company.
massive amounts of paperwork
higher start up cost
double taxation, which is more significant if you have employees...income tax + sales tax


if you arent going to be doing a lot of borrowing, or does not require a high start up cost, for your company, i recommend you go with sole proprietorship, espeically if you are operating by your self.
 
hulahoopie said:
want to be my secretary?
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"Administrative Assistant". Did that job last year, $22.50 an hour to be a grammar nazi and take messages? All the free coffee I can drink? Yes please.
 
absolute said:
sole proprietorship
unlimited liability...as some one mentioned you get sued directly....you are also liable for all debits accumulated by your company
however you pay less taxes.
less paperwork
less start up cost

corporation
limited liability, you are only liable for your investment in the company, the company is a separate legal entity so you dont take on the debts of your company.
massive amounts of paperwork
higher start up cost
double taxation, which is more significant if you have employees...income tax + sales tax


if you arent going to be doing a lot of borrowing, or does not require a high start up cost, for your company, i recommend you go with sole proprietorship, espeically if you are operating by your self.
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I opened the corporation, after all.
I won't be doing any borrowing, and it's not a risky business in that sense, but since I'm doing safety consulting for large companies, in the case that something happens (accident and the client gets sued) I'd like to have the liability.
Thank you for your opinion!
 
Macs said:
"Administrative Assistant". Did that job last year, $22.50 an hour to be a grammar nazi and take messages? All the free coffee I can drink? Yes please.
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I left that job to be self-employed. I think it was all the free coffee that got to me.
...

or my grammar nazism wasn't strong
 
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