Shared services are used to help organizations streamline and consolidate their functions, like finance, human resources, procurement, information technology and administration. Centralization can facilitate efficiency, but there is a practical question as to how to allocate the cost of these services to other business units, subsidiaries or locations. An effective chargeback model can improve transparency…
When you start your business, one of the first choices you have to make is on the legal structure of your company. The choice of structure affects ownership, compliance, taxation, fundraising and liability. If you’re operating as an individual entrepreneur, a One Person Company (OPC) may be considered, or if you have multiple entrepreneurs, or…
With the growing adoption and development of environmental, social and governance (ESG) reporting, businesses are increasingly expected to ensure that information they report is reliable. Increasingly, investors, regulators, customers and other stakeholders increasingly expect ESG data with consistent processes and credible evidence. Planning for assurance goes beyond merely collating figures at the end of the…
The financial close process combines transactions, reconciliations, adjustments and reviews to ensure that the financial statements are accurate. Without good control of close activities, there may be a delay in reporting, or errors may go undetected. Financial close controls support accountability, accurate record-keeping and timely financial reporting. It is also crucial to understand the applicability…
Businesses need to have clear roles and responsibilities to maintain business organisation. Even great processes can be hard to manage when employees don’t know who has responsibility for a task, who decides, or who is accountable for a result. If left unchecked, confusing roles can impact productivity, cause control gaps and add to the potential…
To reduce costs, gain access to specialized skills and resources, and scale operations, organizations can outsource repetitive business tasks. But the outsourcing of a process does not mean the outsourcing of the responsibility to oversee. In the absence of governance, companies can experience multiple issues, such as inconsistent service, data challenges, lack of accountability, or…
In many cases, a business will need to expand and grow, and it will have to decide how to do so and what the long-term monetary implications of that choice will be. The choice of funding should support the company’s overall goals, whether it’s going to expand into new markets, invest in new technology, or…
Financial statements can be used by business owners, investors, lenders, regulators, and other stakeholders to help them understand an organization’s finances. Statutory audits are necessary under relevant legislation for eligible entities but are not simply a requirement of legislation. A good audit, if performed, can help to build confidence in the financial statements by assessing…
As businesses grow, back-office functions can become increasingly complex. There are a number of activities that take time, people and processes to complete, including accounting, payroll, data management, customer support, procurement, and administrative tasks. When these functions grow faster than internal capability, companies can have increased expenses, flawed processes, and strain on core teams. Business…
ESG reporting should no longer be confined to the general reporting of sustainability initiatives. Increasingly, businesses require organized, verifiable and consistent information to meet regulatory requirements and the expectations of stakeholders. BRSR reporting is essentially about aggregating environmental, social and governance data across various functions and making it a meaningful reporting system for companies subject…
