CMA BC Update

Transcription

CMA BC Update

Spring 2009
Certified Management Accountants • British Columbia
VANCOUVER
2010 OLYMPICS
Nine
months
to go
Taxation 2010
‘Team finance’ preps
for the Olympics
Avoiding
an ambush
Olympic sponsors
need protection from
unfair marketing
The talent
advantage
PM 40069584
Winning the talent war
in a dismal economy
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in this issue
4
5
| Letter from the Editor
| Message from your President & Chair
6
CMA Spotlight
6
2010
| Taxation
Ministry of Finance team
preps for the Olympics
7
Champions
| Growing
Program helps B.C. businesses provide
timely funding for Olympic hopefuls
9
Connecting B.C. employers with CMAs
18
| Update on CMA British Columbia’s
Elite Employer Program
Management View
18
Opinion
talent advantage
| The
Winning the war for talent
in a dismal economy
10
The 2009 federal budget:
| answering the call
20
Accounting Scope
|
14
| Building Excel macros that last
16
|
Strategy Report
Continuous professional learning
and development
12
promises
| Promises,
Is stress keeping you from delivering?
21
social responsibility
| Corporate
CMAs are poised to lead an
accountability revolution
23
Setting up a personal
business corporation?
an ambush
| Avoiding
Olympic sponsors need to protect themselves
from unfair marketing practices
What you need to know from an
income tax perspective
CMA News
21
23
25
26
28
| Diary of a CMA in training
| Members on the move
| Chapter profile: East Kootenay
COVER PHOTO: SHUTTERSTOCK
C M A U P D AT E | S P R I N G 2 0 0 9 | C e r t i f i e d M a n a g e m e n t A c c o u n t a n t s | B r i t i s h C o l u m b i a
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in t h is
is s u e
|3
5/7/09 10:46:28 AM
Letter from the Editor
“. . . building a creatively agile company will not only
help you survive [this turbulent economy] but give you
a powerful competitive advantage.”
– Juanita Weaver, Entrepreneur magazine
As I write this letter, we are almost sold out for our May
2009 CMA British Columbia annual conference – our biggest
conference to date. The theme of “challenging times call for
creative measures” is a consistent discussion in many business
communities as we all weather these economic challenges.
Creativity is a core competency for leaders and managers, and a crucial component
of innovation. Creativity requires whole-brain thinking: right-brain imagination and
intuition plus left-brain logic and planning. Creative thinking is establishing a purpose
and intention. It’s not only building basic skills, but also encouraging confidence and a
willingness to take risks, which is a key component of our CMA program.
We hope to provide many creatively challenging opportunities for our members at this
year’s conference by embracing techniques and strategies for facilitating creative performance.
Our speakers this year will continue to focus on the CMA Core Competency Model and our
social events will also provide opportunities to grow your network of key industry leaders.
In this issue of Update magazine, we have included articles on a wide range of topics,
much like our CMA Strategic Leadership Program – from stories on the 2010 Olympics
to technical articles, as well as our regular feature on what Excel can do for you.
In the past few months we have had some changes to our Update Editorial Task Force.
Doris Good, CMA has left our team, as she has taken on a new role with the Ministry of
Finance. We would like to thank Doris for some great articles, including the Corporate
Casual article in the winter 2008 issue.
Joining our task force is Jeffrey Sparling, CMA, a member of the CMA CPLD Committee,
who will provide some direction on what continuing education means for CMAs – a
prominent question from our members.
To ensure we are meeting your reading needs, we will be expanding our Editorial Task
Force this fall to include more members from across this province, in addition to publishing articles from our members. If this is of interest to you, or you know of someone we
should be approaching, I would like to talk to you further.
Lastly, you will notice that Update has now partnered with Canada Wide Media Limited
to handle the sales and production of this magazine. CMA British Columbia has had a
long, prosperous relationship with Canada Wide and we welcome their expertise as we
continue to grow and develop the content, format and distribution of this magazine. Stay
tuned for further developments this fall.
I look forward to seeing you at the conference!
Vinetta Peek, CMA (Hon.)
Vice President, Marketing & Communications
[email protected]
Certified Management Accountants • British Columbia
SPRING 2009
Editorial and Business Office
Suite 1055 Two Bentall Centre, 555 Burrard St., Box 269,
Vancouver, BC, V7X 1M8 • Phone: 604.687.5891
Toll-free: 1.800.663.9646 • Fax: 604.687.6688
Email: [email protected] • Website: www.cmabc.com
We welcome your feedback.
Copyright CMA British Columbia 2009.
Publications Mail Agreement No: 40069584
Please return undeliverable copies to address above.
executive board
Mia Maki, cma, fcma
Mehb Jessa, cma, fcma
FIRST VICE CHAIR Donalda MacDonald, cma, fcma
SECOND VICE CHAIR Kelvin Stretch, cma, fcma
TREASURER Stephen Lee, cma
SECRETARY Colin Bennett, cma, fcma
CHAIR
PAST CHAIR
directors at large
Michael Brown, cma, Jeff Champion, cma,
Graham Fane, cma, fcma, Clay Harmon, cma,
Mark Kennedy, cma, Patricia Kennedy, cma, fcma,
Ron Matthews, cma, Jim Olsen, cma,
Cecil Stoochnoff, cma, Laura Hartley, cma - yukon
lay representatives
Doug Alley, bcom, Anders I. Ourom, llb,
Cathy Whitehead McIntyre, ba, mba
executive staff
Colin Bennett, cma, fcma
Irwin DeVries, ma
VICE PRESIDENT, OPERATIONS Rick Lightheart, cma, fcma
PRESIDENT AND CEO
VICE PRESIDENT, ACCREDITATION PROGRAMS
VICE PRESIDENT, MARKETING & COMMUNICATIONS
Vinetta Peek, cma (hon.)
update staff
EDITOR – VICE PRESIDENT, MARKETING & COMMUNICATIONS
Vinetta Peek, cma (hon.)
Tiana Mah
David Andru, cma,
Don Nilson, cma, fcma, Geoff Bryant, cma candidate,
Jeffrey Sparling, cma, Roy Quinones, cma
ASSOCIATE EDITOR – COMMUNICATIONS SPECIALIST
UPDATE EDITORIAL TASK FORCE:
Canada Wide Media, 4th Floor, 4180 Lougheed Highway,
Burnaby, B.C. V5C 6A7 | Phone: 604-299-7311
Fax: 604-299-9188
Kirsten Rodenhizer
Edwin Pabellon
ADVERTISING SALES Gord Smart
PRODUCTION MANAGER Suzy Williamson
STUDIO MANAGER Kristina Borys
PRODUCTION COORDINATOR Julie Reynolds
PRODUCTION SYSTEMS MANAGER Kim McLane
ADVERTISING PRODUCTION Allison Griffioen, Miki May,
Chris Sherwood
SENIOR IMAGING TECHNICIAN Debbie Lynn Craig
ELECTRONIC IMAGING Laura Michaels
ELECTRONIC PRODUCTION Ina Bowerbank
EDITORIAL COORDINATOR
ART DIRECTOR
Peter Legge, o.b.c., lld (hon.)
Karen Foss
EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT Heather Parker
CHAIRMAN & CEO
PRESIDENT
SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT ACCOUNTING AND ADMINISTRATION
Millie Warren
Bruce Wiesner
Corinne Smith
VICE PRESIDENT MARKETING AND DIGITAL MEDIA Samantha Legge
VICE PRESIDENT EDITORIAL Kathleen Freimond
SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT SALES
Have an article, editorial suggestion or feedback you’d like to share with
Update? Contact Tiana Mah, Communications Specialist at [email protected].
Want to advertise in the next issue of Update? Contact Gord Smart at
604-473-0362 or [email protected].
editor’s
4 | note
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VICE PRESIDENT PRODUCTION
A Note to Readers
Update is published four times a year by the Certified Management Accountants Society of British Columbia and is mailed
to 4000 CMAs, 1000 CMA students, and industry partners
throughout the province. Opinions expressed are not necessarily
endorsed by CMA British Columbia.
5/7/09 10:47:09 AM
Message from Your President & Chair
W
ith 2009 almost half over and summer
upon us, now is the time to reflect on
strategic plans and goals, both your own
and those of our Society. In times of uncertainty – economic, political or social – those individuals and
organizations with a clear action plan and the right people
in the right roles are the ones who prosper. In the last issue
of Update, current chair Mia Maki, CMA, FCMA and past
chair Mehb Jessa, CMA, FCMA shared their vision, and
discussed the accomplishments and challenges our Society
faces in the coming years. If you missed this interview, we
encourage you to read the Passing of the Torch article from
winter 2009. Past issues of Update magazine can be found
on cmabc.com under “Connect with CMA” in the news and
publication section.
As CMAs trained to think creatively and strategically,
you have the ability to find innovative solutions to business
and management problems, and are positioned better
than most to survive the current economic downturn. The
designation’s three pillars – accounting, management and
strategy – combined with a CMA’s toolbox of analytics,
strategic decision-making ability and accounting training,
are in demand in good times and bad.
An RBC economic report from March 2009 states,
“The outlook [for B.C.] is however brighter next year, as
the stimulative effect of increased public infrastructure
spending will be enhanced by improving global economic
conditions, a gradual recovery in commodity markets and
a positive contribution from external trade. As well, the
expected run-up in tourism spending associated with the
Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games,
should see the B.C. economic growth bounce back to
2.9 per cent in 2010.”
These are encouraging words, and the Society is positioning our designation for growth. In fact, on the registrations
side, we’re seeing signs that more people are investing in
their future by starting the path to a CMA designation. This
is a good reminder that our CMA training is invaluable and
that CPLD, or continuous learning, is not just a professional
requirement, but is for the good of the public we serve, and
an investment in ourselves and our future.
Taking our designation’s focus on strategy to heart
here at the Society, strategic planning is receiving greater
focus than usual these days. In January, a CMA Canada
Strategic Planning Task Force was created to review the
short- and long-term strategies and priorities for the CMA
Partnership. It comprises seven provincial CEOs and
governance volunteers, including B.C.’s chair, Mia Maki.
This national task force will present its interim report in
May 2009 and a final report in September 2009.
In B.C., the provincial board met in late February and
reviewed our competitive positioning, opportunities,
allocation of time and resources, various pathways to the
designation, and branding and advertising activities. The
business plan for the B.C. Society is now being prepared
for presentation to the board in late May. In addition, a new
Strategic Planning Committee is being established.
We will be touring B.C. shortly and visiting our members
in the regional chapters, so stay tuned to our website and to
your local chapter for dates and locations. We would love
the opportunity to connect and reconnect with each of you,
so please consider attending your local event.
