AUGUST 2020
Sharon Mathew Joins Our Team
Sharon Mathew has joined our Toronto team as a Senior Staff Accountant, and it is easy to see why we are thrilled to have her! Not only is she wonderful to work with, but she also has considerable experience in all areas of accounting and holds a Masters of Business Administration (MBA). Sharon’s diligence speaks for itself and we look forward to working with her.
JULY 2020
Welcome Aboard, Pascale!
We are happy to welcome our newest Executive Assistant, Pascale Lavoie! Pascale has a background in management, has excellent interpersonal skills and is happy to provide assistance in both official languages. Pascale will be assisting Denis Chainé.
Staff Appreciation Office Closure July 1 – July 3
Please note that our offices will be closed from Wednesday, July 1 to Friday, July 3, 2020 inclusive. We are proud to provide you with continuous outstanding assistance during the COVID-19 pandemic. We are grateful to you, our clients, for your understanding and cooperation as we modified our processes to ensure your safety as well as that of our staff. We have decided to extend our office closure to July 2nd and 3rd as a token of appreciation to our staff, who have worked exceptionally during these trying times. We remain committed to maintaining our excellent service and will reopen for our regular business hours on Monday, July 6th, 2020. Thank you and Happy Canada Day!
JUNE 2020
Welcoming a New Member to Our Team
We are extremely excited to welcome Paula Ocampo to our team! She will be joining our Financial Reporting Services department on June 1st. Paula holds a Bachelor of Commerce in International Business and a Certificate in Accounting. Her experience includes but is not limited to bookkeeping and corporate as well as personal income taxation. We look forward to working with you, Paula!
MAY 2020
Congratualtions Josianne!
We wish Josianne Legault-Désormeaux all the best on her maternity leave! We are very happy to see her embark on this new journey with her growing family.
APRIL 2020
Thank You to Our Co-op Students
We would like to extend our sincerest gratitude to the co-op students who joined us this past semester. Despite the atypical co-op term, every one of our students delivered excellent results and was an absolute pleasure to work with. Thank you to Ben Tunnell, Kathryn Pilon, Jasmin Atwal, Gabriel Cloutier, Alex Zoutis and Leah Du for your hard work and a job well done!
MARCH 2020
Don’s Next Chapter
After a decade with Logan Katz, Don Armstrong has moved on to pursue a new career opportunity. Don was a revered member of our team and we wish him the best in this new chapter.
COVID-19 Office Procedures
We hope you and your family are doing well and that you’re navigating calmly through these uncertain times. In light of the tsunami of recent developments, we understand your concerns during this time. We have implemented precautionary measures and have been taking additional steps to ensure you and our employees are safe.
We kindly request that you scan all of your tax documentation and provide it to us via email or using our secure online client portal. Alternatively, you can drop off your documents to us using our locked drop-box, conveniently located outside of our Gurdwara office. For the time being, we will not allow any outside visits to our offices in order to maintain social distancing practices.
FEBRUARY 2020
Anjali Dilawri as a Finalist at the Businesswoman of the Year Awards
We are extraordinarily proud of Anjali Dilawri, CPA, CA, for becoming 1 of 12 finalists in the Women’s Business Network of Ottawa‘s Businesswoman of the Year Awards! Anjali is 1 of 3 women in the ‘Professional Services’ category. We are delighted that she is being recognized for her extensive expertise, hard work and exceptional dedication. This is a very proud moment for Anjali, and for our firm as a whole. To add, we would like to congratulate all of the finalists for their monumental achievements.
Staff Bowling Night
We definitely didn’t strike out with this team! Staying true to our ‘work hard, play hard’ philosophy, our bowling night was a huge success! We had a terrific time practicing our skills, getting to know our co-op students and enjoying each other’s company!
LK Volleyball Season Kicks Off
Our volleyball team, the ‘Bad Assets’, enjoyed a delightful victory yesterday evening. Our winter season is off to a great start; we are 3 weeks in and are yet to be defeated!
JANUARY 2020
Justin and Patrick Pass their CFE
We have been eagerly awaiting Patrick’s and Justin’s Common Final Examination (CFE) results since September. We are delighted to announce that they have both passed the final test required to obtain their CPA designations! We are very proud of them for completing this challenging and laborious process. We are pleased that our writers have had a 92% success rate over past 3 years! Congratulations to Patrick and Justin for this monumental accomplishment!
