Bob Wener

Bob Wener, Managing Partner

CHIEF EXPERTISE: In Ottawa, our KPMG professionals provide audit, tax, and advisory services to publicly-listed companies, medium and large private enterprises, public sector organizations and government departments, agencies and crown corporations.

NUMBER OF LOCAL ACCOUNTANTS: We currently have 125 client service staff in our Ottawa office.

PRINCIPALS OF LOCAL OFFICE: Our Audit partners are: Barry Lalonde, Ken Charbonneau, Al Leslie, Denis Trottier, Len Anderson, and Kristy Carscallen. Our Tax partners are: Grant McDonald, Charles Murphy, Greg Bell, David Schlesinger, and Alan Tippett. Our Advisory partners are: Vic Duret, Jim McCaw, Patrick Coady, Brian Bost and Bob Wener.

HOW IS THE NEW EMPHASIS ON CORPORATE GOVERNANCE AND ACCOUNTING PRACTICES CHANGING THE WAY YOUR CLIENTS DO BUSINESS?

New regulations set out by the various securities regulators in Canada and abroad, as well as the Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants, have dictated some services that cannot be provided by a company's auditors. In many cases boards of directors of publicly traded companies and public sector organizations embraced these new restrictions by setting out the extent to which the auditors could perform any service beyond those directly connected to the audit. Frequently, these two forces have combined to provide accounting firms with opportunities to provide services to clients of other accounting firms.

This renewed emphasis on corporate governance has strengthened the make-up of boards of directors, allowing operating executives to manage the business and the boards to perform oversight and policy and strategy oversight.

HOW IS THIS EMPHASIS IMPACTING YOUR ACCOUNTING FIRM?

KPMG has benefited from the focus on quality services. Firstly, there are currently four large accounting firms. These firms have top training programs and excellent professional practice groups that result in the ability to provide quality service to any organization. Clients that require local contact, but national or international knowledge, will look to one of the four large firms. KPMG will not be the primary service provider to all of these clients, but by delivering quality and timely service we will get our share. Secondly, a renewed focus on the content of the audited financial statements has helped the audit service return to a more prominent role.

Thirdly, KPMG has invested significantly in developing specialty practices in tax and advisory to provide services to companies for whom we do not provide audit services.

WHAT IS THE MOST COMMON MISTAKE MADE BY SMALL BUSINESS THAT CAN BE CORRECTED OR AVOIDED BY RETAINING A GOOD ACCOUNTANT? Failure to plan. There are several areas to consider in building a plan and a good accountant can provide advice and assistance with executing each stage. Before you start your business, build a business plan that really tests and validates your business model. Make sure that you have a sound value proposition that your customers will pay for; get the right talent on your team and motivate them; ensure that your financing structure works to facilitate your growth rather than constraining it; take appropriate steps to minimize all taxes; if you have partners, make sure you develop an agreement on how the business will be run and how partners can join or exit.

WHAT TAX BREAKS DO MOST BUSINESSES FAIL TO EXPLOIT?

There is no one-size-fits-all answer here. Everyone should develop a tax strategy that fits their circumstances. Make sure that you plan your affairs to minimize income tax but don't forget payroll taxes, sales tax and property tax. Look into tax credits for product improvement or process development you undertake in your business. Don't make the mistake of planning for your business without considering how that impacts your personal tax planning.

A COMMON COMPLAINT BY SMALL BUSINESS IS THE PAPER BURDEN RELATED TO COMPLYING WITH VARIOUS GOVERNMENT REGULATIONS. WHAT ROLE CAN THE ACCOUNTING PROFESSION PLAY IN RESPONDING TO THIS COMPLAINT?

Don't let the paper burden distract you from the most important job you have – that of directing and managing your business. Make arrangements to get the administrative details dealt with appropriately; hire a bookkeeper, contract it out, get help. Then get on with the job of making your customers happy – that's the key to success in business.