Best regards,
Colin Bennett, CMA, FCMA
President and CEO,
CMA British Columbia
[email protected]
Mia Maki, CMA, FCMA
Chair, CMA British Columbia
Board of Directors
[email protected]
p04-05_CMAMessageSpring09.indd 5
me ssa ge fr o m yo u r
p r e sid e n t & c h a ir
|5
5/7/09 10:47:10 AM
Members of the Ministry of Finance 2010 Programs Team in Vancouver (left to right): John Blatchford; John Xu;
Daryl Nelson, CMA; Ali Lalji; and Dereck Schwandt, CMA.
Taxation 2010
Ministry of Finance team preps for the Olympics
W
hen you think of the Vancouver 2010
Olympic and Paralympic Winter
Games, your first thoughts may be
of dedicated athletes, fuzzy mascots
or international visitors.
In less than one year, curling, hockey and bobsleigh
teams, among many others, will take centre stage.
You may be surprised to learn the B.C. Ministry of
Finance has its own team that will play an important
role behind the scenes at the upcoming games.
Daryl Nelson, a Certified Management Accountant
who has spent his career administrating British
Columbia’s consumption taxes, is the manager of the
Vancouver-based 2010 Programs Team. When he
was asked to head the section overseeing administration of consumption taxes for businesses involved in
the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games, he was
pleased. “It’s one way of making a small contribution
to the overall success of the Games,” he says.
Nelson and his four-member team developed
their business plan to ensure efficient and helpful
organization of provincial sales tax and hotel room
tax. The team is committed to its slogan of “no
surprises” when it comes to tax administration during
the 2010 Games.
In order to communicate with sponsors, suppliers,
contractors and visitors involved in the Games, the
ministry created a detailed tax information program,
CM A
6 | spotlight
p06-07_CMASpotlight_Spring09.indd 6
including an Olympic web page and a companion
brochure, which has been distributed to organizations throughout B.C. In addition, the ministry
has partnered with the Canada Revenue Agency to
provide comprehensive information on GST, income
tax and hotel room tax.
For the 2010 Programs Team, success will be
achieved through personal contact with those involved
in the payment or collection of taxes. Direct contact
ensures everyone is fully aware of their tax obligations
and who to contact should a tax question or issue arise.
Although Nelson says for the majority of businesses
and taxpayers “it’s pretty much business as usual as far
as taxes are concerned,” the 2010 Programs Team wants
to spread the word: “We exist and are always ready to
help,” he says.
The combination of an active information campaign
and direct contact with businesses and taxpayers
ensures the Province gets the tax revenue needed to
efficiently supply public services, and businesses and
taxpayers get “no surprises.”
For more information, contact Daryl Nelson,
CMA at [email protected] or visit the Tax
Information 2010 Winter Olympic and Paralympic
Games website at: www.fin.gov.bc.ca/rev.htm. ■
This article is an excerpt from The Connector, a
Ministry of Finance staff publication.
5/7/09 10:47:48 AM
Growing Champions
Program helps B.C. businesses provide
timely funding for Olympic hopefuls
By David Sadler
F
or many up-and-coming athletes, the opportunity to
represent Canada in international competition is the
realization of a lifelong dream. For some, this dream will
be cut short when the costs of equipment, travel and competition become unmanageable.
Fortunately, sponsorship programs like Growing Champions
are connecting the next generation of local high-performance
athletes with B.C. businesses to make sure young athletes have the
financial resources to achieve their dreams. Since the program’s
inception in 2008, 25 businesses have connected with 28 athletes
throughout the province.
“Sponsorship allows developing athletes to focus on their
training and rely less on the Bank of Mom and Dad,” says Aaron
Vidas of Growing Champions. He adds businesses also benefit
from one-to-one connections made through the program. “And
participating businesses get to share in the journey of a potential
world champion with staff, clients and community,” he says.
Ledcor, a Vancouver-based construction company, reviewed
athletes in the Growing Champions program and selected Andre
Kudaba, a 17-year-old swimmer from Port Coquitlam, B.C.
“Our company firmly believes in giving back to the communities
in which it operates by investing in its employees and its youth.
It has been shown that there are valuable skills learned through
formal education and competitive sport that are helpful in the
development of young careers,” says Jim Logan, CMA, Executive
Vice-President and CFO at Ledcor. “Based on this premise, Ledcor
is proud to assist its employees and youth in the community
through scholarship initiatives and competitive athletic programs
like Growing Champions.”
Kudaba has been swimming for 11 years and recently won
the Paul Bergen Junior International in Beaverton, Oregon and
placed fourth at the Canadian Interuniversity Sport Swimming
Championships. Paying for competitive costs has posed a challenge
“Our company firmly
believes in giving back to
the communities in which it
operates by investing in its
employees and its youth. It
has been shown that there
are valuable skills learned
through formal education
and competitive sport that
are helpful in the development of young careers.”
—Jim Logan, CMA, Executive Vice-President and CFO, Ledcor
Andre Kudaba
for Kudaba’s family, but thanks to Ledcor’s sponsorship he’ll be able
to overcome these difficulties.
“I have the ability to devote my time to training without having
to worry about the financial difficulties that plague so many
competitive athletes,” says Kudaba. “Thanks to Ledcor I will be
completely focused on trying to place in the top five at the World
Championship trials in Montreal this July.”
There are many athletes like Kudaba throughout British
Columbia who are competing at national and international levels,
but have limited access to funding as they are not yet on Canada’s
national teams. To assist with competition costs, businesses
contribute $5,000 annually for three years; three of every four
dollars contributed goes directly to the athlete, with the remaining
dollar allocated to future athlete development programs in B.C.
Growing Champions currently has close to 300 athletes in its
system who need sponsorship to attain their dreams of being on
top of the podium. For more information on Growing Champions,
its athletes or how to become a contributor, visit www.growingchampions.ca or email [email protected].
Growing Champions was created, in partnership, by Sport BC,
Canadian Sport Centre Pacific/PacificSport, BC Athlete Voice, the
Province of B.C. and 2010 Legacies Now. ■
p06-07_CMASpotlight_Spring09.indd 7
CMA
s p o t lig h t
|7
5/7/09 10:47:52 AM
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5/7/09 10:48:24 AM
Connecting B.C.
employers with CMAs
Update on CMA British Columbia’s Elite Employer Program
E
ntering its second year of partnering B.C.’s top organizations with
leading management accounting
professionals, the Elite Employer
Program is becoming more relevant for
members and employers as they deal
with the economic downturn. When the
program was first developed, there was a
significant labour shortage in B.C., resulting
in the Elite Employer Program focusing on
assisting companies with the recruitment,
selection and hiring of new staff.
With limited signs of economic recovery,
it’s increasingly important for employers to
ensure they have the best talent on their
teams. Many employers are joining and
accessing the Elite Employer Program,
ensuring they connect to and draw from
the highest quality pool of candidates.
Benefits of the Elite
Employer Program
The CMA Elite Employer Program was
developed to allow select B.C. employers
direct and preferred access to B.C.’s leaders
in management accounting and business
strategy. The Elite Employer Program, in
conjunction with the cmabcjobs.com career
portal, provides employers a high level of
interaction with and visibility to CMAs and
CMA candidates as these individuals look
for career and networking opportunities.
The site is often the first place CMAs and
CMA candidates look when considering a
career change.
By becoming a CMA Elite Employer,
you become a preferred partner of the
CMA Society. This partnership extends into
areas such as collaboration on CMA-hosted
New Elite Employers
CMA British Columbia would like to
welcome Vancity and Canaccord Capital
to the Society’s Elite Employer Program.
Meryle Corbett, CMA, FCMA at the Kelowna Flightcraft booth at CMA Career Connections.
recruiting and networking sessions, joint
participation in CMA-sponsored events,
leadership panel discussions and roundtables exclusively for Elite Employers, as
well as preferred access to CMA resources
like cmabcjobs.com.
others may be smaller companies who are
industry experts and leaders, such as Caron
Business Solutions, a Burnaby-based strategic management, technology and software
consulting firm.
Why become an Elite Employer?
Who are Elite Employers?
CMA British Columbia has a long history
of partnering with many of B.C.’s top
companies, associations and government
agencies. These partnerships include mutual
sponsorships, educational collaborations,
joint recruitment events and many other
affiliations. The program allows CMA
British Columbia to acknowledge the support
we receive from our strongest partners.
Companies that hire a significant proportion
of CMAs and participate in CMA British
Columbia activities, such as CMA Career
Connections, the CMA Co-op Program and
recruitment through cmabcjobs.com, receive
the additional benefit of public recognition of
their companies through the Elite Employer
Program and various CMA British Columbia
web portals and events.
While many Elite Employers are household names, or some of the largest organizations in B.C., such as the Government
of B.C., Vancity and Kelowna Flightcraft,
A frequent quote about the current
economic downturn is “a recession is a terrible thing to waste” (Paul Romer, Stanford
economist). This quote best describes how
businesses should be taking advantage of the
increased supply of labour and commodities, combined with the decreased activities
of their competitors, as they reposition their
companies for recovery.
The most effective time to establish
business relationships is now – when there
is minimal clutter in the marketplace.
With the gradual recovery of B.C.’s
economy, partly driven by pre- and postOlympic activities, the CMA Elite Employer
Program can be a partner in your company’s
positioning within today’s marketplace. ■
To discuss the Elite Employer Program further
and how your company can benefit, please
contact Jameel Dawood at CMA British
Columbia at 604-484-7024; 1-800-663-9646,
ext. 7024; or [email protected].
p09_CMASpotlight_Spring09.indd 9
CMA
news
|9
5/7/09 10:48:57 AM
The 2009 federal budget:
answering the call
By Don Nilson, CMA, FCMA
A
Don Nilson, CMA, FCMA
is the Principal at Nilson
& Company. He is also
a member of the Update
Editorial Task Force.
10 | o p i n i o n
p10-11_Opinion_Spring09.indd 10
s professional accountants, we must
remember that we are an important part
of the broader financial services industry.
We have a public that we serve with our
expertise, be that the general public (as public accountants) or specific parties (as industry participants).
Interestingly, the 2009 federal budget is now calling for
general financial education for Canadians. We ought
to be doing our part to answer the call. I believe there
are two parts to this.
First, we ourselves must be financially educated.
“What did he say? Is he kidding? Of course we are
financially educated – we are accountants!” As a
lecturer for 30 years in the continuing education
field for professional accountants, I am not quite
sure I am prepared to agree with you. Despite the
mandatory CPLD model in our profession, I find that,
on average, we are not on the front edge of pushing
out our current depth and breadth of expertise,
and instead tend to trade on old expertise. I believe
the profession needs to raise the bar of our average
professional, and achieving this requires every member
to contribute to that process, not deflect the responsibility to our professional bodies. As I recently said to
one of my junior staff, “It takes a lot of energy to really
be someone.”
