About Trucker Accountant

 Dymas Services Ltd.

This website, truckeraccountant.ca is fully owned and operated by Dymas Services Ltd.  We offer full bookkeeping services for truck drivers across Canada, any time zone. With over 32+ years combined experience, we are located in Southern Alberta and can service our clients remotely. Focusing solely on accounting for owner operator truck drivers allows us to increase productivity and industry specific knowledge, which equates to a better value and a better price for you. Let us help you get your bookkeeping up-to-date and ready for taxes.

 Our Staff

Bob

As the founder of Dymas Services Ltd., Bob is a veteran bookkeeper and tax preparer with a vast knowledge in small business accounting. prior to starting Dymas Services Ltd., Bob has held accounting and human resources positions in management.   

Throughout his career, Bob has worked with clients from various industries, gaining valuable insights into his unique financial needs and challenges. From small businesses to individuals, Bob prides himself on building strong relationships based on trust, integrity, and reliability.

Beyond his technical expertise, Bob is known for his excellent communication skills and ability to explain complex financial concepts in a clear and accessible manner. He understand that financial decisions can have far-reaching implications, and he strives to empower his clients with the knowledge and confidence to make informed choices.

Tyler

Tyler is a seasoned professional with over 12 years of experience in the fields of bookkeeping and tax preparation both in Canada and in the United States. With a meticulous attention to detail and in-depth understanding of financial regulations, Tyler is dedicated to helping individuals and businesses navigate the complexities of financial management with ease.

Having a background in accounting and a passion for building high-value relationships that help clients achieve their financial goals, Tyler has developed a reputation for delivering top-notch service and personalized solutions. Whether it's maintaining accurate financial records, optimizing tax strategies, or preparing tax returns, Tyler approaches each task with precision and professionalism.

Tyler has an associates degree in Business Administration from College of the Desert (highest Honors) and a B.A. in Accounting from California State University (Summa Cum Laude) and is an enrolled agent. He tackles U.S. business and personal tax returns, U.S. bookkeeping, Canadian corporate and personal tax returns, and Canadian bookkeeping.

 

Bookkeeping Services

I'm new. Tell me what you mean by bookkeeping?

Bookkeeping services are the first thing that will need to be done in accounting. Some refer to this as record keeping or data entry. It is the process of posting all business-related transactions in a journal and associating the expenses and income to categories. The financial information will be gathered from your bank statements, credit card statements, bills, driver’s statements, income statements, and cash receipts and entered into a journal. Each transaction gets categorized into an account that will show up on the ledger. Most people prefer to use software to enter the data, but you’d be surprised to know that there are still business owners that prefer to keep their accounting journals and ledgers on paper.

We use either Intuit QuickBooks software and/or excel spreadsheets to enter your data. QB files are password protected for your privacy protection. If there are any transactions that are unusually high, from a new/unknown vendor, or income that does not match the routine, we then suspense the transaction and investigate further as to how to account for the transaction. An example that might come up would be unknown income paid by the dispatch. Many times, reimbursements are made for road tolls or ferries that are not described in the driver’s statement.

Long distance truck drivers can also claim away meals, so we would not only need financial records, we would need records for how many “away days” the client was away from home during the accounting period. Many truckers can take advantage of deducting the allowance for meal rather than claiming actual meals. (Truck drivers have to choose one or the other, not both).

Once all the bookkeeping information is gathered and there are no items suspended, GST has to be remitted to the CRA and adjusting entries are made. Next, a compilation of financial reports is prepared. This is what a typical financial period of bookkeeping and accounting would look like.

 

"To sum it all up, the client gives us their financial records, bank statements, credit card statements, income statements, and any cash receipts, and in return, we give them a financial report consisting of a Profit & Loss statement (sometimes called an Income Statement) and a Balance Sheet along with any notes pertaining to the accounting period"

 

 

Is the Bookkeeping you do Audited?

As an owner operator trucking business, the management (business owner) is responsible for the information on the financial statements. We do not audit or review the financial statements, meaning there are no procedures to verify the accuracy or completeness of the information provided by management (the business owner), so legally we cannot express an opinion, conclusion, nor provide any assurance based on our work.

This is basically long legal phraseology to say that our role is not as auditors, we will do due diligence to categorize transactions properly within the legal framework and operate under the accounting principles. At the end of the day, an outsourced accountant does not assume responsibility for inaccurate information.

 Do you outsource the bookkeeping like some accountants?

We do not outsource the bookkeeping, all bookkeeping is done by us. Your financial information stays with us and goes to nobody else. With the internet, there are are opportunities to outsource bookkeeping to other countries where a profit can be made on the pricing difference. Outsourcing the bookkeeping is becoming very popular with many accountants in Canada and the United States. They will forward the financial files to bookkeepers in India, the Philippines, or elsewhere to have the bookkeeping done for much less than they could hire somebody locally to do it. However, we see this as a potential privacy security threat, therefore we opt to do the bookkeeping ourselves to ensure a safe and secure experience. 

All your financial information stays with us. We do not outsource any work. 

Lenders want financial statements. How are Financial Statements prepared and delivered? 

When we've completed the bookkeeping for the accounting period, we provide updated financial statements. The financial report includes a profit and loss (sometimes called an Income Statement, or statement of earnings). The income statement will show your total revenue (taxable earnings) as per the gross pay typically found on a driver's pay statement (or settlement sheet). Sometimes the earnings are based on flat rate pay, distance traveled, hours driven, or load and unload time (load and unload time are typically reimbursed pay). The taxable earnings will be the top number, the sales revenue, that includes the sum of the trip settlement and fuel surcharge payments. The taxable earnings is not equal to the payment the tractor and driver earned, but is the amount that is used as the total revenue for financial reporting such as income taxes and GST General Sales Taxes. Most owner operator truck drivers will not have to collect GST, but it depends on how they are set up with their dispatch.

