PwC Canada – Corporate Responsibility

Posted by & filed under Accounting Careers, Corporate Social Responsibility.

A Message from Our CEO

PwC’s Bill McFarland discusses the firm’s commitment to corporate responsibility

At PwC, we understand that we have a role to play in being part of the solution to global challenges. We have a responsibility to help strengthen trust and integrity within the debate on how to create a more sustainable future for generations to come.

In this, our fourth annual Corporate Responsibility Highlights publication, we outline some of our achievements on this journey as well as some challenges we’ve faced and will face in the future.

Over the past year, we’ve established a new Corporate Responsibility (CR) strategy globally. We aim to:

  • Do the right thing, which means playing our part in promoting responsible business practices that are central to our own business – from the quality of our services and building an inclusive workplace to our engagement with communities and our environmental footprint. 
  • Be a catalyst for change, which is about using our skills, voices and relationships to work with others and influence activities that make a difference, create change and have a lasting impact on the world around us.

In order to achieve these goals, we will continue to focus our efforts on four areas where we can make relevant and significant contributions:

1 responsible business

2   people, diversity and inclusion

3  community engagement and

4  environmental stewardship.

http://www.pwc.com/ca/en/corporate-responsibility/index.jhtml

 

Our role in creating a sustainable society

PwC is the market leader in providing sustainability services to large global organizations. Our sustainability teams operate in over 40 countries helping organizations integrate sustainable business practices into the very fabric of their processes, systems and supply chains.

We provide assistance to clients to build business value by evaluating the entire sustainability picture—both challenges and opportunities—and incorporating effective solutions for CR programs, climate change, CR reporting, and chain of custody/supply chain risk management and sustainability management systems. Our Canadian practice is part of a Global Sustainable Business Solutions (SBS) network comprised of 500 practitioners in 40 countries, serving 50 of the Fortune 100 companies.

As we strive to be catalysts for change, we have provided Consulting and Deals, Tax and Audit and Assurance services through our SBS practice to a wide range of clients since the 1990s. Our clients are from a range of industries including retail, entertainment and media, mining, energy and utilities, and forest and paper.

 Today many corporations are doing their part to help save the environment, improve people living conditions and make our world a better place to live.

There are many challenges facing us, such as global warming, population increase expected to reach 9 billion by 2050 and fresh water resources decreasing by 2025.

Discussion Questions:

1.      Do you see any Career opportunities with PwC?

2.      Are we taking enough steps to change business attitudes that money or profits are not the only deciding factors to quantify success?

3.      Do you know of any Corporate Socially Responsible corporations.

You may read more on the PwC’s Corporate Responsibility: Click here

Other CSR, corporations:  Visit this site Unilever Sustainable Living Plan

Article obtained from PWC:  Click to read the complete article written byCEO, Bill McFarland ,from PWC

 

 

Canada ranked among top 5 best places to start business

Posted by & filed under Canadian Economy.

Ernst & Young report says climate for entrepreneurs improving

Fostering Entrepreneurship:  Click to  Listen to the audio

Click to view the  CBC Video on the Canadian Business Entrepreneurship Barometer

Canadian Business Climate:

Canada’s climate for entrepreneurs is improving, with management consulting firm Ernst & Young ranking Canada among the top five places in the world to start a business.
“Canada has emerged as a real leader in fostering an entrepreneurial culture,” says Colleen McMorrow of Ernst & Young after releasing the 2013 Entrepreneurship Barometer, a report that studies conditions for business start ups in the G20.
The report relies on interviews about business conditions from 1,500 entrepreneurs in the G20 countries. They were asked about their tax burden, access to financing and intangibles such as attitudes towards entrepreneurs in their community.
“There’s an emphasis on research and innovation in this country, and we value the role of entrepreneurs in job creation. Canada also offers a supportive tax and regulatory environment for entrepreneurs,” McMorrow said.
The Ernst & Young report ranked Canada behind the U.S., U.K. and China on conditions for entrepreneurs, but found the cost of starting a business has been cut in half since 2003.
The cost of starting a business in the country is among the lowest in the G20, while entrepreneurs spend fewer hours on their tax affairs than their peers in most other nations, enjoy lower labour costs and benefit from better access to funding, McMorrow found.
As a result, Canada is near the top among G20 nations in numbers of entrepreneurs starting new businesses.
“Entrepreneurs are the backbone of economies around the world – economies grow when entrepreneurs grow,” says CBC business commentator Nisha Patel.
“They grow their personal wealth and grow the wealth of the economy. It also sparks innovation if you have new ideas at the table,” she said.
But McMorrow said Canadian entrepreneurs report difficulty accessing capital. Access to start-up money from private equity and venture capital are improving, but bank financing remains a challenge, they said.
And because they have high expectations of success, the risk of failure weighs heavily on them and they fear it will affect their ability to continue innovating in future, the report says.

