We care about the details and will help you achieve your business and personal financial goals. Whether it’s advice about restructuring your business, or saving and recovering tax dollars, or planning ahead for a smooth transition of your business — we can help.
Browse some of our success stories to see how we’ve already helped others achieve their goals. For 33 years, Scarrow Yurman & Co. has provided businesses in York Region and the GTA with progressive accounting services and tax advice. We can do the same for you.
Explore our site and feel free to contact us if you’d like to learn more about how the Scarrow Yurman & Co. team can help you put the pieces together and get you to where you want to go!
We use a proactive team-based approach to give you a clear picture of your current operations and a plan for the future.
Whether it’s maximizing your profits or taking advantage of the latest tax credits — such as SR&ED — we’re here to help you grow your business and achieve your financial goals.
Since we are privileged to have a close and long-running relationship with our clients, we often are asked to help out with matters that are far from a typical “accounting or taxation” problem. In general terms we call this business advisory services. It can take the form of:
You name it, in 33 years of helping clients in their businesses, we have been asked just about everything! We will so our best to assist with any business decision making that you might be facing.
Either of these events is a watershed moment in your business career. It is important to know that you have an ethical, innovative and loyal professional in your corner to help you make the best decisions.
Buying and selling a business often takes many months to close, but can also come up suddenly. We work closely with your legal counsel, and other consultants that may be involved, for a successful outcome.
You can rely on us during this time of high stress to guide you through the process.
The existing corporate structure of your business can become outdated as it develops, grows and changes. You don’t want your business or family circumstance to surpass your current corporate structure.
We have the tax and business expertise to advise you about how to move your corporate structure to the next level.
Working with the trusted professionals at Scarrow Yurman & Co and your legal counsel, you’ll be well able to structure your business to handle the economic, industry, and compliance demands of tomorrow.
Sometimes a financial institution will require a cash flow projection to support a request for financing. We have the right tools in place to prepare this type of reporting for you.
We start by understanding your business plans and your financial performance metrics. Next, we create a report that is useful to the lender and also to you.
We often find that clients start these projects to satisfy the requirements of a lender, but end up seeing the true value to themselves and want to continue the projections.
We tailor our level of financial reporting services to meet your needs. Whether it’s a full Audit Report, or a Review Engagement, or a less labour-intensive Notice to Reader Engagement, our goal is to add real value to your business and support your decision making.
You may require an Audit Report because of:
The provision of Audit Services is the hallmark of the public accounting profession and the C.A. designation—capitalizing on a strong sense of professional ethics, hard work and vigilance. The Audit process is a labour-intensive and hence expensive exercise.
But Scarrow Yurman & Co has a system in place to remove as much of the stress on you as possible, make the end product useful for our client’s decision-making needs, and contain costs to competitive levels. We can meet your needs whether you have a balance sheet of more than $200M and or less than $200K.
If you require some level of assurance on your financial statements, but not a full audit, we often perform a Review Engagement. This level of assurance is sufficient for:
Many of our clients ask us to perform the Review Engagement even when they have no external requirement to provide this type of financial statement but simply because they value the additional depth of analysis. Here our focus is on the financial performance and on adding some insight into where opportunities exist or problems lurk.
While not as arduous as an audit, the Review Engagement still requires an inquisitive approach to our work, and a lot of person-to-person contact so that we can know enough about your business to provide the insights you need.
Many businesses do not require any level of assurance on their financial statements to the users of this information. For this type of engagement we perform a Notice to Reader Engagement. In this type of work we don’t get into the detailed work that the assurance engagements involve.
Smaller businesses are often asking for this type of financial statement because it satisfies the income tax filing requirements for corporations, partnerships and professionals and is less expensive.
People have different objectives for their estate and beneficiaries but tax minimization is often the biggest area of concern.
We can create a logical and coherent estate plan in concert with your legal counsel and your investment advisors.
Once things are well organized, you can rest easy knowing that this important area of planning has a solid action plan.
Do you see yourself travelling, golfing, sailing, spoiling your grandchildren, taking music lessons, enjoying your well-deserved break? For most of us, this type of retirement calls for careful planning and ongoing monitoring.
