Finance director support

Company profile: Private group reporting under IFRS with revenue of $320m

Sector: Professional services

Background

The client had fallen significantly behind their year-end timetable for the production and audit of the consolidated financial statements. The reporting timetable was challenging due to the requirement to submit the audited financial statements to key lenders.

The group comprised 170 entities, approximately one third of which had been acquired during the reporting period.  

How we assisted our client

We provided on-site support over the course of three months, throughout which we project managed the financial statements preparation and audit process. This involved establishing and managing a project timetable, capturing local and group finance team and auditor requirements. This was managed through regular progress meetings with all parties involved. The Forvis Mazars team “held the pen” in preparing the consolidation and financial statements.

There were several significant challenges faced by the client, including:

• Opening balance sheet discrepancies.
• The significant number of acquisitions that had taken place during the period and the business combination accounting required.
• Use of multiple accounting software packages across the group, and lack of integration between them.
• Foreign currency translation not calculating as expected in the accounting software.

In consultation with the client and the auditor, we proposed and implemented solutions to the numerous complexities faced by the client.

Feedback from the Audit Committee meeting was that the Forvis Mazars team had been instrumental in finalising the financial statements within the required timetable for reporting to the group’s lenders.