May 20, 2013 Occasional Contributors Corporate Governance, Finance and Accounting, Not for Profit, Sales, Marketing and Operations,
You’ve seen the pink ribbon, the Coca-cola polar bears, and the Project Red Starbucks cards. You might have even worn the infamous yellow Livestrong bracelet at one point. Cause marketing is more prevalent than ever before, as more for-profit businesses see the benefits of partnering with nonprofit organizations for mutual benefit and consumers seek brands that do good, in addition to doing well. Cause marketing has become much more than a sponsorship opportunity, as it once was. Today, cause marketing is based on long term relationships and alignment with core business values.
An effective cause marketing campaign, brand, Builds a brand, Cause marketing, causes for the greater social good, consumers, employee engagement, employee morale, for-profit businesses, greater social good, Increases profits, marketing campaign, marketing tactics, non-profit firms, nonprofit organizations, public perception, sponsorship opportunity, target consumers
May 13, 2013 Drache Aptowitzer LLP Corporate Governance, Finance and Accounting, Not for Profit,
Regular readers may recall the article we wrote on the topic of officer liability. There we commented on circumstances in which officers of corporations under the Canada Not-for-profit Corporations Act (CNCA) (whether continued to it or incorporated there) will be exposed to personal liability. Not long after that piece was written, an Executive Director of a corporation considering continuing to the CNCA who is an employee and not an officer in accordance with the corporation’s by-laws, asked us if she would owe a fiduciary duty to the corporation under the CNCA. On reflection, we concluded that the new officer provisions in the CNCA create a statutory framework wherein employees could be held liable for a breach of the same duties that are applicable to directors of those corporations. We left, for the moment, the question as to whether these duties were “fiduciary” or not.
act honestly and in good faith, corporations, due diligence, duty of care, duty of loyalty on officers, fiduciary duty, fiduciary obligation, non-profit sector, non-profits, Not-for-profit Corporations Act, officer liability, personal liability, reasonably prudent person, risk management
May 8, 2013 Occasional Contributors Corporate Governance, Finance and Accounting,
Board members and senior management are quite familiar with compliance requirements for CEO and CFOs certification and the importance of maintaining strong internal controls over financial results. The certification process extends to internal controls over income taxes balances in the financial statements. For the majority of companies with a well-staffed tax department, monitoring controls remain the strongest control and most frequently used. Senior management is however, frequently unaware of the potentially material risk associated with tax plans implemented in the past; undergoing an annual TPIR assists in mitigating this risk to a manageable level.
business strategies, CEO and CFOs certification, compliance requirements, financial results, financial statements, foreign internal tax staff, income tax balances, Internal Controls, management mandates and policies, material risk associated with tax plans, mitigating risk, monitoring controls, risk management, senior tax personnel, tax accountants, tax department, tax losses, tax plan, Tax Plan Implementation Review, tax planning strategy, taxable income
May 6, 2013 Adam Gorley Finance and Accounting, IT, Privacy and Security,
Here is an issue you might need to keep in mind in the coming months. As it stands, a recent United States tax law will require Canadian banks nd other financial institutions (including credit unions, pension managers, insurance companies, and others) to provide some Canadian (and American) citizens’ information to the American Internal Revenue Service (IRS). The US Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act, which is set to come into effect through 2013 and 2014, aims to catch tax-evading “US persons” living abroad, including those with dual US-Canada citizenship
banking, Charter of Rights and Freedoms, citizenship, extraterritorial implications, FATCA, financial institutions, Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act, intergovernmental agreement, Internal Revenue Service, IRS, privacy, small business, tax law, Taxes, United States
April 29, 2013 Adam Gorley Corporate Governance, Finance and Accounting,
When I think about taxes—as one can’t help around this time of year—I find it nearly impossible not to think about the trouble our representatives put us through—not only in tax season, but throughout the year. Except for a few lucky individuals, taxes are confusing; if they weren’t, we wouldn’t need a massive (and growing) class of citizens to explain them to us—or to simply take them out of our hands. And when politicians say they want to make taxes simpler or less burdensome—and they often do say these things—they almost always want to add some tax measure or another (i.e., complicate matters) rather than take any away (i.e., simplify).
