Member Heads Up 

 Last Updated:  May 7, 2013 

Panelists wanted to help the CRA enhance its service to SMEs
May 7, 2013

The CRA is seeking participants to be a part of a small and medium enterprise panel for an upcoming Board of Management strategic planning meeting being held on June 19, 2013. The Board of Management will seek to learn more about what businesses experience while meeting their tax obligations and where the Agency can make improvements.

Panel participants will get an opportunity to share their experiences directly with CRA's most senior decision makers. They will be asked to discuss their general impressions of service interactions with the CRA and what their priorities would be for service enhancements.

The session will take place via video conference in downtown Vancouver at 7:15 a.m. on June 19, 2013 Pacific Standard Time. Participation on the panel is voluntary and there will be no compensation.

If you, or someone you know, are interested in participating, please contact:

Howard Kim
Regional Program Officer
Pacific Regional Office | Canada Revenue Agency
Howard.Kim@cra-arc.gc.ca
T: 604.666.0498 | M: 778.628.6549 | F: 604.666.1028

NOTE: The deadline to reply is May 10, 2013. 

Alberta’s Three Accounting Bodies Sign Unification Proposal

April 22, 2013  

Today, the Chairs of CGA Alberta and CMA Alberta, and the President of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Alberta (ICAA) announced that they have signed a plan for the unification of the three regulated accounting designations under the national CPA (Chartered Professional Accountant) banner.
 
 The plan reflects commitment to the eight guiding principles of unification across Canada, and sets out a road map for a promising future for designated accountants across the province. The ICAA will undertake an engagement process with Alberta CAs to discuss the unification proposal. This process will culminate in a CA vote on the plan, expected to be held by the end of June. Alberta’s CGAs and CMAs held their respective votes on unification in 2012, with the overwhelming majority of each designation voting in favour of unification.
 
Click here to read the announcement from the Alberta CGA and CMA bodies.  
Click here to read the ICAA announcement.

Metro Vancouver Chapters Invite Members and Students to 2nd Annual Regional Chapter Bowling Tournament* 

Which Chapter will Reign Supreme? 

Here’s your chance to polish your bowling skills, network with fellow CGA members and students . . . . and best of all, win bragging rights as the Regional Chapter bowling champs!

The inaugural tournament in 2012 saw SLND’s Dimsum Rollers bring home the prize.

Get into the Spirit! Hey, there are prizes at stake, for:

• Best team name
• Highest team score
• Most creative team uniform**
• Most CGA-inspired team name or uniform**.

Register as a five-person team or as an individual and we’ll place you on a team. If you are registering a team, have your teammates’ email addresses ready.

Any questions? Contact us at regionalchapters@gmail.com.

Hurry, spaces are limited and registration closes May 16, 2013.

REGISTER HERE***

* As part of our coverage of this event, participants may be photographed with or without attribution. If you object to being photographed, please let one of the organizers know.

** To be eligible for a prize, team name and/or CGA-inspired team name/uniform cannot have been used in 2012.

*** Refund policy – No refunds are issued unless the event is cancelled
 

Rotary Club Celebrates 100 Years in BC
The Rotary Club of Vancouver invites you to celebrate 100 years of Rotary in B.C. with a cocktail reception, gourmet dinner, live entertainment, and a keynote address by Stephen Lewis.

Join the Rotarians on April 20, 2013. The evening begins at 6:00 pm with reception followed by a sumptuous four-course dinner. You’ll hear from internationally renowned speaker Stephen Lewis. Stephen Lewis is arguably Canada's most tenacious and persistent advocate for social justice and one of our greatest humanitarians.

His list of causes is long and daunting: human rights abuses, the spread of HIV/AIDS in Africa, gender inequality, civil liberties, poverty and homelessness at home and abroad, children in armed conflict, global warming, and access to healthcare in the developing world. The former leader of the Ontario New Democratic Party and Canada’s former ambassador to the United Nations, Lewis has received dozens of awards and honours from governments and professional organizations and 37 honorary degrees from universities.

