freelancing

Canadian GST / HST Tax Form

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This article was posted in 2012. Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) has since made changes to the GST/HST filing process. Back in 2012, taxable and non-taxable (zero rated) sales were included together. Starting in 2016, taxable and non-taxable sales have been separated. This means that the GST/HST form mentioned below is out of date. The CRA has not published an updated form because it wants you to file GST/HST only online.

 

Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) in 2010 made it mandatory for businesses to file quarterly GST/HST tax returns electronically. Electronic filing is fast and easy but the instructions were, and still are, poorly explained. Fortunately the CRA continued to mail a paper copy of the tax form so you could read the instructions on the paper copy when filing your GST/HST electronically.

About a year ago, the CRA stopped sending the paper copy of the GST/HST tax form. So now, when filing a tax return electronically, you have to remember, or guess, each step of the tax return. For example, you’re simply asked to enter a dollar amount for Line 108. Uh, what is Line 108 for?
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Dialing For Dollars

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Freelance photographers usually get paid by cheque and occasionally by cash. Some photographers, including myself, also accept credit card payments through PayPal via the photographer’s web site.

PayPal just announced its new PayPal Here system that will allow a business to accept credit card payments using a smart phone. This is similar to the up-and-running, two-year-old Square system.

There are differences between PayPal Here and Square but there’s only one difference that matters to Canadian photographers. PayPal Here will be available in Canada and Square is not.

Square says that it’s looking into expanding outside the USA but it’s been saying that for two years. Perhaps the competition from PayPal will force Square to get moving.

[Update October 24, 2012: Square just announced that it’s available in Canada.]

Apparently, the Square system is/was capable of being used for credit card fraud. By contrast, the PayPal Here card reader is encrypted.

Accepting credit card payments on location could be a big help for professional photographers. Some business customers and government clients can pay on-the-spot with a corporate credit card. But not being able to accept credit cards on location often means a photographer has to wait weeks or months to get paid by cheque.

[Update March 18, 2013: PayPal Here is still not available in Canada.]

 

Business Advice for Photographers

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The American Society of Media Photographers (ASMP) has a few dozen videos to help professional photographers improve their business practices. Topics include negotiating, marketing, pricing, paperwork, licensing and copyright.

These videos were produced for American photographers and so there are a few legal and business issues that either don’t apply or are different here in Canada. However many of the concepts and principles are equally applicable to Canadian photographers.

 

Marketing Professional Photography

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When marketing its products or services, a business is usually told to focus on selling the benefits of those products or services. Sell the sizzle, not the steak. But this isn’t entirely accurate.

Human nature is such that people are motivated by the need for risk aversion. People will act more to avoid a loss than to gain a benefit. We fear loss more than we desire a benefit. This is known as the Prospect Theory.

From the New York Times:

…most of us find losses roughly twice as painful as we find gains pleasurable.

A professional photographer seeking new clients should frame their marketing more around loss avoidance and minimizing risk rather than just pointing out potential benefits. New clients are usually concerned with avoiding risk since they’ve never worked with that photographer before, (i.e. “Can we trust this photographer do the job properly?”).

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Budgeting for Success

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Many photographers fail to understand that a client’s budget determines their work. In an ideal world, it would be the other way around. But sadly, the ideal world and the real world don’t often intersect.

Don’t confuse “work” with “effort” or “creativity”. The latter two should be independent of the client’s budget. Whether the budget is $1,000 or $10,000, the photographer has to put forth the same effort and creativity.
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No cheque in the mail

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From time to time, newer professional photographers ask what they should do when a client is late to pay. The answer is easy: remind the customer to pay.

Okay, maybe it’s not quite that simple although it can be.

When a client hasn’t paid within the time period set by the photographer, often the reason is that the client has lost or misplaced the invoice, or they’ve simply forgotten to pay it. (Yes, it would be nice if we could “forget” to pay our bills.)
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The Three R’s for Photographers

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The previous post, directed towards business customers, was also indirectly aimed at photographers. It was pointing out that most customers don’t hire photographers for their pictures! Or to rephrase that: purely providing perfect pictures doesn’t please the paying people.

Some photographers will stress over whether to move a light a few inches this way or that way. They will agonize over precise white balance. They’ll suffer great pain if every pixel isn’t razor sharp or if the depth of field isn’t just right. But in most cases, customers don’t notice or even care about these things.

This is not to say a photographer can be sloppy in their work but that customers have different priorities.

For many customers, it’s more important that a photographer shows up on time, dresses and behaves appropriately, completes the photography efficiently and competently, and returns their calls or e-mails promptly.

A photographer’s business practices are more important than their photography skills. Yes, the photographer must be at least competent in their work. But good business practices can trump great photo skills. As the cliché says, running a photography business is 90% business and 10% photography.

Remember your three R’s: responsible, reliable, respectable.

 

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