Whether you have already started saving or not, preparing for your retirement is much more than simply saving money. Finances, life events and the economy are all variables that fluctuate regularly and can impact your retirement planning.
At Scarrow Yurman & Co. we not only help you with your initial plan for retirement, but we will review your situation each year to ensure you are working your plan AND that your plan is still working for you!
Why not give us a call today and let’s start planning your future – together!
These tax credits support Canadian innovation and may apply to businesses who improve a process, product, material or device. Since they were introduced, we have helped many clients with their claims.
Although the program is complicated, the SR&ED tax credit helps keep more cash in your business and can be very advantageous for you. Our clients typically handle their own technical writing or hire a technical consultant for this and we handle the number crunching. We work for an hourly rate, not on a contingent fee basis as do many other accounting firms. We’re here to maximize your tax credit options.
Many family business owners hope that their business can be transitioned to another family member. Based on our experience this is one of the most difficult things to do. Statistics gathered by industry and government support this.
Scarrow Yurman & Co has an edge in helping clients in this area because we have strong personal relationships with the family, having served as both accounting and tax advisors on a personal and corporate basis. Well before any transition takes place, we can help both parties be realistic and set some critical success factors.
Everyone wants to minimize the taxes they pay.
That’s why we typically prepare the corporate tax returns along with a year-end financial statement engagement. We want to be sure that you:
There are many differences between the accounting income showing on your financial statements and the taxable income on your tax return that affects the taxes owing. We electronically file all corporate tax returns to speed up processing when you are owed a tax refund. We encourage you to take advantage of corporate direct deposit to improve the security surrounding tax refunds.
Almost all of the shareholders of our corporate clients are personal tax clients too. We also prepare personal tax returns for self-employed professionals in many lines of work, executives with complex tax filing requirements, all client family members, and other individuals who have special tax filing needs.
It is important that we prepare the tax returns for the whole family so that all the available credits and tax incentives can be maximized. If you call us with a question our technology allows us to retrieve information on your tax file easily and immediately—including access to all your tax reporting slips and other supporting documents you sent to us.
When possible, we e-file personal tax returns to speed up your tax refund. We encourage you to have us enroll you for direct deposit so that CRA refund cheques are deposited directly into your bank account. This improves security and provides faster access to the funds!
At some point CRA may come knocking—looking for back-up information to support your personal or corporate tax filing position. This can be a simple request for information or a full-scale audit.
We have the expertise to help you through what many find to be a nerve-wracking experience. You need professionals who have your best interests at heart and who have an in-depth knowledge of the ever-changing tax laws as to what tax rules apply and don’t apply. In the case of a full blown tax audit, careful management of the process is important so that things don’t go “off the rails.” Managing the CRA auditor appropriately is as important as the discussion on detailed tax law.
For 33 years we have advocated strongly on behalf of our clients with CRA—while maintaining a professional reputation with them.
To be recognized as a vibrant, progressive, and technologically-advanced accounting and tax firm in York Region. Mission To deliver the highest standards of excellence in accounting services and tax advice in an atmosphere of teamwork, innovation, and continuous improvement. We are committed to ethics and professionalism in all business dealings, and client and employee relationships.
Our staff represents a wide range of age groups and experience. Why not put our deep practical knowledge to work for you?
Our passion is helping you grow your business.
“Being in a leadership role with so many dedicated, innovative and knowledgeable professionals is truly a treat. Each contributes significant value to the organization and the clients we serve.”
Milla Yurman, Partner
In August 1987, I had been working at the Bank of Montreal for about six months, having first obtained my CA designation at the Toronto offices of Peat Marwick Mitchell & Co (now KPMG). One afternoon, Ron O’Hagan, another alumni of KPMG, called me and asked “do you want to quit your job and start an accounting firm with me?” I had no mortgage, no house, no spouse, no one to really check the idea with, so it seemed an easy decision. Without hesitation I said yes and the firm began as O’Hagan & Scarrow, Chartered Accountants.
