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Date: July 11, 2023
Time: 8:30am – 4:30pm
Location: Hyatt Regency, Vancouver
| Eligible CPD Hours: 7 Course Fee: $405 PD Passport Valid: 12 credits |
Summary
Join us for an empowering day of presentations! The past three years have been unpredictable, and there are many new challenges on the horizon. This conference will help you “embrace the now” of this uncertainty by offering three streams of sessions on timely topics relevant to your current work and environment.
Embrace the now - Discover how to overcome new challenges and manage emerging issues in today’s ever-changing business environment.
Now is the time to connect with peers and explore new ideas with sessions on emotional literacy, ChatGPT, financing strategies, leading change and much more.
Nexus Day Agenda
| Time | Event |
|---|---|
| 8:30 am - 8:35 am | Welcome and Introductory Remarks |
8:35 am - 9:55 am | Economic Outlook David Williams, DPhil, MPhil, BEcon (Hons) | Vice President of Policy, Business Council of British Columbia The outlook for world economic growth in 2023 and 2024 is the weakest since the early 1980s. This session will examine the Canadian and British Columbian economies in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic. How will our economies perform against this backdrop? Participants will gain insight into the features and comparative strengths of the Canadian and B.C. economies. What structural challenges has the pandemic exposed? Going forward, what policy areas need to be addressed to ensure Canada and B.C. are on a sound economic footing? |
| 9:55 am - 10:05 am | Break |
10:05 am - 11:15 am | Automate for Success: Achieve Effortless Efficiency in Work and Life Brooks Duncan, CPA, CMA | Host of The Productivity Show and COO of Asian Efficiency Productivity isn't about checking off your to-do list. It's about making time for things that are truly important to you. In this presentation, you'll learn how automation can help you achieve effortless efficiency in your work and personal life. We'll explore automation tools and techniques so you can streamline your life, reduce stress, and be intentional with your time. Leading Change Through Conversation Jennifer Campbell, PCC | Coach, Facilitator, Change ImpleMentor™ A shift in leadership requires conversations with yourself. A shift in engagement requires conversations with your team and stakeholders. Are you having the right conversations, with the right people to lead change effectively? In this session, we will discuss how to reinvigorate team members, spark innovation, and lead without knowing all the answers – through conversation. Key Takeaways
ChatGPT for Accountants: 30+ Use Cases You Can Apply Immediately Garrett Wasny, MA, CMC, CITP/FITP In this rapidly evolving technological landscape, staying ahead of the curve with artificial intelligence (AI) knowledge is crucial. This session provides a concise overview of ChatGPT and other emerging generative AI tools plus a quick-start guide on how to use them in your accounting work. These apps answer questions, create content, generate code, and perform countless other cognitive tasks in natural language. The results are not only credible, but often superhuman. This new wave of software is arguably the most ground-breaking in the history of the world. Don't miss out on the opportunity to be part of the future of work, where your mastery of AI could lead to countless career advancement opportunities. This session will introduce you to
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| 11:15 am - 11:30 am | Break |
11:30 am - 12:40 pm | Getting the PST/GST/HST Right on Sales to, and Purchases from Non-BC Residents Cristina Gutiu, CPA, CGA, MBA | Senior Manager, Indirect Tax, KPMG When are you required to charge BC PST on sales to individuals and/or businesses located outside BC, including outside Canada? When are you required to self-assess PST on purchases of goods and software from vendors located outside BC? Are your sales to non-residents zero-rated for GST/HST purposes? If so, how do you prove this in the event of a CRA GST/HST audit? Are you required to self-assess GST/HST on purchases of property and services acquired from non-residents of Canada? You have questions – we have answers! This session will discuss all things sales-tax related for BC businesses dealing with out of-province customers and suppliers. Challenging Your Frames of Reference: Using ‘Wrong’ to Your Advantage Christian Codrington, CPHR | Principal, FORUM HR We are still getting through one of the most challenging times in recent history. Organizations in all sectors need to change or adapt, embrace areas that they once resisted such as work-from-home, and make decisions about their operations with little or no external resources to guide them. To succeed, we need all members of the team to contribute, be heard, and as leaders, we must balance all of that information and have the courage to make decisions that drive our organizations forward. In this session, you will be exposed to patterns we use to stay safe, perhaps even quell innovative thinking and walk away with tools to identify when those patterns develop and ways to overcome them and get results. ESG and Stakeholder Activism Morgan Hamel, MA | President, MH Partners Inc. We have entered a new era of stakeholder activism, not only from investors, but also from customers and employees. Many leaders and businesses find themselves ill-equipped to navigate this challenge. This session will discuss how a deeper understanding of behavioural ethics and an understanding of "both/and thinking” as it relates to ESG are critical to engaging stakeholders and having healthy conversations about ESG. You will come away with
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| 12:40 pm - 1:35 pm | Lunch Break |