Welcome to Our Lovely Co-op Students
We would like to give our co-op students a friendly welcome to our firm! It is great to see a mix of fresh and familiar faces and we look forward to working with all of you!
DECEMBER 2019
Pre-Accelerator Cohort 5 Pitch Night
On December 5th, our very own Troy Elliot was one of the judges at Invest Ottawa’s Pre-Accelerator Cohort 5 Pitch Night! Ottawa’s emerging tech entrepreneurs gave it their all, and the winning company was awarded one-on-one mentor hours with leading experts and 6 months of free office space use at Bayview Yards!
Office Closure for the Holidays
Our offices will be closed for the holidays from Monday, December 23rd to Wednesday, January 1st, inclusively. We will re-open for regular business hours on Thursday, January 2nd. We wish everyone a safe and enjoyable holiday season and look forward to serving you in the new year!
Logan Katz Holiday Potluck
As we do every year, we threw a holiday potluck on December 20th. We enjoyed sharing a holiday meal and eating delicious dishes in our ugly Christmas sweaters! It was a lovely way to end the last work week of 2018!
NOVEMBER 2019
Lunch and Learns
During the last few months, we have been participating in bi-weekly ‘Lunch and Learn’ lunch sessions. Each session is hosted by a different partner, on a topic of their choosing. Our staff has enjoyed building on existing knowledge on select topics, learning new information and having group discussions.
Office Renovations
This month, the renovations at our 104 office at our Gurdwara location in Ottawa were finished! They include a brighter office, ergonomic desks with an option to stand and fresh paint! Our staff is enjoying the option to stand and the new, modern atmosphere.
LK Management Retreat
Each year in November, the management team attends an off-site retreat to discuss matters pertaining to our firm and to spend time together outside of the office environment. This year they went to the Wakefield Mill in Chelsea, Quebec, where they enjoyed beautiful scenery, a relaxing atmosphere and delicious food.
OCTOBER 2019
A Trip to Cincinnati
Our young professionals attended a course in Cincinnati at the end of October, while also enjoying the city and the activities it has to offer! They spent some quality time engaging in team bonding activities, like visiting an aquarium and seeing a baseball game.
Gaining Another CPA
We would like to congratulate Troy Elliot for becoming officially approved as a CPA! This is an outstanding accomplishment after several years of demanding studies.
Grand Opening Celebration of Our Toronto Office
On October 10th, we celebrated our expansion to Toronto office over beverages and hors d’oeuvres, with terrific friends and associates. We had a wonderful time mingling and celebrating this significant milestone with wonderful people!
Our Toronto Location is Open for Business
We are thrilled to announce our Toronto office has been up and running since October 7th! We are eager to share our knowledge and positive, solutions-oriented approach with The Big Smoke. Kyle Royer is our main contact in Toronto and can be reached at: / 647-558-1384.
SEPTEMBER 2019
25 Year Anniversary Staff Party
On September 20th, we enjoyed a fun-filled day to celebrate our 25th anniversary with our staff! The warm and sunny weather was perfect for the scavenger hunt we had around Dow’s Lake! We then laughed into the late evening, ending our day with a comedy show!
Logan Katz Pub Night for Co-op Students
On September 5th, we hosted our annual Logan Katz Pub Night. We enjoyed meeting potential co-op students at Craft Beer Market and introducing them to our culture and values!
AUGUST 2019
Picnic Staff Meetings
We know summer is coming to an end, but at least we can say we certainly made the best of it while it lasted! Many of us took time off to enjoy the beautiful weather and spend time with family and friends. We also took advantage of the lovely weather while at work, as we moved some of our meetings outdoors!
JULY 2019
Chelsea and Phil’s Wedding
Congratulations to Chelsea and Phil on their beautiful wedding! We wish them much love, laughter and happiness throughout the years to come!
Kerry & Jon’s Wedding
Kerry, a dear friend and long-time colleague to many of us got married this summer! We wish her and Jon a lifetime of happiness!
