Sharing Field data with McCain through MyFarmConnect

AgExpert Field premium plan includes a powerful tool called Partner Connect, which allows you to easily share Field records and save you time entering data.

Click More on the left and click MyFarmConnect. And then Click on the McCain tile 

  

To Connect with McCain, click on the Get connected button. Carefully read the terms and know what’s being shared and then click Continue.

Enter your McCain Vendor ID.

Once connected, your McCain contact will have access to the data related to the Field you shared. You will be able to select which fields you want to share with McCain.

You can always disconnect when McCain does not require your information anymore.

Make your financial statements crystal clear with AgExpert Accounting - Part 2 Cash Flow Statement (CFS)

Published July 11,2022

In our March article, you learned about the Income and Expense Statement and the Balance Sheet. You also got some information on the Cash Flow Statement - one of the financial statements that companies need to produce. In this article, we will elaborate a bit more on the Cash Flow Statement (CFS for short).

What is a CFS anyway, and what purpose does it serve?

A CFS is one of the three financial statements that companies need to generate for their shareholders. It summarizes the movements of cash – and cash equivalents – entering and leaving a business.

The CFS allows your operation to stay on top of bills and when income will be received. It shows how well your business does in producing cash.

Components of a Cash Flow statement

The CFS is determined by looking at three sources or components – operating, financing and investing:

1. Cash flow from operating activities [AS1] 

Take the net income and add or subtract differences in revenue, expenses, and credit transactions. Non-cash items also get included or removed from net income, as well as assets and liabilities. For example, depreciation is an expense that does not involve any cash going out. Add depreciation expense into net income when calculating your operation’s operating cash flow.

The cash flow from operating activities will also reflect changes in accounts receivable, inventory and accounts payable.

2. Cash flow from investing activities

Whenever an asset or piece of equipment is purchased or if funds are invested, there’s cash that goes out. On the other hand, when those same items are sold, some cash comes into the operation. This section of the CFS will reflect these changes.

3. Cash flow from financing activities

This component shows the net flows of cash that are used to fund a business. It details cash flow from both debt and equity financing.  

Cash Flow balance

There are two methods used to calculate the cash flow balance – the direct and the indirect methods. These calculations can be daunting sometimes, but AgExpert can help.

AgExpert Accounting can be used to accurately project and monitor the cash flowing in and out of your operation.

You can revisit our blog article on managing your cash flow here to learn how AgExpert Accounting can save you time and make the process easy. 

Use crop planning – a powerful AgExpert Field tool

Published April 8,2022

The bigger the farm, the harder it gets to properly plan and make reasonable projections of revenues and costs throughout your crop year. In this article we’ll cover how AgExpert Field can help you achieve your crop planning goals.

Crop planning can be a dense subject and difficult to fit into your schedule. But even if you’re running a year-round production cycle, there’s always that season where things run at a slower pace. Take advantage of your down time to step back from the farm and get planning. Here are some basic principles.

-  Create a harvest plan – you need to have a clear idea of how much of each crop you would like to harvest and how much space will be required to achieve your goal.

-  Create a planting plan – setup a template that carries all the planting information, seed ordering, and any other notes on each crop.

- Map out all the plantings – do a dry run on planting out all the fields and try to figure out where everything should go, how it will fit, and if you even have space for it all.

Costs and yields on each farm will differ with the condition and type of equipment, the selection of crop protection products and other inputs, agronomic practices, soil class and weather conditions. As a producer, you’re expected to set your own target yields.

Get flexibility and variation 

Sign into your AgExpert Field account and select Crop planning in the left navigation bar.

 

AgExpert Field allows a lot of flexibility. You can try different scenarios and find out which one provides the best results. Choose crops to plant. Enter fertilizer, crop protection products, and your operating costs for each crop. Set a target yield and sale price.

 

Find the bottom line

Include the cost of any additional items involved in your operation.

Watch your crop profit projections update in real time. Get your breakeven yield, sale price and ratio for each crop.

Note: Numbers used in this blog are only for illustration purposes only and don’t necessarily reflect real prices and costs. Use your own numbers and build realistic scenarios.

Make your financial statements crystal clear with AgExpert Accounting

Published March 7, 2022

Even if you didn’t take that accounting class, you can still make sense of your financial statements. And when you can interpret your reports and statements, you become a more effective business manager. Trust AgExpert Accounting to make understanding your statements easier.

