Canadian CFOs on the Move – week ended November 5, 2010

Boutique iStore has announced that Isabelle Beaulieu has joined Boutique iStore as VP Finance and Operations. Ms. Beaulieu replaces VP Finance Gareth Sargeant. Isabelle is a seasoned executive with more than 20 years of corporate experience in Finance, Operations and Information technology in various companies and industries in the Montreal area. 

Lifebank Corp. (TSX-V: LBK) announced the appointment of Jeff Charpentier as Chief Financial Officer. Mr. Charpentier replaces Owen Granger, who has resigned as Director and Chief Financial Officer and Secretary Treasurer of Lifebank.


BSM Wireless Inc. (TSX-V: GPS) announced the appointment of Jenny Stranges, current Executive Vice President of Finance, as the company's Chief Financial Officer. Mrs. Stranges will take over the duties of outgoing CFO Jas Mann who resigned his position earlier this month and is leaving the company effective November 10, 2010.

Leader Energy Services Ltd. (TSX-V: LEA) today announced the appointment of Graham Reid as Chief Financial Officer. Mr. Reid will succeed Don Baird as Chief Financial Officer of the Company. Prior to this appointment, Mr. Reid was Vice President Finance and Chief Financial Officer of Norex Exploration Services Inc.

Stoneset Equity Development Corp. (CNSX: SQC) announced the resignation of Stephen Yuen as CFO and the appointment of Anna Lentz as the new CFO.

Malbex Resources Inc. (TSX-V: MBG) announced the resignation of its Chief Financial Officer, Derrick Weyrauch, effective January 31, 2011.

ANDINA Minerals Inc. (TSX-V: ADM) announced the appointment of Derrick Weyrauch as Chief Financial Officer of the Company. He is currently the Chief Financial Officer of Malbex Resources Inc., a publicly traded gold mining company, and will continue in that capacity until January 31, 2011 to assist Malbex in their transition. Previously, Mr. Weyrauch was the Treasurer and Director of Finance for Gabriel Resources Ltd., also a publicly traded gold mining company.

Lithium Americas Corp. (TSX: LAC) announced that Ian Fodie has been appointed Chief Financial Officer of the Company. Mr. Fodie replaces Raymond Mitchell. Mr. Fodie has had an extensive career, including most recently serving as President and CEO of Woulfe Mining (TSX-V: WOF), as the CFO for Resinco Capital Partners Inc. (TSX: RIN), and former CFO and VP of Operations at Mainframe Entertainment Inc.

Healthscreen Solutions Inc. ("Healthscreen") (TSX-V: MDU) announce the addition of Anastasia Chodarcewicz as Chief Financial Officer. Ms. Chodarcewicz brings domestic and international experience from her seven years with Sirit Inc., a Canadian public technology company.

Forest Gate Energy Inc. (TSX-V: FGE) announced that it has appointed L. Derek Lindsay as Chief Financial Officer of the company. Mr. Lindsay joins Forest Gate from Eloda Corporation, a publicly traded media software company, where he held the position of Vice President and Chief Financial Officer from 2008 onward. From 2006 to 2008, Mr. Lindsay was Vice President and Chief Financial Officer at CryoCath Technologies Inc.

Alto Ventures Ltd. (TSX-V: ATV) announced the appointment of Robert Anderson as the Company's new Chief Financial Officer to replace Leonard Schmidt who resigned as CFO.

Stealth Ventures Ltd. (TSX-V: SLV) announced that Roger Harman has been appointed as Stealth's new Chief Financial Officer. Prior to joining the Stealth team Mr. Harman was the Chief Financial Officer at PRD Energy Inc. and the Chief Financial Officer at Canadian Superior Energy Inc. (now Sonde Resources Corp.)

Melcor Developments Ltd. (TSX: MRD), announced that following the resignation of Melcor's CFO, Michael Shabada, Naomi Stefura has assumed the role of Acting Chief Financial Officer and Brett Halford has assumed the position of Acting VP Finance. Both Naomi and Brett will remain in these positions until the CFO position is permanently filled.

If you have news about CFOs on the move, or any comments on this feature, please email us.

Are you ready to give up your CA for a CPA?

If you are a Canadian CA, there is a good chance you worked hard for it, and are quite proud of the designation. I know I worked hard for it, and I am proud CA.