We must invest our learning time wisely. Unplug
the boob tube, cancel the cable and start reading.
We must be wary of the misinformation and
disinformation we receive in the daily media as our
knowledge source. William Bernstein, the physician
turned money guru, describes the business press
as “financial pornography.” His advice is to avoid it,
with two exceptions: The Wall Street Journal and
The Economist. My recommendation is to educate
yourself – form a financial book club with friends and
colleagues. In the financial field, start with Bernstein’s
Intelligent Asset Allocator. On corporate strategy, read
Dudik’s Strategic Renaissance. To raise your IQ a few
points, read Beinhocker’s The Origin of Wealth.
Over the years, I have given away hundreds of copies
of what is my seminal vehicle for helping friends and
clients embrace sound personal financial management:
Stanley and Danko’s The Millionaire Next Door. In short
summary, personal financial management draws from
sports analogy – wealth accumulation is about offence
and defence. The former is about the making of money,
or more specifically “disposable income” (income after
tax). As public practitioners, we are effectively members
of the offence team, mostly by helping narrow the gap
between before-tax and after-tax income.
As industry members, we may also contribute to
the overall success of the money-making process itself.
Defence is about keeping the money generated on
offence; i.e. it is about how money is spent. The authors
say that financially successful people run a balanced
team. They don’t rely on a glittering offence that piles
up the score, while the defence meanwhile is allowing
almost as many points to be scored by the opposition.
The authors also classify people as “prodigious accumulators of wealth” (PAWs) and “under-accumulators of
wealth” (UAWs). PAWs spend a lot of time on defence.
Their attitude to what constitutes a baseline of life’s
entitlement is not what the low and middle class
associate with wealthy people. Eighty per cent of them
spend less than $35,000 on a new car!
Once we have succeeded in “up-educating”
ourselves, we can now turn to the second thing that we
5/7/09 10:49:39 AM
should be doing as accountants in order to answer the
federal budget call to financially educate Canadians.
We need to be an active part of that educating process.
Those of us in the financial services industry need to
take a deep breath and enter the half-time locker
room of the defence, and talk with our clients about
how they are spending their money, and how they
are inculcating money values to the children they
are raising. And we must lead by example ourselves.
A financial services firm recently moved into offices
across the hall from us. One of the chaps drives a
Porsche. A client of mine walked into the office the
other day and asked, “Is that your Porsche in the
parking lot?” Ouch! Not!
Many of us in public accounting have been
educating our clients for years. If you haven’t – if
you treat the work you do for them as a “black box”
– then it is time for a paradigm shift. Don’t let their
financial ignorance, and need for you, stand in the way
of advancing their financial education.
In the workplace, senior financial professionals need
to think about the role model they advertently – or
inadvertently – play to those around them.
For those in industry, it may also be time for a
paradigm shift. Your HR strategies perhaps should
include educating employees with in-house seminars
on personal financial/debt management, access to
related resources on the web or company newsletters,
group savings plans (RRSPs or TFSAs) or employersponsored personal financial planning (not a taxable
benefit, by the way).
Finally, as accountants, we need to actively ensure
our kids are being educated in financial matters.
Social scientists have proven wrong my long-held
belief that attitudes towards money are formed by
age 15 – they say it is age 10. The 10-year-olds in
western society today have grown up in the most
broadly distributed middle-class wealth in the entire
history of this planet. The successive generations
of financial comfort in the last hundred years have
significantly raised the bar of baseline expectations.
“Affluenza” is the modern neologism to encapsulate
this phenomenon. The term gained notoriety in the
p10-11_Opinion_Spring09.indd 11
high-profile divorce case of Canadian fashion mogul
Peter Nygard, whose defence lawyer cited the risk of
affluenza in awarding child-care costs of $68,000 per
month. That’s right… per month!
We also need to lobby our school districts to incorporate more, and better, financial education at the
high school level. As professional organizations, we
need to identify ways to fill all of these knowledge
gaps. The Financial Planners Standards Council,
for instance, has long been involved in the financial
education of our youth.
To misquote, paraphrase and modernize a saying of
the 16th century’s Sir Francis Bacon: family finances, to
be commanded, must be obeyed. It takes a lot of energy
to really be someone. ■
Upcoming CPLD opportunities
Third annual CMA British Columbia Members Conference
May 26–27, 2009 – Hilton Metrotown Hotel, Burnaby, B.C.
This two-day conference qualifies for 15 CPLD credits.
CMA British Columbia workshop – The Talent Advantage:
Winning the War for Talent in a Dismal Economy
June 16, 2009 – Shangri-La Hotel, Vancouver, B.C.
This half-day workshop qualifies for four CPLD credits.
CMA Canada Sustainability Reporting Workshop
June 24, 2009 – Hyatt Regency, Vancouver, B.C.
This full-day workshop qualifies for seven CPLD credits.
IFRS seminars (dates and locations vary)
CMA British Columbia members qualify for a 10 per cent discount on IFRS
seminars booked through www.iaseminars.com/en/cmabc.html.
ECornell – leadership and business management
CMA Canada members can now earn certificates from Cornell University
in the fields of leadership and business management. For more details
visit www.cma-canada.org and click on the professional development link.
CMA members receive a 36 per cent discount on eCornell’s courses and
business certificates.
To learn about more upcoming CPLD opportunities refer to the latest
issue of CMA E-News or visit the new CMA British Columbia CPLD
website: www.cmabc-pd.com.
5/7/09 10:49:40 AM
Continuous professional
learning and development
By Jeffrey Sparling, CMA
“The territory of management accounting is defined as that part of the
management process that develops and uses financial and non-financial
information for the purpose of adding value for customers, shareholders
and other stakeholders in dynamic and competitive environments.”
– CMA Canada
I
n uncertain times professionals make the
decision to invest in continuous education
for many reasons, such as to stay competitive
or seek new opportunities. For professionals
interested in strategic management, now is the time
to be a Certified Management Accountant.
The current pace of change within organizations,
market innovations and faster and newer forms of
communication, combined with the emerging world
economy, demand leaders with the skills to successfully navigate through this landscape.
What are these skill requirements? How do we
define them? How do we acquire them? Who is best
suited and trained to deliver this unique combination
of education, training and skills?
An excellent starting point is the Certified
Management Accountant Competency Map and the
three pillars of the CMA profession.
The three pillars
It is CMAs’ expertise in strategic management that
distinguishes them from other professionals. The
three pillars – strategy, management and accounting –
form the basis of the CMA Competency Map, which
describes six functional competencies and four enabling
competencies that further support the differentiated
territory of the Certified Management Accountant. The
functional competencies are: strategic management;
risk management and governance; performance
management; performance measurement; financial
management; and financial reporting, while the enabling
competencies are: problem-solving and decision-making;
leadership and group dynamics; professionalism and
ethical behaviour; and communication.
The importance of CPLD
It is in the interest of all professionals to pursue continuous professional learning and development (CPLD).
Professional accountants hold positions of the utmost
trust in organizations, and as such owe a duty of care
not only to clients, but also to employers, stakeholders
and the public to bring the most comprehensive and
accounting
12 | s c o p e
p12-13_CPLD_Spring09.indd 12
timely knowledge to their various tasks. The businesses
served by accountants are vital to economic prosperity.
Lack of competence has consequences for the view
of the profession by those served, and can negatively
affect all members.
When our competency map is weighed against
our professional obligation, you can easily see the
requirement for ongoing learning and development.
And when you look at the differentiated territory of
the Certified Management Accountant, you can easily
see the diversified skill set we must possess to fulfil
our professional obligations.
What qualifies as CPLD?
The minimum requirement for CPLD for all certified
members of CMA British Columbia is 120 learning
credits over a moving three-year period. A minimum
of 20 learning credits must be completed and
reported annually.
There is a great deal of flexibility within the CPLD
guidelines for members to achieve their minimum
requirement. This flexibility addresses the broad
range of roles and responsibilities of our membership.
5/7/09 10:50:23 AM
Announcing CMA British Columbia’s
new professional development
website: www.cmabc-pd.com
CMA British Columbia has launched a new website
exclusively focused on CPLD. Visit www.cmabc-pd.
com to find the latest professional development
workshops by CMA British Columbia. This website
will be the first source of professional development opportunities for members and will include
webinars and workshops being held around B.C.
Visit www.cmabc-pd.com today!
All members should strive to ensure their CPLD
contributes to their professional competence as a CMA
while being relevant to the professional work of the
individual member.
Below is a summary of the categories of learning
and development:
1. Formal learning and development activities
2. Informal learning and development activities
related to professional competency
3. Reading or research related to professional
competency
p12-13_CPLD_Spring09.indd 13
4. Volunteer and community leadership contributing to professional competency
5. Formal teaching and writing contributing to
professional competency
6. Other professional learning and development
activities as may be deemed appropriate by
CMA British Columbia for developing and
maintaining member competency
The complete text of CPLD Policy and Procedures
can be viewed at the CMA BC website under “I am a
CMA” in the professional development section: www.
cmabc.com/index.cfm/ci_id/1842/la_id/1.htm.
CPLD committee at CMA British Columbia
Today, avenues for learning are bountiful and easily
accessible. The role of the Continuous Learning and
Development Committee is to ensure CMAs surpass
customer expectations and demonstrate, throughout their careers, the competencies of strategic
financial management professionals as defined in our
national standards.
The desire of the CPLD Committee is that all of our
members continue to contribute to the integrity and
professional excellence of our designation, Certified
Management Accountants.
Next issue we’ll detail the various sources of
learning that qualify for CPLD credits. ■
Jeffrey Sparling, CMA
is the Manager of the
Office of Strategic and
Performance Management with Bouchard and
Company, Chartered
Accountants. He is also
a member of the CMA
BC Update Editorial Task
Force, serves on the
CMA Continuous Professional Learning and
Development Committee
and CMA Public Licensing
Committee. He is also a
moderator for the CMA
Strategic Leadership
Program.
5/7/09 10:50:25 AM
Building Excel
macros that last
By Roy Quinones, CMA
I
nnovation drives change. This phrase relates to
the works of economist Josef Schumpeter and his
belief that long-term economic growth could be
sustained by the ideas of entrepreneurs. While
his theories speak to economic cycles, creativity and
innovation can be found in the simplest of ideas.