Discussion Questions:

1. What more could Canada do to promote Entrepreneurship?

2. How can we reduce or mitigate the risks in starting a new business?

3. Would you know who to turn to for Financing?

Article obtained from the CBC website, from a report issued by Ernest & Young: click to  see the complete article

Richest CEOs earn 189 times average Canadian

Posted by & filed under Accounting Careers, Canadian Economy.

The highest paid CEOs have gained more ground in Canada, and are now making nearly 200 times the average Canadian wage, according to a new report.

ceo-salary cdn

 

The 100 highest paid chief executives whose companies are listed on the TSX composite index made an average of $8.38 million in 2010, according to figures pulled from circulars by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, a left-leaning think-tank.

That’s 189 times higher than the $44,366 an average Canadian made working full time in 2010, the report says. And it’s a 27 per cent raise from the $6.6 million average compensation for the top 100 CEOs in 2009.

Most Canadians, on the other hand, have seen their wages stagnate over the past few years. In 2010, after adjusting for inflation, average wages actually fell.

“The gap between Canada’s CEO elite 100 and the rest of us is growing at a fast and steady pace, with no signs of letting up,” says economist Hugh Mackenzie, who authored the report.

“The extraordinarily high pay of chief executive officers is more than a curiosity. It actually is a reflection of a troubling redistribution of society’s resources in Canada and the United States, and in most of Western Europe,” he said in an interview.

Stock options for bonuses

He points out that in 1998, the top 100 CEOs were paid 105 times the average wage. Since then, the ratio has generally climbed. In 2008, it was 174, dropping back to 155 during the recession in 2009. The high-water mark was 2007, when it peaked above 190.

It means that by noon on Jan. 3, the average top executive will have already made as much money as the average Canadian worker makes in a year.

The driving forces behind the inequality gap are complex, and lie in the structure of executive compensation packages, Mackenzie says.

Consultants giving advice to corporate boards on how much to pay their CEOs only compare to other CEOs, perpetually driving up the average in the race to be above-average, he explains.

And many companies use stock options for a large part of their executives’ bonuses, a practice that not only drives up pay packages but also ties compensation to share price rather than company performance.

 Discussion Questions:

1. Do you agree that Chief Executive Officers (CEO) should be making over $8,000,000 on average per year?

2. Do you CEO’s have  a greater risk of being sued or fired for non-performance?

3. Have your professor explain to you: Stock Options

Watch the Video Executive Excess: CEO Salary

To read more see: CBC News Canada CEO’s Salary

Source: Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives

 

Stock fraud scams tough to combat in internet age

Posted by & filed under Fraud.

Canadians arrested in penny stock scheme that allegedly saw global investors lose $140M

A penny stock fraud scheme that bilked investors in 35 countries out of more than $140 million is raising questions about how authorities can combat such financial scams in the internet age.

hi-penny-stock-04599683

Four Canadians carried out the purported fraud with the help of five Americans,

Two other Canadians are being sought, in what is calling one of the largest international penny stock frauds in history.  

Paul Davis, a securities lawyer with McMillan in Toronto, said the scale and sophistication of the alleged scam shows how complicated it’s becoming for authorities to combat financial fraud schemes when victims live in many different countries.

“As the Department of Justice and FBI indictment shows, you need the co-operation of regulatory authorities around the world,” he said. “Money’s moving through different accounts, all the way to Lebanon.”

The U.S. attorney’s office says a number of law enforcement and other government agencies in Canada, the U.S. and Britain were involved in the investigation, as well as the U.S. embassies in Bangkok and Beijing. Proceeds from the alleged scheme were funneled through a bank account in Beirut.

According to the indictment filed in court, the defendants used throwaway cellphones and call centres in Thailand and Canada.