Offices were initially located in our largest (and only!) client, a hotel on the airport strip where we toiled at cleaning up the books and assisting management with improving the reporting systems. As new clients came on stream and the initial assignment ended, offices were established in the Imperial Optical Buildings at Dundas Square and Victoria Street. Within about one year we moved again to a bigger office on Yonge Street, north of Eglinton, above a Spanish Tapis bar. The restaurant owner, Sergio, also owned the building and was a very good landlord.
Cathy Carroll, another KPMG alumni joined us while we were located on Yonge Street. In 1994 Cathy became a partner with us and we moved again, this time to 445 Apple Creek Blvd., taking on more space, some of which we rented out to another accountant and a few others, in order to save on costs and “grow into the space”. Along the way Ron left the practice to pursue computer consulting opportunities and Cathy and I carried on with a growing practice and a growing team until she decided to get out of the line of fire to spend more time with her growing family responsibilities.
I carried on with my team until Milla joined me in 2009 Milla became my partner in 2012 and the rest as they say is history.
I will say that the whole journey has been fabulous – so many great people have worked in our offices over the years; of all personality types yet with a common set of values that places client service at the top, closely followed by dedication to producing quality work for clients, staying current with both technical knowledge and technology, all while maintaining a sense of balance between work life and personal pursuits.
And of course we had great clients all along and still do. The clients paid our wages and on top of that, referred their friends and colleagues to us, and the practice grew nicely over time. I personally spent very little time “marketing”; never joined a golf club to chase business, rarely asked my wife to entertain clients at home or at restaurants (she had her own demanding career), and I maintained as normal a personal life as was possible – don’t get me wrong, I worked hard but don’t feel I sacrificed my personal life along the way in order to achieve the success I’ve had.
This profession is a truly great place to be – and now there is more scope to the profession in terms of service areas than ever before. The future looks bright.
I would close by expressing my thanks to all of the staff that have worked in our office over the years, the clients who were both very loyal to us and fun to work with, and to Milla for taking on the whole ball of wax to lead the firm into the bright future I know that it has.
We would like to hear from you!
Please send your resume to: [email protected].
We use a proactive team-based approach to give you a clear picture of your current operations and a plan for the future.
Whether it’s maximizing your profits or taking advantage of the latest tax credits — such as SR&ED — we’re here to help you grow your business and achieve your financial goals.
A client in the construction industry was audited by CRA for a period covering two fiscal years. They wanted to disallow credit notes issued for back charges, rate changes, or outright refusal to pay—and also disallow bad debt write-offs for two years. Our client was distressed because it meant an increase in the total taxable income and a very high tax liability.
CRA dragged the audit out over two years without changing their position.
Scarrow Yurman & Co filed a notice of objection and provided the appeals officer with sufficient documentation to eliminate almost all of the additional taxable income. In the end, the final tax bill was less than 10% of the original tax assessment.
A contracting company operating in the residential construction trades for over 30 years was normally quite profitable. When gross margins began to fall and the corporation showed a substantial loss in its most recent fiscal year, management was completely surprised by the situation and could not understand how it had happened. They were certain that their project bids would yield profit margins comparable to historical results and that a loss was not possible. Management was concerned that if the trend continued cash flow would become tight and long established cash reserves would dwindle.
Scarrow Yurman & Co pulled apart the numbers and in discussions with the client discovered that many of the revenue and expense processes within the company had very little internal control placed over them. Also, management was not using available financial information on a month by month, or job by job basis to evaluate profitability.
Scarrow Yurman & Co evaluated some of the billing and spending processes in place. We offered suggestions as to how to better ensure all revenue actually earned was billed and ensure costs were better contained and controlled. We also convinced management of the importance of being more closely involved with not only the operations of a company but with the financial reporting routines as well.
The client implemented these suggestions and in the next fiscal year profits returned.
This successful contracting client had grown from being strictly an installer of HVAC systems for small industrial building sites to one of the largest installers and manufacturers of these systems in their field—participating in 3P institutional projects throughout the Province of Ontario. As a result of this growth success story, the company had built their own specialized manufacturing facility, acquired significant manufacturing equipment and acquired other real estate assets that were non-business related.
When the company was awarded yet more work it became clear that another manufacturing location would be required to deliver enough new capacity.
