2023 Personal Income Tax Season Has Arrived!

Personal Income Tax Season Has Arrived!

For new and existing personal income tax clients, here are some reminders and new information regarding GSE’s personal income tax preparation process.

  1. We continue to provide multiple methods to accommodate the receipt of your income tax documents in a secure and safe manner.

    a) Secure online Portal – Please upload supporting documents via our Secure client portal. We prefer PDF files and recommend the use of an app such as Microsoft Lens (available in your favourite app store) to help you convert image files to a PDF. When in doubt, submit what you have and we’ll reach out if the format is not compatible.

    OR

    b) ST. THOMAS – You may drop off supporting documents to the secure drop box at the South rear entry of the County of Elgin building, door closest to the loading dock. This drop-box is emptied daily and allows us to have fewer clients in our reception area. Alternatively, you may drop off supporting documents at either the County of Elgin reception located in the centre portion of the 1st floor or to the GSE reception located on the 2nd floor. The drop-off hours are 8:30 – 4:30 pm, Monday to Friday.

    OR

    c) AYLMER – You may drop off supporting documents to the secure drop box located directly outside of our regular main reception lobby door. This drop-box is emptied daily and allows us to have fewer clients in our reception area. If your item is too big for the drop-box, please enter the office and leave with reception. The drop-off hours are 8:30 – 5:00 pm, Monday to Friday.

  2. We have a new Document Library on our website. Here you will find the following documents:

    a) 2023 Personal Income Tax Return Checklist – please review this listing to determine if you are submitting all necessary documents to support your reported income, deductions and credits.

    b) T1 Returning Client Questions – Please complete these questions on an annual basis. Either print and drop them off with your personal taxes or upload your responses to the Portal. These questions help us to ensure we have accurate information about your current tax situation.

    c) T1 New Client Questions Form – We highly recommend this Form for new clients or returning clients with changing tax situations. Either print and drop it off with your personal taxes or upload your responses to the Portal.

    d) Final Return & Estate Checklist – If you are assisting with the final tax return for someone who has recently passed away, please complete and return this checklist. It outlines some of the additional information we will require.

    e) Authorization/Cancellation Request Form – For new clients to allow us to communicate with the Canada Revenue Agency on your behalf.

  3. How do I get my documents and personal tax return back?

    a) Once your tax return has been prepared and reviewed, you will receive a call indicating that your personal income taxes have been completed.

    b) If you have not already told us, we will ask if you would like it back electronically (via our Secure online portal) or a paper copy. Prior to us filing your return, we require a signature – this can be done either via Portal (using an electronic signature – DocuSign), via Portal (with a scanned upload of the signed document), via fax, via mail, via drop-box at our office, or it can be signed in-person at the time of pick-up.

As always, if you have any questions, please reach out to us at (519) 633-0700/ (519) 773-9265 or contact the individual you usually work with.

Happy tax filing!

Please follow us on social media for the latest updates:

Facebook

Instagram

Linked In

Brian D. Lawrence Transitions Clients to Graham Scott Enns LLP

After more than 40 years in public practice serving the accounting and taxation needs of his clients in St. Thomas and surrounding area, Brian Lawrence is announcing his retirement and the transition of his practice to Graham Scott Enns LLP.

Brian will be closing his Rosebery Place office on January 19th but clients can continue to reach Brian and Stephanie at 519-633-2955 or at Graham Scott Enns’s St Thomas office at 519-633-0700 or the Aylmer office at 519-773-9265. A Graham Scott Enns partner will be contacting you within a couple weeks for an introductory call and/or meeting.

 

You can read the full announcement here:  Brian D. Lawrence Retirement Announcement

Closed For The Afternoon

Our offices will be closing at Noon on Tuesday September 19th for the afternoon for a Company Function.
We will be open again Wednesday morning during our regular hours.

#BestFirstDay 2023

Make today the #BestFirstDay

Make today the #BESTFIRSTDAY by supporting the Thames Valley Education Fund with their annual back to school drive. The Staff and Partners at Graham Scott Enns LLP collected school supplies to help ensure that all children in our community have the school supplies they need to start their school year off on the right track!