Targeting citizens of the world

The penny stocks involved included companies such as Resource Group International, a Wyoming corporation based in Thailand that says it developed a revolutionary fertilizer, and RainEarth Inc., a Nevada corporation based in Beijing that says it is in the mineral exploration business and developing a specialized fiber, according to prosecutors.

 An investigation used wiretaps and video surveillance to uncover the so-called pump and dump scheme.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) says that such arrangements typically involve artificially inflating the price of a modestly priced stock by issuing “false or misleading statements.”

The fraudsters eventually sell off the share of the stock they own, reaping profits. However, once they stop issuing false statements about the value of the stock its price typically falls and other investors suffer losses.

Public education campaigns have been touted as one way to help combat pump-and-dump schemes. But Davis says the international nature of the banking and financial industries today make that a tall order.

“It’s not just educating investors in Toronto or Ontario or Canada, because you can have people in Canada or in the U.S. who are perpetrating fraud around the world. So the education part is difficult.”

Alleged fraudsters used social media, emails

Penny stocks are lightly traded and can easily be manipulated through sales pitches to investors and false rumours posted on message boards. Most trade over-the-counter, rather than on major exchanges.

The indictment alleges that the nine people involved in the scheme promoted the stocks through phone calls, artificially inflating their value by promoting them in emails, social media messages and news releases.

Second helping!

Sometimes they would hit their victims a second time, helping them offload the worthless stocks or join lawsuits to reclaim their losses for an advance fee.

Are you affected?

If you were an investor in one of these companies, or know any of the accused, please contact CBC’s Jeremy McDonald at [email protected].

Discussion Questions:

1. Discuss with your fellow classmates if they know of anyone who invests in stocks?

2. How you ever been enticed to invest in penny stocks? Where did you get the information to invest?

3. Whose job is it to protect the public from Financial Statement Fraud and stock scams?

To read more: visit CBC News World

PepsiCo follows Coca-Cola with custom drink machines

Posted by & filed under Corporate Restructuring, Marketing & Strategy.

Marketing Strategy     Coke vs. Pepsi

 

PepsiCo-Fountain Sodas

PepsiCo says it plans to start testing a new fountain machine at restaurants that lets people create a variety of flavor combinations, such as strawberry Mountain Dew.

The test follows Coca-Cola’s introduction in 2009 of its Freestyle machine, which also lets customers touch a screen to pick from a wide array of flavor combinations. PepsiCo’s test is set to begin at five restaurants in Denver, Colo., next week.

Click, to check out the Coca-Cola design:

Fountain sodas at restaurants, movie theatres and other outlets are an important part of the broader industry, representing about a quarter of overall sales volume, according to the industry tracker Beverage Digest. Coca-Cola Co., which is served in chains including McDonald’s and Wendy’s, has about 70 per cent of the fountain business.

PepsiCo Inc. has about 30 per cent and is served at chains including Taco Bell, Pizza Hut and KFC, which it previously owned.

Gina Anderson, a spokeswoman for PepsiCo, said the Touch Tower machines let people add up to four flavour shots — lemon, cherry, strawberry or vanilla — to eight varieties of drinks. That means people could create drinks like strawberry Pepsi or lemon Mountain Dew.

She said the company has other tests planned and that the Touch Tower being introduced in Denver is the first in a series of new fountain equipment the company is considering. The test was first reported by Beverage Digest.

Coca-Cola’s Freestyle machine also lets people pick from a wide variety of unique drinks, such as Caffeine-Free Diet Coke with lime or Minute Maid Light Orange Lemonade. Unlike the PepsiCo machine, however, Freestyle’s options are all preset and don’t let customers mix and match flavors.

Tablet-like screen

The PepsiCo Touch Tower is also much smaller than Coca-Cola’s Freestyle, which is roughly the size of a vending machine.

PepsiCo says its machine, which has a tablet-like screen, is intended more for outlets that don’t want equipment that takes up a lot of space. The company says it’s also developing other machines that would suit variety of needs.

 

Innovation leverages revenue and marketing

Coke will see an impact on its top-line growth if the Freestyle gains widespread adoption.   The Freestyle may also prove its value as a marketing tool. Coca-Cola’s global strategy rests on the enhancement of its core capabilities, one of the pillars of which is consumer marketing. Around the world, Coke engages in a herculean effort to direct eyeballs to its brands. In developing markets, the company fights for carbonated cola shelf space, but it also has to win shelf placement in the increasingly crowded varieties of non-carbonated drinks that Coke and its competitors offer. Installing Freestyle machines in developing markets could leverage Coke’s marketing efforts by engaging consumers to try new brands. Thus, customers might first encounter a label via the Freestyle, enjoy the taste, and then find the same drink for purchase in bottled form in nearby grocery and convenience stores.

