CPABC Practitioners’ Potluck October 24, 2014 PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

CPABC Practitioners’ Potluck
October 24, 2014
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
CPABC Practitioners’ Potluck
October 24, 2014 | Vancouver Convention Centre, West Building
his popular conference was developed
specifically in response to a demand by
practitioners for a forum which addresses
issues relevant to managing a successful
public practice in BC. The conference format
is designed to encourage discussion and the
exchange of ideas.
Take a look at the exciting program which
includes 2 plenary presentations, your choice
of 2 out of 6 breakout sessions, and the ever
popular “Ideas Exchange” session during
which you will be free to share experiences,
challenges and solutions with your peers.
Come prepared to learn, discuss, network, and
to enjoy this dynamic, interactive full-day
session. We know you’ll want to join us for
this value packed PD Day, and we look
forward to seeing you on October 24th at our
Practitioners’ Potluck.
AGENDA
8:00 – 8:30AM
8:30 – 8:40AM
8:40 – 10:00AM
10:00 – 10:15AM
10:15AM – 12:00PM
12:00 – 1:10PM
1:10 – 2:45PM
2:45 – 3:00PM
3:00 – 5:00PM
Registration and Continental Breakfast
Welcome and Introduction
General Session
Coffee Break
Concurrent Breakouts
- Practitioners’ Tax Forum
- The CPA Practical Experience Requirements
- Powerful Marketing Plans for Practitioners
Lunch
Concurrent Breakouts
- Accounting & Assurance Update
- Choosing the Best Technology Tools for a
CPA Practice
- Legal and Legislation Update
Coffee Break
Ideas Exchange
CONFERENCE FEE: $450 + GST
CPD HOURS: 7 Hours
PD PASSPORT: Valid – 1 Passport Day
To register, please go to our website at
pd.bccpa.ca/conferences or email us at
[email protected].
We can also be reached by phone at 604
681.3264, toll-free in BC at 1 800
663.2677.
PETER CHA, CPA, CA, is a partner at Cinnamon Jang Willoughby. He focuses primarily on providing services to small and mid-size ownermanaged businesses in a wide range of industries.
GORD CUMMINGS, CA, CPA (Illinois), is a partner with the Vancouver, B.C.-based mid-market firm D&H Group LLP. Gord provides
accounting and assurance services to private and public companies, while D&H Group LLP’s 12 partners and 65 staff serve a wide-range of
owner-managed, not-for-profit, First Nations and publicly listed clients with taxation, accounting and assurance and IT services. Gord was
a member of the Auditing and Assurance Standards Board (AASB) from 2006 to 2013 and has volunteered extensively with the BC
institute. Gord is also chair of the AASB’s Review Engagement Task Force.
KAREN FIORINI, Phd (cand.), CPA, CGA, is Manager, Quality Assurance in the public practice division at CGA-BC. Her responsibilities include
regulation of public practice registration and oversight of the practice review program. Karen has been with CGA-BC since 2007. While the
majority of Karen’s career has been in public practice, prior to coming to CGA-BC, Karen was the provincial controller for the Royal
Canadian Legion.
ANDREA FRISBY, LL.B., is a lawyer at Legacy Tax + Trust Lawyers in Vancouver. Andrea’s area of practice is estate and trust planning, and
administration. She prepares wills, trust documents, powers of attorney and representation agreements for clients. She also provides
legal opinions and advice to clients on estate and trust administration. Andrea was called to the British Columbia Bar in 2008, after
clerking at the British Columbia Supreme Court. She has a broad legal background, having practiced in estate and insolvency litigation,
employment and administrative law, prior to turning her focus to planning.
HEATHER GRAY-GRANT provides business strategy, marketing plans and executive coaching. She is passionate about helping individuals
and companies to focus in on the fastest and most productive ways to achieve success. Heather has 25 years of experience in professional
services marketing and specializes in strategic planning for professional services. She is also a certified coach with 18 years of experience,
and focuses on coaching professionals, business executives and business owners/entrepreneurs from a wide range of industries.