Scarrow Yurman & Co identified that the corporate structure that had served well for many years was becoming outdated. The asset protection needs of the client were in danger of being compromised and optimal tax minimization in the event of a future sale of the business, would be hard to achieve.
Together with tax Counsel, Scarrow & Co led the project to reorganize the client’s corporate structure. Business and non-business real estate assets were moved into the appropriate corporate entities, all manufacturing equipment was moved into a new manufacturing entity, and the installation business risks were isolated in a separate operating company. In addition, the corporate structure project helped the client identify the need to undertake significant steps in building the senior management team and analyze the options for exiting the business in the future.
When a highly successful mechanical contractor started to expand into general contracting they faced increased fixed expenses and decreased gross profits. The client was stressed to find that they were sliding towards a break-even point.
Scarrow Yurman & Co listened to the goals of the shareholder and analyzed the financial controls in place. We recommended implementing a job costing solution and better internal controls. Ultimately we helped our client withdraw from general contracting jobs and focus on their sub-trade of expertise.
Now our client manages their contracts in a proactive and profitable manner and understands the metrics that need to be monitored and what business lines are the most profitable.
When a contractor doing institutional work wanted to incur large discretionary costs to reduce their reported profits, they turned to Scarrow Yurman & Co for guidance. The client was facing a potentially high corporate tax bill because of large profits. But, profits were tied up supporting ongoing work in progress and the funds were not available to pay a large tax liability.
We strongly advised against incurring costs just to manage a tax liability. Given the relationship of trust built over many years, the client accepted our advice. Our analysis showed that by using percentage of completion accounting a significant portion of the profits could be deferred to the next fiscal year. This analysis also gave the client insights into the profitability of the various jobs.
The approach allowed the tax bill to be smoothed over more than one tax year, saving valuable cash for operating purposes and eliminating the need for an unnecessary spending spree.
A lawyer was promoted to Partner and his professional income was no longer being reported via a T4-slip. As a result the tax return seemed too complicated for him to complete on his own. Could Scarrow Yurman & Co help?
Scarrow Yurman & Co walked the lawyer through the implications of his new status. Since his law firm operates out of several provinces, two tax returns needed to be filed: a multijurisdictional federal tax return and a separate Quebec tax return. As well, the lawyer was entitled to claim eligible business expenses and an HST rebate.
Now our client realizes the value in using a CA firm to prepare his annual tax return and continues to use us every year.
A partner in a downtown law firm was about to lease a car because he was told that all taxpayers can deduct $800 per month of car lease payments on their tax returns. Wisely, he called Scarrow Yurman & Co .
We explained that the advice was incorrect. Deductions for a car lease can only be made if the vehicle is used for business purposes and then only by the percentage of business use versus personal use. Also, leased vehicles that have a MSRP of more than $40,000 often result in a lower deductible lease amount than expected.
With all the facts the client was saved from making a decision based on misinformation.
A self-employed professional received a Notice of Assessment showing a higher balance owing than showing on the tax return. A sense of panic set in and a call to Scarrow Yurman & Co ensued.
We rolled up our sleeves to advocate on behalf of our client by intervening with Canada Revenue Agency. After comparing the Notice of Assessment with the tax return, we determined that CRA had charged Ontario tax instead of allocating the various provincial rates on the multijurisdictional federal tax return.
Scarrow Yurman & Co walked CRA through their errors on the various provincial tax forms. Our client was relieved when CRA reversed the extra tax and interest amounts.
The client has successful businesses in both manufacturing and distribution, and is worried about the potential cost of taxes on his death. What if the taxes owing on death became so onerous that they impacted the operation of the businesses?
If the businesses continue to increase in value, then who can tell how much tax might be owed? Did they need insurance to cover off this huge tax burden so that the cash would be available when needed? If so, how much insurance was needed?
Scarrow Yurman & Co led a careful and thorough discussion about the impacts of reorganizing his affairs, and recommended an estate freeze type reorganization. Under the reorganization, the founder and his spouse would freeze their interests in the family businesses at today’s values, and allow for future increases in value to accrue to other younger family members.
As a result, the founder could, with certainty, estimate the taxes that would be payable on his death in relation to these business interests.