JUNE 2019
End of Corporate Tax Season
The end of June marks the end of corporate tax season. It also marks the beginning of July, a time our staff can take a breath of fresh air and reflect on yet another successful corporate tax season coming to a close. We would like to thank all of our wonderful clients for entrusting us to complete their corporate taxes. It is our pleasure to work with you. Many of our staff members will be taking well-deserved vacations in the months of July and August. We are looking forward to enjoying some sunshine, relaxation and spending time with friends and family.
Farewell to Matt Johnson
Matt Johnson, our dear friend and colleague will be leaving Logan Katz at the end of June to relocate to his home town of Kenora, Ontario. The memories we have created both in and out of the office with Matt will extend far past his departure. Matt has been working with Logan Katz since 2013 and will be sincerely missed. His hard work and intelligence have been cherished assets to our firm, and we wish him all the best in his future endeavors!
Learning Kurve on Summer Holidays
Our monthly Learning Kurve articles will be temporarily suspended over the summer months. During this time, we will keep an eye out for new and informative material to share with you in the fall. Thank you for your continued interest in our newsletter.
MAY 2019
Celebrating 25 Years in Business
On May 23rd, we celebrated 25 years in business with a cocktail reception at 50 Sussex. It was a spectacular, magical evening, made especially so by the company we shared it with – 250 of our favorite people: clients, staff, alumni, friends and family! Thank you to all for being a part of our celebration!
“You’ve noticed that our branding is centered around two words: Client Inspired. Well please note that through your passion, your hard work, your determination, your risk taking, your caring entrepreneurial spirits, your contributions to our communities, you inspire all of us.” – Denis Chaine, Managing Partner, Logan Katz LLP
End of Tax Season Party
We celebrated the closing of yet another successful personal tax season on May 1st. The secret to our success during this busy time is our amazing team, which is truly our greatest asset!
Congratulations to Our Newest CPA
We would like to congratulate our newest CPA – Niba Suh for achieving his designation this month! This is an impressive accomplishment and we celebrate this exceptional professional milestone with you.
Gaining a Senior Manager
We are thrilled to welcome Neil Scilley as a new Senior Manager to our team! Neil brings with him many years of experience and excellent mentorship skills.
Welcoming Back 3 Students
We would like to welcome back Ben Tunnell, Ben Pilon and Justin O’Malley for another co-op term with us! It is great to have you as a part of our team again!
APRIL 2019
Logan Katz Celebrates 25 Years in Business
This year, Logan Katz proudly celebrates a quarter-century of delivering superior service to incredibly dynamic and inspiring clients. To commemorate our 25 years of service and success, we are hosting a celebration on May 23rd at 50 Sussex. We hope that you will join us to mark this milestone.
End of Season Home Stretch
We are swiftly approaching April 30th and are in the final, home stretch to wrap up the end of tax season! Our staff has been dedicated to serving our clients this busy tax season and looking forward to a much deserved break! Most of us will be off May 1st for some rest and relaxation, but not before our annual end of season tax party we are all very much looking forward to!
Award Winning Maple Syrup
Don Armstrong and his family were featured in the local media outlet, West Carleton Online, for their Awarding Winning Maple Syrup production! 2019 marks their 4th year in production, with 2 back-to-back, first prize wins, competing against Ontario’s finest small batch producers. Don says, producing Maple Syrup during April makes Tax Season that much ‘sweeter’.
Parting with our Co-op Students
The Partners and staff of Logan Katz would like to thank our co-op students for a wonderful co-op term! We enjoyed working with you and hope you have gained useful experience for your bright futures!
MARCH 2019
Pints and Pies
Logan Katz opened its doors to many Carleton University and University of Ottawa students on March 5th. It was a successful evening of networking and sharing by all who attended. Great food, great drinks and great company.
Welcome Stacey!
We are excited to welcome Stacey Anguelovskaia to our team! She brings with her great experience as an Executive Assistant, a passion for writing and many years of client service skills.
FEBRUARY 2019
A Quarter Century of Excellence
When David Logan and Gary Katz first met, they knew they shared more than just a passion for their profession. They shared the key values of integrity, respect and care. They shared a vision of an accounting firm that would embody excellence in quality of client service, as well as respect for its staff, clients, environment and community.