What are financial statements anyways?

Financial statements are reports that summarize important financial information about your business.

There are various levels of depth, but here are the three main ones:

• The Income and Expense Statement, also known as the Profit and Loss Statement. When you run a business, this is arguably your most important report.
• The Balance Sheet.
• The Cash flow Statement. (We’ll talk about this one in a future blog.)

What do financial statements do?

Let’s see how your Income Statement and the Balance Sheet work together to give you a great picture of your company’s performance.

The Income Statement tells you how much money you’ve made during the period, and how much you’ve spent to make that money. Here are some useful Income Statement terms:

•  Gross Profit = Revenue - Cost of Goods Sales (COGS)
•  Operating profit = Earnings Before Interest & Tax (EBIT) = Sales - COGS - Operating expenses
•  Net Profit = Revenue - All expenses

Once those numbers are available, your management team can produce different ratios for a better analysis, such as:

• the Gross Profit Margin = (Gross Profit /Sales) x 100
• the Operating Profit Margin = (Operating Profit/Sales) x 100

The Balance Sheet shows you where your company’s money came from, where it went, and where it currently is. It’s a snapshot of your business finances at a given date. The three general categories are:

1)    Assets tell you about anything that your business owns including funds in your bank accounts, cash, office furniture, inventory, equipment, vehicles, etc. These are usually broken down into Current and Fixed assets.

2)    Liabilities are debts that you owe to other people at a particular point in time. These can include credit cards debts, accounts payable, operating and machinery loans, etc. Current liabilities are debts to be paid in less than 12 months, whereas long-term liabilities are debts that will last longer.

3)    Owner’s Equity is the remaining value after subtracting Liabilities from Assets. It can come in the form of common stocks or retained earnings, which is the net income after you’ve paid any dividends to shareholders.

• Assets = Liabilities + Owner’s Equity

How to generate your reports with AgExpert Accounting

You can easily generate the financial statements required by your accountant, including the Income and Expense Statement and the Balance Sheet Statement, as of the last date of your fiscal year-end. To ensure the numbers reflect your business commitments during the year, run both reports and make corrections if necessary.

 

 

Have an AgExpert question? You can now ask us on Twitter!

Published February 3, 2022

Your AgExpert Support Team is always here for you, and now your question is even tweetable. Just send a Direct Message using @FCCAgExpert and we’ll get back to you with the answer.

Need an immediate reply? Your best option is to call us at 1-800-667-7893, Monday to Friday, from 7 a.m. – 6 p.m. CST.

Here are other ways you can contact the AgExpert Support Team:

• For a quick question during business hours, try Click-to-Chat. It’s easy to use and allows us to connect to your screen and see what you’re working on if necessary.

• Have a complex problem? We can give you detailed written instructions. Just email your question to support@fccagexpert.ca.

• Want to learn from others who use AgExpert Field and Accounting? Crowd-source answers to questions any time with our Online Community Discussion Boards. Post your question, then receive an email notification when someone replies. We often respond to the posts, and you might get a reply from AgExpert Analyst Certified Advisors, Field Manager PRO Consultants or other industry professionals. This space is for users to help each other – there’s no substitute for real-world experience.

• Like to figure things out for yourself? Search your topic on our Knowledge Base page.

• Want to watch short video tutorials? Visit the AgExpert YouTube channel and don’t forget to subscribe so that you get notified when we post a new video.

 

Before you issue T4s: make payroll changes using AgExpert Accounting

Published Jan 11, 2022

If you’re an employer and pay your employees (income, commissions, taxable allowances and benefits, retirement allowances, etc.), it’s time to prepare to file T4s and summary reports with Canada Revenue Agency.

Why is this so important? If you’re out in your payroll remittance at the end of the year, you might receive a PIER (Pensionable and Insurable Earnings Review). Interest and penalty fees may apply too. Use AgExpert Accounting to save the hassle and prepare your T4 summary balances before year-end filing.

Here are a few quick tips:

• ·       Balance one T4 slip at a time
• ·       Make sure you’re using current CPP and EI rates found on the CRA website
• ·       Submit your T4 summary to the CRA together with the related T4 slips, on or before the last day of February; do this before saving the balancing remittance
• ·       Print copies of each T4 slip for all your employees

Here’s an example

Start with Box 16 containing employee’s CPP contributions and determine if the amount is correct.