Partial proceeds from this event will go to support the 100th Anniversary Legacy Project, the expansion of St. Paul’s Hospital’s Rotary Hearing Clinic.

Location: Vancouver Convention Centre West 1055 Canada Place, Vancouver
Room: West Ballrooms C&D
Time: 6 pm–midnight
Early Bird Tickets: Individual $175; Tables of 10, $1,750.
April 1, 2013: Individual $225; Tables of 10, $2,250.

If you have any questions about this event, please contact Jessica at (604) 783-1487 or rotaryvancouver100@gmail.com. Purchase your tickets at www.rotaryvancouver.org.

CGA Leads Fundraising Mission to Complete St. Joe’s Food Bank 

Mission CGA Ron Leger has long felt good about donating to the local food bank; now he’s working hard to share that feeling. He’s leading a fundraising team to bring in the last $130,000 to complete the construction of the new St. Joseph’s Food Bank building, and he’s involved everyone from the mayor, MLA’s and the local Archbishop to the Abbotsford Heat, area pubs, grocery stores, other merchants and service clubs to his cause.

“The work the food bank and its volunteers do is awesome, it is such a good cause,” said Ron. “I enjoy helping out the community and I like how that donations to the food bank goes straight to feeding those who need help.”

[Read More...]

Marke Driesschen returns to emcee the 2013 QCC Recognition Dinner at the Sutton Place Hotel. 

This year’s Quarter Century Club organizers are pleased to announce that CTV News weathercaster Marke Driesschen will be emcee at the Friday, May 10 dinner.

In addition to working on CTV Morning Live and the CTV News, Marke has worked in front of audiences as a stand-up and improv comedian. When he isn’t telling us about the weather, you may also see him up on the big screens and other TV series, as he has appeared in Final Destination 2, Smallville, Mr. Magoo, Elektra and The Dead Zone.

Marke also continues to help host and emcee events for many charitable organizations, such as the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. Marke is delighted to be working alongside JDRF with its annual Rockin’ for Research and the Ride for Diabetes Research.

Welcome back, Marke.

To register for the event, email [pclair#cga-bc,org]Pardeep Clair by May 1.

De Jong Budget Upholds Fiscal Discipline 

On Tuesday, February 19, the budget review team of CGA-BC provided its early impressions of the last budget tabled before the spring election.

After speaking with the news media in the budget lock-up, the Association’s budget response team, led by Chair Candace Nancke, FCGA, issued a news release with its comments.   The release was also available via Twitter (CGAbc) and Facebook.

[Read More...]

Increased Growth Among Benefits to Tax Simplification, Says CGA-Canada

Summit report finds that tax simplification would provide ‘countless economic benefits.’

A report released Wednesday, February 13 by CGA-Canada entitled Tax Simplification: Benefits and Political Challenges in a Canadian Context argues that tax simplification would provide countless economic benefits – including lower compliance and administration costs, improved efficiencies, better tax planning opportunities and positive effects on Canada’s economic growth. 

The report from CGA-Canada’s Summit on Tax Simplification, convened in December 2012, highlights some of the challenges facing Canada’s tax system and outlines key steps towards simplifying Canada’s overly complex tax regime. Approximately 60 stakeholders, public officials and thought leaders participated in the summit.

The Summit heard how Canada’s tax system acts as a barrier to business, investment, competitiveness and economic growth.  By some estimates, compliance costs for personal and corporate income tax combined equals approximately two per cent of Canada’s GDP.  Many participants agreed that special tax credits – designed to benefit a certain group, industry or sector – add unnecessary complexities and inefficiencies to the tax system.

“Even though opinions varied on how tax reform should be done, we all agreed that tax simplification would be in the best interest of taxpayers, businesses, governments and the Canadian economy,” says Anthony Ariganello, FCGA, president and CEO of CGA-Canada. “Indeed, tax simplification could provide billions of dollars in savings each year that could be used to help deal with other social and economic challenges, or reinvested to boost sustained economic growth.”