Creativity, innovation and Excel macros? If you
haven’t used the macro function in Excel there is no
better time to start. From my own and my colleagues’
experience, Excel macros can be used for a multitude
of daily tasks, but especially for sorting and formatting
mass quantities of data, and reorganizing output
for various functions, including reconciliations,
reports and trend analysis. I find macros are great
for saving time as they can automate mundane and
repetitive activities.
The productivity benefits, however, are not without
associated risks. While prudence dictates that macros
be tested prior to implementation, there are some
risks that testing doesn’t address. Will the macros
still function properly if, for example, the company
restructures? What if the original macro programmer
leaves the department, or the company altogether?
Will a new macro be required if a different database
is installed?
It’s important for analysts to recognize both the
existence of these possibilities and the potential impacts
on the macros we use – that way, we can adjust to the
changes as they occur. Below are some tips for creating
lasting macros that can help to mitigate the impact of
these changes.
1) Variable input sheets
Above: This
Excel macro
example can
be downloaded
from www.
cmabc.com
under Connect
with CMA in the
news and publication section,
under Update
magazine.
Right: Visual
Basic Editor
with macro
programming
and programming notes
(shown
in green).
accounting
14 | s c o p e
p14-15_Excel_Spring09.indd 14
Some daily and monthly
calculations involve the
use of multiple specific
rates. While such rates
can be hard-coded into a
macro, thus automating the
calculation, if such rates
change, there is a risk that all
sections of code using these
rates will need to be updated
– consequently, you run the
risk of an incomplete update
to one variable.
Creating a worksheet
t h at h o u s e s a l l r at e s
circumvents this risk. Let’s
say, for example, that you
want to estimate actual
overheard and labour costs
daily. If you have a database
that tracks the cost drivers
5/12/09 2:42:46 PM
It’s important for analysts to
recognize both the existence of
these possibilities and the potential
impacts on the macros we use – that
way, we can adjust to the changes as
they occur. Below are some tips that
can help to mitigate the impact of
these changes.
(for example, machine and labour hours) rather than
hard-coding applicable rates within the macro, you
can enter such rates into a spreadsheet and have the
macro apply them once the data has been compiled.
This way, only the rate-input cells require updating
when estimated rates change.
Additionally, a variable input sheet can specify the
path where source files are located, or where backup
files are to be saved.
2) Master spreadsheet
A master spreadsheet houses all macros required
for specific job functions pertaining to the same
type of tasks, along with (if necessary) all specific
rates required for your calculations. For example,
p14-15_Excel_Spring09.indd 15
I’ve used a master spreadsheet that contained
multiple macros for multiple functions related to the
same profit and loss report, along with some rates
required in calculating particular values (variable
costs, exchange rates, etc.). One macro would first
collect database information for analysis. Once that
data was analyzed for completeness, a second macro
would format and prepare the gathered data for distribution. A third and final macro would create a
backup of all data used in preparing the report and
produce a copy of the published report for recordkeeping purposes.
3) Documentation and code descriptions
The easiest way to prevent knowledge loss is to
document the specifics of the macro. Describing
sections within the macro itself and printing out a
hard-copy version of the macro code are great ways
to preserve knowledge. You can also use descriptions
of sections of a macro that fails to better understand how macros work, and the reasons for failure.
This helps identify how a macro can be modified
to function properly, and how to enhance future
upgrades or installments.
With simple planning and documentation, it’s easy
to build an Excel macro that will last and can be passed
on to multiple users within your organization. ■
Roy Quinones, CMA is
a Credit Risk Analyst
with Powerex and a
member of the CMA
British Columbia Update
5/12/09 2:42:50 PM
Setting up a personal
business corporation?
What you need to know from an income tax perspective
By Alladin Versi, CMA, FCMA
I
iSTOCK
n the past few years, and even more so in the
current economic environment, it has become
common for individuals to set up their own corporations, which can then be used to contract out
the services of the principal (or often the sole) shareholder of the corporation to one or more businesses.
There are some benefits to this arrangement from
an income tax perspective, such as lower corporate
income taxes, deduction of business expenses and the
ability to pay salaries or dividends to family members,
to name a few.
A low corporate tax rate is generally available to
a Canadian-controlled private corporation on its
active business income earned in Canada, up to its
federal and provincial small business limits. Effective
January 1, 2009, the federal limit is $500,000 (previously $400,000). The provincial limit varies from
province to province – in British Columbia, the limit
is $400,000.
Consider the example of Jane Doe. Jane is a business
consultant who recently lost her job, and is looking at
setting up her own corporation, JaneCo, to provide
consulting services. She has already lined up some
work with a large firm, LargeCo, and is considering
setting up a corporation to provide her services.
Is it a “personal services business?”
In setting up JaneCo to provide her services, Jane
should be mindful of the “personal services business”
provisions of the Income Tax Act (ITA). Income
from a personal services business is excluded from
active business income, pursuant to section 248 and
subsection 125(7) of the ITA. As such, income from
that business is not eligible for the lower corporate
income tax rates. Instead, such income is taxed at
the highest federal/B.C. corporate income tax rate
of 30 per cent, rather than the lower rate of 13.5 per
cent for 2009.
A personal services business provides the services
of an “incorporated employee” to an entity, where the
incorporated employee would otherwise reasonably
be regarded as an officer or employee. Therefore, we
have to determine whether JaneCo is providing the
services of an incorporated employee or an independent contractor.
Contract of services or
contract for services
Is Jane considered to be an incorporated employee
or an independent contractor? The critical issue is
whether her business consulting services are under a
contract of services (i.e. an employment contract) or a
contract for services (i.e. an independent contractor).
accounting
16 | s c o p e
p16-17_PersonalBus_Spring09.indd 16
5/7/09 11:10:16 AM
A contract of service generally exists if the person for
whom the services are performed has the right to control the amount, nature and management of the work
to be done and the manner of doing it. A contract for
services exists when a person is engaged to achieve a
defined objective and is given all the freedom required
to attain the desired result.
The Canada Revenue Agency has an excellent
guide, RC4110, Employee or Self-Employed, that
assists in determining the nature of the contract.
Some factors to consider are:
• Did Jane have a set number of working hours
each day?
• Did Jane have to account for her time?
• Was Jane given specific job instructions?
• Was Jane a member of LargeCo’s benefit plan?
• Did Jane have use of LargeCo’s computer
equipment and office supplies?
• Did LargeCo provide an office to Jane?
• Was Jane given a specific title and business card
on LargeCo’s letterhead?
Whether Jane can be “reasonably regarded” as an
employee or as an independent contractor is a question
that requires an analysis of all factors surrounding
the terms and conditions of her contract with
LargeCo. In general, to be considered an independent
However, a corporation will not be regarded as
carrying on a personal services business in a taxation
year if throughout the year it employs more than
five full-time employees for that business, or if the
amount was received for services rendered to an
associated corporation.
Deduction limitations
In addition to a personal services business being
excluded from the definition of an “active business,”
paragraph 18(1)(p) of the ITA also limits deductions
in computing the income from such a business. All
deductions are disallowed, except:
• salary, wages or other remuneration, and any
benefits or allowance paid or provided to an
incorporated employee;
• selling and similar expenses that would have been
deductible in computing employment income if
the individual had expended them; and
• legal expenses incurred in collecting amounts
owing for services rendered.
Income from a personal services business is also
not eligible for a tax refund on the basis of taxable
dividends paid. It will therefore be taxable at the highest corporate rate.
Tax planning considerations
A personal services business
provides the services of an
“incorporated employee,” where
the incorporated employee would
otherwise reasonably be regarded
as an officer or employee.
contractor, JaneCo must have agreed to provide a
service with no commitment regarding the number
of hours worked. Jane should also be performing the
service with little or no supervision. JaneCo must
issue its own invoices and receive cheques for work
completed. In addition, Jane should not receive any
benefits from LargeCo, and should operate from
JaneCo’s own office and use its own equipment.
Shareholder requirements
In addition, for JaneCo to be considered a personal
services business, the incorporated employee (Jane),
or a person related to Jane, must be a “specified shareholder” of the corporation providing the services.
Specified shareholder generally means that Jane, or
someone related to her, directly or indirectly owns
10 per cent or more of the issued shares of any class
of JaneCo.
There are additional rules that include ownership
in a related corporation, and similar rules apply
for shares owned through a partnership or trust.
Under new rules introduced in 2006, any dividends
paid by a corporation from its personal services business would be considered eligible dividends, which
are subject to a lower personal tax rate than noneligible dividends. The maximum tax on eligible
dividends received by a B.C. resident is currently
19.9 per cent, compared to a rate of 32.7 per cent
for non-eligible dividends. As such, it is no longer
essential that all income earned in a personal services
business be paid out to the incorporated employee
as a salary.
Tax planning can be undertaken such that family members become shareholders of the personal
services business corporation, so that dividends can
be paid to them. However, it should be noted that
the ITA contains various anti-avoidance provisions,
such as subsections 56(2) and 56(4), or the General
Anti-Avoidance Rules, that could result in such
dividends being taxed in the hands of the principal
shareholder. As such, care should be taken to ensure
that any payments to someone other than the principal shareholder are appropriate.
In summary, while Jane may see some advantages
from setting up JaneCo, she should be aware of the
tax limitations if JaneCo is considered to be a personal
services business. A careful review of her relationship
with LargeCo, and any other contracts she obtains, is
necessary to determine whether she is an incorporated employee or an independent contractor. Anyone
considering incorporation should obtain professional
advice before proceeding. ■
p16-17_PersonalBus_Spring09.indd 17
Alladin Versi, CMA,
FCMA, CFP is a tax
specialist and currently leads the Meyers
Norris Penny LLP tax
group for the Vancouver
Island region. Based
out of MNP’s Nanaimo
office, he specializes in
strategic corporate tax
planning for businesses,
corporate reorganizations, purchases and
sales of businesses, as
well as estate planning.
a c c o u n t in g
scope
| 17
5/7/09 11:10:19 AM
iSTOCK
The talent advantage
Winning the war for talent in a dismal economy
By Dr. Nancy MacKay
A
ttracting, retaining and developing talented employees are challenges facing
every organization. As CEO guru Jack
Welch points out in his book, Winning,
hiring and keeping the right people even one-third of
the time is well above average. That’s a scary statistic
when you consider the cost of losing and replacing
your best people.
What’s a leader to do? Many make HR responsible
for developing and executing the company retention
strategy. Trouble is, this rarely works because HR’s
influence throughout an organization is often limited.
Other companies lack explicit accountability for
top talent. If it’s not in anyone’s job description or
performance review, don’t expect to see anyone caring
much about searching out, developing and looking
after your best employees.
