Dear clients and friends of the firm,

With 2019 behind us, we thought it essential to send you an update about what we’ve been up to over the last 12-months. Transparency is a Core Value we share, and we’ve been through a lot of changes that you should know about!

We heard from many entrepreneurs that they wish their CPA would be more involved in helping their business grow. In response, we have added some excellent new services (fast and accurate bookkeeping and payroll, budgeting, forecasting and business guidance) at prices that are attainable even for “Solopreneurs” and small businesses.

We have grown our client service team to ensure that our clients get the attention and service that they deserve, and we formalized some critical professional alliances with other industry leaders to ensure your business’s growth and opportunity. 2020 is going to be an exciting year for Alberta businesses, and we will be right there with you, every step of the way.

I want to personally thank every member of our team for executing our 2019 mission with grace and professionalism, even in the face of tremendous adversity. You make the difference at Achen Henderson and our clients can rest easy knowing that they have industry-leading professionals at their fingertips.

To our clients and future clients: your business IS ready. Imagine what your CPA firm could do for you.

Thank you for a great 2019,

Clayton E. Achen, CPA, CA, TEP

Partner, Achen Henderson LLP

 

A lot of private company owners in Alberta are happy to have 2019 in the rear-view mirror – it was a very tough year. Our firm alone helped over 20 small business owners wind down operations or expatriate their wealth and operations to the US. Recently, Alberta voted out both the provincial (NDP) and federal (Liberal) governments, highlighting Alberta’s general frustration with our current economic situation.

Seeing opportunities in problems, we knew that we had more to offer to our clients in these tough times. The time was right to focus aggressively on helping our clients succeed.

In 2019 our two objectives were:

1. To broaden our service offerings and

2. Grow our client service team

To achieve our shared vision, our team made some significant changes in 2019.

We’ve made a complete shift to “client-centric” operations

During 2019, we completed our transformation from traditional ‘partner-centric’ operations to decentralized and collaborative ‘client-centric’ operations. Our clients have more seamless access to the best professional resources we have to offer for specific needs. This focus also allows our professional teams to focus on chosen areas of expertise rather than having to master all facets of private company accounting and tax.

We provide fast, accurate and affordable bookkeeping and best-in-class business guidance

Most small businesses have grossly inadequate accounting functions because accounting is complicated and takes time away from an entrepreneur’s core business. Many entrepreneurs do not place enough emphasis of leading their companies through financial data – but it doesn’t have to be that way.

In 2019, we made it our mission to build a cutting-edge bookkeeping service that provides remote, fast and accurate bookkeeping at prices even “Solopreneurs” could afford to pay. The service had to be scalable and robust enough that a $50M construction company with 40 employees could benefit from it. The result is our new Managed Financial Services (“MFS”), combining corporate and personal tax, bookkeeping, payroll setup and support, budgeting, forecasting, culture and leadership consulting (or a combination of them) into a single monthly fee. You can learn more about MFS by clicking here. 

Our firm’s biggest wins in 2019 were in affordable bookkeeping, thanks to our team’s relentless commitment to our shared vision and our client’s willingness to transform. 

Introducing Roni Kirkness our new Client Experience Leader

We believed it was imperative to add a Stakeholder who focuses exclusively on simplifying the complex world of accounting and accounting technology for our clients: With 10-years of experience working in a client delivery role at KPMG before joining our team, Roni brings a wealth of knowledge about the inter-workings of a busy accounting firm as well as how to best meet our client’s expectations.

We may be the first accounting firm in history to fill its 5th leadership position with a Client Experience focused, non-accountant Stakeholder, and the creation of this role demonstrates Achen Henderson’s commitment to our shared vision of helping entrepreneurs thrive.

To chat about our fast, accurate and affordable bookkeeping solutions, click here and pick a time to meet Roni.

Introducing Patrick Malachi our new Engagement Coordinator

During 2019, Achen Henderson hit a critical mass that caused us to rework our internal processes to allow our professional teams to be more effective and efficient. Patrick is organized, energetic, and focused on client satisfaction to support our professional teams. His role is to coordinate all our clients’ work and to keep in contact, allowing our professional team to stay focused on our clients’ tax and accounting work and less on administrative work.

Reintroducing Wallace O’Neil, our Compliance Leader

Completing CPA Canada’s In-depth Tax Part III course in 2019, Wallace earned a well-deserved promotion to become Achen Henderson’s Compliance Leader. Most of our corporate clients know Wallace well and love working with him, so this was a natural transition. Wallace oversees all of our clients’ corporate year-end financial statements and tax returns.