Buried in my emails recently I found a letter from Bill MacKinnon, FCA, Chair of the CICA Board of Directors discussing two points of concern for the future of our profession that came up out of a recent meeting of leaders’ of our profession.

The first point of concern for our leaders, which addresses “Pathways into the CA Profession in Canada” is continuing down the slippery slope that was created when the CICA started accepting training for new professionals outside of an audit firm environment. While I do have concerns in this area, this is currently overshadowed the 2nd point of concern – A Canadian CPA. (Click here to view the new logo).

Yes. That’s right. The leaders of our profession are considering a Canadian CPA designation.

As a CA, I have been proud of the efforts in past years to brand the CA designation as the premier accounting designation in Canada (and the world). Now it seems that globalization of the accounting profession (which most recently has Canadian GAAP being replaced by International GAAP – IFRS) has made our leaders hedge our bets on our historic name and brand, just in case we need to “start consolidating into one or two global professions”.

What the future holds for Canadian CAs and the constituents we serve is currently unclear. It is not clear as to whether we can currently call ourselves CA, CPA or both together.

A few years back when the profession in its wisdom wanted to merge with the other accounting professions in Canada, our members were very clear that it was not what the grass roots members wanted.

My initial reaction to this development is: “I’m not interested, but I am willing to listen - you’ll have to convince me.” I believe that many CAs will have the same reaction. I hope that the leaders of our profession ensure that they properly consult with the CA members across the country, and not just make an administrative decision that deeply affects our attachment to our profession and to our brand.

What is your reaction?

Canadian CFOs on the Move – week ended July 23, 2010

Andean Resources (TSX: AND, ASX: AND) announced the appointment of Mr. Eric Edwards as its new Chief Financial Officer. Most recently, he held the position of Chief Financial Officer at International Minerals Corporation. Over the past 15 years, Mr. Edwards has been Chief Financial Officer for a number of publicly traded gold companies including Queenstake Resources, Viceroy Resource Corporation and Ivanhoe Mines.

Adeptron Technologies Corporation (TSX: ATQ) announced the appointment of Mr. Jon Szczur as Chief Financial Officer of the Company. Mr. Szczur has been Vice President of Finance at Adeptron since April 2010. From 2006 through 2009, Mr. Szczur served as Chief Financial Officer of the Wish Group of Companies.

MedMira Inc. (TSX-V: MIR, NASDAQ: MMIRF) announced the appointment of Daniel Frid as Chief Financial Officer. Most recently, he was a member of the Senior Management Team for Keane Canada Inc., serving as the Director of Finance and Information Technology.

Homeland Energy Group Ltd. (TSX: HEG) announced the Company has appointed Ajay Gupta as Chief Financial Officer effective July 13, 2010. Jeff Lowe, who has been Acting Chief Financial Officer of Homeland during the search process, will continue to provide the Company and Mr. Gupta with his expertise and support until September 30, 2010. Most recently Mr. Gupta was CFO of African Aura Resources Ltd. and Scandinavian Minerals Limited which recently merged with First Quantum Minerals Ltd. He has also worked with Deloitte & Touche LLP, DuPont Canada, Samara Group and S R Khurana & Co.

Roadking Travel Centres Inc. announced the resignation of Mr. Alan Tookey as interim CFO. In the interim, the Company appointed Mr. Greg Spicer to serve as interim CFO, in addition to existing duties as President and CEO, until a successor is appointed.

Inter-Rock Minerals Inc. (TSX-V: IRO) announced the appointment of Ms. Diane Nasadiuk to the position of Chief Financial Officer. Ms. Nasadiuk is an accountant and has been involved with Inter-Rock for the past eight years.

If you have news about CFOs on the move, or any comments on this feature, please email us.

Prediction: The Perfect Storm

Take the following ingredients:

- The recession is over.
- IFRS deadline approaching (January 1, 2011), with no turning back.
- Companies are hiring in finance again.
- Accounting Firms coming off the busiest busy season in years.
- Accounting professionals are leaving firms to start their own firms

Mix them together, and you have…

The biggest shortage of staff facing Accounting Firms in Canada (Big 4 and mid-tier) since 2003-2004.

Coming Soon to an Accounting Firm near you - September or October 2010.

(Please note that this Storm is predicted for Canada only).