Another common omission is not knowing which
management
18 | v i e w
p18-19_Talent_Spring09.indd 18
jobs are the most strategic in terms of leadership
development and retention. Your talent-management
strategy will lack appropriate focus and effectiveness if
you don’t know which positions are the most critical
to your organization.
Top talent is your greatest source of competitive
advantage. Every CEO, often guided by a savvy HR
professional, needs to have strategies to attract, retain
and develop the best and brightest in order to win
the war for talent and accelerate business results –
especially in a dismal economy.
Here are six tips for creating people practices that
provide the edge in the talent pool.
Create a leadership style that builds trust and
candour. Great people are inspired by great leaders,
and great leaders are honest and trustworthy. Know
the potential successors to all direct-reports and make
5/7/09 10:52:33 AM
organization). Remember, you get what you measure.
Hold people accountable for hiring well, and for succession plan execution. Integrate your plan with your
corporate strategy and evaluate quarterly.
Don’t miss the CMA British Columbia
Workshop The Talent Advantage:
Winning the War for Talent in a Dismal
Economy with Dr. Nancy MacKay:
Management
View
Marry career development and succession
planning. For many reasons, a lot of executives
keep “the list” of key employees a secret, but this is
a mistake. Make sure that your top talent know who
they are and then work with them to develop their
careers. Invest more heavily in the growth of top
talent and extraordinary leadership than in remedial
work to achieve the greatest return. Strive for “50 per
cent ready now” to speed up strategy execution.
June 16, 2009, 7:30 a.m.–12 p.m.
Shangri-La Hotel, Vancouver
(Value of four CPLD credits)
Are you winning or losing the war for talent? Dr.
Nancy MacKay, executive coach, facilitator of
seven CEO networks and author of the forthcoming book, The Talent Advantage: How to Attract and
Retain the Best and the Brightest, will help you
discover six strategies you can use to help you and
your organization succeed in the talent wars. By
attending this session, you’ll be able to develop an
extraordinary leadership style, view talent strategically and become your company’s leading advocate
for top talent acquisition and retention. Visit www.
cmabc-pd.com for more details.
Become the leading advocate for top talent
acquisition. Many CEOs attract top talent from other
organizations by developing a personal brand. People
want to work for them. As a leader, be personally
accountable for attracting a few key people regularly
and serve as a mentor to some of them. Expect the
same of other top executives.
positive connections as frequently as possible. Too
often leaders kill trust and candour by being judgmental, or more concerned with looking good than
acknowledging others. Being a control freak or, on the
flip side, avoiding control and blaming others, is a sure
way to turn off your talented employees.
Create accountability for talent creation and
retention down the line. Identifying and retaining
your best employees should be within the mandate
of your entire management team (in fact, all of your
HR strategies should be integrated throughout the
View your talent holistically, embracing the needs
of all generations. Your organization includes talent
from at least three different generations: boomers, Xs
and Ys. Develop retention strategies that individually
address the life balance, career strategies and technology needs of each group. One size does not fit all.
Accept nothing less than extraordinary leadership and talent. Establish tough standards for new
talent, and cut your losses when they don’t measure
up. When people are performing in an outstanding
manner, continue to increase expectations of performance. There’s nothing worse than allowing good
people to “coast.” ■
Dr. Nancy MacKay is
President of MacKay
& Associates and coauthor of the forthcoming book The Talent
Advantage: How to
Attract and Retain the
Best and the Brightest
(www.mackayandassociates.ca).
Key Tips for Employers
Want to know how many people viewed the
job that you posted in the past day, week
or month?
As an employer you can use the Reports feature
to see job views or employer description views
on an hourly basis to a monthly basis. This is
just one of the many reporting functions of
cmabcjobs.com.
Want to advertise your company to CMAs
and CMA students?
Banner advertising is available on a monthly
or yearly basis on both the employer and the
jobseeker areas of the website at very competitive
rates. cmabcjobs.com boasts roughly 35,000
banner ad impressions per month. Contact
[email protected] for more details.
Want to send a response to everyone who
applies letting them know about next steps?
Use the Auto-Response function in the Employer
Centre to create a customized message that
will automatically send a reply email to anyone
who applies for your posted job through
cmabcjobs.com. An example would be,”Thank
you to everyone who submitted an application
with [Your Company]. We will contact all
applicants within two weeks.”
CMABCJobs-Ad.indd 1
p18-19_Talent_Spring09.indd 19
management
vie w
| 19
4/30/09 1:34:51 PM
5/7/09 10:52:35 AM
Management
View
Promises, promises
Is stress keeping you from delivering?
By Marianna Paulson
O
management
20 | v i e w
p20_Promises_Spring09.indd 20
Is stress making you a mess?
Learn to recognize these symptoms of stress:
• Irritability
• Disturbed sleep
• Quickness to anger
• Increase in worrying
• Forgetfulness
• Difficulty enjoying life
• Lowered libido
• Fatigue
• Increase in aches and pains
• Frequent cold or flu viruses
• Headaches and backaches
• High blood pressure
often describe as “just life,” trigger the same hormonal
cascade, regardless of whether or not it’s a true lifeor-death situation. What type of events, you ask? It
could be anything from business worries to
oversleeping, hitting every red light when
you’re already late, arguments, traffic….
Multiply these events over time and
they can show up as aches and pains,
fatigue, frustration, lack of concentration, irritability, poor memory,
an inability to sleep well or other
health concerns. The great
news is that by learning how to
change the way you interpret
the events in your life, you are
immediately making a positive
change in your body.
Have you lost out because
you meant to follow up, you
really did, but something else
came along that grabbed your
attention, putting that intention
to rest? What’s the solution? Start
by noticing how you feel in certain
situations – what do you tend to
do when you are stressed, upset,
angry or hurt? We can’t change
unless we know, and when we
know we can take action. Once we
take action, remembering to follow
up on those promises becomes
much easier. ■
iSTOCK
Marianna Paulson is a
licensed stress coach,
a certified teacher and
Principal of Change of
Heart Stress Solutions.
She will be presenting
the seminar Stressing
Leadership on May 26,
2009 at the third Annual
CMA British Columbia
Members Conference.
Visit www.cmabc.
com/2009_conference.
htm for more details.
ne of the things that has become apparent
to me in my business dealings is that
some people have trouble keeping their
promises. “I’ll get back to you with that
information.” “I’ll call you and see how you like xyz.”
“I’ll email you with my report.”
I know these people genuinely want to follow up.
They really do mean it when they say it. However, as
an independent business owner, there are many hats
to wear. How do you do it all and remain sane? Or
keep the clients you do have and get new ones?
The answer is learning to transform your stress. I
don’t need to tell you what your stressors are – many
of you are living them and may feel it’s normal to be
experiencing what you are experiencing.
There is a vast difference between normal and
natural. Normal can be something we adjust to, which
may not be all that comfortable. For example, we may
have a shoe with a worn-down heel that we know is
annoying, yet we postpone the repair. I’m sure you
have other examples: an appliance with
a broken control or a door that always
squeaks – things that irritate us and
over time wear us out.
Natural, on the other hand,
is the way we were meant to
be before stress took over,
wreaking havoc on our
l i v e s . W h e n w e ’re
under chronic stress,
our ability to perform
is impacted. It’s like
stuffing a plastic bag –
it stretches, but sooner or
later it tears. We just never
know when.
Our interpretation of events as
stressful wears out our nervous system
and ages us. Cortisol, the stress hormone,
is produced in response to how we think
and feel. As cortisol production increases,
DHEA, the vitality or anti-aging hormone
is reduced. Think of it like a teeter-totter.
Cortisol goes up, DHEA goes down. So if
you’ve ever heard yourself say, “I feel and
look old and tired,” you’ll have an idea of
what’s contributing to that.
Unless we learn to change our
perceptions, other events, which we
5/7/09 10:53:16 AM
iSTOCK
Corporate social
responsibility
CMAs are poised to lead an accountability revolution
By Dave Macdonald, CMA
I
n under a year, British Columbia will host the
Winter Olympics, and millions around the world
will be focused on Vancouver and Whistler. When
the host city was announced in 2003, no one
imagined we would simultaneously find ourselves in a
global recession. The Olympics and the recession are
events linked not only by their synchronicity, but also
by their need for sustainable, innovative solutions.
Similar to Olympic organizers’ need for innovative cost-savings measures and contingencies for
expenditures, the global recession requires sustainable and efficient solutions for economic recovery.
Innovation and accountability become more relevant
as businesses and governments face job losses, and the
need to achieve environmental balance with increasingly scarce natural resources all while minimizing
corporate corruption.
While the appeal of CSR is broad, authentic practitioners of CSR are embracing accountability to a
variety of stakeholders that may diverge from their
traditional stakeholder group. Increased accountability also often requires the disclosure of activities and
holdings that may exceed traditional standards.
Drew Collier, CMA, a 15-year veteran of Vancity
Credit Union, explains how this reporting differs
from traditional financial reporting: “Compromises,
including increasing the detail of reporting, have to
be made in order to incorporate CSR to the fullest
degree. Greater commitment to CSR means more
divulgence of data and more general disclosure –
certainly, not every organization is comfortable with
that.” Additional disclosure can be controversial from
a management perspective, but as Nike learned with
its child-labour situation in 2001, disclosure and
transparency are prudent choices.
What is corporate social responsibility?
The interesting thing about organizations that make
commitments to innovation, accountability and sustainability is that, if adhering to morals and ethics,
these organizations are “doing good,” even if that
wasn’t the original intention. Being efficient and
considering stakeholders while incorporating the
above-mentioned commitments is one definition of
corporate social responsibility (CSR).
CSR planning
The constraints that define CSR for an organization,
then, are disclosure on the front end and not doing bad
on the back end. In between, goals are determined by
simply asking: what do people want? What do people
need? What are we equipped to provide?
The answers to these questions shape a CSR
strategy. The depth of such strategies ranges from
p21-22_StrategyCSR_Spring09.indd 21
David Macdonald, CMA
is a Special Projects
Administrator with
Burnaby-based recruiting
firm West Pacific
Consulting Group, where
he leads the Corporate
Responsibility Program
(www.wpcg.ca/
community).
strategy
repor t
| 21
5/7/09 10:54:02 AM
ad hoc, bolt-on activities to those integrated with an
organization’s balanced scorecard. Once CSR objectives are established and implemented, analysis and
reporting on performance become essential components of determining success.
CSR and CMAs
CSR as a field is young and the opportunities for
CMAs are still unfolding. On an organizational level,
there is a notion of social “intrapreneurism,” which
Collier describes as “a great place for CMAs because
one can look at the business value of CSR for a particular organization and run with that from within
the company. The core CMA tools are really apt for
CSR. Once you learn about the tools, it’s time to start
learning the million-and-one uses for them, because
they can be used in slightly different ways depending
on the need.”
