small business

FATCA agreement signed, implementation Bill to come

April 16, 2014 Adam Gorley Accounting Systems and Controls, Budgeting and Auditing, Business and Legal Issues, Corporate Administration, Corporate Governance, Finance and Accounting, Financial Compliance / Planning / Management, Fraud and Corruption, Income Tax Planning / Tax Schedules / Remittances, Payroll and Personnel Management, Records Management and Retention

The federal government has signed an agreement to help the United States catch tax-evading “US persons” living outside the US, including those with dual US-Canada citizenship.

banks, Canada Revenue Agency, Canada-U.S. Tax Convention, citizenship, CRA, credit unions, disclosure of financial information, DPSP, extraterritorial implications, FATCA, financial institutions, Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act, intergovernmental agreement, Internal Revenue Service, IRS, PPRP, privacy legislation, RDSP, RESP, RRIF, rrsp, small business, tax law, Taxes, TFSA, United States

American law turns Canadian banks into tax agents

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

Recent tax measures aim to simplify compliance for small business

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

Thinking about customer relationship management

October 23, 2012 Jeffrey Sherman Finance and Accounting, Sales, Marketing and Operations

The concept of customer relationship management (CRM) has long-existed before it was given a designation. In fact, it is a not-so-new buzzword that sounds wonderful, but is actually very hard to implement. What CRM refers to is a kind of cross-functional business strategy that allows organizations to learn more about their customers.

business, business relations, business strategy, consultants, CRM, CRM solution, cross-functional business strategy, customer information, customer interaction, customer relationship management, customer support, Customers, data network, data-gathering techniques, enterprise-wide database, federal and provincial privacy legislation, high-quality data, management, salesperson, shipments, shipping, small and medium enterprises, small business, Small to medium size businesses, software

Accountants call for national entrepreneurship strategy

June 6, 2011 Adam Gorley Finance and Accounting

Canadians are pretty good at creating businesses that last, according to a new study by the Chartered General Accountants’ Association of Canada. Around 85 percent of new Canadian businesses survive for a year, 62 percent make it at least three years and 51 percent are still going after five years. The Business Development Bank of Canada puts this last number above 66 percent.

BDC, bureaucracy, Business Development Bank of Canada, CGA-Canada, Chartered General Accountants’ Association of Canada, compliance, education, entrepreneurs, income tax, Industry Canada, innovation, national entrepreneurship strategy, productivity, red tape, regulatory compliance, skilled labour, small and medium enterprises, small business, small business financing, SMEs, tax, tax compliance, training

Election fever! Who’s got it?

April 29, 2011 Adam Gorley Finance and Accounting, Sales, Marketing and Operations

It’s that exciting time again, when somewhat more than half of Canadians over 18 will come together to select the people who will govern us until the next impassable crisis of parliamentary confidence. For some, it’s a celebratory time when we Canadians demonstrate our democratic will. For others, it’s a cynical time (I know: how can it be?) when incumbents and hopefuls tell us what we want to hear just to win their seats in Ottawa and their cushy benefits.

Canada Elections Act, economic recovery, economy, election, federal budget, federal election, HRinfodesk, pensions, politics, small and medium enterprises, small business, social programs, tax credits, tax cuts, time off to vote, voting, work-life balance

Manitoba update!

April 4, 2011 Adam Gorley Corporate Governance, Finance and Accounting, Sales, Marketing and Operations

We’ve paid embarrassingly little attention to Manitoba at First Reference Talks. But that’s all changing as the province that sits on Ontario’s western shoulder (presumably Ontario’s “angel” conscience) has set out to distinguish itself recently. The province has stood up with Alberta and Quebec against the prospect of a national securities regulator, arguing that securities regulation is solely a provincial matter and that the current system works better than a centralized one would.

HRPP, Human Resources PolicyPro, manitoba, Saskatchewan, securities, securities act, securities regulator, small business, tax

Another take on IT strategy

October 14, 2010 Adam Gorley IT, Privacy and Security, Sales, Marketing and Operations

In a recent issue of Inside Internal Control, I discussed a report on why small and medium-sized businesses should take information technology strategy and planning seriously. Essentially, according to the Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants, if you don’t strategize your IT, you’re probably wasting time and money just keeping up, when you could be using your resources to support your strategic business plan.

Well, I hope you didn’t rush away after reading that piece and create and implement an IT strategy…

business planning, Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants, CICA, Computer World, coordinating business strategies, information technology, information technology strategy, Inside Internal Control, IT, IT infrastructure, IT planning, IT Strategic Planning for SMEs, IT strategy, small business, Thornton May, upgrading IT infrastructure

Do you need an IT business and implementation strategy?

September 30, 2010 Adam Gorley IT, Privacy and Security, Sales, Marketing and Operations

You already know how important information technology is to your business. You’ve got a website that pushes your brand and maybe even sells your products; you’ve got an internal network that connects all of your employees to each other and the documents they need; you’ve got company email to manage, and maybe a bunch of cellphones and BlackBerrys to keep track of; you’ve got security cameras, passwords, log-ins and keycards; and you’ve got employee management systems covering attendance, payroll, benefits and more. If any of these fails, you’ve also got a big problem.

business planning, Canadian Payroll Association, employee management, information technology, internal network, IT, IT Strategic Planning for SMEs, IT strategy, small and medium enterprises, small business, social media, social networking, strategic planning, The Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants