The most common household

Posted by & filed under Accounting Careers, Student life.

Description:   Did you know the most common type of household in Canada is now “solo?” Approximately four million Canadians are living alone, a huge increase from the early 1980s when the number was closer to 1.7 million. Grocers are moving to respond, with an increase in single serve offerings. Travel companies like Air Canada, Transat… Read more »

Check out line 449!

Posted by & filed under Personal Tax.

Description:   If you live in Ontario, New Brunswick, Manitoba or Saskatchewan, listen up. Because these four provinces have a federal carbon tax imposed, citizens are eligible for a tax rebate. In Ontario, the amount is estimated at around $300 for a family of four. The carbon tax does not actually start until 1 April 2019,… Read more »

Canadian banks and US tax cuts

Posted by & filed under Taxation & Planning.

Description:  Canadian banks already have had some pretty profitable years. But in the most recent year, the tax cuts in the United States have saved Canadian banks millions of dollars. The Bank of Montreal estimates the tax cut generated about $100 million in benefits in 2018. TD sees its own figures at roughly $60 million… Read more »

Big growth; no profits; go public

Posted by & filed under IPO.

Description:   In a race to see which ride service will go public first, it looks like Lyft is going to race rival Uber. In its move towards an initial public offering (IPO) on the stock market, Lyft has released financial information for the first time. And the results are interesting. While the company is rapidly… Read more »

Seinfeld and sales tax fraud

Posted by & filed under Taxation.

Description:   A group of companies with no employees operating out of a house in rural Nova Scotia reported sales of $56 million. That might have been the first clue that something was wrong. But by claiming that one of its suppliers was “Vandalee Industries” the scheme may have come totally unravelled. A Canada Revenue Agency… Read more »

Maybe next time take the help

Posted by & filed under Data security.

Description:   Well, no one lost their job, but some might wonder why following news this week that officials at the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) in Montreal mishandled a “watering hole” attack on their systems in November, 2016. CBC recently obtained documents showing the depth of the breach and the ICAO’s delayed and misplayed reaction…. Read more »

Don’t pass the Heinz

Posted by & filed under Accounting Careers.

Description:   After a pretty good start following a 2015 merger of food giants Kraft and Heinz, it looks as if now the bloom may be off the rose. Company shares recently dropped twenty percent with concern in the market about slow growth and changes in consumer tastes. Some have wondered if the cost-cutting regime imposed by… Read more »

I guess people were paying less . . .

Posted by & filed under Financial Reporting and Analysis.

Description:   With too much debt and too much inventory, Payless Shoes will be seeking bankruptcy protection. All of its almost 250 stores in Canada will be shutting down. The company missed its February rent payments on most of those stores, signalling bad news for employees and landlords. One has to wonder if online sales may… Read more »

Remembering Enron

Posted by & filed under Ethics.

Description:   Well it was one of the most spectacular corporate failures of this century, the sudden decline of Enron. The crash of this company put thousands out of work, ruined their pensions and left stockholders holding worthless shares in a former stock market darling. As well, Enron took down one of the world’s largest accounting… Read more »

Fines for Facebook?

Posted by & filed under Data security, Financial Accounting.

Description:   Now it looks like all of Facebook’s privacy issues may be going to cost the company big fines. Regulators at the Federal Trade Commission – otherwise known as the FTC – are in discussions with Facebook over what may turn out to be the largest fine the agency has ever imposed. Last March the… Read more »