It turned out that the projected taxes on death were not as bad as had been feared and no insurance was necessary. However, the client was able to organize wills and bequests so that funds were set aside for the payment of these taxes.
Our client gained peace of mind with a better understanding of how his estate would be taxed. He was able to turn his attention to other matters, knowing that this aspect of his personal finances was settled.
A manufacturer in the packaging industry wanted to buy the building they had rented for many years. The purchase would require significant mortgage financing and the bank requested audited financial statements. The client had previously had unaudited financial statements. The financial statements were needed within 60 days of the fiscal year end.
Scarrow Yurman & Co planned and performed the audit to meet the client’s banking deadline. The bank approved the financing and the building was purchased.
As part of this transaction to secure long-term financing the client developed a solid relationship with the bank. The client continues to operate from these facilities, which they have since expanded, and the value of the property has increased considerably over the years.
A large health care provider was in negotiations to sell her business and the purchaser was skeptical about the asking price.
Scarrow Yurman & Co prepared an analysis of normalized EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) to demonstrate that the purchase price was supported by a reasonable multiple. Our analysis was critical in demonstrating the value of the business and in helping the buyer get comfortable with the price.
Scarrow Yurman & Co advocated for our client by attending meetings and participating in conference calls with legal counsel, the purchaser, and the purchasers’ accountants. We explained to our client the tax implications of the sale and what exactly would be left “in hand” after all taxes were settled.
Scarrow Yurman & Co was influential in the negotiating process to achieve the best possible closing position for our client.
With Scarrow Yurman & Co in her corner throughout the sale process our client sold her business for top dollar and on very good terms.
A group of physicians in a busy medical clinic, who prided themselves in giving exceptional care, was completely in the dark about the financial health of their clinic. They didn’t understand their overhead costs or their monthly revenues.
Scarrow Yurman & Co worked with the internal accountant to prepare the year-end financial statements and explained the financial performance of the association to the doctors. We also presented an analysis of internal control weaknesses to the lead physician.
Now the doctors understand how to track their monthly performance and can get back to focusing on patient care.
The incumbent accounting firm failed to meet the reporting requirement deadline and was not able to present at the Annual General Meeting of a prominent not-for-profit organization. When a board member suspected that they were receiving an inferior level of service from their auditor, she turned to Scarrow Yurman & Co with questions. Was it possible to change auditors? Would Scarrow Yurman & Co service levels be significantly higher?
Scarrow Yurman & Co liaised with the organization’s bookkeeper and staff to plan and organize the onsite audit in an efficient manner to meet the reporting deadline. Scarrow Yurman & Co presented the report at the next AGM and answered all of the questions raised by the board members.
Yes. It’s possible to change auditors and receive better service!
A high tech software client selling primarily to international clients was experiencing both high profits and a high rate of growth. However, cash flow was tight because of the growth in working capital requirements. Profits needed to be managed down to ensure the company continued to qualify for the enhanced and refundable SR&ED investment tax credits.
Scarrow Yurman & Co considered the use of year end management bonuses, but this was difficult because of the need for cash to fund the growth in the business. After analyzing the revenue recognition policies, Scarrow Yurman & Co found that there was a valid reason to defer certain types of revenue into the following tax year. This meant a lower recognition of income for accounting and tax purposes.
The client saved significantly on corporate taxes and was able to apply for the enhanced and refundable SR&ED investment tax credits because their corporate income was lower. As well, precious cash was conserved to fuel growth in the core business of our client.
A European technology company was trying to bring its product to Canada and begin to do business here. However, its initial efforts to gain a foothold in Canada were frustrated by a lack of familiarity with the Canadian corporate and tax environment and by external accountants who did not provide satisfactory service.
A Toronto-based international law firm referred Scarrow Yurman & Co to the client. We communicated extensively with CRA on the company’s behalf to assist with changing year-end dates, filing stub-year tax returns, and advising on the amalgamation of certain dormant entities where tax losses could be preserved and used at a later date.
By diligently communicating with management, we also unearthed and resolved several other tricky issues: previously-unfiled and long-overdue HST returns, missing and uncashed HST refund cheques, inconsistencies in name changes for corporate entities, and outdated mailing addresses resulting in CRA correspondences not being received.