 

Let’s say your employee makes a gross salary of $45,692.24 (Box 14). For 2021, the amount in Box 16 should be $2,299.48 ($45,692.24 - $3,500.00) = $42,192.24 x 5.45%. We’ve only deducted $2,115.08 in this T4. We need to increase our CPP deductions by $184.40.

To adjust the CPP amount, create a new paycheque with no other deductions and offset this by entering the opposite amount into the Federal Tax field.

Set both the pay date and the period end date to December 31, 2021 when creating the adjusting paycheque.

Now let’s look at Box 18: confirm total EI deductions

The 2021 EI rate is 1.58%. The correct EI to be deducted should be $721.94 ($45,692.24 x 1.58%), but we’ve deducted $747.36. Make an adjustment by creating a new paycheque to reduce the EI amount by $25.42 and offset the opposite amount into the Federal Tax field.

The adjusted T4 slip should now have correct CPP and EI amounts in boxes 16 and 18.

 

When your employee slips are balanced, you can submit your return to CRA.

Learn more about balancing your T4 report with AgExpert Accounting and AgExpert Analyst.

Visit the CRA website for more about preparing your year-end.

Plan your budget and cash flow with AgExpert Accounting

Published December 3, 2021

Budgeting with AgExpert Accounting

Are you looking for a budget that you can trust? Many farmers and business owners know why they should have a financial plan, but the truth is, only a few have one in place. The value of budgets in businesses is usually underestimated.

Budgeting is important for a business for several reasons:

• Based on reasonable estimates, it serves as a road map for the owner(s) and allows them to stay on track with their goals throughout the year.
• It helps managers to motivate their teams by knowing how they’re doing against projections.
• If you’re planning to expand your business, a solid budget is handy as investors and other financial stakeholders always require it.  

Take advantage of the Budget tool in AgExpert Accounting. Our program allows you to plan your income and expenses for the year, which allows you to compare your budget against actual numbers.

Here’s how you do it:

Access the Budget in the left navigation panel under the Planning menu.

Set a budget for your income and expenses accounts either monthly or annually. If you want to track your numbers yearly, enter the amount in the last month of your fiscal year.

 

The budget will update as you make your entries. You can compare projected income and expenses to actual numbers for individual accounts or at the higher level on your budgeted net income.

Print or save your report once all your numbers are recorded. The report will display in an easy-to-read and analyze PDF.

Manage your cash flow effortlessly

Staying on top of your cash flow is crucial to your business. Another important feature available in AgExpert Accounting is the Cash flow management tool. You can easily track the movement of cash flowing through your business. Set up your budget and record your cash projections in a few simple steps.

Want to learn more about what AgExpert Accounting can do? Check out our blog on how to manage your cash-flow.

Confidently plan your next crop season with AgExpert Field

Published November 8, 2021

Where will you get the biggest bang for your input buck? Which crops give you the best return on investment? How do you know? Let AgExpert Field help.

Now’s the time to plan for next year

With the right plan, you can allocate your resources where and when they matter most. Your plan also gives you a reference for assessing when things are progressing and when they need correction. A little planning work now can pay huge dividends at harvest next year.

How can AgExpert Field help you plan your upcoming crop season?

Use the crop planning tool to better understand the costs and variables that affect your overall crop profitability. It’s easy to use so you can see the profit before you earn it in the field.

Sign into your AgExpert Field account. On the Main page, select Crop planning. 

Complete the three sections under each scenario.

First, choose a crop to plant and select your field, the size of your field will then auto-populate. Set a target yield and a sale price. Second, enter the fertilizer and crop protection products that you’ll apply.

Finally, fill in your projected operating costs for each crop. If your costs for an item are the same for all the crops, you can enter the cost once in the first column and Field will auto-fill the cost across all crops.

 

Watch your crop profit per acre update in real-time. Get your breakeven yield, sale price and ratio for each crop. You can reset the column as you wish by clicking on the Remove button to try different scenarios.

 

Protect your data with AgExpert

Published Oct 12,2021

Who has access to your AgExpert data? Is your personal information secure? How do you know? Is there anything you can do? Well, yes. And we can help too.

How does AgExpert protect your data?

We take data protection seriously. AgExpert releases frequent updates for all products to stay on top of various system requirements. Before signing in to Field or Accounting, check our policy agreements at the bottom left of the sign-in page. These documents lay out our commitment to everyone who creates an account: our privacy policy, terms of use, security and data use terms.