1:35 pm - 2:45 pm | Financing and Organizational Success Strategies in Uncertain Times Mathieu Cere, CFA | Regional Vice President, Vancouver, BDC Planning for businesses is difficult in today’s economy due to higher interest rates, rising inflation, widespread labour shortages and fears of a looming economic slowdown. In order to plan ahead, leaders must understanding current trends and adapt their business model. This interactive session will provide advice on creating and executing a plan, and finding the right opportunities to thrive in the current economic climate. This session will discuss
The Art of Saying “No!” and Setting Boundaries Scott Orth | Resiliency and Mindfulness Coach Are your days unrealistically overbooked? Have you ever taken on so much work it makes it impossible to do anything well? Does your work routinely get bumped to respond to someone else’s urgent needs? Do you feel you need to say “Yes” because you feel guilt or might not get another opportunity? If so, this session is for you. We live in a time of explosive growth, change and opportunity, and this makes it hard to say "No", even when we realistically don't have the bandwidth. We are a social species, which means we are inherently wired to collaborate and please. But when we take on too much, and when healthy collaboration becomes endless pleasing, letting our own needs slide, or living with guilt for simply setting fair and realistic boundaries, we have gone too far. This session will help you understand the neuroscience behind the various ways we get sucked into saying “Yes!” and not setting boundaries. You will leave with five practical tools to bring more balance, productivity and self-respect back into your life. Becoming as Ethical as We Think We Are Morgan Hamel, MA | President, MH Partners Inc. Many of the business ethics and leadership challenges faced by leaders and organizations today are a result of a failure to understand what behavioural ethics tells us loud and clear: that we aren’t as ethical as we think we are. Understanding this reality is key to navigating risk and preventing moral injury in the era of ‘shares’ and likes’. In this session, we will discuss practical tools and resources to build and maintain a strong reputation in an increasingly transparent world. You will come away with an understanding of
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| 2:45 pm - 3:10 pm | Break |
3:10 pm - 4:30 pm | Using Emotional Literacy as the Great Equalizer in our Understanding of Mental Health Dr. Shahana Alibhai, MD, CCFP | Lead Physician, Abbotsford Youth Health Centre The words anxiety and depression have become commonplace in our lexicons, not just as diagnoses but descriptions of how we feel. In this session, we will explore emotional literacy as a tool to move beyond anxiety and depression and to live your best life. As a physician with over 10 years of experience in the field of mental health, Dr. Alibhai has seen first-hand how emotional literacy contributes to our understanding and even prevention of mental health disorders. In this session, participants will learn
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Dr. Shahana Alibhai, MD, CCFP, is a professional speaker, family physician and mental health expert. She has worked with a multitude of organizations to help people gain more clarity into their own mental health.
Her insights are highly sought after and she’s been featured in multiple major media including CTV and Global. She is best known for her “Emotional Literacy for Better Mental Health” TEDx talk and as a panelist at International Women’s Day. She has served on the UBC Faculty of Medicine Residency training program and is currently a National accreditor for the College of Canadian Family Physicians.
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Jennifer Campbell, PCC is a certified coach, seasoned group facilitator, and author the Amazon best-selling book – Talking Change: Must-Have Conversations for Successful Leaders.
She works with organizations to make a positive impact on both business results and individual career success and satisfaction. Jen is a versatile adviser to leaders and sought after 'thinking and execution' partner who helps people improve their performance and lead change.
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Mathieu Cere, CFA, Regional Vice President at BDC is passionate about business operations, change management and strategic planning, and ensures that BDC delivers on their value proposition to clients while maintaining alignment with the organizational vision and objectives.
During his more than 19 years with BDC, Mathieu has helped companies in a range of industries and of various sizes to navigate economic uncertainty and increase their business impact. Mathieu has a Chartered Financial Analyst designation from the CFA Institute, a Bachelor of Business Administration in Finance from HEC Montreal, and a Leadership Program Certificate from the Ivey Business School.
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Christian Codrington, CPHR, Principal Consultant of Forum HR, is an instructor of the Faculty of Business Administration + Media at the BC Institute of Technology and taking his masters of Industrial and Organizational Psychology at Adler University.
He has over 30 years of experience in HR roles with organizations such as Women’s and Children’s Health Centre of BC, Starbucks Coffee, and Best Buy Canada. Through Forum HR, Christian helps organizations to develop effective solutions to their questions about managing their people. His practice has evolved to specialize in dealing with groups in conflict and restorative justice interventions. Christian’s clients include The Polygon Gallery, Capilano University, E-Comm 9-1-1, The City of Red Deer Alberta, and the BC Chiropractic Association among others. He has two sons who, along with himself play guitar, and are all still working at making music together.
