CGA Newsletter Update

ISSUE 30 • July 21, 2008
Your e-connection to CGA-BC

Sign Our Guest Book
All members, students and CGA well-wishers are invited to sign our online 100th Anniversary guest book. Share a memory, thank a mentor, or just send best wishes to your colleagues in the CGA community. To get a sense of the guest book's flavour, read the messages now.

Summer PD Opportunities See Month at a Glance PD available for all of 2008. For more information, e-mail Ruth Bornhauser or phone (604) 714-2352.

Ethics in Focus
Take the Ethics in Focus challenge. Review the case of Jody Walniuk and her recalcitrant client. Then tell us what she should do. The best answers will be published in the September issue of Outlook. E-mail your response to Edward Downing or fax him at (604) 732-1252 by July 25.

Maintaining Public Trust
As part of CGA-BC's commitment to upholding our high standard of conduct, members and students are reminded to visit the Protecting the Public section of our Website on an ongoing basis. Open to the public, this section relates to the our goal of greater transparency and full disclosure. It explains our ethics process and provides up-to-date information on public advisories and the latest disciplinary summaries.

Get the latest scoop on CGA-BC's hottest jobs...

Employment Blog
If you’re thinking of skipping the cover letter next time you apply for a job, think again. A recent OfficeTeam survey found that over 90 per cent of executives still expect and value cover letters when evaluating job candidates. [ More...]

Public Practice Survey Coming This Summer
The third biennial Public Practice Survey will be distributed to practitioners in early August. As with prior versions, the survey will contain three parts: salaries and charge-out rates, practice management and information technology. The information technology portion will be distributed and responded to electronically. The balance of the survey will remain in paper form.

Contact Anita Fortune for further information.

Insurance Deadline - August 1
Renewal of professional liability insurance is due on or before August 1. The Association's insurer, Aon Reed Stenhouse Inc., sent renewal notices to practitioners in early June. An administration fee of $150 will be levied (separate from the fee charged for late public practice fees) if professional liability insurance fees remain unpaid after August 1. If professional liability insurance premiums remain unpaid 30 days after the due date, the member is without notice deemed to have resigned from public practice unless written notice of extenuating circumstances is received within 30 days from the original due date.

Contact Akhtar Sadeghi for further information.

Change to Annual Public Practice Meeting Focus
Please note that the focus of the September 18 Annual Public Practice Meeting (APPM), being held during the Kelowna conference, has changed since the release of the conference brochure. Check out the CGA-BC Website for APPM details, which include an interactive morning focusing on how to attract staff to your firm and future practitioners to the profession. A panel will lead off the discussion with several innovative ideas currently being used in B.C. firms.

Contact Brigitte Ilk, CGA, Manager, Public Practice Research and Development for further information.

Deadline for PPAG Nominations October 15
Members in Public Practice who wish to volunteer for the 2009 Public Practice Advisory Group (PPAG) are invited to submit their names for consideration. Individuals eligible to volunteer for the PPAG are CGA-BC members engaged or employed in the practice of public accounting.

Selection is partially based on regional representation, as follows: three candidates from the Lower Mainland, one from Southern Vancouver Island, and two to represent the balance of the province.

Please submit your name and a short biography by October 15 to Brigitte Ilk, CGA, Manager, Public Practice Research and Development.

View CGA Update on Your PDA

CGA Update comes to your Blackberry.

Are you spending a lot of time with your Blackberry? Are you and your iPhone inseparable? If so, you'll be glad to learn that your monthly CGA e-newsletter has been formatted for your favourite personal digital assistant.

The links within the newsletter aren't fully functional yet, but soon we'll be publishing the entire CGA-BC Website to a PDA-specific format. CGA-BC has long prided itself on being a new technology leader in the field of accounting education. And now that tradition continues-again. View this newsletter on my PDA .

Annual PEP Career Fair - Huge Success


The Second Annual PEP Career Fair was a huge success. On June 24 more than 20 employers searching for financial and accounting expertise promoted their companies to 350 CGA members and students at the Renaissance Waterfront Hotel.

CGA-BC Board of Governors Nominations

Are you considering standing for election to the 2009 Board of Governors? If you have the experience, skills, temperament and dedication required, your Association wants you to give back to your designation in a leadership role.

See the online nomination package now.

Conference 2008 Has it All

Conference 2008 image Outstanding PD seminars, unique networking opportunities and B.C.'s best accounting trade show. Oh, and did we mention fun recreation activities? Come to Conference 2008 on Sept. 17 to 21 in sunny Kelowna.

Seminars cover a wide range of topics for accountants and financial professionals.

See What's New to stay abreast of Conference developments.

See the Conference brochure and register online. To register over the phone, call Pardeep Clair, toll-free at (800) 565-1211 ext 228.

Tax & Financial Strategies Course Begins November 5

The next session of the Tax and Financial Strategies Program (T&FS) begins November 5. This "real life" case study approach to tax and financial planning for owner-managed businesses addresses the life cycle of a business from incorporation through to business succession, dealing with a CRA audit and the death of a shareholder. Topics covered include income tax, GST, the accounting treatment of advanced tax issues and correspondence with lawyers.

This 10-month program consists of monthly teleconference discussions and assignments. Participants obtain up to 40 verifiable CPD hours from the comfort of their own office or home. T&FS will be of interest to both new and established practitioners seeking to upgrade their skills and improve their practices in the area of taxation, by providing value-added services while minimizing the risk of professional liability.

To obtain your copy of the course outline or FAQ list, contact Brigitte Ilk, CGA. To register, see the T&FS program brochure. [PDF 74 KB]

CGA-BC.org Launches Event Search Tool

Finding the right PD seminar or CGA-BC event just got a lot easier with our event search tool. Now you can search the PD calendar and event database your way. Search by:

Topic
Date(s)
Title (simply type in the name of the seminar)
Location

Click on any search result and an event description will pop up with all the salient details: location, time, cost, CPD hours, as well as a registration button that will take you straight to the sign-up and payment pages.

The search tool will soon carry all our events, including member, employment and recruiting, and chapter events, as well as public events sponsored by CGA-BC.

See for yourself.

New PD Offering: Tax Series Special Runs Oct 27 & 28

CGA-BC is pleased to offer three special tax seminars on Oct. 27 (a full-day seminar) and Oct. 28 (two half-day seminars).

Day 1: Today's Tax and Financial Strategies for the Mature Business
Presented in a straightforward, non-technical manner, this seminar focuses on essential information advisors need to keep on top of the evolving nature of tax, what advice should be given, and how business affairs should be arranged accordingly. Topics include: practical aspects of recent legislative developments; tax compliance pitfalls; recent CRA audit, enforcement, and collection issues and changes to administrative practices; and tax planning ideas and their related risks.

Day 2: Morning: Retention Strategies for Key Employees and Executive Compensation
Giving key employees an ownership stake in the company can be an attractive and necessary move; however, overlooking the tax and financial ramifications ahead of time may cause unexpected problems. The focus is on strategies to retain key employees while minimizing risk. We'll also review the latest executive compensation strategies.

Day 2: Afternoon: Tax-Effective Business Structures
The focus is on the tax issues and business considerations when advising a business start-up or restructuring situation. A case study approach is used to illustrate how and why a business structure may change during the life cycle of a successful entrepreneurial business from start-up to dissolution.

See the full course descriptions.

Presenter: Deborah E. Graystone, BSc, TEP, CGA
Where: UBC Golf Course, 5185 University Blvd., Vancouver
Price: Full day, $401; half days $198 each
CPD: Up to 15 hours (Full day, seven hours; half days, four hours each)