Scarrow Yurman & Co helped bring the client up to speed on the fundamental Canadian tax compliance requirements, and cleaned up the client’s financial information so that they can confidently go forward with a fresh start. Happily our client is now successfully introducing their software solution into the Canadian institutional marketplace.
A well-run distributor of high tech audio visual equipment experienced a sharp decline in profits. The worried client turned to Scarrow Yurman & Co for answers.
Scarrow Yurman & Co immediately got to work analyzing the financials. A thorough investigation revealed that the client had been steadily increasing their print advertising costs—convinced that advertising was essential to drive sales. We persuaded the client to track the real source of sales. They discovered that print advertising did not bring in as much business as believed.
Now the happy client is once again profitable and has turned to advertising on the Web since it is cheaper and more focused.
A major technology company wanted to expand into the U.S. without spending a lot of money on the purchase price or professional fees. The client identified a target company in a complementary market that was experiencing financial difficulty. Scarrow Yurman & Co was needed to conduct a financial analysis and be a “second set of eyes” in the buying decision.
Scarrow Yurman & Co visited the target company in California to conduct due diligence and gain the trust of the management team who were needed if the acquisition was to be successful. It soon became clear that the target company would not survive without an infusion of cash. What we found made the decision much easier.
We uncovered some tax losses that could be used in the future operation under our client’s ownership. We also identified costs that would be reduced under an acquisition. The current owners wanted the business to survive, continue serving its customer base, and provide employment to its long-serving employees.
We advised the client that the shares in the company be purchased for $1 along with a small loan to stabilize the bank financing.
So with little time or money spent on professional fees, our client expanded into a complementary market niche This resulted in a broader product offering and cross selling opportunity into an overlapping customer base.
The founder and his sons had been working together in the family business for about 15 years, and it seemed to the founder that it was time to hand the business over to his sons. The founder wanted to get his money out of the business, cede control to his sons, and slowly back out of the operations.
Scarrow Yurman & Co met with the founder and the sons over the course of several months to discuss the operational, financial and taxation aspects of a succession plan.
Scarrow Yurman & Co recommended that the founder exchange his common shares for a set number of fixed value preferred shares that would be redeemable over seven years. The redemption of these shares over the seven years would constitute the removal of the founder’s equity stake in the business, and since the shares were voting shares, he would retain voting control during the redemption period.
Scarrow Yurman & Co provided instructions to legal counsel to prepare the necessary documents to give effect to the plan, including a shareholders’ agreement between the founder and his sons. The sons would have common shares that would benefit from any increase in value as they continued to grow the business and take on more responsibility over operations and financial matters. As common shareholders, they would also be taking on the risk of business failure and so truly had stepped into the lead role in the business.
All parties had a clear understanding of how the business transition was to be handled. The founder felt comfortable that during the transition he still had voting control over the business should any serious disagreements develop that might impact his ability to “get his money out.”
This new structure breathed new life into the whole business—more excitement and more enthusiasm. The sons felt they could take the business forward.
The founder continues to be a valued mentor in the business.
An automotive parts manufacturer with high profits was facing high tax liabilities. Was there a way to offset these?
Scarrow Yurman & Co researched the operations and discovered that certain activities qualified for Scientific Research and Experimental Development tax credits. Although the client was reluctant to make a claim, they hired a SR&ED consultant. The results were disappointing. The claim was audited and only accepted in part. The consultant provided very little support during the audit and the client had to handle it themselves. The following tax year Scarrow Yurman & Co helped the client make the claim. It was audited again but this time it was accepted nearly 100% as filed.
Each year we successfully help the client with their SR&ED claims—thus substantially assisting with cash flow. And, since we don’t charge a contingency fee, the client’s costs are lower.
A high technology company selling into the US marketplace was considering the possibility of raising venture capital to finance a more aggressive growth strategy. Potential investment candidates insisted that the client prepare and present a set of cash flow projections that would reflect how the investment proceeds would be used and what the resulting changes in operations would look like.