To arrive at the Gross Profit, the direct costs that come directly off the total revenue must be deducted from the taxable earnings. Direct costs (cost of materials) can include some of these: insurance, group insurance, fluids such as DEF, diesel fuel, union dues, registrations, Toll fees, Truck and equipment repairs, Tractor and trailer storage fees (lot rent, building rent for truck storage), lease payment if a tractor or trailer is being leased through the dispatch, and GST on deductions purchased in Canada. A driver's take home pay will be the net of the total earnings and expense reimbursements, less the total settlement deductions.This is the top half of the first financial statement we deliver, the statement of earnings. 

Drivers can take more expense deductions from the gross profit (the deposit received from dispatch). These are the expenses from the bank statements, credit card statements, fuel card statements, and cash receipts. A list of typical expenses for businesses in the transportation industry would be: Meals (long distance truck drivers can claim daily allowances rather than actual expenses under certain circumstances), Amortization of assets (includes capital leases for tractors and trailers), additional insurances not deducted from dispatch pay, bank charges and interest payments, licenses and memberships, office expenses or home office related expenses, legal fees, accounting fees, professional services, advertising expenses, salaries and wages if driver is paying themself or others as a wage, travel expense, cell phone expenses, and vehicle expenses to name a few. 

Once all these expenses are deducted on the trucker's Profit and Loss statement, we arrive at the Net Ordinary Income. This is the net income before income taxes are deducted. After tax income is just called Net Income. 

That is how we put together a statement of earnings for an accounting period. The period can be the duration of a month, quarter, year, or whatever is requested by the client's lender or vendor. 

The second financial statement that we produce for our clients as a part of a typical financial compilation report would be the Balance Sheet. The balance sheet works with Assets, Liabilities, and Owner's Equity. The Balance Sheet works on a simple formula; Assets must always equal the sum of the Liabilities and Owner's Equity. 

The top half of the balance sheet shows the assets that your business owns. Current assets start at the top of the asset column. Current assets are the most liquid assets, meaning these are cash or could be converted to cash easily. These will include your bank account, cash, undeposited funds (amounts your dispatcher has settled but payment has not yet been received), GST receivable, taxes receivable in the case that you have made instalments, Holdbacks from dispatch, etc. 

The other type of assets is fixed assets. These are assets that would be harder to turn into cash and more difficult to determine fair market value than the liquid assets. Think of fixed assets for a logistics business as Tractors, truck and trailers, transportation equipment, computer equipment, office equipment, and vehicles. Most fixed assets get depreciated or amortized. Land is an exception, land never gets depreciated or amortized and is always reported at it's cost basis. For most small trucking companies, fixed assets will get depreciated at the year end for tax purposes. Larger companies will make the depreciation and amortization adjustments each accounting period. This is more so for investor purposes. Fixed assets net of depreciation and amortization is reported as the Total Fixed Assets. Total assets are the total fixed assets plus the total current assets. This amount has to equal the total liabilities and total owner's equity. 

 Moving to the bottom half of the Balance Sheet, we find the Liabilities and owners equity. These are the second two factors in the Assets = Liabilities + Owners Equity equation.  Just like assets, Liabilities are classified into two different categories. Current liabilities (or short-term liabilities) are accounts payable (drivers and subcotractors payable), taxes payable, GST payable, loans, credit cards payable, Accrued expenses, and unearned revenue. These are all liabilities that are due within the next 12 months. The amounts of capital lease liabilities for trucks and trailers due within the next 12 months should also be entered in short-term liabilities. 

Long-term liabilities are liabilities that come due more than a year from the date of the Balance Sheet. These are going to be the long-term portion of the capital lease liabilities for trucks and trailers, bank loans, and mortgages payable. 

Owner's equity is the net basis of the owner plus the profits of the firm since inception. The basis can be in the form of company stock (this would have been set up on the articles of incorporation as common stock or preferred stock), Retained earnings, and Dividends paid for a basic balance sheet. 

 

 "These two common Profit & Loss and Balance Sheet financial statements will be accompanied with any information that is pertinent to the reader in the form of notes and presented in a compilation report. We include standard disclaimers in our report as information to the readers. This is what a client would have delivered to them as part of the accounting services."

 

 

Income Tax Preparation Services

I need my income taxes prepared. What do I need to do?

If a Canadian trucker is incorporated, they will file their annual T2 corporate income tax return 3 months after the fiscal year or tax year has ended, depending on the corporate tax year-end. If we've already done the bookkeeping, this accounting period will be similar to the others in the sense that we will record the bookkeeping as usual, with the addition of entering the year-end adjusting entries for amortization and depreciation on assets. There may be suspense items that need to be cleaned up, such as subcontractors information, so a client can expect additional questions from their accountant during the accounting period that wraps up the year-end. 

Another common thing at year-end is to determine dividends paid to the owner operator and any other shareholders. Sometimes shareholder withdrawals can be reclassified and transferred between loans to shareholders and dividends. It should be noted that dividends cannot be taken if the retained earnings is negative. Mathematically what this means is that, a shareholder cannot take borrowed money as a dividends, since assets must equal liabilities plus owners equity. The dividends has to be taken against earnings or basis. In some cases, an owner operator can take a capital gain on equity taken from the company if the retained earnings is negative, and they will pay capital gains on the difference between the withdrawal amount and the equity basis amount. This is not a typical transaction and would show signs that the company is in trouble.

Once the corporate tax return is completed and signed, we e-file the tax returns and taxes due need to be paid.