#029 How to document your expenses?

Before we get to the subject of what is deductible or not, we will first talk about what is important from the perspective of the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA), i.e. documentation.

Firstly, keeping a register containing all business expenses (meals or others) is essential. Please note that the latter can be kept in the format that suits you best (paper, pdf, jpg or even on our flagship software “Receipt Bank”).

However, you should know that keeping a register is not everything. Indeed, you will need to put in place best practices to properly document your expenses, in order to be able to claim eligible expenses for the business and even see to the goods and services tax (GST). and the Quebec sales tax (QST).

Here is different information that you will need to enter on each document:

• Make sure you have noted the name of the customer(s) as well as the people present. Be sure to keep their contact details in case of verification.
• Make sure you have more than one meal on the bill otherwise it could look like you are charging for your own meal!!!

Important : When meeting with a client, it is essential that you do not pay for their invoice and the client for theirs. In this specific case, it is advisable to keep it simple and therefore arrange for one of the two to pay for the entire meal and the other to pay next time.

Keeping all this information is therefore an essential rule in order to properly document your expenses and other costs. Indeed, let's imagine that the Revenu Québec or Revenue Canada agent finds a few discrepancies or errors, this will have saved you valuable time. For this type of case, our favorite tool is the Receipt Bank software. The latter allows, among other things, to take a photo of your receipt directly at the restaurant but also to add notes and transfer it to QuickBooks Online (or any other accounting software) afterwards. Another significant advantage of this application is that you can directly add an annotation to the receipt (e.g.: the name of the person met, the reasons, the project, etc.)

In the coming months, don't forget to follow us! Through our articles, we will be able to tell you more about the various possibilities for claiming meal and entertainment expenses.

If you have any questions, or would like to learn more about how to document your expenses, do not hesitate to contact us or invite us to breakfast, we will be able to make ourselves available for the least expensive meal of the day!