Canadian Accountant’s most popular accounting stories of 2024

TORONTO, Dec. 29, 2022 – During the past year, Canadian Accountant published 180 articles on a variety of topics relevant to the Canadian accounting profession, from public practice to management accounting to the CFE and the CPA program. 

It was an eventful year for Canadian accountants, who faced increased scrutiny from regulators, profound changes to taxation legislation, the high-profile breakup of relations between the profession’s most prominent governing bodies, and the election of a pro-tariff, low-tax administration in the United States. 

In reverse order, here are the five articles that proved most popular with our readers in 2024, with honourable mentions saved to the end. 

5.  Five ways Donald Trump’s election victory is good for Canadian accountants

Published in November, just following the resounding victory of the president-elect, Canadian Accountant took a hard look at the ramifications of protectionist administration fundamentally opposed to big government and high taxation. Our conclusion? From taxes and tariffs to deregulation, Donald Trump may scare Canadian economists, but accountants are sure to benefit from a second Trump term. 

4. Crystallizing capital gains before June 25: What about the GAAR?

As one of our most popular columnists, Allan Lanthier has a knack for deconstructing complex news, and discussing ramifications in terms that even the public can grasp. When the federal government announced proposed changes to capital gains taxation, we published several articles on the changes, including a very popular review by Greg Farano of Gardiner Roberts. 

Mr. Lanthier wrote two articles for us on capital gains changes. The new game in town: Capital gains and the alternative minimum tax was just as much a hit as Crystallizing capital gains before June 25: What about the GAAR? 

3. PCAOB finds fault with half of Ernst and Young Canada audits inspected

In February, the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board not only found fault in EY Canada’s auditing, it also reported financial relationships between EY Canada personnel and audit clients. Suddenly, the US audit watchdog was raising the ethical bar once again, demanding that auditors voluntarily disclose potential issues of non-compliance with independence rules. The article certainly seemed to gain the attention of our readers. 

2. Canadian accounting firm Grant Thornton LLP rebrands nationally, shifts business focus

In October, Grant Thornton announced a major shift in strategy, and rebranding to Doane Grant Thornton. The announcement seemed to confirm that regulatory scrutiny and a competitive marketplace were forcing firms to reconsider their interest in some audit work. Taken together with BDO Canada selling 21 of its offices to MNP, the landscape for national mid-market firms is shifting, and will be one to watch in 2025. 

1. Saskatchewan: CRA changes to note

The popularity of this article, from November 30th, was proof positive that our commitment to covering accounting and taxation stories from coast to coast to coast is appreciated by our readers. And without the funding of the Local Journalism Initiative by the federal government, it would not have been possible to publish a story from a journalist in Wakaw, Saskatchewan. 

The same goes for New Brunswick: Milestone or millstone? Shared-risk pension, 10 years on, which even we were surprised to discover was one of the most popular articles of 2024. We will continue to public tax stories from provinces and towns across Canada in 2025. 

Honourable Mentions

Some articles “have legs,” as they say, and are perennially popular despite their publication in years past. Case in point? 20 tax audit triggers, written by Dale Barrett of Barrett Tax Law back in 2020, continues to be popular with readers four years after the fact. Likewise, Special Report: Deloitte Canada tops rival Canadian accounting firms in annual revenue, which was published in 2023. 

The same goes for the CPA program articles written by Gevorg Grigoryan, a coach and mentor to aspiring accountants, regardless of the year they were published. Should I get my CPA designation in Canada or the U.S.?, which was first published in 2020, continues to be popular as are all of Gevorg’s articles for students in the CPA program. 

Finally, audit regulation continues to draw interest from readers, especially articles such as Two of the Big Four accounting firms failed their audit inspections in 2023 — but we don’t know who and Canadian audit watchdog CPAB bans American accounting firm BF Borgers, which highlight the important role in audit regulation played by the Canadian Public Accountability Board. 

Thanks for being loyal readers of Canadian Accountant and we look forward to providing you with more independent journalism in 2024. 

Colin Ellis is a contributing editor to Canadian Accountant.