USA Snowbirds 2

Facts about Charitable Donation Tax Credit

2

2016 Tax rates for Canadian Controlled Private Corporations

2

2016 CPP & EI rates 3

Walisser Woman of Excellence Award

3

Bank Reconciliation 3

Contributing to the Success of Our Region

4

Contributing To Your Success

Volume 81—Winter 2015

Partners Brent Gamble CPA,CA

Gayle Walton CPA, CA

Brad Velie CPA, CA

Rachel van Tamelen CPA, CA

Associates Ken Burdeyney CPA, CA

Eric Jaschke CPA, CA

Lynn Haunholter CPA, CGA

Robert Hoy CPA, CA

Accoun�ng Staff Julie Guerin CGA

Nicole Soucy

Emilie Ouellet

Administra�on Heather Vedress

Helene Hand

Melody Laurin

Leah Davidge

DEFINITION OF ACCOUNTING TERMS:

Adjusted/Unadjusted Trial Balance

An accoun�ng report that lists ALL the

accounts and their balances. It in-

cludes asset accounts, liability ac-

counts, revenue accounts, expense

accounts and equity accounts. The

trial balance is at a specific date and

can be set to ANY date the user

wants. The trial balance is an ac-

countant’s “go-to-report”. The gen-

eral ledger detail of each account can

usually be viewed by double clicking

an account on the trial balance.

Community InvolvementCommunity Involvement

STAFF ANNOUNCEMENTSSTAFF ANNOUNCEMENTS

We would like to introduce the newest member of the Administration Staff Helene Hand. Helene was born and raised in the McLennan farming community. Helene has lived in Peace River for 31 yrs where she and husband Mark have raised their family of three boys. Helene enjoys camping, hiking, gardening, crafting but most of all, her grand child and spends as much time as possible with family.

InVision Chartered Accountants says good-bye to Janelle Dubois and thank her for her efforts here. We wish her all the best in her future endeavors!

FESTIVAL OF TREES

A group of staff and their spouses attended the Gala for the Festival of Trees on

November 21. The evening was spent

enjoying the food, music, and varied display

of trees and decorations created by local

businesses and individuals for a “Christmas

Carols Theme”.

We were successful at bidding on the tree

which won the “Most Beautiful Tree” which

was submitted by RockSteady Oilfield

Services Ltd.

On September 18 the staff of InVision Chartered Accountants took part in a beauti-ful fall day of golfing. The winning team was Robby Hoy, Ed Haunholter, Nicole Soucy, and Dave Beblow. Due to Gayle’s inept (as she calls it) golfing skills, she agreed to participate only if the office took part in a challenge to attend a lunch hour class she would lead at the gym. It was a memorable challenge that Brad and Robby will never forget and neither did their mus-cles the next day!!

ROTARY HOUSE FUNDRAISING EVENT Some of our staff had the pleasure of attending the Annual Rotary House Fundraising Event on November 7 for a lovely meal, live auction, and music from the 50’s-60’s. Items in the auction were plentiful from our community and the evening proved to be a great success.

Page2 CONTR IBUT ING TO YOUR SUCCESS

ATTENTION: USA Snowbirds It is important to track time spent in the USA. U.S. Substantial Presence Test The November 2015 edition of Canadian Tax Focus, discussed U.S. residency rules contained in the Substantial Presence test. The article reminds the reader that an individ-ual is considered a U.S. resident for any calendar year in which the meet both of the following physical presence test: -present in the U.S. for at least 31 days during the current year; and -the sum of the following totals at least 183 -total days in the U.S. in the current year (e.g. 2015) plus -1/3 of days in the U.S. in the prior year (e.g. 2014) plus -1/6 of days in the U.S. in the second preceding year (e.g. 2013) An individual meeting this test, but spending less that 183 days in the U.S. in the current calendar year, can avoid U.S. residency for tax purposes by filing IRS Form 8840 to as-sert a closer connection to a different country, due by April 15 or June 15 of the following year, depending on the spe-cific facts related to the individual. Visitors to the U.S. can now access their most recent arri-val and departure information, as well as travel history at www.cbp.gov/i94. You will require your passport number as well as other personal information (birthdates) etc.

Facts about Charitable Donation Tax Credit Facts about Charitable Donation Tax Credit Facts about Charitable Donation Tax Credit Facts about Charitable Donation Tax Credit

Budget 2015 maintains Alberta’s Charitable Donation Tax Credit at 21 percent for total donations in excess of $200, one of the highest such credits in Canada. When combined with the federal charitable tax credit of 29 per cent, Albertans receive a 50 per cent non-refundable tax credit for every dollar donated over the $200 threshold. The first $200 in donations receives a combined credit of 35 per cent. The tax credit reduces a taxpayer’s amount owing or increases the amount being refunded. Albertans gave approximately $1.47 billion to charities in 2013. Of the provinces, Alberta tax filers had the highest median charitable donation in the country. (Source: Statis-tics Canada). Contributions to charitable organizations peak during the holiday season, but Albertans can benefit from the tax credit on donations made any time of year. Albertans simply claim their annual donations to registered charities on their in-come tax returns, and the credit is applied to the overall amount owing or being refunded.

