Founded in 1979, the firm of Bennett Gold LLP, Chartered Professional Accountants is led by Robert Gold and Frank Portugais as partners. Donald Bennett, one of our founding partners, passed away in 2022 after retiring in 2015 and serving as our Senior Advisor. Denham Patterson left for other opportunities in 2018, but remains as a Quality Assurance Advisor.
Historically, the firm traces its roots back to 1929, when the original practice was founded by family members of partner Robert Gold. Dating back to 1929 means Bennett Gold LLP is proudly one of the longest standing professional accounting firms in Canada.
Robert Gold, MBA, FCPA, FCA
Robert is known throughout the Greater Toronto
Area business community as an advisor with great
integrity, practical insights and a passion for
helping entrepreneurs, owners and
leaders achieve their goals.
Since 2007, Robert has produced and
hosted Canada's most successful series of business
podcasts, including the Financial Post Executive Podcast,
the PROFIT BusinessCast, and the DMZ Movers and Shakers Podcast.
Guests have included business heads, thought leaders, and provocative thinkers from across all industries, offering insights which Robert happily shares with his clients.
Other things you should know about Robert, he:
• Co-authored ‘Business Success Stories’ - a book published by CPA Canada that shares stories about entrepreneurs successfully overcoming common business challenges.
• Co-authored Business Truths - 96 Proven Ways To Build Loyalty, Grow Profits, And Succeed At Everything In Between, inspired by guests of the BusinessCast. (Also published as ‘Business Insights’ by CPA Canada).
• Judged the Canadian Inventor Of The Year Awards (three successive years) hosted by the Inventors Alliance of Canada.
• Won the award for Accounting Marketer of The Year presented by The Association for Accounting Marketing; and for Business Excellence, presented by the North York Chamber of Commerce.
• Named the Accountant Of Choice For Entrepreneurs And Inventors by Toronto Life Magazine.
Contact Robert Gold:
| robert@BennettGold.ca | 416-449-2249 x223 |
| @robertintoronto | linkedin.com/in/robertgold |
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Frank Portugais, B.Comm, CPA, CA
Since 1977, Frank has been passionate about helping companies achieve their financial goals. To that, he has developed a rare skill in conducting in-depth analysis, as well as leading audits for small- and medium-sized businesses in dozens of industries.
Clients hold Frank in high regard because he can effectively translate tremendously complex business issues into language that is easily understood and then acted upon.
Contact Frank Portugais:
| frankp@BennettGold.ca | 416-449-2249 x224 |
| linkedin.com/in/frankportugais | |
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Our client secured distribution through Wal-Mart and exponential product sales.
Our client needed advice on how to take a new product to market quickly. They also wanted to minimize marketing agency expenses associated with product launches.
Working closely with our client, we:
Within a few short months, our client secured North American-wide distribution through Wal-Mart and saw their revenues grow dramatically. At the same time, their product was named one of the sports products of the year.
Our client adopted structures and processes that helped them achieve rapid growth.
A young Toronto-based services company with fewer than 10 employees recognized a gap in their industry. But, they needed help modifying their company so that they could quickly and cost-effectively capitalize on the opportunity.
The Bennett Gold team focused on the following activities:
Along with hiring a high-profile CEO and attracting new investors, our client was able to focus on conducting their business - which grew into a seven figure business within months.
Our client received funds that allowed them to build prototypes and manufacture their products.
Operating in west-Toronto for five years, a waste-management company with 20 employees needed help to secure financing for effectively taking their product from idea through to market.
Working closely with our client, we:
Our client secured the financing they needed for prototyping and manufacturing their product --- through new investors and SRED (Scientific Research and Experimental Development) Tax Credits.
Our client dramatically reduced operating costs without losing the ability to grow or continue innovating.
The fund manager for a publicly-traded nation-wide mutual fund wanted to control the costs and quality of work conducted by outsourced professionals.
The Bennett Gold team focused on the following activities:
Our client gained control over costs by implementing streamlined work processes and accounting procedures. In addition, they were better positioned to acquire a competitor.
By adopting new structures and processes, our client successfully attracted investors who purchased their company.
Determined to grow quickly, our client, a Toronto-based technology company wanted to adopt the most efficient corporate structure.
Working closely with our client, we:
Our client was able to grow rapidly while maintaining control over its operations. This attracted new sources of financing and investors who purchased the company.
Our client gained control over their forecasting which led to revenue growth of 50% and an increase in staff of 150%.
Our client, the owners/operators of a Toronto-based marketing company wanted to gain control over operational expenses so that they could run their business more profitably.
The Bennett Gold team focused on the following activities:
Our client was able to manage their own finances, which led to more business opportunities and increased public profile.