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Brooks Duncan, CPA, CMA is host of The Productivity Show, a top productivity podcast and is COO of Asian Efficiency, a leading productivity training company.
He's spoken at the American Bar Association TECHSHOW, CPA British Columbia, National Association of Productivity & Organizing, Institute of Professional Bookkeepers of Canada, Real Estate Board Greater Vancouver, and more. Brooks' background includes accounting, software, online community, and as Director of Client Services at a large multinational firm.
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Cristina Gutiu, CPA, CGA, MBA is a proven indirect tax professional with over 20-year experience advising internal and external clients in all GST/HST/PST matters. Cristina’s work experience include senior management positions in the Big 4, industry, and government.
Cristina is particularly results-driven and proficient in initiating, coordinating and implementing innovative tax planning opportunities while successfully mitigating risk and maintaining tax compliance. Cristina has been a contributing author to the CICA Commodity Tax News and has presented on indirect tax matters to various audiences. Cristina is an Active Mentor with the Immigrant Services Society of BC’s Mentoring Connections program — an organizational program that matches Vancouver-based professionals with skilled immigrants in the same professional area.
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Morgan Hamel, MA, is the President of MH Partners Inc., a boutique consulting firm adept at helping leaders appreciate and communicate moral nuance to build stakeholder trust and long-term value.
With experience in corporate ethics (11 years in the ethics office of a large organization), academia (Master’s Degree in Applied Ethics from Utrecht University in the Netherlands) and ethical entrepreneurship (founded an ESG-centric ethical fashion marketing company that generated $1M in responsible sales in its first corporate year), Morgan and her associates offer clients a business-focused, ethics-rooted perspective on reputation management that doesn’t exist elsewhere.
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Scott Orth is a mindfulness coach and trainer, who gives CPAs the tools they need to delete the overwhelm, focus on what matters most and drive their future.
He gives them strategies to respond to the challenges in their day more mindfully, allowing them to be more focused, productive and happier with the life they are living. Scott was previously the National Leader of HR for one of Canada’s largest employee-owned engineering and science consulting organizations and thoroughly enjoys the challenge of working with analytical, critical thinkers.
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Garrett Wasny, MA, CMC, CITP/FITP, is a Certified Management Consultant (CMC) and award-winning digital skills advisor to accountants, tax attorneys, enrolled agents, and tax preparers worldwide.
His roles include webinar producer, Internet speaker, author, app developer, professional development leader, and former management consultant for Price Waterhouse. He's published 50+ ebooks on accounting technology and ethics, written hundreds of articles on Internet strategy, and delivered thousands of seminars and webinars to CPAs and accounting organizations from coast to coast in Canada and the US and in more than 40 countries.
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David Williams, DPhil, MPhil, BEcon (Hons) is Vice President of Policy at the Business Council of British Columbia where he leads the development of economic policy research and advice on productivity, innovation, taxation, and human capital. He is also President of the Association of Professional Economists of B.C.
His previous roles include Senior Economist at the Bank of Canada, Senior Adviser for Economic Policy at Australia’s Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, lecturer in economics at Oxford University, and PhD research intern at the International Monetary Fund. David holds a Doctor of Philosophy and Master of Philosophy in economics from Oxford University.
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Katherine Xilinas, LL.B. is a Partner with KPMG Law LLP and KPMG Canada’s Indirect Tax practice in Vancouver.
She has 20+ years of experience assisting clients with their indirect tax and customs planning and advisory needs, as well as representing them before the Canadian taxing and customs authorities, the BC Supreme Court, the Tax Court of Canada, the Federal Courts of Canada and the Canadian International Trade Tribunal. Katherine serves a broad base of clients in various sectors, including mining, energy, retail, technology and real estate, as well as charities and NPOs. Katherine currently serves as an Adjunct Professor in the Master of Laws – Taxation program at the UBC Allard School of Law. She also sits on the Executive of the national Commodity Tax Subsection of the Canadian Bar Association and is a participating member of the GST Leaders Forum, a group of 25 leading indirect tax practitioners from across Canada.
Past Participant
“I loved the options for breakout sessions. This allowed some flexibility to customize the PD to make the entire day engaging and relevant to my preferences.”
“Very relevant topics and practical reference materials and techniques to implement.”
“All of the sessions were useful. It was excellent professional development. I was impressed with how seamless the virtual part was.” “This was just what I needed. Thank you for putting on this topic!”