And so, when they opened the doors of Logan Katz in 1994, they did so with the promise to provide clients with superior service. Shortly thereafter, a young man named Denis Chainé walked in those very same doors, fresh from an assignment oversees, looking to build roots in the city he loved. Denis shared their vision and values and the three quickly knew they had something very special to offer. Denis went on to become a partner in 2007 and the rest, as the saying goes, is history.
A quarter century of history, to be exact. David, Gary and Denis have since stayed true to their promise, growing the firm to a staff of 50 and the addition of three partners, Shawn Roussy, Anjali Dilawri and Trevor Kennedy.
This year, Logan Katz proudly celebrates a quarter century of delivering superior service to incredibly dynamic and inspiring clients. We hope you join us in commemorating our 25 years of service and success. More details on our celebrations will be shared over the next few months and we hope that you will be there to mark this milestone with us.
We can’t wait to see what lies ahead in the next 25 years!
Welcome Back!
The Partners and staff of Logan Katz would like to welcome back Robert Campbell, who is now starting his permanent position as a staff accountant after having completed two co-op terms with us.
JANUARY 2019
Welcome!
The Partners and staff of Logan Katz would like to welcome our newest staff who are beginning their co-op terms with us today, from left to right: Gabriel Cloutier, Matisse Touchard, Danick Genest and Dryden Lloyd. As well today, we are happy to welcome back Josianne Legault-Désormeaux, returning from her maternity leave, Cole Van Wyk, who is starting his permanent position and Alèxe Dumais, who is joining us for another co-op term!
LK is 4 for 4 again!
Lots of hard work and studying has paid off for our staff, they are celebrating the successful completion of their exams on their CPA journey!
Patrick Chaar – Tax
Lindsay Hage – Core 1
Chelsea Logan – Core 2
Alex Fortier-Brynaert – Core 2
DECEMBER 2018
Ottawa Food Bank Office Challenge
Logan Katz held an office-wide Holiday Food Drive for the Ottawa Food Bank. We had a fun office challenge to see which side of the office could bring in the most items. A weigh-in was held last Friday, December 14th to see how heavy each box was and for the second year in a row, the eastern part of the office were the winners, bringing in an amazing 203 lbs of non-perishable items. Our grand total of non-perishable items was a record breaking 510.8 lbs. Thank you to all our staff for participating in the Holiday Food Drive challenge. The Holiday Food Drive is a great way to bring in the holiday season! The proceeds help the Ottawa Food Bank provide emergency food service to it’s community food programs and their clients well into the winter months.
Secret Santa for Toy Mountain
Our office organized a Secret Santa for Ottawa Toy Mountain. Each of our staff selected a name tag out of a hat with a staff members name printed on it. Our staff bought a children’s toy that reminds them of the staff member on the name tag, wrapped the gift and put it under our Gifting Tree. On Friday, December 14th, we all gathered to exchange our gifts and enjoy some laughs and sweet treats.
Ugly Sweater Day!
Oh, the weather outside is frightful, but the ugly sweaters are so delightful… Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow! We had some of the best and the ugliest sweaters in the office last Friday, all in good fun. Santa even made an appearance with his own ugly sweater!
See You Soon
We say good-bye this week to Benjamin Pilon and Justin O’Malley who are both returning to Dalhousie University for the following few months. We will be pleased to welcome them back to Logan Katz in May for their second co-op term. We wish them well in their studies and look forward to seeing them soon!
Office Closure for the Holiday Season
Logan Katz will be closed for the Holiday Season from Monday, December 24th to Monday, January 1st inclusive. We will be back in the office on Tuesday, January 2nd, 2019. We wish our clients, staff and community a wonderful holiday season and a New Year filled with Peace and Happiness! See you in the New Year!
Office Managing Partner
The partners are pleased to announce that Denis Chainé will assume the role of Office Managing Partner effective January 1, 2019.
NOVEMBER 2018
CFE Results
The CFE is a tough set of exams, even attempting them indicates a high degree of professional skill. The partners and staff are truly proud of all of our writers for working so hard to get to this stage! Congratulations to Chris Chan, Troy Elliott, Wilson Li and Janice Ling for passing the CFE!