Key recommendations from the report include: 

• Reaching a consensus on the definition of tax simplification, as it means different things to different people or organizations.
• Allowing consolidated reporting for a corporate group to minimize the number of returns that a group has to file.
• Reducing the impact of the tax system on corporate reorganizations through more precise rules.
• Creating a non-partisan independent commission to study and bring forward options to simplify the tax system.
• Strengthening the role of parliamentary committees by equipping them with research support and other resources required to make informed decisions on behalf of the public on tax matters.
• Determining the extent to which complexity in the Income Tax Act may be holding back Canada’s economic performance.
• Ensuring tax policy proposals are enacted into legislation within a reasonable amount of time.

For a copy of the report or for more information, visit Tax Simplification on CGA-Canada's website.

BC Legislature to Appoint New Auditor General 

An all-party special committee of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia has been mandated to unanimously recommend to the Legislative Assembly the appointment of an Auditor General for the Province of British Columbia.

The Auditor General is the Legislative Assembly’s independent auditor and conducts financial and performance audits in accordance with Canadian generally accepted accounting principles and assurance standards. The Auditor General audits the provincial government reporting entity, which consists of ministries, Crown corporations and other government organizations such as school districts, universities, colleges and health authorities. The Auditor General reports to the Legislative Assembly on all matters and appears regularly before the Select Standing Committee on Public Accounts.

The Auditor General leads a staff of 115 professionals and is appointed for a six-year term, and may be reappointed for a second term.

Interested CGAs should see the advertisement for the posting at Special Committee to Appoint an Auditor General.

Resumes should be received by fax, by email or by mail at the office of Kate Ryan-Lloyd, Deputy Clerk and Clerk of Committees, no later than Friday, January 25, 2013.

Looking for the next rung on your career ladder? See our Hot Jobs page updated weekly. If you haven’t already signed up to CGAjobs.org, do so. And don’t forget to post your resumé to the site.

1. portfolio, benchmark and statistical reports; maintain and update performance databases; and evaluate return on investment for the company.
2. Controller - Average starting salaries for controllers at midsize companies ($50 million to $100 million in sales) are expected to climb 4.9 per cent, to the range of $85,500 to $113,750. Organizations are adding controllers and assistant controllers to oversee accounting operations, enhance accounting and internal control systems, and assist with growth initiatives.
3. Public accountant - Professionals in midsize/small firms can anticipate a 2.2 per cent gain in base pay, to a range of $65,500 to $84,250. Demand is consistent for staff that can perform a broad range of accounting, auditing, tax and consulting activities.
4. ERP business analyst - Base compensation for these professionals who tailor enterprise resource planning software - is projected to increase 9.3 per cent next year, to a range of $80,000 to $105,000.  ERP enables organizations of all sizes and types to improve efficiency and cut costs. Companies need analysts who can guide better decision-making processes in a constantly changing business environment, help reduce costs and better evaluate internal/external clients.

Rounding out the list are IT auditor, lead application developer, lawyer (especially in litigation, healthcare and corporate law), law clerk, executive assistant, medical data entry specialist, and senior administrative assistant. 

Robert Half also tracks professional hiring expectations and business confidence through its quarterly Professional Employment Report available at www.roberthalf.ca/per. 

Advance Your Career


Make the most of your leadership potential and take your career to the senior executive level. Check out the CGA-BC Certificate in Executive Leadership—where leaders are made. Learn all you need to know about this exciting opportunity here.

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New Routes to Professional Development 

Are you looking for innovative ways to gain CPD hours? If you’re interested in Webcasts, video seminars and online courses, it’s time to check out PD Net. Visit today and discover a wealth of opportunities on a huge variety of topics. You’ll find seminars on ethics, taxes, leadership and more. And all of these seminars are designed for working CGAs like you.