Data Mining

Coca-Cola will also reap valuable customer insight by mining the data from the machines. Every Freestyle maintains a data connection to Coke headquarters and uploads information about each drink dispensed and all supplies used. The company should enjoy a wealth of real-time information about ordering habits and popular flavors that may be candidates for bottling in local areas, not to mention cost information from the supplies data.

Benefits to restaurants
In theory, the Freestyle should be sought after by restaurants as well. Firehouse Subs, which claims that it was the “first brand to advertise” the Freestyle machine, reports a double-digit increase in sales in the first quarter of last year from its marketing partnership with Coke. Burger King Worldwide (NYSE: BKW  ) has signed on to place a Freestyle machine in every one of its company-owned stores, although this is less impressive than it sounds, as the company is in the process of selling its stores and transitioning to a 100% franchisee store-owned model.

The chain that can exert a disproportionate influence on Freestyle acceptance is, of course, McDonald’s (NYSE: MCD  ) . One of the most visible purveyors of Coke products, McDonald’s would probably welcome the widespread adoption of the Freestyle. After all, the Golden Arches have recently encountered some consumer fatigue. McDonald’s U.S. sales have been stalling recently. It could use an incremental sales injection generated by the Freestyle, even if it’s temporary.

The most powerful quality control inspector: the customer
Which brings us to a surprising supersized “if”: The Freestyle may suffer from a small but tangible quality issue. As reported by website Benzinga earlier this year, a common complaint regarding the Freestyle is the residue of flavor left from previous drinks. The customer in front of you who orders an Orange Vanilla Hi-C may leave behind a tiny residual flavoring in the tubes that colors the taste of your straight-up, traditional Coke. You can bet that McDonald’s, to whom standardization is a directive, won’t fully implement a fountain for which it cannot assure a consistent taste across its highest-selling drinks. In addition, existing Coke fountains allow for multiple simultaneous servings, whereas the Freestyle can accommodate only one customer at a time. Of concern to McDonald’s as it tests the Freestyle will be the speed at which customers can self-serve inside restaurants.

 

 Discussion Questions:

1. Have you tried the Coca-Cola Freestyle? Discuss your experience.

2. Do you agree that PepsiCo has to constantly compete with Coca-Cola in order to meet consumer demands?

3. Would you compete head to head with Coca-Cola, if you were a PepsiCo marketing director?

To read more see: Check out Coca-Cola freestyle

Also read , PepsiCo follow Coca-Cola with custom drink machines

 

Why do Canadians pay more? It’s complicated

Posted by & filed under Canadian Economy.

li-shoppers-620-01315873

Bank of Canada governor Mark Carney gave many reasons why Canadian retail prices are often higher than American prices, but he thinks some relief may be on the way, thanks to the expansion of new American retailers into Canada.

Carney was testifying Wednesday night before a Senate committee studying the difference between the cost of goods in the two countries.

He explained that pricing is complicated, with many factors playing a role including:

  • taxes.
    • higher sales and larger markets in the U.S.
    • labour costs.
    • productivity gaps.
    • transportation costs, which in Canada include both gas taxes and a vast area to cover.

Even if the Canadian dollar rises in value compared to the U.S. dollar, retailers still have to pay many of these costs in Canadian dollars, he said. That means they don’t save as much as consumers may think just by looking at the exchange rate.

Click on $ for more information: $   for an interactive link of different prices for different products.

“The greater the value-added in Canada to a good or a service, the smaller the role played by the exchange rate in its price,” Carney told senators on the national finance committee.

But there is some good news for Canadian shoppers: Carney says American retailers are considering adding “fairly significant” retail space in Canada.

“I know in our conversations with Canadian commercial real estate players, with Canadian retailers, and conversations we’ve had south of the border, it is not lost on the retail sector that the per square foot return in Canada is higher now than it is in the United States,” Carney said.

The Senate committee is studying price differences between Canada and the U.S. following a letter from Finance Minister Jim Flaherty suggesting it look at the issue.