2016 Tax rates for Canadian Controlled Private Corpora�ons (CCPC) on Ac�ve Business Income

Combined Federal and

Provincial Tax Rate On Income Below

Combined Federal and Provin-

cial Tax Rate On Income Above

Bri/sh Columbia 13.0 % 500,000 26.0% 500,000

Alberta 13.5% 500,000 27.0% 500,000

Saskatchewan 12.5% 500,000 27.0% 500,000

Manitoba 10.5% 450,000 27.0% 450,000

Ontario 15.0% 500,000 26.5% 500,000

Quebec 18.5% 500,000 26.9% 500,000

New Brunswick 14.5% 500,000 27.0% 500,000

Nova Sco/a 13.5% 350,000 31.0% 350,000

Newfoundland 13.5% 500,000 29.0% 500,000

PEI 15.0% 500,000 31.0% 500,000

NWT 14.5% 500,000 26.5% 500,000

Yukon 13.5% 500,000 30.0% 500,000

Nunavut 14.5% 500,000 27.0% 500,000

Accountant Street Gangs

Canada Pension Plan (CPP) Premiums 2016 The maximum pensionable earnings in 2016 will be $54,900 —-up from $53,600 in 2015. Contributors who earn more than $54,900 in 2016 are not required or permitted to make additional contributions to the CPP. The employee and em-ployer contribution rates for 2016 will remain unchanged at 4.95%, and the self-employed contribution rate will remain unchanged at 9.9% . The maximum employer and employee contribution to the plan for 2016 will be $2,544.30 each and the maximum self-employed contribution will be set at $5,088.60. The maximums in 2015 were $2,479.95 and $4,959.90.

A Bank reconciliation is a process that explains the difference between the bank balance shown in an organization’s bank state-ment, as supplied by the bank, and the corresponding amount shown in the organization’s own (accounting) records at that same time. Such differences may occur for example, because a cheque or a list of cheques issued by the organization has not yet cleared the bank, or a deposit has been prepared but not yet deposited in to

the bank account. When you have finished the bank reconciliation on the computer it is important to review your “outstanding deposits” and “outstanding withdraw-als” on the bank reconciliation items and ensure that these items are legiti-mate outstanding items that will clear your bank statement in the future. It is important to question whether these items are real or if they may be

adjustments made that will linger in your bank reconcilia-tion indicating that your bank in NOT truly reconciled, even though the computer tells you it is! If you have an adjustment listed in outstanding deposits with a matching value listed in outstanding withdrawals or vice versa, the items will clear each other from the bank reconciliation and so are not a concern. You may also want to question whether items may be stale dated and prepare an adjustment to reverse any stale dated transactions. After your bank balance is reconciled and you’ve ensured that all outstanding items are legitimate it is important to print the bank reconciliation report and attach it to your bank statement to ensure that you have an accurate reconciliation on file in case any future accounting complications arise.

This years recipient of the Walisser

Woman of Excellence Award is Emily

Lyseng. Emily was the recipient of the

$1,000 scholarship at the Paul

Rowe Awards at the school

in Manning. The sponsor of

the award, Gayle Walton

CPA, CA who herself was a

student of Paul Rowe High School,

provides the award to promote the

advancement of young rural female

students in the pursuit of their careers.

Gayle attended Grimshaw High School,

Glenmary High

School, and

Paul Rowe High

School to give

presentations

on becoming a

CPA.

We continually recruit Accounting Students and Technicians!!

Effective July 1, 2015 all CA, CGA and CMA’s in Alberta became CPA’s as well. You will see these accountants now using both their legacy designation (CA, CGA, or CMA) in addition to the new CPA designation. New professional accountants will train under and earn the CPA designation only. The merger of the 3 accounting designations has been in the works for some time now and July 1, 2015 marked the end of the process and beginning of the official use of the CPA designation in Alberta.

Employment Insurance (EI) Premiums 2016 The maximum insurable earnings for 2016 will be $50,800-up from $49,500 in 2015. The EI premium rate for 2016 is 1.88% unchanged from 2016. The maximum employee contribution for 2016 will be $955.04 and the maximum employer contribution will be $1,337.06 . The maximums for 2015 were $930.60 and $1,302.84. You have to deduct EI premiums from insurable earnings you pay to your employees. In addition , you must pay 1.4 times the amount of the employee’s premiums.

VOLUME 81—WINTER 2015 Page3

CONTRIBUTING TO THE SUCCESS OF OUR REGION 2015 was another year in which we were able to contribute to the success of our region by making monetary donations to

local groups including :

Blazing Pistols and Country Fair Ecole Heritage Yearbook

Glenmary Band Knights of Columbus

Manning & Area Early Childhood Splash Park Project Manning Rodeo Barrel Racing

Manning Sports Center Association North Peace Performing Arts Festival

Misery Mountain Ski Area Peace River and District Health Foundation (Spring Fling)

Peace River Bantams AA Sabres Peace River Curling Club

Peace River High School Awards Peace River Royals

Peace River Running Club Peace River Women’s Shelter

Peace River U14 Soccer Rotary Club of Peace River

Royal Canadian Legion Smoky River Atoms Minor Hockey

Song Rise Music Conference No Limitz Stollery Children’s Hospital

2015 World Jet Boat Championship

Partners, associates and staff also give time to groups and organizations throughout the region, including: Firefighters Association Friends of Library Glenmary School Council Good Shepherd School Council Harmon Valley & District Volunteer Heart River Golf Club Heritage Run HIV North—Aids Walk Movember Mustache Nampa & District Volunteer Fire Dpt Nampa Gospel Fellowship Nampa Minor Hockey Our Lady of Peace Catholic Church Peace Fest Peace River Junior Curling Peace River Library Peace Players Porpoise Swim Club Shaftesbury Water Co-op SPCA—Tails on Trail The MakePeace Foundation

On behalf of InVision

Chartered Accountants we

would like to wish you all the

best of Health and

Happiness and extend a very

Merry Christmas and a Happy

New Year to you and your

Families!