This past weekend the boys of Pinnacle PAC (Chris Brien and Jeff Ross) and FileCo Services Inc. (Doug Johnstone and Schuyler Holoboff) embarked on a journey akin to that of Frodo’s journey to Mt. Doom (or Valhalla Provincial Park if you prefer the real name). That similarity prompted Doug to start calling Chris “The Hobbit”.…
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April 30 is like Christmas Day for many accountants. It means that the weeks of working late nights and weekends are behind us and we are now free to finally enjoy spring. Many non-accountants are usually happy as well because they receive a refund once their tax returns are filed. However, an income tax refund…
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Pinnacle PAC knows that leaders are readers. The Pinnacle Team endeavors to constantly nurture our minds, expand and enhance our services, and remain thought and practice leaders in the accounting industry. We have assembled an ever-growing list of books that we feel are worthy of your time and attention. 1. The Emyth Revisited – by…
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If you are a doctor, dentist, or other professional and are considering purchasing a practice, you are likely contemplating a purchase of shares. And you should read this blog. There are a number of ways to structure a purchase of shares, but in this blog I will discuss three options: Purchase the shares of the…
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There is a new accounting designation in Canada – Chartered Professional Accountant (CPA). Historically, there were three national accounting bodies in Canada – CA, CGA, and CMA. Over the years, having three separate accounting designations in Canada has created some confusion among Canadians as well in the international community. For this and other reasons, the three bodies…
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Thinking about your CPP? Mainstream media outlets have run many stories in recent years telling of the large number of Canadians that will reach retirement age in the near future. Many of our clients fit into this category and we are often asked when they should start taking CPP. A quick recap of the issue…
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I have a Bookkeeper! Do I really need an Accountant? Two of the most frequent questions we are asked are: Explain the difference between a bookkeeper and an accountant. If I have one do I need the other? (The answer is usually yes.) They are great questions. Because we work so closely together, the boundaries…
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We are often asked by clients whether they should lease or purchase their vehicles (either outright or using a loan). We have tried to distill the decision down to a few rules of thumb. In general, leasing is more expensive than buying because the leasing company accepts a portion of the depreciation risk. The advantages…
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The National Hockey League (NHL) lock-out this past year lasted 119 days. It resulted in the cancellation of 510 regular season games, including the All-Star Game and the outdoor Winter Classic. NHL commissioner Gary Bettman estimated that as a business the NHL was losing between $18 and $20 million a day. He also estimated that…
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We all spend time as kids imagining how our lives might be when we grow up. And then we grow up and we find ourselves imagining what might happen if… In business, those daydreams can often turn into guessing games, red herrings and assumptive goose chases. But with some imagination and calculation, business owners can…
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