Discussion Questions:

1. Do you find it fair that Canadians pay more for automobiles than US consumers?

2. Do you agree that taxes and higher labor costs make the price difference?

3. If we agree to pay higher taxes and labour costs in Canada , then why do Canadians shop in the US?

You may read the complete article written by: Laura Payton of the CBC News

Why intangible assets are as important as bricks and mortar

Posted by & filed under Accounting Careers, Accounting Principles, Financial Accounting, Intermediate Accounting.

Managing your intangible assets can make your business more successful

Secret

Coca-Cola Secret Formula

Coca-Cola is bottled at nearly 300 plants around the world, where the soft drink is manufactured, packaged, merchandised and distributed. These third-party bottlers ship Coke to the company’s customers — grocery stores, restaurants, street vendors, convenience stores, movie theatres and amusement parks — that then sell about 1.7 billion servings of the soft drink every day.

But as important as Coke’s bottling partners are to the company’s operations, they’re far from the biggest contributor to the company’s success, says organizational performance expert Bernard Marr.

 “I remember the CEO of Coca-Cola saying, ‘If our plants burn down today, I could go to the bank, borrow some money and we’d be up and running in a few months.’ Coke’s value is based on their reputation, on their branding and other things, on their formula and their secret.”

Marr was presenting at “Future Value Drivers,” a CMA Canada webinar panel. The founder and CEO of the U.K.- based Advanced Performance Institute argues that the success of companies such as Coke is influenced less by physical assets — manufacturing facilities, finances, products

and services — than by intangible qualities and competencies. These include human talent, corporate culture, customer relationships and intelligence data.

IDENTIFY INTANGIBLES

Making the most of your company’s intangible assets starts with understanding what they are and how they provide
value to your organization. Marr compares an organization’s goods and services to apples that are sustained by the
hidden yet nourishing roots of its many behind-the-scenes competencies.

“It’s the intangibles that really drive performance,” say Marr. “We need to make sure we nurture these roots to deliver benefits to stakeholders.”

Marr classifies an organization’s intangibles into three types of capital:

  • Human:

Knowledge and skills, work experiences, entrepreneurial spirit, emotional intelligence, and employee engagement and loyalty

  • Relational

Formal and informal business relationships with partners — suppliers, distributors, licensors et al. — and customers, as well as brand image and
corporate reputation

  •  Structural:

Brand names, organizational data, patents and trade secrets, management philosophy and processes, and corporate culture and values. All of these intangibles work in an interconnected way to drive an organization’s success, says Marr. Organizations need to determine which intangibles to nourish to achieve their objectives.

Transfer of Creative Ideas

Jean Kimpton, CMA, vice-president of CMA Prince Edward Island and co-panelist on the webinar, notes that organizations in different sectors value intangible assets differently.

“Think of manufacturing. If someone is going to leave the organization, you have procedure manuals: this is how we do things,” says Kimpton, controller in P.E.I.’s Department of Innovation and Advanced Learning. But when it comes to a sector such as IT, she says, it becomes harder to transfer

creative ideas from one person to another.

 Discussion Questions:

1. Do you agree that Human Capital is an intangible asset?

2. Do you agree with Marr that the loss of personnel cannot be replaced by a procedure manual?

3. How should we protect our trade secrets and our brand reputation?

To read more, see the article written by Sharon Aschaiek freelance writer.

Visit the CMA website for more articles

 

 

 

SeaWorld stock makes a splash in 1st day of IPO

Posted by & filed under Advanced Accounting, Financial Accounting, Intermediate Accounting.

seaworld

Stock rises 19.6 per cent in Friday afternoon trading on New York Stock Exchange

SeaWorld Entertainment Inc. made a splash Friday in its first day of trading on the New York Stock Exchange.

Shares of the owner of theme parks famous for water shows featuring killer whales and dolphins jumped $5.29 US, or 19.6 per cent, to $32.29 in afternoon trading, after the company and its backers raised $702 million.

The initial public offering of 26 million shares was priced at $27 per share, which was at the high end of the expected range of $24 to $27 per share. The IPO’s size also increased from the 20 million shares that SeaWorld and its owner, private equity firm Blackstone Group LP, had hoped to sell.

SeaWorld offered 10 million shares, while Blackstone offered 16 million shares. The pricing of the offering and boost to its size suggests that there was solid demand for the shares.