 

We know where your data is always located, and we treat it with integrity. 

OK, but are there any guarantees?

Absolutely. In 2018, AgExpert became the first Canadian company to receive Ag Data Transparent (ADT) certification.

This rigorous process includes 10 detailed questions about ag data ownership, use, portability and security. ADT audits AgExpert to ensure we adhere to the terms of use that we agreed to. It’s a commitment that we take seriously. Your trust matters.

AgExpert does not share your data with anyone. You are the only one who can choose to share your data with your trusted partners.

What can you do to secure your account?

You own your data. Be mindful whenever you navigate the internet and only signup to reputable websites.

Share your account, not your password

There’s no need to share your credentials. With a Premium subscription to AgExpert Field or Accounting, you can simply invite contacts into your accounts. This way, you control who has access to your data. 

Remove sharing any time – regularly revisit the list of people you’ve shared your data with. If they don’t need access to your books anymore, remove them from your account.

Learn more about securely sharing your AgExpert data.

 

Create strong passwords

When you create your account, choose strong credentials. This will protect your account and help prevent it from being hacked, highjacked or compromised.

• Use strong and unique passwords of at least 8 characters ideally including letters, numbers and symbols.

• And of course, keep your password confidential.

Sign out of your account

Make sure to press the “Sign Out” button at the end of every session. Yep, EVERY session. This important step (that many of us forget) can help protect your information.

Use updated technology

AgExpert regularly releases program updates to address security issues and fix minor bugs that may occur. Everything works best when your system is updated with the latest version of your internet browsers; Chrome or Edge work best with AgExpert Field and Accounting software. 

All devices use software that occasionally needs to be updated, so don’t keep ignoring those update notifications.

 

Questions about protecting your AgExpert data? Email info@fccagexpert.ca or call us at 1-800-667-7893.

Share your AgExpert data with your team

Published September 10, 2021

You’ve had a lot happening on your farm. Keeping your team informed about what’s going on in real time has never been easier. You can share your Accounting or Field records in a few simple clicks by sending an invitation to your employees, accountant, agronomist, or anyone else who needs access to your farm data.  

Here is how it works:

In AgExpert Accounting

Sign into your account. To share your accounting books, you must have a Premium subscription. If you have a Basic subscription, click on Upgrade plan and fill out your payment information to benefit from this very useful feature.

On the main dashboard, expand the More tab in the menu column and select Sharing.

Click Share access and Choose the person you want to share your business information with from your contact list (1). You can also add a new contact on the fly (2). Make sure you have the right email address recorded before hitting Send Invite.   

In AgExpert Field

AgExpert Field Basic lets you share information with up to five team members. Step up to Premium and get unlimited sharing capabilities. Select Share access and choose who you want to share with.

Note that the person invited must have at least a Basic AgExpert subscription. Once they accept your invitation, they log into their own account to access your shared data.

Choose the type of access you want to grant to the person you are sharing with.

If you are a potato grower, you can choose to share your field data specifically with your processor. This type helps keep your financial information confidential.

Stop sharing your data any time you choose.

If your contact doesn’t need to be access your data anymore, you can stop sharing your information at any time. Return to the Sharing page and select the tile with the person you want to remove, and click Remove sharing access.

Increase your productivity and save time by keeping your whole team in the know.

Watch this video tutorial for more details on the sharing functionality in AgExpert Accounting.

Migrate your existing data into modern AgExpert software

Migrate your existing data into modern AgExpert software 

Do you have some rusty old software that could use an update? (Say, AgExpert Analyst or Field Manager PRO?) Those old products can be familiar, but they don’t have the security and convenience of our modern accounting and farm management software.

Is there an easy way to update your software to AgExpert Accounting and AgExpert Field Premium? And take your existing data with you? In a word: yep.

Here’s how to migrate your data into the secure AgExpert cloud

Sign into your account at AgExpert.ca.

Migrate from Analyst to AgExpert Accounting

1. If this is your first time logging in to your account and are  adding a new business, you’ll choose to either start fresh or migrate your data. Select Migrate my data to start putting your Analyst data in AgExpert Accounting.

 

2.For an existing business, go to the people icon and select Business information.

