First Reference Talks

Discussions on Human Resources, Employment Law, Payroll and Internal Controls

Apolone Gentles, JD, CPA,CGA, FCCA, Bsc (Hons)

About Apolone Gentles, JD, CPA,CGA, FCCA, Bsc (Hons)

Apolone Gentles is a CPA, CGA and Ontario lawyer and editor with over 20 years of business experience. Apolone is leveraging 20 years of business and accounting experience to build a commercial litigation practice with an emphasis on construction law. She has held senior leadership roles in non-profit organizations, leading finance, human resources, information technology and facilities teams. She has also held senior roles in audit and assurance services at a “Big Four” audit firm. Apolone has also lectured in Auditing, Economics and Business at post-secondary schools.

By | 3 Minutes Read

Privacy and your IT department

Is your IT department ready for more stringent privacy laws? On the heels of the federal government’s bill to modernize federal privacy laws (that is, the Digital Charter Implementation Act, 2020 ), the Ontario government has declared the federal bill inadequate. Consequently, on June 17, 2021, the Ontario government issued a whitepaper entitled Modernizing Privacy in Ontario, initiating further public dialogue on its proposals to improve privacy protection.

By | 4 Minutes Read

Vendor master file blunders caused a $2.7M loss

Vendor master file blunders caused a $2.7M loss for a company whose insurer refused to cover most of the loss. At the root of the loss was the company's inadequate response to a phishing email. A few simple best practices could have prevented the loss.

By | 2 Minutes Read

ISO 14001:2015 Confirmed

The International Standards Organization (ISO) recently confirmed ISO 14001:2015 – Environmental management systems. Consequently, the 2015 version of the standard remains current. The ISO performs a systematic review of a standard every five years to ensure that it remains current and globally relevant.

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Established in 1995, First Reference Inc. (known as La Référence in Quebec) provides Canadian organizations of any size with practical and authoritative resources to help ensure compliance.

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