Owns 11 theme parks

From its origins as a Busch Gardens animal park at Anheuser-Busch’s Tampa Budweiser brewery, the company has grown to span 11 theme parks housing 67,000 animals. Besides the three SeaWorld parks, the company owns two Busch Gardens parks, several water parks and Sesame Place, an amusement park based on the children’s TV show Sesame Street. It had net income of $77.4 million on revenue of $1.42 billion in 2012.

Francis Gaskins, president and editor of IPODesktop.com, said SeaWorld is appealing in part because its properties are particularly kid-friendly, even more so than those of peers like Six Flags and Cedar Fair LP.

“SeaWorld has become an iconic brand that is basically impossible to duplicate in this difficult regulatory climate,” he said.

SeaWorld had warned in a December filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission that its business is dependent on customers’ willingness to spend on leisure and entertainment. The company has managed to do well despite lingering concerns about the economy and high unemployment in the U.S. Its revenue has risen in the time it’s been owned by Blackstone.

1st park started in 1959 by Anheuser-Busch

Anheuser-Busch started Busch Gardens in Tampa in 1959. The beer company bought SeaWorld, whose park opened in San Diego in 1964, in 1989. SeaWorld is now based in the theme park mecca of Orlando, Fla., also home to Walt Disney Co.’s Walt Disney World resort and Universal Studios. More than half of SeaWorld’s revenue is generated in Florida.

SeaWorld said about 24 million people attended its 11 parks during the 12 months ended Sept. 30. The company did not disclose how that figure has grown or shrank in the past few years, but says it has a “stable attendance base.”

Some of SeaWorld’s competitors have had a difficult climb back from the recession. Amusement park operator Six Flags Entertainment Corp. filed for bankruptcy protection in 2009, emerging in mid-2010. It has been growing revenue since then, although it posted a loss in 2011.

SeaWorld will receive about $245.4 million in proceeds after discounts. It plans to use the money to repay debt and to pay a one-time fee to Blackstone.

The company won’t receive any proceeds from shares sold by Blackstone, which bought it from the brewer Anheuser-Busch InBev for $2.3 billion in 2009. Blackstone will still have a majority stake in SeaWorld after the IPO.

Accounting for Initial Public Offering:

SeaWorld offered 10 million shares at $27 per share.

The total proceeds collected by the Broker would be $270,000,000 from their clients.

The Total amount received by SeaWorld from the Broker per above is $245,400,000

Journal Entry to be recorded by SeaWorld:

Dr Bank                       $245,400,000

Dr Commission              24,600,000

Cr Common Shares                                    $270,000,000

A note will be included in the financial statements of changes in equity, that 10,000,000 million shares were issued.

Subsequent to the above transaction the shares increased by 19.6%, to $32.29 per share.

This means that the shareholders who purchased shares at the IPO (Initial Public Offering) price of $27 made a profit of  $5.29 in the first day of trading.

To read more on the public offering posted by the Associated Press click on the SeaWorld IPO

Discussion Questions:

1. What percentage commission did the Broker make on the initial selling of SeaWorld shares?

2. If you had purchased 1,000 shares at the IPO price and sold your shares at the closing price: Your realized gain would be?

3. Does the Secondary Market purchases and sale by investors, have any effect on SeaWorld accounting?

Answer to question 3: No effect the gains and losses are recorded by each investor.

 

 

 

Become a CPA

Posted by & filed under Accounting Careers, CPA.

Elements of the CPA certification program

CPA Prerequisite Education Program (CPA PREP)

A program for those who have an undergraduate degree but not the prerequisites for the CPA Professional Education Program

The CPA Prerequisite Education Program (CPA PREP) is designed for those who have an undergraduate degree in a discipline other than accounting and lack some or all of the prerequisite courses required for admission to the CPA Professional Education Program (CPA PEP).

Delivered on a part-time basis to offer students maximum flexibility and accessibility, it uses a blend of on-line learning, self-study, and classroom learning. A modularized program, students complete only those modules they require.

With the exception of Quebec, CPA PREP is launching across Canada in summer 2013. It will be offered in Quebec in the fall of 2015

 Delivered on a part-time basis to offer students maximum flexibility and accessibility, CPA PREP uses a blend of online learning, self-study, and classroom learning. A modularized program, students complete only those modules they require.

