Know and Appreciate the Value of Your Time
This blog post is for the many people who are not like me. I spend hours every day reading and writing about goods and services tax (GST) and harmonized sales tax (HST) and Ontario retail sales tax (ORST). While the world at large may have different advice for me --- I offer the above to you -- "Know and appreciate the value of your time".
It can take hours for the uninformed to find an answer to a question about GST/HST/ORST. Sometimes, the law is so complex, it is not possible to figure out the answer (even for the seasoned professionals).
Small to medium sized business owners and the bookkeepers, accountants, lawyers, finance professionals in large corporations have a lot of work on their plate. Many do not appreciate the value of their own time as they focus on the expense side of the balance sheet. Watching dollars is understandable in the current economy. However, not focusing enough on the value of your own time results in the efficient use of resources if too much time is spent seeking answers that are not easily located.
A better approach is to seek a professional that can take work off your plate if that professional is more efficient than anyone in your organization to perform the task. Know what is the value of your time --- Is it $200 per hour. If you think it will take 10 hours for you to find the answer -- see if someone can answer your questions for under $2000.
Now the self-serving part of this post. I offer telephone consultations:
$282.50 for 30 minutes ($250 plus HST)
$565 for 1 hour ($500 plus HST)
Usually, I am able to provide guidance on where to find GST/HST/ORST answers or whether the question is simple or complex. When it comes to a simple answer, I may be able to provide the simple answer during the call --- but I do not promise to answer any and all questions during he telephone call.
Cyndee Todgham Cherniak is the founding lawyer of LexSage, a boutique international trade law and sales tax firm in Toronto,