3.Select the AgExpert Analyst import tab at the bottom of the page and click the Download migration tool. Follow the prompts and install the tool. The migration tool will erase all existing information in the current set of books. Confirm  that you want to proceed and continue to log in using your account credentials. You’ll be asked to browse and upload your old Analyst data file.

Migrate from FM PRO to AgExpert Field

1.Find the migration tool under the person icon on the top right and select Migrate from FM PRO. Download the migration tool the same way as above.

2.Once you’ve attached your data file, you’ll go to your Field Manager PRO seed input list. AgExpert Field manages a list of seeds by variety. You’ll need to map the seed you’ve used in Field Manager PRO to a seed variety on the AgExpert Field list. The tool automatically tries to match, but you may need to map some manually. 

 

Completing the migration is similar in Accounting and Field. Click Finish to close the migration tool. Once you receive the email that your migration was successful, you can log back into your account and your data will be ready for you.

Questions about migrating your data? Click on the Help button and choose how to contact our support team. We’re happy to help.

Make your GST reporting easy with AgExpert Accounting

Published July 9, 2021.

What are your tax obligations as a GST/HST registrant?

Here’s a quick summary. All GST/HST registrants must:

• Charge, collect and remit GST/HST if they have taxable sales, leases or supply goods or services within Canada.
• File a GST return on a regular basis at a given frequency. At the start of a business, CRA generally assigns an annual remittance. Once the business has been running for a while, the filing periods will vary from monthly, quarterly, or annually depending on the amount of sales and the status of the seller.
• Know remittance due dates are.

We know it’s not exactly fun, so how can we make it easier?

AgExpert Accounting helps you:

• Keep adequate GST/HST information in your books. Easily record all taxes charged on every sale to your customers and taxes paid to your suppliers.
• Generate the total amount of GST/HST you must pay or collect.
• Generate the amount of GST/HST to be refunded, rebated, or deducted from your net tax.
• Produce a detailed report showing on which sales/revenues GST/HST was charged and Purchases/Expenses on which GST/HST was paid.

Watch this video tutorial to see how to quickly process your GST/HST return with AgExpert Accounting.

Analyze your farm profitability with AgExpert Field

How profitable is your farm? How do you know for sure? With AgExpert Field, you can track and forecast your profitability to easily compare your performance from one crop or field to another. When you track your input and operating costs in AgExpert Field, they’re summarized in the Profitability Report, along with your historical yields and sale prices. 

Create your profitability projections

In your AgExpert Field account, expand the Reports tab and select Profitability. You can edit projections for any field by clicking on each row to manually adjust costs and yield prices for each crop. Continue working with your fields until all your crops projections are set. 
 

 

Select the YTD tab to populate the data with year-to-date information. You can sort each column from low to high, or high to low by hovering your mouse over the column name and clicking the arrows that appear.  

As you track activities throughout the year, you can compare your projections to your actual year-to-date data. This lets you to stay on track and make informed management decisions.

Click the Help button on the top right to get details of calculations included in each column of the report. Note: the sale price defaults to the most recent unit price on a contract or delivery for the fields crop and is not specific to the field.  

Generate your reports by clicking Print for a paper copy, or Export to PDF or Excel and save the reports for review.

Make crop insurance reporting easy with AgExpert Field Premium

Let’s be honest. Filling out crop insurance details isn’t exactly fun, but it sure is important. To get what you’ve earned from the program, you’re required to track detailed production records: where insurable fields are located, the size, how much is seeded, plus other details. Tracking all this data on paper or spreadsheets isn’t exactly easy.

Let AgExpert Field Premium generate the reports you need

When you track your field inputs and activities, AgExpert Field Premium automatically generates seeded area, harvest production, and stored inventory reports with all the details you need to submit to your provincial crop insurance agency.

1. Confirm your field’s legal land size is setup accurately

Sign into your AgExpert Field account and Edit your fields to review your information. Adjust your boundaries on the Map or manually enter the correct location and size.

2. Record seeded area and where all your activities are performed

 

3. Produce your reports in a few clicks

Expand the Reports tab in the menu bar and select Crop Insurance. 

Generate the Seeded area, the Harvest production, and the Stored inventory reports by clicking on each report tab.

Review your reports to make sure your information is accurate.

 

What’s included with your AgExpert software?

