|
| Upcoming Events
2020 Canada Webinars
Please go to the website for details or download the Registration Fax Form here.
February Webinars
Feb. 5 - Networking and Working a Room - Gale Crosley
Feb. 11 - Effective Client Managment - Gale Crosley
2020 Canada
Focus Group with
Chris Frederiksen
Friday, Jan. 15, 2010
9am to 5pm
Sheraton Four Points
6257 Airport Road Mississauga
Map
|
 |
Welcome to Our Newest Members
|
|
Rodney Goetz, CGA
Juli Peers, CGA
Rodney Goetz Prof. Corp.
Kitchener, ON
Deborah Brooks, CGA
Dawn Morrow, CGA
Joseph Truscott Chartered Accountant & Management Consultants
Hamilton, ON
Steve Marcus, CA
Joanne Maxwell, CA
Robert Gore & Associates
Toronto, ON
|
|
|
Member Profile
|
Robert Gore
& Associates
Toronto (The Beaches)
We see a lot of websites of accounting firms and this one says alot about how Bob Gore views his firm of 8 staff and his clients -
A team of dedicated Accountants,
Bookkeepers and Chartered
Accountants keeping you
perfectly balanced
Welcome
to Robert Gore & Associates Chartered Accountants. We deliver
custom tailored financial and tax counselling services for small to
medium size businesses and individuals. Our welcoming business
environment, our focus on personalized service, and our knowledgeable,
friendly team is what sets us apart.
Treating every
client as if they were our only client, we bring personal attention and
peace of mind to your financial and tax needs.
Our goals are determined by your goals.
When you succeed, we succeed.
It is a great website: simple, clean and communicates relationship over services. It's a very effective site. Check it out at
|
|
|
Technology Update
7 Steps to a Successful Portal
|
Today's business world continues to drive
towards "less paper" technologies for every aspect of customer service and
product delivery, which is being pushed even farther with today's
environmentally friendly "green" initiatives. Accounting firms have
gotten on board by providing digital copies of tax returns and financial
reports, as well as receiving client source documents electronically by using a
variety of solutions including email, digital faxes, CDs, USB flash drives, and
Internet-based file transfer tools. Each of these solutions has unique
administrative, technical, and security challenges, so firms must work to
standardize their digital delivery approach to a solution that can be used
effectively by all staff.
When evaluating solutions it is very
important to narrow them down based on ease of use and administration, and not
just focusing on cost. Below is a summary of features that firms
should walk through a demonstration of, prior to making a selection:
- Ease of Setup
- Ease of Publishing
Documents
- Ease of Client
Access
- Ease of Client Use
- Notification
- Audit Trail and
Security
- Cost
For the complete article, click here.
2020 Canada can direct you to various Portal Solution Providers in Canada. Contact Peggy
|
|
|
|
|
|
 The
Canadian Innovator |
Greetings!
 Happy New Year to everyone! We hope you had wonderful holiday with your families and friends and rang in 2010 in memorable fashion.
In December, we sent out a survey to you, our members, asking what you would like to see from us in our services, our professional development offerings and our conferences. Your responses were very encouraging and we are working to implement some of the suggestions and direction you have given us. There will be much more detail on what we will be doing in the months to come but we have committed to run 3 regional conferences in addition to our national conference. These regional conferences will be held in Winnipeg in June, Calgary or Edmonton and Vancouver in September in addition to the National Conference on Sept. 16-17, 2010 at the Hockley Valley Resort just north of Toronto.
We will be looking at more live seminars and Members' Mornings as well as more Webinar Series looking at specific topics in more depth over 2-4 sessions..
Stay tuned for more.
Peggy
|
|
|
2020 Canada Members' Survey
Results Summary
|
In December, we invited our members to respond to a short survey about 2020 Canada services and PD offerings and what they were looking for from this organization. The results were interesting and can be summarised in a basic balance sheet: More Practice Management- Client Management / Growth - Succession Planning - Strategy Development More Tax Updates- Personal/Corporate/International - Specific Topics - Real Estate, etc Marketing- Client Loyalty - Segmentation Strategies TechnologyMore Regional ActivitiesLess Outsourcing DiscussionLess HR / LeadershipLess Wealth Management / Financial ManagementWe are listening and will address these issues as well as adding some more of our own initiatives to enhance the value proposition and how you as our members value our services. For a pdf summary of the survey highlights, please click here |
|
|
The Social Accountant -
Insight into Today's Social Web Scene
Roy Keely, Xcentric LLC
|
Don't be fooled; the social web is
not only for those under the age of 25. While the average accountant has very
different needs than a 14 or 21 year-old, this doesn't mean that you don't have
some things in common. I'm sure you're familiar with the adage "it's not
what you know but who you know". Well, with the development of the
social web, perhaps 10 years from now the saying will be "it's not who you
know but who knows you". The web is giving both individuals and
companies a chance to be known like never before.