Canadian CFOs on the Move – week ended July 16, 2010

Precision Drilling Corporation (TSX: PD) announced the appointment of Robert McNally as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. Doug Strong, currently Chief Financial Officer of Precision, will become President, Completion and Production Services.

Absolute Software Corp. (TSX: ABT) announced that Rob Chase is moving from his position as chief financial officer of the company to take on the role of chief operating officer. Joining Absolute is Errol Olsen, who has been appointed CFO. Mr. Olsen joins Absolute from Inetco Systems, where he has served as CFO since 2008. He has previously held senior finance roles at Explorer Software, Pivotal Corp. and Infowave Software.

MetalCORP Limited (TSX-V: MTC) announced that Mr. Sam Garofalo, H.B. Comm., CA, CMA, will be joining MetalCORP as the Chief Financial Officer, to replace Michael Thompson who has tendered his resignation from the Company to take effect after a reasonable transition period. Mr. Garofalo is currently the CFO for Rockex Limited, a privately-owned developing mining company, and is a Professor of Accounting at Confederation College in Thunder Bay. He has worked as an auditor with Ernst & Young, Chartered Accountants, and served as CFO for several private companies.

Vecima Networks Inc. (TSX: VCM) announced the appointment of Mr. John Hanna to Chief Financial Officer and the appointment of Vecima's former CFO, Mr. Mike Barry, to President of YourLink, Vecima's wholly owned wireless internet service provision company. Previously, Mr. Hanna was an executive at iFire Technology, where he was VP Finance & Administration.

The Churchill Corporation (TSX: CUQ) announced that following the acquisition of Seacliff Construction Corp, Mr. Daryl Sands is the Executive Vice President Finance & CFO.

ZENN Motor Company Inc. (TSX-V: ZNN) announced the appointment of Larry A. Goldberg as Chief Financial Officer. Mr. Goldberg succeeds Lawrence Schreiner who served as ZMC's CFO from 2006 and who steps down on July 30, 2010. Mr. Goldberg previously held the positions of Executive Vice-President and CFO of Pinetree Capital Ltd. as well as CFO of Mega Uranium Ltd., both TSX-listed companies.

Postmedia Network Inc., which purchased the newspaper assets of CanWest, announced a number of executive appointments in the newly formed company, including the appointment of Doug Lamb as Chief Financial Officer and Executive Vice President.

Sterling Resources Ltd. (TSX-V: SLG) announced the appointment of David Blewden to the position of Chief Financial Officer (CFO), replacing Ian Hornby-Smith who is retiring but will remain in a supporting capacity in order to ensure a smooth transition.

Redzone Resources Limited (TSX: REZ) announced the appointment of Ms. Pauline Pasetka to the non-board position of Chief Financial Officer. Ms. Pasetka replaces Redzone's former CFO Peter Miller. Ms. Pasetka was formerly a Director of Brett Resources Inc., a mineral exploration company, until its recent acquisition by Osisko Mining Corporation. Prior to this, Ms. Pasetka has held positions as Chief Financial Officer or Controller of mining companies listed on the TSX Exchange and AIM of the London Stock Exchange.

Cirrus Energy Corporation (TSX-V: CYR) announced the resignation of Ms. Pamela Orr, Chief Financial Officer.

ERA Carbon Offsets Ltd., (TSX-V: ESR), announced that Mr. Jeff Calvert has been appointed Chief Financial Officer of the company. Mr. Herrick Lau has resigned as CFO effective July 15, 2010.

Estrella International Energy Services Ltd. (TSX-V: EEN) announced that Bryan Kornegay will resign effective August 15th as a director and the Chief Financial Officer, and that Christian Bauwens will be appointed a director of the company and the Chief Financial Officer effective August 15th concurrent with the resignation of Mr. Kornegay.

If you have news about CFO’s on the move, or any comments on this feature, please email us.

Collateral Damage? US GAAP’s use in Canada may no longer be accepted

In November 2007, the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) accepted foreign issuers to prepare their financial statements using IFRS. This will allow Canadian companies, once IFRS compliant, to file their financial statements for SEC purposes without any additional changes or reconciliations.

(Read our previous article on IFRS here).

In February, The Canadian Securities Administration (CSA) released a Concept Paper on the possible changes to Securities Rules relating to IFRS. In this Concept Paper, they are considering no longer allowing Canadian companies to report in US GAAP for Canadian Securities purposes. Having heard about this, we thought we would let our comments known to the CSA. Attached is the Question from the Concept Paper, as well as our response.