Scarrow Yurman & Co consulted with the marketing, operations and executive officers of the company to prepare a set of detailed five year cash flow projections. As a result of the analysis and deep thinking required to complete the projections, our client had a very clear plan of how to proceed when the financing was secured.
Our client had a professional and defendable projection that they were able to present to potential venture capital investors. As an added bonus, our client could use this projection as a “budget” with which to compare their ongoing actual financial results.
A research consulting services firm was using the services of an accounting office that did not have licensed public accountants. Not only were the accounting records a mess but the tax returns were being filed late. The financial statements had not been completed for two fiscal years and the company had no real information to look at to evaluate performance and understand their tax position. Moreover, the money the company was spending for this “service” seemed like a waste.
Scarrow Yurman & Co demonstrated the value of engaging a firm of licensed public accountants who are qualified to perform both the financial statement compilation services and the necessary tax compliance services. Scarrow Yurman & Co finished up two fiscal years of financial statements and tax returns and prepared all the necessary adjusting journal entries required to sort out the client’s accounts.
Now our client has a clean set of books, understands the basics about their financial performance, and has up to date tax filings and financial statements that can be used internally and for tax purposes.
Our client knows that they can call us any time during the year for advice on tax and accounting matters, since we have an understanding of their business and tax status.
The company had a large leasing fleet of heavy equipment, leased to major transportation companies. Because of the financing levels required, the client was paying very large amounts of provincial capital tax each year. The capital taxes were becoming so burdensome; they were impacting the viability of the leasing operation.
Scarrow Yurman & Co with the assistance of tax counsel, advised the client to transfer the leasing fleet to a Limited Partnership, and through the use of various tax elections and restructurings, set a tax strategy in place that almost entirely eliminated the capital taxes payable.
The client saved close to $500k in the first year on reduced capital taxes and these savings continued for many years.
A car dealership faced increasingly higher parts inventory shrinkage—generally an indication of theft or mismanagement. Also, the inventory levels seemed to be higher than in previous years. Here’s what we did.
We attended an inventory count to observe the procedures and conducted a detailed review of the inventory and purchasing system. Next, we determined that excessive parts purchasing was a contributing factor; inventory was becoming obsolete and therefore not eligible to be returned to the manufacturer. Then we recommended that we be present during surprise inventory counts throughout the year.
The client realized significantly lower levels of shrinkage after we attended several random physical inventory counts. And, the amount invested in parts inventory was reduced thereby providing cash flow savings.
During the preparation of an estate tax return Scarrow Yurman & Co identified a potential tax savings on the future growth of a real estate property. Our client asked us to pursue the details and here is what we found.
If the estate elected out of an automatic tax-free rollover, then expiring capital losses could be used. This paved the way for significant future tax savings to the estate!
By understanding the client’s situation and knowing the tax law details we were able to highlight this opportunity.
A client’s daughter received a letter from Canada Revenue Agency requesting rent receipts or copies of cancelled cheques to support a claim on her tax return. But, by the time our client’s daughter was ready to send the information, the letter from CRA was lost.
Scarrow Yurman & Co helped by calling CRA on behalf of the client’s daughter. We obtained the fax number, the CRA department, and the reference number needed to process the letter.
Much relieved, our client’s daughter was able to fax the receipts even though the original letter from CRA was lost.
We feel passionate about welcoming veterinary clinic clients to our firm. One of our partners, Milla Yurman, is a breeder / owner of award winning miniature poodles and has experience with clients in this sector. So for us, it’s not all about the numbers – it’s about your business, your clients and especially – your patients!
We recently had the privilege of attending and speaking at the Veterinary Education Today Conference and Medical Exposition held September 29 – October 1, 2016 at the Toronto International Centre (sponsored by the University of Saskatchewan, Western College of Veterinary Medicine). Our one hour symposium highlighted issues around performance measurement, tax efficiency and budgeting.
It is our sincere desire to help you take control of the health of your practice so you can concern yourself with what is truly important to you – the health of your patients. Click here to learn more about how Scarrow Yurman & Co. can help you to both set and reach your goals for clinic performance.
Also, we would appreciate the opportunity to introduce ourselves to you personally. Please sign up for a complimentary one hour consultation at your earliest convenience. We look forward to hearing from you!
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