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.