March 21, 2025 by Shannon McIntosh, Manager
How working abroad in Australia changed my life and career
Welcome back to The Bright Side!
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December 21, 2023 by Shannon McIntosh, Manager
Set the stage for success in 2024
Welcome back to The Bright Side for the last blog post of 2023. Is it just me or did this year fly by? For this edition, we’re going to look back at the year and all the challenges that were overcame and provide some strategies to plan for 2024.
November 30, 2023 by Shannon McIntosh, Manager
Balancing career and family on the road to success
In this edition of The Bright Side, we focus on a particularly important topic for small business owners – how to best compensate yourself for the work you do.
October 26, 2023 by Shannon McIntosh, Manager
Salary vs. dividend: The best way to pay yourself
In this edition of The Bright Side, we focus on a particularly important topic for small business owners – how to best compensate yourself for the work you do.
September 25, 2023 by Shannon McIntosh, Manager
The sweet taste of success
Welcome to the new edition of The Bright Side with Shannon McIntosh. This month, I interviewed two Baker Tilly Catalyst clients, sisters Jodi Willoughby and Carolyne McIntyre-Jackson, who turned their dream of a bakery into the successful business Crave Cookies and Cupcakes. Let’s dive into how it all started, the hurdles they’ve overcome and more.
September 1, 2023 by Shannon McIntosh, Manager
The evolving state of cloud accounting
Welcome back to The Bright Side! This month’s blog post explores the evolving state of cloud accounting and all the positive ways businesses that migrate to the cloud can benefit from this shift, including new access to efficiencies and savings. All the time and money you devote to data entry could be eliminated almost overnight with a shift toward automation, and significant new possibilities are emerging with each passing month. Cloud accounting ultimately frees business owners to focus more on what they do best. If you’re not sure cloud accounting is right for you, allow me to explore The Bright Side.
June 27, 2023 by Shannon McIntosh, Manager
Knowing your worth as an entrepreneur
Welcome to this month’s edition of The Bright Side. This time around, we’re diving into key aspects of taking your business to the next level as a new entrepreneur. These include how much to charge your clients, how to set and achieve big business goals and building strong client relationships.
May 24, 2023 by Shannon McIntosh, Manager
Entrepreneurship and motherhood
Welcome to this month’s edition of The Bright Side. If your goal is to be a mom while running your own business, this blog entry is for you. There are plenty of ways to balance the dream of motherhood without extinguishing the flames of entrepreneurship. Don’t doubt yourself, you can do it all. Though it is a lot of work, the best things always are!
April 27, 2023 by Shannon McIntosh, Manager
Bright tips to help you spring through tax season
Ahh, April. The signs of spring are all around us – warmer weather, birds chirping, trees budding and, above all (well, for accountants at least), tax season. It’s the most wonderful time of the year!
March 7, 2023 by Shannon McIntosh, Manager
Celebrating female leaders this International Women’s Day
With March 8 being International Women’s Day, this edition of The Bright Side holds special significance. As I grow and progress in my career, I am grateful for all the leaders and mentors I have met along the way. In particular, I’ve had the privilege to work with several exceptional women who’ve shown me the true meaning of leadership.
February 28, 2023 by Shannon McIntosh, Manager
Turning ambition into a beautiful business
Welcome to this month’s edition of The Bright Side. Recently, I had the pleasure of chatting with Natasha Sangra, one of our clients at Baker Tilly Catalyst. She took her business, The Beautox Bar, from bold idea to successful reality through plenty of hard work, planning and determination. Let’s dive into how she did it.
February 10, 2023 by Shannon McIntosh, Manager
Choosing between sole proprietorship and incorporation
Manager, Client Advisory at Baker Tilly Catalyst, Shannon McIntosh has overcome anxiety, insecurity and depression to emerge as a voice of empowerment, helping clients and colleagues exceed expectations and break new ground. In The Bright Side, she taps into her specialized experience working with non‑profit businesses and her passion for helping organizations that support the community to offer enlightening tax, financial and business guidance to help replace self‑doubt with self-belief.