Known for what you may ask? Any
number of things- being a good service company, throwing good parties, not
being shy around a camera, or being a reader and philosophy buff- pretty much
whatever you want to be known for. Sure, some of these 'social sites' are
irrelevant to you as an accountant; however, the social web's relevance to the business
world is growing exponentially and worth getting plugged in to for things like
- building brand awareness, staying up-to-date on what others in your field are
doing, creating referral networks, developing online discussion boards, and
more.
This
is a quick overview of what's happening on the social web that's important for
you to know about as an accountant: Twitter, Facebook, Blogs, MySpace . Unfortunately, this list may change in the
next few months; welcome to the 'now'. Not to mention, there is plenty going on
out there that you don't need to know about. That said, you'd be better off
letting people like me waste time reading blogs about new websites that bring
bird lovers together (no offense to bird lovers) and wait for us write about
the sites that are relevant to you. You stay an accountant and continue
bringing value to your clients.
Click Here for the entire article.
If you are interested in exploring Social Media more, please contact Peggy or visit websitestoronto.com or socialmedia.com.
|
|
|
Top 5 Tips for a
More Profitable Tax Season
Chris Frederiksen, Chairman, 2020 Group
|
Tax
season is upon us which presents a number of great opportunities to
grow the bottom line of your firm. Tax services are generally the most
lucrative services we provide, and they're the easiest to sell, bill,
and collect. That being said the profitability of tax services is
dependent on a number of factors including:
-
A Positive Attitude
-
Effective Marketing
-
Effective Staffing
-
Efficient Processes
-
Timely Processing
-
Proper Billings and Collections
Top 5 Tips for a More Profitable Tax Season:
1. Engagement Letters
Too
often I see firms doing work for clients without a SIGNED engagement
letter. Make sure your engagement letter includes: the scope of the
services; the fee arrangement; that client has reported all income;
that the client has maintained all records to support expenses; that
the client agrees to review the return in detail before signing;
fulfills any disclosure requirements. With a signed engagement
letter there is no confusion.
2. Use Technology Effectively
While
it might be too late to upgrade software, now is certainly the time to
upgrade your hardware. For example, add one more monitor to your
current setup and use dedicated scanners instead of multi-purpose
units. Front end scan everything.
It is much more efficient to right-click and delete an unnecessary file
than it is to sort at the beginning of the process. And buy scanning
sleeves (available at Office Depot) for those smaller receipts. Email us if you would like more information.
3. Tax Organizers for Prospects
Tax season is the perfect time to market for new clients. Use this letter
to accompany your tax organizer. The 2020 tax organizer will be online
shortly. Have spare tax organizers handy as you never know who you'll
run into. The Accountants Direct Marketing Kit has hundreds more marketing letters.
4. Add Revenue with the Pre-Paid Audit Program
Give
your individual return clients peace of mind by offering them this
service in the event they get audited by the CRA. For an additional
10% (of the total bill) offer to represent them and deal with any
"nuisance" mail that the CRA generates. Otherwise you'll be delighted
to deal with these matters at your normal hourly rate. Send this letter to explain the service with the tax organizer.
5. Get Paid
Resist
the urge to offer credit terms to your clients, instead implement a COD
policy. Make sure you process daily time sheets to capture all the
time you spend on client related matters. Offer a 10-15% prepayment
discount. And be sure to accept credit cards in the office and on your
website for convenience.
Best Personal Regards,
Chris Frederiksen |
I want to wish you all a Healthy and Prosperous New Year.
Thank you to all who took the time to respond to our survey. This information is vital to the ongoing planning of 2020 Canada. We want to provide professional development that is meaningful to our members. In addition, your input is helpful in planning the direction of 2020 Canada. If you would like us to help you with your own client survey, please contact us.
Richard and I have had the pleasure of working directly with a few accountants over the last month. I would like to pass on one tip from John Werynski, CA; he asks all his clients to have their tax return information in his office by Mar. 15th. There is a 25% increase in fees for those who are later. This provides for a smoother tax season as they can plan the work load coupled with less pressure.
Sincerely,
Peggy Tyers
2020 Canada
| |
|
|
|
|