Our client improved their bookkeeping, inventory and operations procedures, which allowed them to focus on generating new revenues.
Referred by one of Canada's largest software and integration companies, our client, a media marketing agency with 10 employees wanted to focus on growing revenues. But, they knew they needed to optimize their accounting procedures first --- which in turn would allow them to devote more energies to business development.
The Bennett Gold team focused on the following activities:
Our client gained confidence in successfully selecting and conducting a series of accounting procedures themselves. At the same time, they knew when they needed additional accounting support. This additional skill and knowledge allowed them to reallocate time and energy in ways that allowed them to grow revenues by 30% in a year.
Our client was able to get their business up-and-running within weeks.
Our client, two web-savvy e-commerce retail specialists, told us they wanted to enter a very competitive and saturated market -- taking on one of Canada's best known and widely established national retailers.
Working closely with our client, we:
Within weeks, our client had a relevant and innovative business up-and-running. At the same time, it had a realistic plan in place that made it attractive for potential investors.
Our client effectively rolled out a high-volume web-based business marketing sports product.
Our client, the web-development team, acting on behalf of baseball pitcher 'Rocket' Roger Clemens, wanted to know they could keep personal information exchanged during customers' website visits and transaction private and secure.
Working closely with our client, we:
Our client and Roger Clemens felt confident enough about the privacy and security of personal information collected through the baseball star's website to aggressively market its merchandise. As a result, the site generated significant profile and revenues.
Our client received a tax credit of over $200,000 for funding the technology they needed.
Our client, a well-established Mississauga-based document-management firm with 30 employees wanted to improve their operational efficiencies by investing in the most current technologies.
The Bennett Gold team focused on the following activities:
Our client was able to secure a tax credit exceeding $200,000 for technologies they needed to stay ahead of their competitors. At the same time, they saved 20% from the fees charged by national firms.
Our client expanded their business to the United States while cost-effectively complying with local tax regulations.
Our client, a growing Toronto-based services company with over 20 employees, wanted to establish an ownership structure that would minimize taxes and reduce the costs of establishing operations in the United States.
The Bennett Gold team focused on the following activities:
Our client was able to expand their business into the United States while minimizing the taxes and costs of investment in their American operations.
Our client found new opportunities to save costs and improve their day-to-day operating procedures.
Our client, a 10 year-old Mississauga-based company, wanted to identify cost-savings and reduce procedural inefficiencies.
The Bennett Gold team focused on the following activities:
Our client achieved sustainable cost-savings and implemented operational best practices that continue to help them remain efficient.
Our client eliminated the stress associated with establishing and maintaining accounting and bookkeeping procedures.
Our client, a small family-managed business, wanted to focus on their day-to-day operations by minimizing the energies required to properly establish and maintain accounting procedures.
Working closely with our client, we:
Our client achieved the confidence they were seeking: new bank financing was put in place and their company's finances were consistently kept in order. As a result, they focused on conducting business and achieving the right balance of personal and business goals.
Our client was able to choose the right buyer for their business.
Our client, a fast-growing natural resource-related company wanted to determine if potential buyers were compatible given long-term growth plans.
The Bennett Gold team focused on the following activities:
Our client was able to make an accurate and timely decision about selling their interests.
By adopted the Internet's leading privacy and security standards, our client enhanced their online reputation and increased the number of online customers.
Our client, a National online portal, wanted to offer their online customers a completely safe and secure website.
The Bennett Gold team focused on the following activities:
Our client achieved the Internet's most trusted third-party privacy seal. By doing so, they catapulted ahead of their competitors by establishing an online reputation for going that "extra mile" in anticipating and addressing concerns of their customers.
Our client achieved tax savings by re-examining the way that revenues and expenses were being logged.
Our client, a Markham-based business with seven retail outlets, wanted to find ways to use their resources more effectively.
The Bennett Gold team focused on the following activities:
Our client was able to take advantage of significant tax reductions by adopting new ways of tracking and reporting sales and purchases.
Our client improved their cash flow by eliminating the causes creating slow and abandoned customer payments.
Our client, one of Canada's most respected National not-for-profit research institutes, needed to improve their cash flow.
The Bennett Gold team focused on the following activities:
Our client resolved bottlenecks in receiving revenues and dues owed to them as well as identified sources of new revenue. At the same time, the client gained control over its expenditures.
Our client was able to choose the right buyer for their business.
Our client, a Mississauga-based insurance broker wanted to determine a fair selling price for his business.
The Bennett Gold team focused on the following activities:
Our client was able to better evaluate competing purchase offers and ultimately the best overall offer.