Holiday Food Drive
As the holiday season approaches, we are reminded of those less fortunate than ourselves. We encourage you to join us in supporting The Ottawa Food Bank’s Holiday Food Drive by bringing a donation of non-perishable food on your next visit to our office between now and December 15th!
Toy Mountain
All Logan Katz staff will be participating in a Secret Santa gift exchange – with a twist. All gifts will be toys which will in turn, be donated to Toy Mountain. We also invite you to consider dropping off a new, unwrapped toy at our office by Friday December 15th to be donated to Toy Mountain to share in the joy of giving.
Annual Retreat
Our Executive team held our annual management retreat at the Moulin Wakefield Mill Hotel & Spa. We ended a full day of strategy meetings with a celebratory dinner. We had much to celebrate – our wonderful colleagues, our clients, and our community.
Laughter and Konversation
On November 26th, we held our last Laughter & Konversation event of 2018. Laughter and Konversation is our signature networking event aimed at celebrating and connecting dynamic women in our business community. We were thrilled to feature Carrie Colton of gallery Studio Sixty Six, who walked us through the landscape of beauty and design, coloured with brush strokes of her own personal journey. This concludes our year’s theme of home, stay tuned for 2019’s theme announcement soon!
Farewell and Hello
It is with mixed feelings that the LK team says goodbye to Sonia Ricciuti as she embarks on a new employment adventure. We were fortunate to have her bright personality and technical expertise for the past four years. We will miss Sonia’s love for love, hearts and roses… As one door closes, another one opens… We would like to welcome Sarah Ziraldo to the LK team! Sarah holds a diploma in Business Accounting and brings several years of accounting experience to the Financial Reporting Services’ Team. Her passion for serving clients and solving problems are wonderful qualities for this position. We are pleased Sarah has joined our team!
OCTOBER 2018
Introducing …
We are delighted to introduce you to Kim Oldham Bourgeois, Manager of Firm Administration and Human Resources. Kim brings 10 years of administration management experience to Logan Katz. A motivated and experienced bilingual professional, she is accomplished in building strong employee teams and a strong organizational culture, which encourages creativity, innovation and teamwork. We look forward to working with Kim to ensure a healthy, happy, productive and well-functioning workplace for all. Welcome to our team, Kim!
Rewarding Our Staff
To recognize our collective hard work, we took the whole firm out for an afternoon of golf, grub and good ‘ol fashioned fun at The Meadows Golf and Country Club on October 3rd. Novice golfers and experts alike, it was great to see our staff come together in a spirit of camaraderie and collaboration, sprinkled with a little healthy competition. Work hard. Play Hard. It’s what we do best!
Supporting Our Colleagues
Many of us headed down to El Camino restaurant in the market on October 17th to celebrate the launch of App8. Our colleague, Lindsay Hage’s husband, Elias, is the founder of App8. His company offers customers of sit-down restaurants the convenience of fast and secure mobile payments from the comfort of their seats; without having to wait for their bill! App8 is currently being used at Father and Sons, Al’s Diner and all of the Clocktower locations in Ottawa.
A Happy LK Halloween!
SEPTEMBER 2018
Be Part of Our Growth!
This month, we welcome five new students to our office for their University co-op work terms. We are glad to have Justin Lee, Gabrielle Killeen, Yasmin Abdi, Justin O’Malley, and Benjamin Pilon onboard! We look forward to working with you and hope you have a great time learning and growing with us.
Let’s Play Ball!
Our softball team, the LK Bombers, had a great year this year, placing 2nd overall in the standings. Our team Captain, Kyle Royer managed to organize a full team each week!
JUNE 2018
Our New Website is Live!
Logan Katz is very excited to announce that our revamped website is LIVE! Get to know who we are and what’s been going on. Also, like us on Facebook and follow us on Instagram and please share our good news with your friends! In recognition of the incredible dedication our great group of staff showed towards revamping our online presence, Logan Katz invited everyone to participate in a fun evening of food and football. Building team spirit was the name of the game at the Redblacks Home Opener on Thursday, June 21st. The night was a huge hit and everyone had a great time watching our home team triumph over the Roughriders by at 40-17!