 

A big thank you goes out to Courtney Vachon and the rest of the Social Committee for organizing, shopping, and dropping off this important donation!

Committees: Social Media

On behalf of the social media committee team at GSE, we are excited to post part four of five posts. These posts are to inform the public of some of the wonderful committees that help create a fun, informative, healthy environment at GSE.
 
The fourth committee is the Social Media Committee. Please scroll through the photos to learn a little bit about what the committee does, some of their recent accomplishments and what they have planned for the upcoming year.

Committees: Social

What is the Purpose of the Social committee?

The purpose of the social committee is to organize social events for the firm and encourage participation in firm events in order to maintain a positive firm culture.

 

Social accomplishments over the years:

The committee was proud that they were able to come up with innovative ways to keep people engaged and connected throughout the pandemic. We planned events that allowed us to socialize with our co-workers virtually through regular virtual happy hours, lunch-time bingo, a virtual Halloween costume contest, and a hybrid euchre tournament.

 

Future direction and upcoming events:

We are working on incorporating new events to keep things fresh and exciting. We are also working on ways to better engage staff during hybrid social events (where staff attend the same event from different locations). This is a new event style that will take some trial and error to get right!

The purpose of the social committee is to organize social events for the firm and encourage participation in firm events in order to maintain a positive firm culture. The committee was proud that they were able to come up with innovative ways to keep people engaged and connected throughout the pandemic. We planned events that allowed us to socialize with our co-workers virtually through regular virtual happy hours, lunch-time bingo, a virtual Halloween costume contest, and a hybrid euchre tournament. We are working on incorporating new events to keep things fresh and exciting. We are also working on ways to better engage staff during hybrid social events (where staff attend the same event in different locations.) This is a new event style that will take some trial and error to get right!

Committees: PERT

What is the Purpose of the PERT committee?

The purpose of the PERT committee is to support and guide PERT Mentees, Mentors, Program Leaders, and Program Managers through the CPA qualification process successfully, and aid in helping CPA students pass their CFE exams.

 

PERT accomplishments over the years:

With the assistance of our internal CFE Support Program, we had three successful CFE writers in 2022. In addition, we were able to support all of our current CPA students through the PERT reporting process throughout the year, including two students getting accepted to membership in December 2022 after successfully meeting all requirements.

 

Future direction and upcoming events:

In 2023, we will have one CFE writer. We will be looking to support them through their CFE study leave over the course of summer 2023. The PERT committee hosted an internal convocation dinner for the 2022 successful CFE writers in June 2023.

Committees: Health and Wellness

What is the Purpose of the Health and Wellness committee?

The purpose of the Health and Wellness Committee is to promote a culture of physical, psychological, and emotional well-being for our employees by providing activities and support that will result in healthier lifestyles.

 

Health and Wellness accomplishments over the years:

2022 was the inaugural year for the H&W Committee. In that time, they were able to run a number of successful events including:

  • A quarterly newsletter
  • The Railway Road Race – 13 participants and family members
  • Providing each member of staff with a Yeti mug.

 

Future direction and upcoming events:

We are currently looking to incorporate our clients into future events. We will be participating in The St. Thomas Railway Run again in 2023, as well as have a guest speaker come in to discuss the importance of nutrition and how it relates to mental health.

 

CFE Celebration Dinner at the Kettle Creek Inn

 

On June 17, 2023, CPA Ontario held their annual Convocation ceremony for successful writers of the Fall 2022 Common Final Exam (“CFE”), which is a stepping stone to acquiring a CPA designation. In celebration of the triumph of our three writers (Nick Boyer, Jason Rakowicz, and Jackson McCully), the Partners at GSE hosted a dinner in their honour at The Kettle Creek Inn in Port Stanley, ON. Our successful writers, their mentors, and Partners (along with their spouses) were invited to celebrate this incredible milestone with them.

 

Congratulations once again Nick, Jason, and Jackson on reaching this outstanding professional achievement!

GSE Golf Day – 2023

Graham Scott Enns LLP held our 9th annual staff golf tournament on Friday, June 16th, 2023. This was a great opportunity for our Partners and staff to have some fun outside of the office and enjoy some friendly competition. Thank you to the Dorchester Golf and Country Club for hosting the event!