Our client has prospered through several strategic changes in ownership in a highly competitive industry.
Our client, an Ajax-based industrial equipment and installation company wanted to minimize the risks, (e.g. losing business value, key staff and business focus) that result when undergoing changes in ownership.
Working closely with our client, we:
For over 50 years, the company has continued to prosper through several changes of ownership. They have achieved seven-digit revenue growth by increasing their market share and securing distribution through a major retailer.
Our client, a 15-year old mail-order business wanted to implement procedures and technologies that cost-effectively linked order taking with accounts payable and receivable.
Our client, an Ajax-based industrial equipment and installation company wanted to minimize the risks, (e.g. losing business value, key staff and business focus) that result when undergoing changes in ownership.
The Bennett Gold team focused on the following activities:
Within 18 months our client expanded 40% of its sales to its online operations and saw revenue increase by five times.
Our client secured North American wide retail distribution for its suite of software products.
Our client, a Toronto-based technology company operating for 15 years, sought to expand into new markets.
The Bennett Gold team focused on the following activities:
Within a year, our client grew revenues by 150% and secured North American wide retail distribution for its newly developed software products.
Our U.S. -based not-for-profit client established a new Canadian Chapter and quickly began growing its membership and revenues.
Referred to us by a well-respected law firm, our client -- a not-for-profit organization with over 6000 members and representing 400 U.S. companies -- needed to build its operations and ownership structure in Ontario so that it could begin serving Canadian retailers. However, they were unfamiliar with the complexity involved in Federal and Provincial rules for collecting and reporting on revenues and expenses.
Working closely with our client, we oversaw all of the following:
Within a few short months, our client was able to establish CRA-compliant processes so that it could begin operating in Ontario and be well on its way to expand to other provinces.
Our client, a home-based entrepreneur, achieved immediate and significant savings while protecting her business from future risks.
Our start-up entrepreneur needed to establish an ownership structure that allowed her to realize significant short-term and long-term tax savings. At the same time, because the relationship with her spouse was in jeopardy, she wanted to safeguard the ownership of the business.
Working closely with our client, we oversaw all of the following:
Our client was able to achieve an immediate reduction in taxes and deferred tax savings. She was also able to carry on business without the fear of losing control over her business.
A small, but well-established, growth-focused Toronto law firm was able to do what they do best -- i.e. providing legal advice -- rather than spending considerable time on dealing with administration and accounting issues.
With six different practices, our client, referred to us by a PC Law consultant, needed to rapidly reduce the time and related expense involved in tracking cash flow and business expenses. At the same time, they wanted to establish ownership and payment structures that would be fair for all the firm's Partners and Associates --- while protecting them from HST exposures.
Working closely with our client, we oversaw all of the following:
Our client was able to eliminate inefficient and inconsistent cash flow capturing and reporting processes. The result was a much happier team of lawyers who could focus on serving their clients rather than on battling administrative challenges.
Our client increased her practice's profitability and cash position.
Our client, a Naturopathic Doctor whose Ottawa-based clinic had been running for four years wanted to better manage her business' finances.
Working closely with our client, we:
Our client has a thorough understanding of her clinic's reporting and financial information. As a result, she has been able to make timely investment and tax decisions. She has also been able to improve her clinic's cash flow and increase its profitably.
Our client successfully adopted an ownership structure that allowed her to achieve short-term and long-term goals.
Our client, a successful orthopaedic surgeon working at a major Toronto hospital, wanted to establish the most appropriate business ownership structure.
Working closely with our client, we did the following:
Our client incorporated her practice in a way that allowed her to reduce her taxes, consistently attend to legal matters with the College of Physicians and Surgeons, and gain control over bookkeeping and record keeping processes.
Our client successfully addressed Canada Revenue Agency's (CRA) request for expense-related documents spanning a two year period.
Our client, a real estate agent serving the Greater Toronto Area, wanted to avoid the stress of dealing with CRA and minimize any additional income taxes.
The Bennett Gold team focused on the following activities:
The CRA concluded that our client owed no further taxes, interest or penalties. At the same time, our client was spared the stress and time dealing directly with CRA. Finally, the CRA agreed there would be no need for follow-up audits.
Our client successfully avoided the disruption and expense associated with Canada Revenue Agency's (CRA) audits.
Our client, a mid-market research company employing 20 staff in their downtown Toronto office wanted to pass an in-depth CRA tax audit and avoid the need for future long-term audits.
The Bennett Gold team focused on the following activities:
Our client successfully avoided a multi-year CRA income tax audit and the business disruption, stress, and expenses associated with such audits. At the same time, the CRA agreed that our client would not need to endure follow-up audits.