LARA GREGURIC, MA, CPA, CA, is the Director of CA Training Offices and Student Standards at the CA School of Business (CASB) and is a
member of the national CPA Practical Experience Working Group, responsible for the development and implementation of the CPA
Practical Experience Requirements. Since 2007, Lara has worked with employers and students to support learning through practical
experience and through professional education. She is responsible for developing and monitoring approved training programs, managing
employer relationships, developing professional education mentoring and coaching programs, and upholding academic honesty in
professional education.
LISA LIU-ENG, CPA, CA, CPA (Illinois), is the Director of Practice Review & Licensing at the ICABC. She works with members in public practice
to ensure that the standards of the profession are being met. Prior to joining the Institute in 2008, she spent 5 years in industry in various
senior financial roles and 8 years in public practice with a national firm.
STELLA LEUNG, CPA, CA is the Professional Standards Advisor at the ICABC. She assists members in public practice and industry with ethical
and technical questions as well as practice management and other professional issues. Stella has been with the Institute since 2000.
DIANE MCDONALD, CPA, CA, has been in public practice for over 30 years and is a sole practitioner providing consulting, monitoring and
professional practice services throughout British Columbia. Diane assists Canadian public companies with initial and continuing Canadian
and SEC financial reporting obligations and provides accounting and financial reporting consultation services to management and auditors
on the application of IFRS, ASPE and U.S. GAAP. Diane also develops and presents professional development sessions for both preparers of
financial statements and practitioners auditing those statements.
SHANE ONUFRECHUK, CA, is a Partner, Tax at KPMG LLP. Shane's focus in the firm is in the area of Canadian Corporate Tax with an emphasis
on PPP project finance structuring, corporate reorganizations, acquisitions and providing tax advisory services to other professionals.
Shane has previously spoken for the CPABC, plays an active role in CPABC professional development, and had been involved in teaching
and course development for the CA School of Business as well as the Sauder School of Business.
PAMELA SKINNER, CPA, FCGA, is the VP, Public Practice Regulation. In this role Pam will provide leadership for the Public Practice
Regulation Department, developing, directing and delivering all public practice compliance, registration and practice inspection programs.
Pam has been Director Member Services and Public Practice for the Certified General Accountants Association of BC (CGA-BC), having
joined the organization in 2007. Pam served on the Chartered Professional Accountants (CPA) National Regulatory Steering Committee
that oversaw the development of the initial CPA regulatory recommendations, and continues to sit on two national Public Accounting
Work Groups, as well as on the recently constituted group considering the regulation of services, other than Public Accounting, offered to
the public. Prior to her role with CGA-BC, Pam served as the Chief Executive Officer of HSBC Trust Company (Canada).
GENEVIEVE TAYLOR, LL.B., is a principal of Legacy Tax + Trust Lawyers. Genevieve’s practice includes all aspects of trust and estate planning
and administration including crafting estate plans, preparing applications for representation grants and advising executors, trustees and
beneficiaries in contentious and non-contentious matters. She is a frequent speaker and author in her areas of practice. She is a member
and past Chair of the Vancouver Wills and Trusts Subsection of the Canadian Bar Association and a member of the Society of Trust and
Estate Practitioners.
MARION WILLIAMS a Senior Associate with K2 Enterprises Canada since 2009, provides consulting and training services throughout Canada.
With a background in the insurance industry, Marion earned the FLMI designation with a specialty in Information Systems. As the owner of
a computer consulting company in Ontario for over twenty years, Marion develops custom databases for a variety of business sectors,
using Access, Excel and VBA. In addition, Marion specializes in training all the Microsoft Office products at an advanced level.
Practitioners’ Potluck
8:30 – 8:40AM
SESSION DESCRIPTIONS
OPENING REMARKS
Welcome and introductory remarks from the conference chair.
PETER CHA
8:40 – 10:00AM
PLENARY SESSIONS
Practice Management – Tips & Traps
STELLA LEUNG
CPABC Proposals for Regulation of Public Practice
REGULATORY STAFF
Senior staff from the Public Practice Department will discuss the recommendations for practice inspection and provide an update on public
practice registration/licensing for CPABC. Practitioners will have an opportunity to ask questions on those key areas that may affect their practice.
