Our Response to COVID-19

KBH has been continuously monitoring the COVID-19 situation as it evolves.  Our number one priority is the health and safety of our team and clients while minimizing the impact on ongoing business operations.  After all, it’s tax season and to date, there has been no announcement about an extension to the April 30 personal tax filing deadline.

While the Alberta Health Authority continues to rate the risk level in Alberta as low, the situation is very fluid.  We are paying close attention and will continue to respond accordingly. In the interim, we wanted to provide an update on what we are doing to protect all those we come in contact with.

Within KBH

We continue to monitor our team members and as of today, we have no reported cases of staff or family members showing symptoms of being infected by the virus.  We enacted the following protocols:

• If any of our team members are feeling sick or showing symptoms they are required to remain at home, self-quarantine and seek medical attention.

• We have increased in office cleaning procedures with our janitorial staff and have increased personal hygiene measures.

• After each client meeting, all touch surfaces (table, chairs, doors etc) will be disinfected.

• All conference and large event attendance have been suspended or cancelled.

• All non-essential travel has been cancelled.

• We are testing all of our remote working systems to ensure we can continue business operations in the case of a full office quarantine.

Ongoing Operations

March and April are the busiest months for clients to visit our office and so we ask that you consider whether or not a visit to our office is necessary; especially if you have travelled anywhere outside of Canada in the last 14 days, have been in contact with anyone who has recently returned from a trip outside of Canada in the last 14 days, have been in contact with anyone who has been self-quarantined, or are personally showing symptoms of COVID-19. Over the coming weeks:

• We encourage all of you to submit your documents in electronic format wherever possible.  Go to our home page and select, “Secure File Transfer”, Select the menu bars in the top right.  At the bottom of the page select “Secure File Transfer”.  A new window will open.  Select “Secure Upload” and fill in the information and attach your documents/folders. Please be sure to include an “Attention:”, so our team can swiftly forward the files along to the team member(s) on file.

• Please consider whether or not you need a face to face meeting to review your personal tax return – video conferencing options are available.

• While final copies of tax returns can be sent to you on paper, please also consider whether electronic copies would be preferable.  Electronic copies can be made available through our secure portal.

• For engagements where our staff are to be onsite at your business premises:

  • Our staff will contact you to gauge your level of comfort in having us there.

  • If you would prefer our staff not to attend your office, we can work with you to make arrangements for the necessary documents to be sent to our office (electronically or on paper) or reschedule our visit. (please note tax payment and filing deadlines may be impacted and no specific accommodations have been announced by CRA as of yet).

At this time, we remain open for business as usual.  Our team has the full support of our partners to ensure that their health and safety, as well as that of their loved ones, is paramount.  As our clients, rest assured we have contingency plans in place to ensure filing deadlines are met and the impacts on the work we do for you is minimized.  We are confident we can provide the advice and support you have come to rely on. As the situation changes, we will continue to provide updates to our operations.  In the interim, please feel free to reach out to any of us if you have any questions or concerns.

In Good Health,

KBH Chartered Professional Accountants