Red Ink on the Prairies

A day after Quebec’s Finance Minister Eric Girard brought down a Budget featuring a $6.3 Billion deficit, Saskatchewan’s Finance Minister Jim Reiter tabled his government’s budget on March 19. Next up was Finance Minister Adrian Salas, who tabled the Manitoba Budget on March 24. The common thread: there’s lots of red ink on the Prairies. But that’s where the budget documents differ between Manitoba and Saskatchewan. Here’s the latest tax news and why it matters to the advice you give your clients.

It’s too bad so many people miss out on year-end tax planning for the family. Tax planning is about what you keep: what’s left of your income and capital after taxes are paid. Now is a great time for advisors and clients to review what can be done to lessen this year’s tax load.

October marks the official start of “year-end tax planning season,” and this year there are numerous areas of concern for tax and financial advisors to cover with their clients. The Distinguished Advisor Workshops will soon be coming to four cities across Canada, and some of Canada’s top practitioners will be on hand to share knowledge with delegates. RSVP by October 15 for early-bird savings on tuition fees.

Knowledge Bureau and Manulife are pleased to announce that Financial Advisor Lindsay Sawyer Fay of Winnipeg, Manitoba and Darren Ryan, a financial advisor with Ryco Financial in St. John’s, Newfoundland have been selected as the 2016 winners of THE DAC YOUNG ADVISORS AWARD.

Applications for the 2016 DISTINGUISHED ADVISOR CONFERENCE CLIENT INNOVATION SCHOLARSHIP AWARD are now being accepted.  It’s a new award at DAC this year, open to practicing advisors of all ages; who have been actively engaged in the financial services industry for at least five years.

Payroll is an important component of year-end planning as owner-manager compensation and employee bonuses and benefits are calculated. In other words, tax has a heavy influence on both business cash flow and employee after-tax results.

We love sharing feedback from our recent graduates. This week we feature the success story of Delores Moskal from Yorkton, Saskatchewan, who recently graduated from Knowledge Bureau’s Business Valuation for Advisors course.