ROSEMAARE – Thyme to Revisit Reporting on Supplementary Matters
GORD CUMMINGS
While completing an audit or a review engagement, the client asks whether you can also sign a form provided by a funding agency, a regulator or
by some other third party. The client needs you to sign it because the third party says you must. The form seems simple enough on its face, so
you fill it out and sign it. Later, you’re surprised to find out the third party thinks you’ve provided an audit opinion or a review conclusion on the
content of the form, and perhaps something has gone wrong. Worse, you find you don’t have a lot of documentation on file to support that
content of the form. Supplementary reporting frequently encountered in public practice, and new Section 4460, Reports on Supplementary
Matters Arising from an Audit or a Review Engagement, will standardize practice in this area. You might be surprised how often this new
standard applies to your practice.
10:00 – 10:15AM
COFFEE BREAK
10:15AM – 12:00PM
CONCURRENT BREAKOUT
Powerful Marketing Plans for Practitioners
The CPA Practical Experience Requirements:
What Your Organization Needs to Know
Practitioners’ Tax Forum
SHANE ONUFRECHUK
HEATHER GRAY GRANT
LARA GREGURIC
The Practitioners’ Tax
Forum focuses on issues
directly affecting small
and medium size practice
clients. This session will
review the current and
proposed tax legislations,
Canada Revenue Agency
initiatives and judicial
decisions, and how these
will affect compliance and
tax planning for your
clients.
Most professionals realize that having a
marketing plan is preferable to simply reacting
to the marketplace (or not consciously
marketing at all). But putting pen to paper
doesn’t necessarily result in an effective plan;
and no one wants to waste time and money on
implementing an ineffective plan. In fact, too
often fear of doing just that tends to put
marketing planning (and action) on the “too
hard” pile. But no more. This course will
summarize the key steps to creating a powerful
and focused marketing plan, and will provide
guides and templates to assist the process.
This session will provide a detailed look at the CPA Practical
Experience Requirements (CPA PER), which come into effect
September 1, 2014. The discussion will cover the five common
standards of the CPA PER: qualifying experience; appropriate
supervision; CPA mentorship; reporting and self-assessment;
and assessment by the profession. The benefits of the two
experience routes available to candidates – the Pre-Approved
Program and Experience Verification, will also be explained.
While the CPA PER will be the focus of the session, an update
on the full CPA Certification Program will also be given.
Employers will leave the session with an in-depth
understanding of how the new requirements will impact them.
12:00 – 1:10PM
LUNCH
1:10 – 2:45PM
CONCURRENT BREAKOUT
SESSIONS
Legislation & Legal Update
Accounting & Assurance Update
GENEVIEVE TAYLOR & ANDREA FRISBY
DIANE MCDONALD
It’s a whole new world. Over the last two years there have
been numerous changes to the law in British Columbia as
it relates to individual clients and their affairs. Some
changes have amounted to completely new schemes
while others are small but important changes to the
details. The focus of this session will be how the new
Family Law Act has impacted practice since March 2013,
how the Wills, Estates and Succession Act is changing
wills and estates and what pending changes to
testamentary trusts under the Income Tax Act mean for
trust planning. Also discussed will be the new Limitation
Act, changes to adult guardianship and current case law
of note.
Keeping up to date has always been a
challenge for practitioners.
Understanding current developments is
necessary in advising your clients on
accounting choices and how to proceed
with their financial reporting. In this
session we will highlight recent and
upcoming developments in accounting
and assurance standards. Brief
summaries of developments that have
impacted financial reporting over the
last twelve months will be discussed.
2:45 – 3:00PM
COFFEE BREAK
3:00 – 5:00PM
IDEAS EXCHANGE
Choosing the Best Technology Tools
for a CPA Practice
MARION WILLIAMS
Managing a profitable and
productive public accounting firm is
an exciting challenge. Using the right
tools can improve client service,
realization, and team member
experience. What are the latest
trends, services, and techniques that
work for the accounting profession?
Attend this session to see if your
tools are the best ones available and
what options you have for upgrading
your technology.
Attendees will be divided into two groups, those from firms with 1-2 partners, and those with more than 2 partners. This is a forum to discuss and
exchange practice ideas with your peers. The facilitators will be joined by guest practitioners from small and mid-sized firms to lead discussions
of current public practice issues.