If this subject is of interest to you, we highly recommend that you read the Concept Paper. Should this concern you, we recommend that you let your thoughts known to the CSA – the deadline for comments is April 13, 2008.

__________________________________________________________________

Question: Do you agree we should not allow a SEC issuer to use US GAAP for financial years beginning on or after January 1, 2009, with the exception that a SEC issuer filing US GAAP financial statements in Canada for its most recent financial year ending on or before December 31, 2008, could continue doing so until 2013? If not, why do you disagree, and how, if at all, would you modify existing rules?

Answer:

No, we do not agree.

Reason 1. We disagree for sound business reasons. While Canada is choosing an honourable position to converge accounting standards internationally, Canadian companies continue to access significant capital in the Unites States. Companies currently choose to report in US GAAP for business reasons – mostly because investors in the United States prefer to invest in companies that report in US GAAP. Taking away the opportunity for Canadian companies to report only in US GAAP would only be increasing their costs by having to report in IFRS for Canadian purposes and US GAAP (chosen for appropriate access to capital markets).

Reason 2. We have found the SEC decision to accept IFRS for foreign issuers a great step towards the admirable goal of one GAAP acceptable worldwide. It is important to note that winds of change continue to blow through the United States, from internationalist to protectionist and back again. Considering the speed in which the SEC has moved towards acceptance of IFRS for foreign issuers, we are concerned that political events could cause the SEC to change its mind just as quickly on the acceptance of IFRS for foreign issuers. Because of this risk, Canadian companies must be able to choose to continue to report in US GAAP.

We would not propose to modify existing rules for reporting in US GAAP.

The costs of being public: Is it worth it for smaller companies?

Growing a business towards success requires capital for growth. 3 ways to get cash for growth include:
- increasing revenues
- funding via equity
- funding via debt

Of these 3 options, funding via equity (going public and staying public) can be very expensive. These costs can include:
- meeting tight reporting deadlines
- cost of staff
- cost of professional fees
- complicated and changing securities rules
- complicated and changing accounting rules

Considering these costs, why do smaller companies go public (and stay public)?
- Allows (the potential) for liquidity
- Public relations purposes
- Companies that are not able to fund growth from revenue, and have no assets to support debt (development companies such as biotech and high-tech)

Is it worth the cost?

The standard accounting answer applies (it depends). If you plan to become public, be aware of what your costs are really going to be. Ensure that you spend for value and pay the price properly. If you decide to become public, and are not committed to spending the right amounts to be compliant, you are only going to get the kind of publicity you don't want.

Accounting Standards: USA vs. World (rest of the)

Convergence is the name of the game for standards in many industries, and the Accounting industry is no different.

Up till now, different countries around the world have had their own accounting standards, reflecting an introspective view of the world. As economies around the world focus more on globalization, the ability to understand financial information from different countries has taken on a greater significance.

GAAP (Generally Accepted Accounting Principles) are the standards by which accountants prepare financial information. GAAP is converging, and is on the road to being one GAAP worldwide.

IFRS (International Financial Reporting Standards) is the global accounting standard that is being accepted in more and more countries around the world. Europe integrated their standard to IFRS in 2005. Canada is set to accept IFRS to replace their accounting standards in 2011, and other countries around the world, including Japan and India, are getting with the program.

The major holdout, no surprise, is the USA.

However, something shocking happened a few weeks ago. The SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission) in the United States said that they will accept IFRS reporting for foreign private issuers (public companies from outside of the USA listed in the USA).

Not only that, but the FASB (the US Accounting Standards Board) and the IASB (makers of IFRS), are working jointly on some projects of significance, ensuring that some standards will be the same worldwide.

As Canada is getting ready for IFRS for 2011, we are too. Some of our clients are hiring right now for this convergence project. We are talking about IFRS, and are presenting at conferences across Canada in 2008 - We presented earlier this week in Toronto.

You may be asking yourself (or me) “who cares”. And that’s fair. GAAP isn’t an exciting topic (at least it is not supposed to be). Accountants care. Their world is converging.

Is this a good thing? I think so, because I’m a believer in the positive impact of economic globalization. More convergence on standards means less confusion on understanding others financial information. And this small part can assist in growing global economic health, which in the end makes the world a better place.