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Automated Corporate Tax Checklist
Opinion Support Checklists *
Notes & Queries
and Letter
New Version Now
Available February 12, 2008
Tax
compliance is important to accounting firms. Partners, staff, clients, shareholders
creditors, CRA and others are affected by tax compliance. This corporate tax checklist, notes &
queries and letter writing system differs from traditional paper, adobe,
excel and word templates in many
ways including:
- The entire checklist (over
500 questions) has been
collapsed to a few pages which expand only as needed;
- Over 100 standard paragraphs in automated
reporting letter to client
- Opinion Support Checklists for CCPC, QSBC, Shareholder debt, Specified
Investment Business, Personal Service Business, etc.
- You can switch between the
low risk and the standard
versions of the checklist without losing any of the work already done;
- Detailed steps are
revealed ONLY WHEN NEEDED, based on built in logic (which can be
modified by the firm);
- Firm specialists can edit
the checklist and add automated steps (with password protection
to prevent unauthorized changes);
- It can automatically
generate a broad range of reporting letters to: clients; lawyers;
actuaries; brokers, etc.;
- Reporting letters can be
customized to reflect individual client circumstances;
- Firms can copy their own
standard paragraphs into a reporting letter generator;
- It facilitates supervision
and monitoring of tax compliance work before files are submitted for
partner/manager review;
- It highlights unexpected
answers (higher risk situations and potential opportunities);
- It ensures clients are
informed in writing of risks, rewards and opportunities
- It assists staff to use
online and offline tax reference material more effectively (can be
turned off depending on firm preferences);
- Checklist questions can be
linked to documents outlining firm policies, e.g. firm policies
dealing with shareholder loans;
- It accommodates unlimited
explanations and/or descriptions of tax research and findings;
- It permits direct linking
of questions to supporting documentation;
- It assists reviewers to be
more productive and efficient;
- It provides reviewers with
commonly used notes and queries to edit as needed;
- It allows firms to add
additional standard notes and queries;
- It provides categories
questions and notes and queries to quickly identify and/or group related notes and
queries;
- It allows firms to add
their own categories;
- It facilitates the
collection and organization of information and the identification of
known issues for outside or internal tax specialists making their
involvement more efficient;
- It provides
evidence of a firm's due diligence.
Many accounting firms use detailed
checklists only with larger clients because in their experience the time
required to complete checklists cannot be justified for smaller clients.
Tax checklists are often considered to be unduly long with much content
that is irrelevant for smaller clients. The Automated Corporate Tax
Checklist, Notes & Queries and letter system has been designed using
input from tax specialists, general practitioners and professional staff,
so as to be practical and easy to use.
Although, the fully expanded checklist is over 25 pages long, staff does not waste time plodding through irrelevant
content. This expansion feature also greatly reduces the danger that
important questions will be overlooked due to error or frustration.
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