This weekend we had the pleasure of seeing this incredible broadway show in Downtown Toronto, “The Lost Heros of Oro”. It’s an incredible story written and directed by Alinka Angelova. A story that shines a light on the founding of the African Methodist Episcopal Church which acted as the final marker signifying freedom for those slaves traveling to Canada. This story brings a unique part of Canada’s history to the fore. It is an intriguing history lesson wrapped up with a song. You will love it so I recommend you check it out. In this issue of my Weekly Top 5, I invite you to join us for a FREE webinar coming up this week on all you need to know about leading/managing a Not-For-Profit organization. I also share other valuable tips and resources in this issue. Enjoy and please remember to share this with everyone in your network:

1. A FREE Webinar For Directors/Leaders/Managers of Not-For-Profit Organizations

We are excited to announce an upcoming FREE webinar for Directors, leaders, and those involved in Not-For-Profit organizations. This webinar will focus on financial governance and all related compliance obligations for Not-For-Profit organizations including charities. This webinar will take place online on Zoom on Wednesday, February 12, 2025 at 5 PM. Here are some questions this webinar will address:

• What are the key building blocks for maintaining strong financial governance for a Not-For-Profit organization?
• What are my responsibilities as a director or leader in a Not-For-Profit organization?
• How do I maintain compliance with the Canada Revenue Agency’s compliance requirements for Not-For-Profit organizations including Charities?
• What are the best practices for maintaining adequate books and records?
• What are the Provincial and Federal laws governing my Not-For-Profit organization and what are my obligations to ensure compliance?
• What are the benefits of audited financial statements for my organization and its board members?
• How do I get my organization to be audit-ready?

To learn more and to register to attend, go to gmscpa.ca/nfp. We look forward to hosting you next week on Wednesday.

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2. Do You Own A Corporation With A December 31 Year-end?

As some of you may know, we provide a number of services for corporate clients and it’s that time of the year when corporations with a December year-end should start organizing their documents to compile their financial results, estimate taxes, plan their cash flow for the new year and several other things. While we obviously help corporations with the tax compliance work of filing their annual corporate tax returns, we do provide other additional value-added services such as:

• Streamlining and automating the majority of your bookkeeping processes
• Doing a cash flow and budget analysis for your corporation
• Estimating corporate tax liability and developing a plan for installment payment of your taxes
• Corporate tax planning including how to invest corporate dollars and how to properly use insurance within your business to mitigate risk and plan for retirement
• Corporate restructuring to ensure you’re organized in the most tax-efficient way
• Remuneration planning to ensure you’re taking money out of your corporation in the most tax-efficient manner
• How to use your corporation as a nest egg for your retirement in a tax-efficient manner.
• And many more…

If you’re looking for solutions for your corporation consider working with me and my team at GMS Chartered Professional Accountants LLP. I invite you to book a complimentary time to chat with me here.

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3. The Top Ten Reasons Why You Pay Too Much in Taxes

Whether you like it or not, taxes affect all of us. In fact, it is probably your biggest household expense (assuming you have a decent job or business). Yet, most people do nothing to manage their taxes. In this article, I discuss the top 10 reasons why you may be paying too much in taxes. Reasons range from lack of periodic tax planning, lack of optimization with family members, and a lack of basic knowledge of our Canadian tax laws. Get all the details here.

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4. Why More Money Will Not Solve Your Money Problems

Not too long ago, in an email shared by Rob Minton, one of my mentors, he concluded that…

Money problems ALWAYS flow from thinking problems.

I thought this was an interesting conclusion as it directly relates to our money mindset. Rob goes on to share how we see this in real life by studying lottery winners. Within a short period of time, they go from money problems to having lots of money and then to having money problems again.

So, more money usually doesn’t solve money problems. To solve money problems you have to change how you think about money. This comes down to your money mindset, which is the subconscious feelings and thoughts we develop towards money from our life experiences. A money mindset is your unique and individual set of core beliefs about money and how money works in the world. It is your overriding attitude about money. It shapes what you believe you can and cannot do with money, how much money you believe you’re allowed, entitled, and able to earn, how much you can and should spend, the way you utilize debt, how much money you give away, and your ability to invest with confidence and success. When it comes to money mindset, there are two extremes:

• The Scarcity Mindset, which will keep you stressed, anxious, and can result in a lack of generosity; and
• The Abundance mindset, that can keep you calm, positive, optimistic and more generous with your money

Most of us will fall in between these two extremes. It is important to know where you stand and to begin to work to develop the right money mindset. You can use this FREE resource to take a 2-minute money mindset test to give you a sense of your current mindset when it comes to money. So far, 44% of those that have taken this test have an abundant money mindset. What about you? Take the test here.

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5. We are now GMS Chartered Professional Accountants LLP

After more than a decade of growth and evolution, we’re once again making a name change—rebranding from GMS Professional Corporation to GMS Chartered Professional Accountants Limited Liability Partnership. This isn’t just a name change; it’s the start of a new era for our firm and services. In 2012, we started our firm as Green, Meikle & Smith Chartered Accountants Professional Corporation. In 2017, we rebranded to GMS Professional Corporation and now we’re rebranding to GMS Chartered Professional Accountants Limited Liability Partnership. This new partnership structure will make it easier to expand our team and bring in new partners as we continue to grow the firm. Our focus will continue to remain on supporting small businesses and not-for-profit (NFP) organizations as it has always been from day one. Click here to get more details on why we’re making this change.