Tuesday, October 25th, 2011
Jeffrey D. Sherman is the lead author of all four volumes of First Reference’s Internal Controls Library: Finance and Accounting PolicyPro (including Operations and Marketing PolicyPro), Information Technology PolicyPro and Not-for-Profit PolicyPro. While we knew our internal control publications were in good hands before, we don’t mind saying we’re especially proud to have Jeffrey’s name on them now.
Read the rest of this post »Wednesday, October 12th, 2011
You not-for-profit organizations and charities out there probably remember that, in the not-too-distant past, the federal and Ontario governments enacted new laws governing the activities of NFPs. Well, some expect these laws to come into force within the next six months. That’s sooner than you probably think.
Read the rest of this post »Monday, July 25th, 2011
Charity and non-profit lawyer Mark Blumberg offers a compliance checklist for Canadian charities via the GlobalPhilanthropy.ca charity assistance project.
Read the rest of this post »Thursday, June 23rd, 2011
After I joined the board of directors at a not-for-profit arts organization, it didn’t take long for me to wonder how I’d balance my new obligations with the rest of my day-to-day life. I’d volunteered before, but only informally. Now I have regular responsibilities, mainly meetings and fundraising. I’ll probably invest 70 to 80 hours volunteering with the organization this year. It’s a worthy cause, but it’s also worthwhile to question the time commitment.
Read the rest of this post »Thursday, March 24th, 2011
How can a not-for-profit organization ensure that its board members are living up to their responsibilities? How will they know whether their performance measures up to expectations? Can wide-ranging assessments of board members’ performance provide useful information to individual members and the board as a whole to help the board and its organization reach their potential?
Read the rest of this post »Monday, November 22nd, 2010
Ontario’s legislature wasted no time following the passage of the Canada Not-for-profit Corporations Act to enact its own Act to revise the law in respect of not-for-profit corporations (Bill 65). The Bill received royal assent on October 25, but the government hasn’t set a date for it to come into force yet.
Read the rest of this post »Monday, October 4th, 2010
We last discussed British Columbia’s and Ontario’s transition to harmonized sales taxes in March, and now they’re here. In fact, as you well know, they’ve been here for more than two months, and not everyone is happy about it. British Columbians in particular are angry, and have called for a referendum on the issue, which will take place next September. Ontarians have once again shown their stoic side as the government tells them what’s best. While many have complained, no one has made a significant attempt to repeal the tax.
Read the rest of this post »Thursday, July 29th, 2010
If you work in the not-for-profit sector, chances are that your organization performs some sort of community service, quite possibly helping disadvantaged persons or designated groups, such as visible minorities, Aboriginals, persons with disabilities or addictions, or women. For this reason alone, not-for-profit organizations are essential to the well-being of our communities and cities. But you already knew that.
Read the rest of this post »Thursday, July 8th, 2010
In late May, Ontario Bill 65, the not-for-profit corporations act, received second reading in the provincial legislature. This is the culmination of several years of consultation with the not-for-profit sector.
Read the rest of this post »Thursday, June 17th, 2010
On May 29, the federal government introduced Bill C-29, the Safeguarding Canadians’ Personal Information Act, which makes substantial changes to the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA). The Bill had been in development for several years, and one of its primary objectives was to address a significant gap in PIPEDA, the issue of mandatory disclosure of “material” breaches of personal information by the companies or organizations responsible.
Read the rest of this post »Thursday, May 27th, 2010
When a board of directors, senior staff, volunteers and members of a not-for-profit are marching to the same beat, an organization can do great things and win the admiration of the community at large. But when they fall out of step—for example, when the board loses control of the executive director, or the organization squanders the respect of its members or volunteers—things can go very wrong, very fast.
Read the rest of this post »Tuesday, April 27th, 2010
I recently read a couple of articles dealing with the relationship between not-for-profit organizations and the Canada Revenue Agency, particularly with respect to fraudulent charitable tax receipts and what non-profits can do about accidental profits.
Read the rest of this post »Monday, April 5th, 2010
Now that the financial reporting standards for public companies and private enterprises have been settled, the Accounting Standards Board is turning its attention to not-for-profits. The board’s objective is to ensure that accounting standards for not-for-profit organizations “are responsive to the diverse nature of the sector, allow for comparability between the private and public sectors and provide decision-useful financial statements for the multiple and varied users of these statements.”
Read the rest of this post »
Leslie D Foreman:Andrew Taillon:
Copyright © 2012 - First Reference | Entries (RSS) | Comments (RSS) | Twitter | Facebook
WordPress theme designed by 
web design