A substantial asset of our CMA education is our
strategic management approach and our ability to
integrate operations, strategy and finance holistically.
Whether an organization is at the creative outset
of CSR, or creating business models that alter and
enhance the fundamental competencies of an organization, a CMA’s toolbox of strategy, management and
accounting lends itself to every facet of CSR.
Professor James Tansey, Director of UBC’s Centre
for Sustainability and Social Innovation echoes these
sentiments from the academic side.
“While there are many people interested in the
delivery, there are fewer interested in the research,” he
says. “There’s a substantial need for researchers with
financial skills, such as CMAs, who aren’t necessarily
academics, but are interested in looking at initiatives such as large-scale micro-finance initiatives,
for example.”
Tansey shares Collier’s organization-centric view
on CSR. “CSR within an organization is very much
strategic. It’s no longer as simple as corporate giving,
but the cutting edge right now is aligning CSR with
the company’s value proposition,” he says.
CSR is a leading strategy to help businesses meet
organizational constraints, and create goodwill and
brand appeal. As Collier says, the ability to succeed
in CSR by being “Robin Hood and distributing sums
from one’s profits to those who need it is no longer
sufficient. Building CSR into the value proposition,
perhaps even by innovating one’s entire industry,
provides an array of options for customers.”
For CMAs, whether in development, reporting
or stewardship, it’s clear that the prerequisites for
leading this change can be met with our unique
skill set and good strategic management, including
CSR principles. ■
eNews
Looking for CPLD events?
Subscribe to CMA British
Columbia’s E-News to get up
to date CPLD opportunities
emailed to you monthly.
Email [email protected]
to subscribe.
strategy
22 | r e p o r t
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p21-22_StrategyCSR_Spring09.indd 22
5/1/09 2:52:52 PM
5/7/09 10:54:05 AM
Avoiding an ambush
Olympic sponsors need to protect themselves
from unfair marketing practices
By Robert Quon
T
PHOTO COURTESY VANOC/COVAN
he 2010 Winter Olympic Games will be
one of the largest-ever events showcasing
winter sports. Over the course of 27 days
– 17 days of Olympic Games events and
10 days of Paralympic Games events – an estimated
80 countries will be participating, 10,000 accredited
media representatives will be reporting on the event
and approximately three billion television viewers
will be watching worldwide. The Winter Games
will be a major opportunity for official sponsors to
showcase their products and services in connection
with the Winter Games and the Olympic/Paralympic
movement. But businesses with no official affiliation
with the Winter Games may also try to capitalize on
the goodwill of this global event.
The marketing potential of the Winter Games
explains there being over 47 partners, supporters and
suppliers (collectively “sponsors”), not including
government and non-governmental organizations.
Only sponsors can market a connection with the
Winter Games or the Olympic/Paralympic movement;
they have paid for this right. Based on VANOC’s
Business Plan and Games Budget (May 2007), the
Winter Games are estimated to cost $1.63 billion, and
fees from sponsors will contribute over $960 million
in revenue. The same business plan and budget show
revenues of $46 million from licensing and merchandising – not an insignificant sum, but it will be
eclipsed by sponsorship revenue. These are strong
economic reasons for VANOC to protect sponsors
against unauthorized use of the Olympic/Paralympic
deceptive business practices and protect the use of
trade-marks and copyrights. The federal government
has also enacted the Olympic and Paralympic Marks
Act to protect the Olympic/Paralympic brand. This
legislation provides for specific protection for the
Olympic/Paralympic brand, and, with some limited
exceptions, prohibits the unauthorized use of marks
associated with that brand.
This legislation also prohibits a person, in association with a trade-mark or other mark, from promoting
or directing public attention to their business, wares
or services in a manner that misleads or is likely to
mislead the public into believing that
The Winter Games will be a major opportunity for the person’s business, wares or services
official sponsors to showcase their products and are approved, authorized or endorsed
by VANOC or other Olympic-related
services in connection with the Winter Games/ corporations, or that a business association exists between the person’s business
Paralympic movement.
and the Olympic/Paralympic Games,
brand and to protect the exclusive rights granted to VANOC or other Olympic-related corporations. In the
sponsors in their respective sponsorship agreements. industry, this is called “ambush marketing.”
In connection to the 2010 Winter Olympic Games,
Given the costs of sponsorship and the marketing
opportunity of the Winter Games, sponsors should ambush marketing would be marketing that capitalizes
also remain vigilant to protect their marketing rights. on the goodwill of the Winter Games or the Olympic/
There are federal laws available to protect Paralympic movement by promoting an unauthorized
sponsors and VANOC. The Competition Act, association, without official sponsorship rights. Given
Trade-marks Act and Copyright Act help prevent the importance of sponsorship revenue to the Winter
p23-24_Strategy2010_Spring09.indd 23
Onlookers
applaud the
launch of the
Vancouver
2010 Olympic
emblem in
April 2005.
strategy
repor t
| 23
5/7/09 10:54:37 AM
Robert Quon is a
partner at Fasken Martineau. He is a member
of the firm’s Competition
Law Group and chair
of the Legal Practice
Committee of the InterPacific Bar Association.
strategy
24 | r e p o r t
p23-24_Strategy2010_Spring09.indd 24
Games, ambush marketing would not only contravene
our laws, it would undermine the financial benefits to
sponsors and jeopardize the securing of sponsors for
future Olympic/Paralympic Games or other major
sporting events. Here are two examples that illustrate
the problem.
Recall the opening ceremony of the Beijing 2008
Olympic Games. Who will forget Li Ning, Chinese
sports hero and final torchbearer, floating on the
inside wall of the Bird’s Nest stadium and running
along its wall before lighting the Olympic cauldron?
Li Ning, who won six medals (three gold, two silver
and one bronze) in gymnastics at the Los Angeles 1984
Olympic Games, is also famous in China for being the
founder and chairman of Li Ning Company Limited, a
successful sports company and major supplier of sport
shoes, sportswear and sporting goods in China with
more than 4,000 retail stores. Adidas and Nike are its
major competitors.
Adidas reportedly paid $80 million to become an
official Beijing 2008 Olympic Games sponsor as part
of its strategy to build up to 4,000 retail locations in
China. Li Ning Company Limited was not a sponsor
of those Summer Games, and although Li Ning
reportedly wore unbranded sport shoes and the
official Adidas shirt during his spectacular run, the
Chinese audience in the stadium and in that country
instead remembered Li Ning of Li Ning Company
Limited. It was what at least one reputable magazine
called an “Olympic-sized marketing ambush.”
The second example is the 2006 FIFA World Cup,
where up to 1,000 Dutch fans arrived in “Leeuwenhosen,”
orange lion-tailed overalls distributed and branded by
Holland’s Bavaria Brewery. Anheuser-Busch, the maker
of Budweiser, had the exclusive right to promote and
sell its beverages in the stadium and at the venues.
Anheuser-Busch, along with 14 other sponsors, had
paid up to $50 million each for the right to be an official
partner of this World Cup. To protect the rights of
Anheuser-Busch, the Dutch fans were only allowed to
enter the stadium without their Leeuwenhosen; they
watched the match in their underwear.
These types of situations at major sports events
illustrate the need for sponsors to seek to identify,
assess and manage the risks of ambush marketing at
the Winter Games. This would include risk reduction
through protection under available legislation; comprehensive sponsorship agreements and legal action if
necessary; risk transfer if possible; risk avoidance
through local knowledge and vigilance on the ground
at the event; and acceptance that some risks may not be
avoided or reduced – but rather one should counteract
through preparation, proper communication and other
appropriate strategies. ■
5/7/09 10:54:39 AM
Diary of a CMA in training
Starting CMA’s Strategic Leadership Program
By Geoff Bryant, Candidate in the CMA Program
T
he Strategic Leadership Program (SLP)
orientation in January, at which the
program’s format, syllabus and deliverables
were presented to all candidates, seems like
ages ago. I’m already well into module two, but let me
think back and share my SLP experience thus far.
Orientation
Definitely attend the orientation, as this is the opportunity to meet your moderators and fellow candidates,
network and see how you’ll work together as a team.
You jump right into the SLP program with a small
case, and discuss the results of your DISC profile.
A DISC (dominance, influence, steadiness and
conscientiousness) profile is a grouping of psychological
categories developed by John Geier based on the
work of psychologist William Moulton Marston. This
One of the most beneficial aspects
of the SLP program is the interactive
sessions. These sessions allow me to
see the approach other candidates
took in their assignments and the
logic and analysis behind their
thinking. I’ve gained so much from
listening to and working with others
in both the large and small group
interactive sessions.
four-quadrant behavioural model examines behaviour
types of individuals within their environment and
certain situations, both outside and inside the workplace.
D and I often represent extroverted aspects of a personality while C and S represent introverted aspects. After
reviewing our results, most of my group members were
confident their profiles were accurate. Being conscious
of a group member’s DISC profile was a key take-away
for me, as it can impact the interpersonal interactions
of a team and how well the team works together.
As The Roles and Domain of the Professional
Accountant in Business by the International Federation
of Accountants states: “one of the main activities of
today’s professional accountant is the creation of value
through effectively using given resources by understanding the drivers of both internal and external stakeholder
value.” I think I speak for everyone starting SLP when I
say we all left excited to start applying what we would
learn during the two-year professional program.
Learning the case approach
A primary focus of the pre-session assignments and
the interactive session weekend for module one, and
future modules, is using a structured case approach
when solving a business issue. A critical step in this
approach is identifying the needs and preferences of
stakeholders and ensuring future analysis is consistent
with what was identified.
For many candidates, in-depth case analysis is a
new concept, or it hasn’t been used at the same analytical level as required for SLP. For this reason, the
interactive session for module one is invaluable. In
my group, our moderators guided us through the case
approach step by step. This was extremely beneficial
and has already had a positive impact on my approach
to assignment one for module two. I now feel more
capable, confident and able to provide the analysis the
SLP markers are looking for.
Personal growth
One of the most beneficial aspects of the SLP program
is the interactive sessions. These sessions allow me
to see the approach other candidates took in their
assignments and the logic and analysis behind their
thinking. I’ve gained so much from listening to and
working with others in both the large and small group
interactive sessions.
Another important component of my professional
growth has been knowledge acquired through my
employer, Océ Display Graphics Systems, and the
opportunity to apply what I’ve learned from SLP.
As a manufacturer in the high-tech industry, Océ
faces many challenges that are global in scope. My
managers, Brian Iseli, CMA and Craig Jones, CGA
have given me the challenging and valuable opportunity to apply my knowledge in the finance department,
assisting with inventory and costing management,
financial reporting and management reporting. The
knowledge and experience I have gained there enables
me to actively participate in the interactive session
group discussions and relate to concepts in the SLP’s
business cases and articles.