Published on March 31, 2021

Customer care. The entire AgExpert team cares about your success using our software. Have a technical issue? General bookkeeping question? Need help with a specific feature? Our analysts have the knowledge to help. As a Premium customer, you choose the option that works for you.

Go Premium and get unlimited support 

• Call us at 1-800-667-7893. We're available Monday – Friday, 9 a.m. – 8 p.m. Eastern.
• Chat with us during business hours by visiting our Online Community.
• Email us at support@fccagexpert.ca. We typically respond within 24 hours (excluding weekends). 

Get in-depth support with one of our trainers

Call 1-800-667-7893 and press 1 for Support to book an appointment. Common topics include: 

• Onboarding and setup
• Payroll
• AgriStability
• Bank reconciliation
• That software feature that feels like a mystery 

Outside of business hours? Prefer to find your own answers?  

• Search for all kinds of questions and answers in our Knowledge Base.
• Scroll through our AgExpert Blog, where we highlight specific software features.
• Check out FCC AgExpert TV, our YouTube channel for tutorials and recorded training sessions. 

With AgExpert Field or Accounting Premium, you’ll always have support when you need it.

Save $200 on AgExpert Premium with a 3-Year Plan

Published on March 8, 2021

Ready to save? Get $200 off your AgExpert Premium subscription when you sign up for a 3-year Premium Plan. Take advantage of this offer if you’re an existing Premium user, or a Basic user ready to upgrade.

New to AgExpert? Here’s how to create your account. If you already have a Premium or Basic account, simply follow the steps below. If you’re a current Premium subscriber, you will not be charged until your next annual renewal date.

• Sign into your AgExpert account and select “Update Plan” in the upper right corner

• Choose which 3-year Premium plan you’d like (AgExpert Field Premium, AgExpert Accounting Premium, or the Premium Bundle) and select the “Buy” button.

Now you can try all the features that Premium has to offer. Questions? Just contact our Customer Care team at support@fccagexpert.ca or 1-800-667-7893.

Keep your team informed this crop year with AgExpert Field

Published on March 8,2021

Your farm has a lot happening in 2021: planning, planting, purchasing, applying inputs… and plenty more activities. Will everyone on your team have the info they need every day? They can with AgExpert Field.

Share info to make things easier

When anyone in your operation takes action, you can use AgExpert Field to update the whole team in real time. You’ll instantly know what’s been accomplished, and what new tasks to assign for another day. With accurate and complete information – faster – you can increase efficiency in every aspect of your farm operations and make your best business decisions.

AgExpert Field Basic lets you share info with up to five team members. Step up to Premium and get unlimited sharing capabilities.

Here’s how to connect your team: 

 1. Update your list of your contacts

First, set up a list of people and team members you regularly interact with.

In your Field account, expand the More tab and select Contacts. Click New Contact.

Fill in the contact’s information. The contact can either be an Employee, a Customer or both. Be sure to add a valid email address as this is how the file will be shared with contacts.

 

2. Assign a task to team members.

When planning your activities, you can assign each task to a member of your team. Select Activities and choose one from the list. In our example below, we’re using Planting.

3. Share your file with your team

To share, expand the More menu tab and select Sharing. Click Share access and Choose the person you want to share your business information with from your contact list (1). You can also add a new contact on the fly (2).

If you have both Accounting and Field accounts, you can choose which program the person can access by selecting the appropriate Access type. then click Send Invite.

Note that the person invited must have at least a Basic AgExpert subscription. Once they accept your invitation, they log into their own account to access your shared data.

4. Stop sharing your data any time you choose.

Feel confident knowing that you can stop sharing your information with contacts at anytime you choose. All you have to do is return to the Sharing page and select the person you want to unshare with. Two options will be presented to you:

• If the person hasn’t accepted the invitation yet, select Cancel invitation.

• If the invitation got accepted, Select Remove sharing access.

 

Increase your productivity and save time, by keeping your whole team in the know.

Pre-buying inputs? Save at tax time with AgExpert Accounting

Published February 8, 2021

Can you buy the crop inputs you need and pay less tax? It’s possible. And AgExpert Accounting can help.

In a previous blog, we highlighted the differences between the two reporting methods used in Accounting – cash and accrual. The Canada Revenue Agency lets you choose the cash method when producing tax returns, whereas the accrual method is mainly used for management purposes. You can benefit from this setup in many ways, such as deferring your sales, holding your inventory or pre-buying your crop inputs.

