Category Archives: News

Power on / Open today!

We’re happy to report that our power is back on, and we’re back in business today. Be in touch for all your accounting questions and requirements, as usual.

We have our fingers crossed that all friends and colleagues will have their power restored soon. Kudos to the repair and technical folks working hard to get the lights back on everywhere!

Links to key 2022 Federal Budget coverage

Nevcon Accounting is pleased to provide the following links to articles, analyses and more, to help you learn more about the 2022 Federal Budget, delivered April 7, 2022.

Links to key 2021 Federal Budget coverage

Nevcon Accounting is pleased to provide the following links to articles, analyses and more, to help you learn more about the 2021 Federal Budget, delivered April 19, 2021.

Create effective passwords, manage them well … and sleep better at night!

A recent series of cyberattacks on the Government of Canada web site used a method called “credential stuffing” to compromise the personal information of thousands of Canadians. The attacks shut down Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) and GCKey online portals for several days and caused worry and confusion.

Credential stuffing takes advantage of the fact that many people use the same or similar passwords for multiple online accounts. Bearing in mind how vulnerable that could leave you, it might be time to give some good and considered thought to updating and diversifying your passwords to important accounts and services. You can google lots of good advice – here is an article that we think is useful: Top 15 Password Management Best Practices (from Beyond Trust).

On top of creating unique and strong passwords, it’s useful to organize and manage them all. Here are some tools and services we recommend investigating for your password management needs:

Password best practices and management makes for excellent peace of mind!

Keeping you up-to-date on small business news in response to the pandemic

As we’re sure you may have already heard, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made some announcements this morning (March 27, 2020) about additional programs available to support small businesses. What these programs will have to offer could possibly be substantial to you, so we understand completely that you would like to know what this means to you. Unfortunately, the government has not yet released a lot of details, so we’re not able to answer with any accuracy whether you qualify, or whether it will benefit you.

Please bear with us and all of our accounting and bookkeeping colleagues (who are working together and sharing insights) as more information comes out over the next several days. We promise that as we learn more information about what will impact your business, you will be the first to know.

Here is what we do know so far:

  • Temporary Wage Subsidy – Originally introduced at 10% retroactive to March 18th, this new announcement brings the Temporary Wage Subsidy up to 75% retroactive to March 15th. There are no details yet on qualification, caps, or time period.
  • Small Business Loans – Up to $40K, government backed, interest free for one year, up to $10K could be forgiven – is what we know at this point. No additional details have been given as yet.
  • GST/HST Payments – These payments will be eferred until June 1st. Filings are still due, only payments are deferred.
  • Taxes/Duties on Imports – Payments are deferred until June 1st.
  • Bank of Canada has also cut the interest rate – down to 0.25%.

Thank you for your patience as we work to get more information. Wishing you and yours safety and good health as we all make our way through these unprecedented times.

Employment Insurance (EI) and COVID-19

This information is developing and changing as the COVID-19 situation unfolds. We’ll do our best to update the details as they change.

Laid off due to work closures?

  • Apply for regular EI benefits
  • You will need 700 work hours in last year
  • You will need a ROE saying you’ve been laid off from your employer to get benefits
  • There is a 1-week wait period (so you will not be paid for 1 week)
  • Apply online: https://canada.ca/en/services/benefits/ei.html
  • Call 1-800-206-7218 for more info

Unable to work due to self-quarantine?

  • Apply for EI Sickness benefits
  • You will need 600 work hours in last year
  • You do not need a ROE or sick note to qualify
  • The 1-week wait period has been waived
  • Apply online: https://canada.ca/en/services/benefits/ei.html
  • Call 1-833-381-2725 for more info

Laid off and ineligible for EI?

  • Apply for the Emergency Support Benefit
  • Amounts and eligibility has not yet been announced
  • Applications will be available in April via CRA MyAccount, My Service Canada Account, and a yet to be released toll-free number

Self-quarantined and ineligible for EI?

  • Apply for the Emergency Care Benefit for workers not eligible for EI (including self-employed) who are sick with COVID-19, quarantined, or taking care of a family member with COVID-19
  • Up to 15 weeks of benefits, up to $900 bi-weekly
  • Applications will be available in April via CRA MyAccount, My Service Canada Account, and a yet to be released toll-free number

Unable to work due to school closures?

  • Parents with children who require care due to school closures can apply for the Emergency Care Benefit
  • 15 weeks of benefits, up to $900 bi-weekly
  • Applications will be available in April via CRA MyAccount, My Service Canada Account, and a yet to be released toll-free number

Do I qualify for WorkSafe benefits?

  • WorkSafe benefits are not available for preventative measures or non-work-related exposure
  • Only file a claim for COVID-19 virus infection contracted through work-related exposure,/li>
  • Call 1-888-967-5377 for more info/li>

Changes to the way the Nevcon Accounting client portal works

Over the last few months, Nevcon Accounting has been reviewing the way it collects documents and gives you a copy of your personal tax returns. Previously, we have been using e-courier to send you any sensitive documents securely, including any documents needing to be signed. Well, this has been a great product over the last six years, but we have outgrown the services it provides. The only way to continue using it would be to introduce other services, which would have meant having everyone perform multiple logins. The service was fine, but we have found it to be a bit lacking in clear navigation and it was getting harder for long-term clients to find information on older returns.

Nevcon Accounting client portal login

With this in mind, we started looking at different solutions that would let us expand how we share information to you. As a result, we are introducing a new, improved client portal. The new portal is more like what everyone is used to in that it is a folder-based design with different folders for each tax year. Over the next few months, as you do your taxes with Nevcon, we will be sending you an invitation to set up a password to the email address we have on file. You will notice different folders and one will hold all copies for your personal tax returns. Nevcon will be slowly moving over the old return information to the new portal so you only have one place to go for everything.

One particular area of improvement is the upload folder. This will allow you to upload your tax slips or information securely without having to use email. Once you have uploaded a document, we automatically receive an email letting us know.

Another enhanced area is the items requiring signature. This area will have any documents that need a signature by you. An additional benefit is that, where allowed, you will be able to digitally sign the documents and once done, it will automatically notify us of the completion.

Overall, this will let you find historical information much easier and faster. The added benefit of being able to digitally sign documents will greatly improve the turn around times for all transactions and deadlines.

We have decided to make this the year of improvements. Our systems that we used have been static for the last 10 years – still reliable but perhaps lacking in new features and enhancements – and this year our goal is to make your experience with us much more straightforward, efficient and hey, maybe even fun!

Phone scams confuse and hurt everyone – be prepared!

Nevcon Accounting recently received a phone call from an angry individual that left us angry and unhappy, too.

This individual claimed his mother was receiving threatening phone calls about her tax bill and the calls were coming from our number. We explained to the caller that his mother was the victim of a phone scam. We in turn were the victims of caller ID spoofing, where a caller displays someone else’s name and/or number to misrepresent themselves and to trick people into picking up their calls.

The CRTC (Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission) has a wealth of information on how to deal with telemarketing, unwanted and misleading calls and messages. We highly recommend checking out this information and making use of their tips and suggestions.

To be honest, it’s a shame we all have to be so suspicious, but this information is very useful for avoiding the hurt, confusion and worse that scammers try to cause.