bureaucracy, business number, Canada Revenue Agency, compliance, CRA, federal business number, G-7, Goods and Services Tax, GST, harmonized sales tax, HST, My Business Account, red tape, red tape reduction, small business, Streamlined Accounting, Streamlined Accounting Thresholds, tax compliance, tax season, Taxes
April 25, 2013 Adam Gorley Corporate Governance, Finance and Accounting, Not for Profit,
I’ve lost count of the coming-into-force dates the government has set for the Ontario Not-for-profit Corporations Act to take effect, but this time at least it seems there’s a clear reason. The previous estimate for the law to come into force was July of this year; the new estimated date is “no earlier than” January 2014.
bylaws, incorporation, Internal Controls, letters patent, Ministry of Consumer Services, non-voting members, not-for-profit incorporation, OCA, ONCA, Ontario Corporations Act, Ontario Not-for-profit Corporations Act, risk management, special resolutions
April 22, 2013 Maanit Zemel Corporate Governance, IT, Privacy and Security, Sales, Marketing and Operations,
So much has already been said by so many about this tragic story. A beautiful 17 year old taking her own life after being sexually assaulted, followed by sexually explicit cyberbullying.
bullying, cyberbullied, cyberbullying, cyberbullying and violence, cyberharrased, domestic violence, harassment, investigation, legal system, online, social media, The case of Rehteah Parsons, violence against women
April 15, 2013 Occasional Contributors Corporate Governance, Finance and Accounting, IT, Privacy and Security, Sales, Marketing and Operations,
For millennials, there is no real separation between work and personal life. After all, much of the work they do is from home, from their smartphone or in the middle of the night. The mobility of millennials has shifted the typical nine to five job to a cloud-based, work-from-wherever career. Plus, the way millennials live is far different than their grandparents.
career management, cloud-based, corner offices, Employment, human resource groups and company culture, Internet, meaningful work, millennials, millennials are largest demographic, More women than ever before are occupying the boardroom, nature of recruitment and selection strategies, nine to five job, online, open concept workspaces, physical workspace, separation between work and personal life, smartphone, social media, social networking, social work atmosphere, telecommute, telecommuting, training, work environment, work-from-wherever career, work/life balance
April 8, 2013 Drache Aptowitzer LLP Corporate Governance, Finance and Accounting, Not for Profit,
Before a group can be registered as a charity, there has to actually be some legal thing to register. This means that every charity faces the choice of which legal structure to use. A charity can be constituted as a trust, an unincorporated association, or a corporation.
Canada Not-for-profit Corporations Act, Canada Revenue Agency, charity, corporations, corporation’s debts, Director liability, for-profit businesses, high-liability, high-risk, incorporation, non-profit organizations, non-share capital, not-for-profit incorporation, penalty for issuing a receipt that contains false information, personal assets, personal liability, registered as a charity, Registered charities, revocation tax, unincorporated association
April 1, 2013 Adam Gorley Corporate Governance, IT, Privacy and Security, Not for Profit,
By now, countless businesses have had to address some issue relating to an employee using her or his personal digital device for work purposes (“bring your own device” or BYOD). An employee wants to access the office wireless network on her laptop so she can work while away from her desk; another wants to store and view work documents on his tablet; another just wants to check her work email from her smartphone. These are just a few of the many ways workers are using personal digital devices to perform work-related tasks.
access to network, apps, Bring-your-own-device, BYOD, BYOD program, code of conduct, compensation, data access, device maintenance and support, device repairs, device replacement, employee agreements, information storage, information technology, Information Technology PolicyPro, laptop, mobile devices, mobile workforce, network connections, overtime pay, personal devices, rogue apps, tablet computer, tech support, training, wireless, work documents, workplace policies