Record your input purchase for maximum benefit

If you know that buying your inputs early can serve as a tax strategy, you’ve likely already ordered and acquired inputs for the upcoming crop season. Let’s see how to record those inputs using AgExpert Accounting.

Record your input purchase on credit

When you buy inputs on credit and record the purchase as a payable charge, the expense is accounted for in the year that the inputs are received. This also reduces your taxable income for the year.

Record the payments for your purchases in the following year

In the example used above, we assumed the first payment will be made on February 15 for $1,500 and the balance due by March 15, 2021, as per the input contract. The payments will be recorded as per below.

Record the final payment in March. The payable account will be cleared, indicating that the customer has been paid in full.

 

Taxes are just the start. Learn more about how AgExpert Accounting can help improve your financial picture. Call our Customer Care team at 1-800-667-7893 or visit AgExpert.ca/Accounting.

8 steps to prepare for year-end

Published December 10, 2020

Are you ready for your upcoming fiscal year-end? Do you know what your accountant requires to close your books? For a smooth year-end, use AgExpert Accounting to review your books in a few simple steps. 

1. Record all your transactions  

First and most importantly: ensure you’ve recorded all bills received and invoices issued up to your fiscal year-end date. By carefully checking your files, you can save time in future steps. (No one likes when a missing record shows up later and throws your numbers off.)

2. Reconcile your bank and loan accounts 

Have your transactions been accurately recorded as coming from or going to the correct bank account? Verify your entries one by one against your account statements. It’s a bit of work up-front, but it will help you spot any recording errors and save you time in the end. Be sure to reconcile all your bank accounts including credit card and loan balances. 

• Get instructions on reconciling your bank accounts in AgExpert Accounting. 

3. Review your Accounts Receivable and Payable 

Why generate your Accounts Receivable and Payable reports? You can ensure that all payments received and made by the end of the fiscal year are recorded and accounted for. Missed a payment? Record it accordingly. Your account balances should reflect any outstanding funds. 

4. Review Your Financial Statements 

You can easily generate the financial statements required by your accountant, including the Income and Expense statement and the Balance Sheet statement, as of the last date of your fiscal year-end. To ensure the numbers reflect your business commitments during the year, run both reports and make corrections if necessary. You may want to run your trial balance report to further confirm your numbers. 
 
5. Perform an Inventory Count  

If your income and expense accounts were set up to track inventory in AgExpert, you should be up to date. However, it’s always recommended to go over each account to ensure you have accurate quantities and values.

6. Check your payroll 

Are you up to date with your CRA payroll remittance? Review Payroll records and ensure all your reports are accurate and showing according to your remittance frequency. 

7. Process your final GST return

You will need to make sure you process a final GST return to record accurate net GST to be reported to CRA.

8. Look at your Capital Assets list 

Take a quick look at your capital asset list and add any missing, new or existing possessions at their original cost. You can also run the CCA report, which provides an understanding on the portion of the capital assets costs that you’re allowed to expense for the year.   

• Get more detail on each step of your year-end in AgExpert Accounting. 

Record your deferred grain tickets with AgExpert Accounting

Published November 2020

We all love receiving income, don’t we? It’s up to you how to account for it. Do you choose the accrual or cash method? You can use either method, but not a combination of both.

With accrual, the basic rule to follow is “the revenue recognition principle.” It stipulates that revenue is recognized when you earn it, not when you receive it.

If you follow the accrual accounting method, you report all cash and credit transactions. Once you sell a good or service to your customer, the revenue is considered earned already and should be recorded. Similarly, when you purchase a good or service, the expense is considered incurred, whether or not the payment has been made.

You can record your deferred sale in AgExpert Accounting in just two steps.

Let’s assume you hauled 40 tonnes of wheat being sold to Grain Buyers International for $6,800 less freight and trucking fees, so you’re expecting a cheque for $6469.25.

1. Record the income to be received

Click the plus sign (+) in the orange banner at the top right of your screen and select Receivable charge.

 

2. Record the payment when it’s received

Click the plus sign (+) in the orange banner at the top right of your screen and select Deposit. Select RP (Receivable Payment) as your account type and apply your payment to the receivable recorded earlier.  

For more details on how to record a receivable payment, visit the AgExpert Online Community page: http://community.fccsoftware.ca/transactions-aa/transactions-examples/working-with-receivables.html