With module two now underway, I am continuing
to review the structured case approach to solving a
business issue, developing greater knowledge of the
different approaches to strategy and gaining more
practical experience from my current position. As I
write this, the interactive session weekend for module
two is not far off. ■
p25_Diary_Spring09.indd 25
Geoff Bryant is a Junior
Accountant with Océ
Display Graphics Inc.
and is currently a
student in the CMA
Strategic Leadership
Program. He is also a
member of the CMA
British Columbia Update
CMA
news
| 25
5/7/09 10:55:18 AM
Members on the move
C
ongratulations to these CMA British Columbia members
who have been promoted or accepted a new career
opportunity:
Graham Fane, CMA, FCMA is the new
Dean of the Faculty of Business at Capilano
University. Most recently, Graham was
an instructor in the university’s school
of business, where he taught accounting and management. A specialist in cost
and management accounting, strategic
management and business planning,
Graham has taught at Capilano University
for 25 years and is the author of SAVI, a management model
textbook on strategic planning, business decision-making and
performance measurement.
Surinder Chand, CMA has moved from Global Pacific Financial
Services to the Burnaby School District #41 and is now a budget
reporting officer.
Roslynn Drewitt, CMA has recently moved from Electronic Arts
Inc. to D-Wave Systems Inc. and is now the company’s controller.
Prior to joining D-Wave, she was Director of Finance for Black Box
Studio with Electronic Arts.
Thomas Fink, MBA, PMP, CMA has recently joined Coast
Mountain Bus Company (CMBC) as Director, Service
Planning and Scheduling. CMBC is an operating subsidiary
of TransLink. CMBC has over 5,200 employees and operates
over 1,200 buses, with over 3,350 drivers supported by more
than 850 mechanics in Greater Vancouver – the largest
single transit service area in Canada. Prior to joining CMBC,
Thomas was Manager, Strategic Planning for the Legal Services
Society of B.C.
Terry Gelinas, CMA has taken on the role
of Director, Finance and Administration/
Senior Financial Officer for the Ministry of
Small Business, Technology and Economic
Development and Ministry of Energy,
Mines and Petroleum Resources. Terry
was previously Acting Director/Senior
Financial Officer for both ministries.
Judy Jacklin, CMA is the new Manager of Finance and Operations
at the Investment Agriculture Foundation of British Columbia, a
Victoria-based not-for-profit that manages and distributes federal
and provincial funding to the agriculture industry. Most recently,
she served as controller for 3One Media Corporation.
Terry-Jo Jardine, CMA has recently joined the BC Ministry of
Children and Family Development as a Regional Finance Officer
CM A
26 | n e ws
p26-27_MembersMove_Spring09.indd 26
and will be primarily responsible for the regional financial reporting
system and budget management process to support the financial
planning and decision-making of the senior management team.
Previously, Terry-Jo was a comptroller with Aluminum Curtainwall
Systems Inc.
David Kruyt, CMA was recently appointed
to the Vancouver Island Health Authority
board of directors. In addition, David serves
on the board of North Island College,
where he chairs the audit committee. He is
also a member of CMA British Columbia’s
Professional Conduct Enquiry Committee.
David is currently the corporate controller
for Vancouver Island Insurance Centres in
Campbell River.
Holly Lodto, CMA has taken a new role with the Vancouver Island
Health Authority and is now Manager of General Ledger and
Reporting. Holly was previously the authority’s General Ledger
Coordinator.
Dru Narwani, CMA was recently appointed
to the board of directors of WebTech
Wireless Inc. (TSX:WEW), a leading
provider of location-based and fleet telematics services. Dru advises several private
companies and serves as chairman of the
board of directors of privately held Nova
Pole International. Previously, he was CEO
and deputy chair of Standard Chartered
Bank in Thailand before retiring in 2000.
Carmen Ma, CMA is now a controller with Swordfern Management
Ltd., a property management company. Carmen previously served
as Accounting Manager at St. George’s School.
Jane Peverett, CMA, FCMA was recently
appointed to the Canadian Imperial Bank
of Commerce (CIBC) board of directors
and the British Columbia Ferry Services
Inc. board of directors. Jane is a corporate
director who, in addition to these two
boards, serves on the boards of EnCana
Corporation and Northwest Natural Gas.
Until January 2009, Jane was President
and CEO of BC Transmission Corporation.
Tamra McQuitty, CMA has taken on the role of Vice-President,
Finance and Corporate Services with Tourism Victoria, where she
is responsible for all aspects of financial management, as well as
office management, information technology and website development. Tamra was previously Director of Finance. Tourism Victoria
5/7/09 10:56:00 AM
(Greater Victoria Visitors and Convention Bureau) is a not-for-profit
industry association responsible for the development and promotion
of tourism in Greater Victoria.
Swiss Water Decaffeinated Coffee
Income Fund (TSX: SWS.UN) has
appointed Sherry Tryssenaar, CMA
as Chief Financial Officer of Swiss
Water Decaffeinated Coffee Company.
Previously she was CFO of QuestAir
Technologies.
Lauren Stein, CMA is now the Senior Manager, Physician
Compensation with the BC Ministry of Health Services. Lauren
was previously Director, Decision Support for the Ministry
of Health.
Kitty Kwok Lan Tam, CMA has recently joined ING Investment
Management Asia Pacific (Hong Kong) Ltd. as Regional Manager
of Operational Risk Management. Kitty is responsible for
implementing risk and control frameworks, as well as monitoring and enhancing risk control quality in the Asia Pacific.
Previously, she was a Structured Products Manager (Equity
Derivatives) with Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation
Ltd. (HSBC), overseeing projects and control for its global
markets operations.
Jacqueline Winter, CMA is now Manager of Financial Operations
with Gateway Casinos & Entertainment, one of Western Canada’s
largest casino and entertainment companies. In this position, she
executes strategic financial initiatives such as business process
improvement projects, implements financial controls and is a key
liaison between finance and operations personnel. Jacqueline was
previously a controller at Whistler Water. ■
Have you recently moved to a new company, or would you like to
welcome a new CMA to your company? Submissions can be emailed
to Tiana Mah at [email protected].
New and returning members
of CMA British Columbia
Welcome to these new members of CMA
British Columbia:
Geoff Benson, CMA has moved from
Saskatchewan to Salmon Arm, B.C. and is
enjoying retirement. Prior to retirement,
Geoff was Manager of Planning and
Supply Analysis for Potash Corporation
of Saskatchewan in Saskatoon.
Karen Bittner, CMA, FCMA has
recently moved from Saskatchewan to
Duncan, B.C. and is now the Director
for Residential Contracted Services with
the Vancouver Island Health Authority.
Karen was formerly Director for Financial
Planning at the Ministry of Social Services
with the Government of Saskatchewan.
Shane Jarvie, CMA has relocated from
Alberta to Merritt, B.C. and is now with
Emcon Services Inc., as a controller. Shane
was previously a controller for Beretta
Pipeline Construction in Alberta.
Jeff Lecky, MBA, CMA has recently moved
from Nova Scotia to Vancouver, B.C. and
is now a financial analyst for the City of
Vancouver. Jeff was formerly with JD Irving
Ltd. as a business analyst in Truro, N.S.
Elena Oliphant, CMA is now a financial
advisor for the Ministry of Environment
Utility Regulation in Victoria, B.C. Elena
was previously a senior accountant for
Leasing at Dundee Realty Corporation
in Toronto, Ontario.
Brian Stern, CMA has joined the
Vancouver office of HSBC Bank Canada
as a Senior Manager of CMB Strategy
and Projects. Brian was previously
with HSBC’s Calgary office, as Account
Manager for Energy Financing.
Nancy Jütte, RN, MBA, CMA is now
Vice-President of Patient Services at St.
Joseph’s General Hospital. Prior to moving
from Ontario to Comox, B.C., Nancy was
a Clinical Director at London Health
Sciences Centre in London, Ontario.
Nancy
Jütte
Congratulations
CMA British Columbia congratulates Troy
Griffiths, CMA, president and CEO of Vigil
Health Solutions Inc., for being recognized
as one of Business in Vancouver’s Forty
under 40 for 2008. Each year the newspaper
honours 40 outstanding young business
leaders under the age of 40.
Vigil Health Solutions is a publicly listed
(TSX Venture: VGL) health-care technology
provider, specifically selling innovative
solutions for seniors’ housing. The Vigil
Integrated Care Management System is a
suite of solutions that includes sophisticated
nurse call and dementia monitoring technology that guides the care, and monitors
the safety, of residents living in long-term
care facilities.
p26-27_MembersMove_Spring09.indd 27
CMA
news
| 27
5/7/09 10:56:01 AM
Chapter profile
East Kootenay Chapter
Cecil Stoochnoff, CMA, East Kootenay Chapter Chair
FRM – B.C. Senior Accountant, Tembec Industries Inc.
C
MA British Columbia chapters
are an essential link in the
Society’s relationship with its
members and the local community. For each chapter, an executive
committee of CMAs is responsible for
organizing and promoting activities to
encourage member involvement, networking and professional development
throughout the year.
To recognize the efforts of these committees and to learn about their upcoming
initiatives, Update spoke with Cecil
Stoochnoff, CMA – chair of the East
Kootenay Chapter.
Can you give us a brief description
of your role as chapter chair?
I see my role as chapter chair as providing leadership and overall direction for
the chapter, to foster a good relationship
amongst CMA BC, our members and the
local community. Of key concern is the
growth of our membership by attracting
suitable candidates through making high
school students aware of the management
accounting option, as well as direct counselling of post-secondary students and
members of the workforce at information
nights and career expositions. Other areas
of importance include student assistance,
professional and personal development,
local public relations and fellowship. And
indeed, encouraging our members to take
part in chapter events has and always will
be a top priority.
What are your impressions of the
level of CMA brand awareness in
the East Kootenay?
Employers in the East Kootenay are aware
of our brand; however they are not completely aware of the extensive competencies,
beyond accounting, that we bring to the
table. The fact that CMAs are trained to
CM A
28 | n e ws
p28_ChapterProfile_Spring09.indd 28
be managers and strategists who possess a
range of soft skills critical to the economic
well-being and quality of life of business
and community stakeholders needs to be
promoted further.
What are some of the challenges
you face in the East Kootenay?
The present state of our economy is
probably the main concern with most of
our members at this time. Businesses in
the East Kootenay are heavily dependent
on the resource sectors, along with
seasonal tourism. Nonetheless, our main
challenge as a chapter is to demonstrate
to employers, students and the general
public that CMA is the designation of
choice. We need our members to be
involved in local public relations activities
to create awareness and enhance the status
of our chapter.
