John Henry Broer, CPA
57 Elena Crt L9C 7P7 Hamilton, ON, Canada

For all US citizens or residents it's time to get your FBAR completed. New deadlines in 2017.

CRA has made a very significant change in reporting requirements when selling your personal residence. The penalties are very high make sure you comply.

US companies providing services in Canada must comply with Harmonised Sales Tax 'HST' AKA Value Added Tax 'VAT' rules. In addition there are income tax issues if there is a physical establishment "PE" or deemed PE in Canada.

Many have asked me the question, what does a controller really do? Well the definition of a financial controller is: The controller supervises the accounting department and assists management in interpreting and utilizing managerial accounting information. A firm's chief financial officer (CFO) may distribute some of the financial management responsibilities between a controller and a treasurer. OK that's all fine but what does it really mean in layman terms?... I have always broken down the job into three main categories a. Receiving information b. Analyzing data c. Reporting A. Receiving information means collecting data from all sources possible. This can be financial and non financial data. For example collecting all the information from approved purchase orders, and signed check is common. Other examples are hours worked or sales inquiries in a month. Controllers love data. B. Analyzing data is a must. Reconciling information from one system to another ensures information is correct and complete. A bank reconciliation confirms all signed checked were cashed and there should be a correlation of sales and customer emails. C. Reporting will include financial statement but also includes ad-hock management reports. The main goal is to add value to the business by providing the right information to management to make good decisions. That's not all there is to being a controller but it provides a good start.

Does anyone know any stone mason or brick layers? A contract that I have through a habitat for humanity job is looking for a foreman and/or trades person for stone mason or brick layers who could run the job for about 30 days of work and perhaps someone who has retired from the trade. Let me know.

Are you a Canadian resident and born after 1957? If you answered yes you just received a $13,000 benefit in the budget. Ask me how.