Featured Member -- Cunningham LLP

Cunningham LLP was established in 1971 and is a full service mid-market public accounting firm providing services to privately held organizations. Cunningham LLP consists of seven partners and over 45 full-time and part-time staff.

Cunningham takes pride in having the vision to see beyond the numbers. They fill the role of “trusted advisor” and empower their clients to succeed by providing advice on financial challenges that affect their operations, revenues and bottom line. For most private clients, seeing beyond the numbers also means being provided with sound, creative corporate and personal tax planning strategies. Such strategies may include income splitting, family trusts, holding companies, SRED maximization, estate freezes and estate planning to help minimize tax liabilities and maximize wealth.

There are a number of case studies on the firm’s website (www.cunninghamca.com) that detail some of the ways clients have benefited from Cunningham’s tax strategies. For instance, demographic statistics all seem to indicate that there are many business owners that will be facing succession challenges in the next five to ten years. One such case describes how a client’s business was proactively reorganized to establish a family trust which allowed the shareholder’s family members to utilize their capital gain exemptions on the sale of the business, resulting in tax savings of over $500,000.

Cunningham’s office is located in Toronto; however as a member of the Alliott Group, a worldwide alliance of independent accounting, law and consulting firms, Cunningham has relationships with professionals around the globe to service clients in Canada and abroad. There are two affiliated firms in Switzerland; Provida Consulting AG with offices in Zurich, St. Gallen and Frauenfeld, and Egloff Fiduciaria E Revisioni SA with an office in Lugano. In total, there are more than 160 member firms throughout Europe, North and South America and Asia Pacific with offices in 70 countries. This alliance allows Cunningham to service clients with business connections around the world.

Cunningham’s client portfolio consists of companies with annual revenues from $500 thousand to over $80 million with the large majority of the clients in the revenue range of $2 to $20 million. Cunningham has experienced industry teams that provide accounting services to a wide range of industries including automotive dealerships, information technology, manufacturing and distribution, pharmacies, not-for-profit organizations and professionals.

Although Cunningham focuses on servicing privately held companies, the firm is registered with the Canadian Public Accountability Board (“CPAB”) and therefore must meet the requirements of CPAB in conducting all assurance engagements. They have a full time quality control manager and quality control partner who ensure that they meet internal standards with regards to processes and external standards with regards to financial statements and other external reports.

Furthermore, each engagement team has a tax partner, assurance manager and two assurance partners to ensure that a dedicated team is involved throughout the year. Clients benefit from this team approach as it allows for many points of contact for informed advice.

Whether clients are considering a merger, acquisition or divestiture of their business, Cunningham’s corporate finance team can advise on such matters. In addition to tax structuring, other services would include assisting in the due diligence process, financing assistance, purchase price negotiations, lease vs. buy decisions, business planning and forecasting, and possibly how to best merge two accounting systems.

Finally, Cunningham LLP is home to “The Blunt Bean Counter” (www.thebluntbeancounter.com), a blog written by Mark Goodfield, a tax partner and the firm’s managing partner. Mark provides blunt and opinionated comments on income tax, business, investing and other non-financial matters. Although not all comments reflect the position of the firm, they can be quite entertaining and educational.