CEWS reviews & more are now covered by Audit Shield!

WHILE you were working feverishly away during tax season, we were working on some good news to share ...

In the early days of the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy (CEWS) Pilot Program being undertaken by the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA), Accountancy Insurance funded, outside of the policy, the first 50 eligible CEWS Pilot Program audits for our clients that came across our claims desk. 

For us, that wasn't enough. We wanted to find a way to continue covering all eligible CRA wage and rental subsidy reviews for our Audit Shield clients.

We can now confirm that a CPA's time in both pre and post assessment, including phone calls, in responding to wage and rental subsidy reviews of:

• Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy (CEWS),
• Canada Emergency Rent Subsidy (CERS),
• Canada Recovery Hiring Program (CRHP),
• Tourism and Hospitality Recovery Program (THRP),
• Hardest-Hit Business Recovery Program (HHBRP), and
• Local Lockdown Program (LLP).

is now covered by Audit Shield.

This is great news for Canadian accounting firms, as we understand more CRA review activity is on its way. 

What you should know about this inclusion: 

• This is only available to accountants who offer the Audit Shield Fee Waiver Service to their clients.
• The client must be a participating Audit Shield client under the accountant’s Audit Shield Fee Waiver Service offering prior to receiving the review or audit notification from the CRA.
• This inclusion will extend not only to renewals but will be automatically applied to all current and existing policies.
• You do not need to do anything to have this included in your current policy or renewal policy.

Audits in respect of any government benefits or entitlements like wage and rental subsidies have historically always been an exclusion in the Audit Shield Tax Audit Insurance policy. 

The logic behind this is that a Tax Audit Insurance policy covers tax audits in respect of validating, substantiating, justifying, or supporting whether or not you owe more taxes or duties than you declared in a filed return. Government benefits and entitlements like wage and rental subsidies, on the other hand, represent discretionary incentives being offered up by governments to encourage certain behaviour. 

They are not compulsory and not everyone is entitled to these, and the process involves an application process, and then a possible audit of the eligibility, entitlement, purpose or use of that benefit or entitlement. 

With this in mind, we wanted more for accountants and their clients. We wanted to find out how we can cover wage and rental subsidy reviews with Audit Shield. 

How did we make this happen?

Our team has been collaborating with our underwriter, Lloyd’s, to see how wage and rental subsidy reviews fit into the Audit Shield coverage to better support accountants and their clients.

Any delay so far has been caused by detail only recently being released as to how these programs are going to be administered and, more importantly, for us how we think they are going to be reviewed or audited in the future.

After lengthy discussions with Lloyd’s, we came to the conclusion that many of the CRA wage and rental subsidy reviews are covered by Audit Shield.

This is a big win and one we fought hard to get over the line.  

The team at Accountancy Insurance are pleased to be able to deliver this news. We hope that it will be some help in supporting your firm and clients. 

Canada Revenue Agency wage and rental subsidy reviews are covered by Audit Shield. (ACCOUNTANCY INSURANCE)

Not a client yet?  Never worry about fee write offs again.

In the past, when a client is subject to CRA review activity, CPAs tended to compensate by charging the client the real cost of their professional services, or the CPA would simply write off their fees to keep the client happy.

Either way it’s a no-win situation and the CPA needed to have an awkward conversation with their client.

Is your CPA firm still writing off fees for responding to CRA reviews and audits of your client's filed returns in these areas — and more?  Are you tired of it and wish there was a better way? We can assure you, there is. Hundreds of chartered professional accountants across Canada know about it and utilize it — and it's called Audit Shield.

With Audit Shield the accountant and the client can take on the review or audit, side by side, responding in the most thorough way, without the cost or stress being a concern.

Why CPAs in Canada like Audit Shield

• No COST solution, in fact you retain an admin fee each year 
• No DEDUCTIBLE, no minimum claim
• We do the work to send the offer to your clients (goes on your letterhead)
• If your client is subject to a review or audit - you claim 100% of your time responding (up to the sum insured) 
• Claims are paid directly to you within 5 working days.

Don’t wait until it’s too late. Roll out Audit Shield before the CRA COVID-19 subsidy review letters arrive in the coming months. 

Schedule an Information Session

Lock in an obligation free, Partner’s in-person or virtual information session by contact us by email: info@accountancyinsurance.ca.

Just mention that you are interested in arranging an info session and let us know your preferred date and time. It’s free and only takes around 30 minutes. 

In the information session you’ll learn how some of Canada’s most proactive CPA firms are protecting their clients and eliminating the need to write off their fees at the same time, with Audit Shield.

Content sponsored by Accountancy Insurance, providers of Audit Shield, tax audit insurance tailored specifically to the needs of Canadian accounting firms.