If you haven’t had a chance to meet Wallace personally, or if you need help with your corporation’s taxes, click here to set up a time to meet with him – he’d love to meet you!

Botkeeper

To provide our clients with an incredibly fast and accurate bookkeeping system, combined with infinite scalability, Achen Henderson partnered with one of the top bookkeeping technology firms in the world, Botkeeper. Achen Henderson is one of Botkeeper’s first, most profound, and deepest partners. The Achen Henderson team has worked with Botkeeper extensively over the last 18-months to build out an innovative bookkeeping platform that is unparalleled anywhere in Canada. Their bookkeeping technology is client-friendly, cutting edge and represents the future of bookkeeping. Their operations and leadership teams are in complete alignment with ours, and we are so excited to welcome them to the Achen Henderson family. This alliance gives our clients of any size, modern, reliable, and scalable bookkeeping at a level not available anywhere else in Canada.

Citizens Abroad Tax Advisors

During 2019, we saw an explosion in demand for our US and cross-border personal tax services, making it necessary to expand our support and professional resources in this area. In December 2019, we entered into a reciprocal agreement with one of the top-expatriate tax firms in Canada, Citizens Abroad Tax Advisors (“CATA”). We did this to expand our preparation capacity and to supplement their Leadership team with one of the top-minds in US/Canadian cross-border taxation – our Tax Leader, Carol Sadler. CATA’s culture and level of professional excellence are a perfect match for Achen Henderson. Our clients will benefit from increased resources and expanded expertise in this area. This alliance positions our respective firms to become top national providers of expatriate tax services.

The Crankset Group

To achieve the success that we wanted for our clients, and to transition away from the traditional “partner-centric” accounting firm model, we knew we needed help. Of utmost importance was going deep into understanding our firm’s process, as well as defining our firm’s Vision, Mission, and Core Values. We started working with Scott Connors, the Chief Change Officer at the Crankset Group. Scott was vital to our firm’s transition.

Scott enjoyed working with our team and on our vision so much that the Crankset Group’s services now reside on our menu of services. Our clients now have integrated and seamless access to one of the top business improvement firms in the world. Every client that has taken advantage of this service with us is in a better position than when they started. This alliance is a significant win for Achen Henderson and our clients such as Element Land Surveys:

Client Spotlight: Element Land Surveys
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Tax policy changes for private companies

Canada’s entrepreneurs have endured several years of federal tax policies that insinuate that Canadian small businesses are a national finance problem that requires fixing. This most flagrant display of this was the proposals to change the small business tax regime announced on July 18, 2017.

While 2019 was a light year for tax policy announcements, but some of the previously announced and heavily disputed policies of 2017 came into effect:

In May, one of our Founders, Clayton Achen, was invited to Parliament to testify in front of Canada’s Standing Committee on Finance (FINA) regarding the 2019 federal budget. Clayton testified about the challenges that small businesses are facing Canada wide, and particularly in Alberta. Clayton concluded that the slough of new government policies is hurting Canada’s entrepreneurs and he argued for the need for a comprehensive review of our tax system, an overhaul of the CRA bureaucracy, and tax reform to address our tax system’s increasing complexity, which results in heavy compliance burdens and undue compliance challenges for private companies. You can read or listen to Clayton’s full testimony here.

To better serve our clients, we retooled our operations from a traditional “partner-centric” focus to a “client-centric” focus. To help our clients thrive in this challenging economy, we added industry-leading bookkeeping, budgeting, forecasting, business improvement services at a very reasonable cost, even for small companies and “Solopreneurs.” To ensure that our client’s experience with us is second to none, and so their work continues to be completed at the highest quality standards, we added new, critical Stakeholders. To ensure our client’s growth and opportunity, we formed strategic alliances with the top Culture, Leadership, and bookkeeping firms in the world. Lastly, to properly service the high-demand world of US/Canadian cross-border taxation, we entered into a reciprocal agreement with one of the most reputable, independent ex-patriate tax firms in Canada.

Thank you so much for your loyalty, support and trust. To reciprocate, we will continue to look for new innovative and industry-leading services to help you and your business thrive.

With the new year comes new hope and new opportunities. What will you do to transform your business?

Thank you very much for taking the time to read about our journey in 2019. We wish you, your family and your business prosperity in 2020.

-The Achen Henderson Team

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