Scheduling has been designed to allow students to complete Modules 5–12 as a complete program within a one-year period.

Click on link for information on CPA , Preparatory Modules

 

 The nationally developed, regionally delivered CPA Prerequisite Education Program consists of:

  All students must have either recognized academic credits or equivalent Module credits for Modules 1 – 4 BEFORE proceeding with ANY of Modules 5 – 10.

        CPA PREP Modules 1 – 4 are currently under development and will be launched in 2014. Until these modules are available, the current CMA foundation courses (such as Quickstart and Fundamentals) and CGA foundation and advanced education courses will be accepted as equivalents, as will recognized post-secondary institution courses covering the prescribed subject matter.

 

CPA Prerequisite Education Program (CPA PREP) FAQs

See below for a sample of Frequently Asked Questions:

For complete list of questions  click FAQ

What are the prerequisites for admission to the CPA Prerequisite Education Program?

Answer:  The only academic requirement for admission to CPA PREP is an undergraduate degree from a recognized post-secondary institution. Your undergraduate degree can be in any discipline.

How long is the CPA PREP program?

Answer: Designed for maximum flexibility and adaptability, CPA PREP is modular. The length of time required to complete the program will depend on the number of modules you need to complete, and the rate at which you choose to do so. Twelve modules will be offered, ranging in length from one to 14 weeks. You need take only the modules for which you have no recognized academic credit. Scheduling has been designed to allow students to complete Modules 5–12 as a complete program within a one-year period.

What is the passing grade for each module?

Answer: The passing grade for each module is 65%. Note that it is your final mark on the module, which may be based on various assessments, that determines your passing grade

What happens if I fail a module?

Answer: You have up to a maximum of three attempts to pass each module.

  • If you fail your first attempt at a module with a mark above 50%, you can rewrite the final examination. If you fail the second attempt, you will be required to retake the module in order to have a third and final attempt at the examination.
  • If you fail your first attempt with a mark less than 50%, you must retake the module before a second attempt at the examination is permitted.
  • Should you fail a third time, you could consider taking courses from post secondary institutions.

 

Discussion Questions:

1. Does becoming a CPA appear to be complicated, based on the above Modules that need to be completed?

2. Do you find the failures hard to accept especially if you have to return to University and complete the courses again?

3.  Will the CPA program enhance the credibility and professionalism of all accountants?

All information taken from the CPA website

Canadian’s firm used in huge Russian tax scandal, plus How the Rich hide their money!

Posted by & filed under Auditing, Corporate Restructuring, Corporate Social Responsibility, Fraud Accounting, International Accounting, Taxation, Taxation & Planning, Uncategorized.

Caribbean agency helped set up offshore companies connected to $230M scam

It’s a tale with the cloak-and-dagger intrigue of a Hollywood thriller: a $230-million heist, corrupt Russian police and government officials, prison beatings, a dead lawyer, Kafkaesque trials and a diplomatic spat between international superpowers.

And now, for the first time, secret files obtained exclusively in Canada by CBC News reveal how a Canadian-run offshore company in the Caribbean enabled the transfer of some of that money into a labyrinth of shell corporations around the world in a scandal known as the Magnitsky affair.

To read the complete article visit: CBC Business

Federal Budget passes a few weeks ago, to curb offshore

The federal government is taking aim at tax loopholes and Canadians who hide money offshore as part of a bid to boost its revenue base.

Follow the interactive Link below:How the rich hide money$

Tax havens explained: How the rich hide money

Super wealthy have vast array of options to take cash offshore

Recent leaks of secret banking information have helped authorities around the world crack down on tax cheats who go offshore, resulting in billions of dollars recovered for the public purse. Now, in one of the biggest ever leaks of financial data, the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists has released data on a whopping 120,000 secret offshore entities in 10 different jurisdictions.

Read more about how unscrupulous investors hire high-priced lawyers and financial advisers to move money offshore in the interactive below. Select the blue button to make choices and move through each step.

Read more of CBC’s coverage of the massive leak of offshore data and how tax havens sell secrecy in our special series.

During this coming week, follow the news on offshore accounts and the people that invest in them.

 

Discussion Questions:

1. What are some of the controls that government should implement to reduce offshore investments?

2. Why do you suppose  all those Tax Haven Countries exist?

3. Should it be illegal for Lawyers and Accountants to set up offshore accounts, no matter what the reason?