Get to know David Tonin, Partner in MNP’s Burlington office

Meet David Tonin, a member of MNP’s Private Enterprise team in Burlington. David has dedicated his career to helping business owners, not-for-profit organizations, and public sector clients like school boards achieve their goals.

Read on to learn why David became an accountant and the lessons he and his clients learned through the COVID-19 pandemic.

Did you always want to be an accountant?

That's a great question - and the answer is yes. In Grade 10, I took an accounting class. I'm young and I don't know anything about accounting. I write the first test, on bank reconciliations, and I get 100 percent. I had to ask my teacher, "can you tell me more about this? What can I use this stuff for?"

My teacher was great. He took the time to explain what difference between each of the designations, a CPA and, at that time, an RIA - a Registered Industrial Accountant (then CMA) - and a CGA. He gave us all the education requirements and laid out what was required to achieve each designation. 

I really didn't know that much about the profession but I went into it anyways. Once I was taking classes at McMaster, I realized there was way more to accounting than I ever knew. The more I learned, the more I came to enjoy the profession, and I never wavered or changed my mind. I'm doing exactly what I always wanted to do - and that was more than 40 years ago!

What's your favourite part of the work you do? 

My favourite part is helping clients solve their problems. Sure, there's a lot of work that is recurring, like the tax filing, but it's the other work that comes from having a relationship with people that I find so satisfying and rewarding. It feels like some clients always consult us first before making a decision and that trust is a great feeling.

I've been lucky enough to work with clients on major transactions. I've helped guide some through a purchase of another business or helped others create a business succession plan including sale of their business. To be able to be their trusted advisor is a rush for me.

What are the lessons from COVID-19 for business owners?

I've heard this expression and I think it's so true: COVID gives, and COVID takes. Now, nobody would wish COVID or anything close to it upon anybody. But it has taught us a lot.

It has taught us that the human spirit is nimble, and we've developed a resiliency in very trying times. I think a lot of our clients as well as our people have learned how to manage their business even better. They learn how to be flexible and how to pivot to take advantage of new opportunities. Throughout the last year, the only constant has been change. 

COVID has been immensely stressful for everyone because there's so much unknown. But we've learned that we are capable of more resiliency than we could have imagined, and business owners know this to be true more than anyone. They've been able to keep their business alive and take care of their people. 

The other lesson is that change is difficult but possible. People don't like change, but that doesn't mean change is impossible to create. The standout example in our day-to-day work is the increased uptake on digital financial management tools. Prior to COVID-19, a lot of business owners were still working with paper. But the pandemic forced business owners to get a better understanding of their finances and operations, and that was only possible by embracing change. 

To learn more about how MNP can help your organization, contact David Tonin, CPA, CA, at 905.315.6683 or [email protected]