March 24, 2020 Tips for Working Remotely: Increase Efficiency, Adopt Digital Payments

When you and your staff and board members should be staying safe at home, the last thing you want is to be dodging germs on the streets to get signed. That goes for your courier company’s staff too!

It’s time to move your payments to the cloud.

Need help? Contact us at [email protected]. ​ ​ For those who’d rather DIY, here’s how.

Authorization, control Working remotely does not mean compromising proper accounting controls.

For small businesses, the owner may be the sole authority. Larger commercial concerns and nonprofit organizations typically require multiple authorizations on payments to control spending and ensure adherence to budgets.

You may find great comfort in those two signature lines on a , and the in-person requirement for getting someone’s signature. But, that’s far from the only way to do it.

Banks and other third-party payment processors have designed protocols to support remote authorization by multiple parties, where each signer approves independently of the others.

Organizations can implement their own internal protocols to ensure that the designated staff or board members approve payments. For instance, an invoice can be scanned and circulated by email, with the bookkeeper instructed to pay only after the appropriate people have given their okay.

Alternately, you can investigate options for gathering digital signatures.

Getting started right away Using options like , payment and supplier payment portals, you can immediately convert some of your payables stream to online payment. The table below provides some options.

Dealing with your cheques Make sure your cheques are safe. Cheque fraud is on the rise. Blank cheques should always be kept out of sight, in a locked place.

Do not ask signers to pre-sign cheques. This negates the value of the authorization process! If you’ve already disobeyed this important rule, you must be doubly sure that your blank cheques are secure.

Service providers How to choose the right avenue(s) for you? This list will get you started. You may find it useful to canvass your bookkeeper, CPA, and tech-savvy colleagues to learn what they use. You may use multiple service providers, depending on your needs.

This list is not intended to be exhaustive. There are other options for you. Any of the providers below will work for small businesses, nonprofits and charities.

This is a quick overview only. All of these options offer more features than indicated in this summary. Review websites carefully for additional detail.

Click on logos to activate links.

Provider Cost Accounting Commitment / Notes Integrations Getting Started Young Associates’ . Canadian owned. Sleek, intuitive user interface with Plugs into online chat support. Offers Quickbooks and You can subscribe Monthly fee authorization tiers (e.g. up to Xero accounting month by month. includes $500 1 signer only). No need software so you Signing officers transaction to collect banking info if can transmit your must complete package; per item vendor is set up with Plooto, payables directly authorization fee thereafter or vendor can accept email. to the app for procedures. Pays CRA. Does not pay many payment. “big box” vendors (yet). International payments. Also receives payments.

Canadian owned. Founded in 1985; a pioneer in payment Plugs into Adagio, processing. Canada’s largest Connected, Apply for a TelPay biller list. For other vendors, Quickbooks, Sage ID on their no need to collect banking and other website. Signing Monthly fee info; vendor can be notified by accounting apps so officers must per item fee email. Besides supplier you can transmit complete payments, it provides payroll your payables authorization direct deposit, government directly to the app procedures. remittances, international for payment. payments, transfers funds. Receives payments too. PayPal’s promotion is geared mostly to receiving payments. Your vendors may already accept payment this way. You will need a method of Monthly fee for No integration. payment (credit, debit, from “Pro” package. Payments via Monthly your bank account, or using 2.9% of amounts PayPal need to be commitment for your PayPal balance). You received. Per item keyed into your “Pro” package. may find PayPal useful for fee. accounting app. paying international artists: they can send you a PayPal invoice. Note that the recipient pays a % of the transaction. Interac is a Canadian Anyone with a No integration. . Your Canadian bank Payments via institution probably belongs, account and an Per item fee Interac need to be and right now you can email address can keyed into your probably send one-off send Interac accounting app. payments to suppliers able to e-transfers. receive e-transfers. Banks are typically cautious about linking to third You need to have party apps. Check an account. See Bank and credit See your bank for your bank for your bank for Features vary by institution union platforms details details. Payment further details on entries may need how to get started. to be re-keyed into your accounting app. For initiating payments, no integration to your You need to apply Having a credit card expands Fees vary by card. accounting for a card. The your resources – but at a cost. Some cards offer software. (You company will Interest on unpaid balances Credit cards benefits such as may be able to set determine how may be high. Nonprofits and travel points or up a feed to much credit to charities may find it difficult cashback. bookkeep extend. to secure a company card. completed transactions.)

No integration. Most suppliers are Many suppliers are Online payments You will need a method of Supplier online happy to receive encouraging need to be keyed payment such as a credit card, payment portals your payment at customers to pay into your , Interac or PayPal. no charge to you. online accounting app. You authorize the supplier to You may already be using this Most suppliers are No integration. withdraw directly Supplier method. Landlords, utilities, happy to receive Payments need to from your bank pre-authorized credit card companies and your payment at be keyed into your account. You can payments other monthly billers actively no charge to you. accounting app. withdraw seek pre-authorized payment. authorization at your discretion.

How Young Associates can assist ​ ​ A consultation with us may make all the difference to your comfort level and confidence that your accounting system is up to the challenge of the pandemic.

We can respond to your concerns around security, authorization, risk management, privacy and accounting process, and help identify the best online payment options for you.

We’d also be happy to give you a quote for full-service bookkeeping. ​ ​ We work on the basis of fixed price agreements, so you’ll know upfront how much our work will cost -- and we always offer a money-back guarantee: if you’re not completely delighted with our service, we will, at your option, either refund the price, or accept a portion of said price that reflects your level of satisfaction.

Contact us: [email protected] ​

This tip sheet was created by Heather Young CPB and the Young Associates team based on the best information available to us as of the date of posting. We are happy to receive your comments at [email protected]. ​ Although every effort has been made to provide complete and accurate information, Young Associates makes no warranties, express or implied, or representations as to the accuracy of content in this tip sheet. Young Associates assumes no liability or responsibility for any error or omissions in the information contained in the tip sheet.

Founded in 1993, Young Associates provides bookkeeping and financial management services in the charitable sector, with a focus on arts and culture. Young Associates also provides consulting services in the areas of data management, business planning and strategic planning. Heather Young

published Finance for the Arts in Canada (2005, 2020), a textbook and self-study guide on accounting ​ ​ and financial management for not-for-profit arts organizations.