What are some of the upcoming chapter initiatives you have
planned for 2009? What are you
doing in your market to support
growth and brand awareness?
We held a very successful CMA information
session at Mount Baker High School in
Cranbrook this past fall. In April we attended
the College of the Rockies Career Fair to
raise awareness of the CMA designation
with high school students, as well as counsel
post-secondary students and individuals
within the workforce. This spring, we look
forward to the popular CMA BC executive
tour. Recently, Elaine Eccleston, CMA (past
East Kootenay chair) and I also attended
a business degree program development
focus group at the College of the Rockies in
Cranbrook. We look forward to the college
being able to grant a degree in business in
the near future.
The members of our chapter are the
best ambassadors of our CMA brand.
Working in industry, government and
public practice, our members are business
leaders and have access to the executive
suites in East Kootenay and beyond. This
access allows us the opportunity to get
our message to decision-makers through
our promotional efforts , and most
importantly, through our performance as
CMAs. I see our chapter stepping up our
efforts in explaining and demonstrating
our competencies to employers, students
and the public.
Why did you choose to get
involved with the Society at a
chapter level? What do you find
to be the most challenging and
rewarding part of your experience
thus far?
Much of the success of the Society at the
chapter, provincial and national level is the
direct result of countless volunteer hours
members put in. I feel grateful to those who
have contributed to my becoming a CMA
and would like to be a part of the success
and well-being of our current members and
future prospects.
The most challenging and rewarding
part of my experience thus far has been in
engaging our membership by participating
in events. Our chapter is geographically
challenged; however we have managed to
have one-third of our members attend past
events. East Kootenay members live and
work in small communities and enjoy the
sense of fellowship our chapter activities
provide, and the opportunities to expand
acquaintances and to meet socially and professionally with other industry, government
and community leaders. ■
If you are interested in getting involved with
the East Kootenay Chapter, please contact Cecil Stoochnoff at 250-426-2396 or
[email protected].
5/7/09 10:56:28 AM
UBC Strategic Leadership
Case Competition
The winning UBC Team: Kenley Tam, Adrian Khoo and
Krishna Raisinghani with Jeff Kroeker, CMA, FCMA and
Shannon Thompson, Manager, Recruitment, CMA BC.
This past January the UBC Accounting Club held its second annual Strategic
Leadership Case Competition sponsored by CMA British Columbia. Organized
by the UBC club and professor Jeff Kroeker, CMA, FCMA, this competition
is for third- and fourth-year Sauder students. Competition judges included
Stephen Lee, CMA, Aklilu Mulat, CMA and Kayoko Takeuchi, CMA.
SFU team wins CMA BC postsecondary case competition
CMA British Columbia held its second annual post-secondary case
competition for first- and second-year students in B.C. this March
at Simon Fraser University’s Morris J. Wosk Centre for Dialogue.
The SFU team of Kevin Wang, Ivan Ma, Patrick Low and Awin
Ye won the competition, and an $800 shared team scholarship.
Eleven teams consisting of 43 first- and second-year students from
the University of British Columbia’s Sauder School of Business
and Simon Fraser University’s Faculty of Business Administration
competed against each other.
Competition judges included Harold Burgess, CMA, Kelly
Lownsbrough, CMA, Paul Sung, CMA and Bob Gautama, CMA.
“It was a great experience working with all the new talents and
getting an insight as to their thoughts and values,” says Sung. “I
thought they were all winners in preparing their case presentations in such a short time.”
During the competition, students tested their management
leadership skills by analyzing the fictional business case of ETS,
Burnaby North
Secondary’s
team: Bill
Xiong, Xiao
Luo and
Allison Chow
with Colin
Bennett,
CMA, FCMA.
Competition
judges Diane
Chung, CMA, Don
Hincks, CMA,
FCMA and Terry
Woo, CMA.
SFU’s Winning
Team: Patrick Low,
Ivan Ma, Kevin
Wang and Awin Ye.
Judges Kelly
Lownsbrough,
CMA and Paul
Sung, CMA.
a division of Atwell Technologies
Inc. Students were given one day to
work on the case before they had to
present a recommended solution for
the company’s declining profits to
the fictional senior management.
Burnaby North Secondary
team wins CMA BC High
School Case Competition
CMA British Columbia held its third annual High School Case
Competition this February at SFU Harbour Centre. Winning the
business case competition and sharing the $2,000 team scholarship
were Burnaby North Secondary students Allison Chow, Bill Xiong
and Xiao Luo. This is the second year Burnaby North Secondary
has won the case competition. Placing second were Vicky Wang,
Kerong Lin and Olivia Chiang from Crofton House.
During the competition, students put their strategic management skills to the test by analyzing a business case about the New
York Times and declining advertising revenue. Each team had to
put together a strategic plan advising the company’s fictional senior
management on business opportunities and threats facing the
newspaper. Judging the competition were Diane Chung, CMA,
Terry Woo, CMA and Don Hincks, CMA, FCMA.
p29-31_CMANews_Spring09.indd 29
CMA
news
| 29
5/7/09 10:56:56 AM
Become a CMA
Raising awareness of the CMA designation
This past winter and spring, CMA British Columbia sponsored and held a number
of events promoting the CMA designation with high school and university/college
students, graduate students and employers and individuals in the workforce.
CMA Road
Show to the
B.C. Interior
Sabina Gambhir, CMA (far right) with CMA
Career Night students.
Networking with students (middle and far
right): Colin Bennett, CMA, FCMA and Judith
Watson, CMA, FCMA.
CMA British Columbia partnered with
the CAs and CGAs to hold their annual
B.C. Interior road show March 9-11,
visiting Okanagan College’s campuses
in Penticton, Salmon Arm, Vernon and
Kelowna.
Afternoon
with a CMA
SFU students with Karim Adatia, candidate in
the CMA Program and Maureen Fizzell, CMA,
FCMA (middle).
Roy Quinones, CMA (far left) with Kwantlen
Polytechnic students at CMA Career Night.
CMA Career Night and Four Courses,
One Evening, No Final Events
In March CMA British Columbia held its annual CMA Career Night and Four Courses,
One Evening, No Final Events with post-secondary students in Vancouver, Victoria and
Kamloops. During these events students networked with members and CMA candidates,
learned about the paths to a CMA designation and heard from a CMA keynote speaker.
The Society would like to thank Sabina Gambhir, CMA and Bob Strachan, CMA,
FCMA for serving as keynotes in Vancouver and Victoria, respectively. Similar events
are being planned for other areas of B.C. and will be announced shortly.
Always a popular event with students
is the Afternoon with a CMA, where
CMA British Columbia brings students
interested in the CMA designation
together with some of B.C.’s top CMA
employers. Students view employer
offices, and speak to CMAs and other
staff members about their positions, as
well as careers for new graduates. This
March both Telus and Best Buy hosted
an Afternoon with a CMA event. The
Society would like to thank Karen
Botham, CMA, FCMA at Telus and
Oliver Chaw, CMA at Best Buy Canada
for helping organize this year’s events.
Career fairs and student conferences
Graham Fane, CMA, FCMA MCing Capilano
University’s Creating Connections event.
CM A
30 | n e ws
Raising awareness of the CMA designation with university and college students
throughout B.C., CMA British Columbia attended a number of career fairs this
spring, including the UBC and UVic Faculty of Arts career fairs, and universityand college-wide career fairs at UNBC, Langara College, University College of the
Fraser Valley, Kwantlen Polytechnic University and Thompson Rivers University,
among others.
CMA British Columbia was also a sponsor at many of this year’s career fairs
and student-run conferences, including the BCIT career fair, UBC ME Inc.
conference, Capilano University Creating Connections career fair and joint UBC/
SFU career expo and MBA recruiting reception at the Vancouver Convention Centre,
among others.
5/7/09 10:57:02 AM
Workforce and employer events
Event sponsorships
Martin Gordon, CMA speaking to Howard Pryde, CMA at the CMA
Executive Program session in Victoria.
PHOTO COURTESY OF BIV
Paul Levie, CA, CMA
(Hon.), Executive
Director of the CMA
Executive Program
at UVic, speaking at
the CMA Executive
Program information
session in Victoria.
Throughout the year CMA British Columbia sponsors a number of
business and professional development events. Recent sponsorships
include BCBusiness magazine’s Doing Business in Tough Times
event (February 3); the annual Financial Management Institute
of Canada’s professional development conference (February 11),
where Don Nilson, CMA, FCMA was one of the presenters on
wealth management; and a Vancouver Board of Trade professional
development event: The Disney Institute Presents the Disney Keys
to Excellence (March 31), among others.
Raising awareness of the CMA designation with recent
graduates and young professionals, CMA British Columbia held
a professional development seminar (April 23) for the Vancouver
Board of Trade’s Company of Young Professionals and Leaders of
Tomorrow, where Richard Wong, CMA reviewed the fundamentals of reading financial statements.
This year CMA British Columbia is also a proud sponsor of
Business in Vancouver newsgroup’s Colour Series, which focuses on
profitability (April), sustainability (June), investment (September)
and philanthropy (December) and features a number of keynote
speakers and panel discussions on these four topics.
Troy Griffiths, CMA presenting at the CMA Executive
Program info session in
Victoria.
CMA information sessions
A CMA information session is often one of the first points
of contact potential CMA students have with CMA British
Columbia. This past spring a number of sessions were held
with graduate and post-undergraduate students, including UBC
Diploma in Accounting Program (DAP) students and students
enrolled in MBA programs at UBC, SFU and Queen’s University.
During these sessions students learned about alternate paths
to a CMA – the CMA MBA Joint/Combined Program and the
CMA Bridge Program for DAP students.
Information sessions are held every Thursday at the
CMA office in downtown Vancouver and on selected dates
throughout the Lower Mainland and Victoria. Other recent
information sessions include presentations to the Immigrant
Services Society of B.C. and sessions for the CMA Executive
program in Victoria and Vancouver.
Business in Vancouver Colour Series event – Profitability, the Black
Edition. First row: Vinetta Peek, CMA (Hon.), Nancy MacKay and Colin
Bennett, CMA, FCMA. Nancy MacKay will be presenting The Talent
Advantage: Winning the War for Talent in a Dismal Economy June 16
as a CMA BC professional development workshop.
Monique Ng, CMA with
Don Nilson, CMA, FCMA
at the FMI professional
development conference.
CMA
news
| 31
5/7/09 10:57:04 AM
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5/7/09 10:57:44 AM

CMA BC Update

Transcription

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