We offer an extensive range of services to automotive sector stakeholders from supply chain through to distribution, retail and usership. With a variety of experience of working and operating within the industry, our team understands what you are looking for from advisers.

Consumer requirements are changing too, as society moves away from traditional vehicle use to more diverse mobility solutions, such as car sharing. It is a shift with major implications for an industry that is already one of the most complex and layered in the world. With fast moving global economic change, flexibility and innovation are key.

The most successful auto companies – whether an original equipment manufacturer (OEM), supplier or distributor – will be those that anticipate threats and opportunities, and respond accordingly. So while the future will bring many technical developments, new business models and strategies will be important too.

We work with clients at every stage of the automotive value stream. We’ll work with you to identify the challenges affecting your business, optimise the solutions and maintain your market share.

Our global banking team are an integrated team of experienced industry professionals with in-depth knowledge of financial services institutions. As well as working with high-profile clients worldwide, we work with the World Bank and act as a monitoring trustee on behalf of several regional regulators.

We help our clients navigate the new normal and respond to customer needs, as well as competitive and technological shifts. Our services are tailored to your specific needs and our teams have one goal: to provide you with meaningful and pragmatic advice.

We know the world is continuously changing, so we will ensure you have access to the right people and right solutions every step of the way.

We have considerable expertise in advising the business services sector gained through working with recruitment, facilities management, logistics, printing, outsourcing businesses and many other business support organisations.

Business services

Our expertise includes a broad range of advisory services including corporate finance, business recovery, tax and audit. By taking a hands-on approach, based on long term working relationships, we develop a genuine understanding of our client’s business. Grounded in a real world, commercial view, with the capability to work on a national or international stage, our client base is large and varied.

We offer solutions and advice in the following service areas:

• corporate finance
• strategic advice
• management assessment
• operations and post-deal services
• risk management
• audit
• tax
• recovery and reorganisation services.

Professional services

Professional services firms face a dual challenge: anticipating and managing change not only for clients, but also for the business. In today’s fast-paced world this is no simple task, but together we can develop a plan to seize opportunities, meet client expectations, and thrive in changing markets.

Grant Thornton has the relevant knowledge and experience throughout our network of local, national and international experts. Your clients count on you for trusted, credible and timely service and advice. You can count on us to meet those same high standards. We’re committed to providing an exceptional client experience.

Whether your focus is architecture, engineering, or legal, we provide practical solutions to help our clients manage change efficiently and successfully.

Energy markets worldwide are undergoing major changes. Grant Thornton can help you understand and navigate the challenges, and make sure you have the solutions you’ll need to capitalise on opportunities to unlock your growth potential.

We have experienced teams advising companies across the full breadth of the energy and natural resources including upstream and downstream and from conventional resource extraction through to developing the latest clean technologies. Our global network means we can support you as you expand your business and provide on the ground expertise and insight.

Whether you are looking to raise finance, improve M&A post deal integration, model extraction revenues or benchmark key engineers pay, we have experienced teams able to work for the duration of the project lifecycle, and beyond.

Our energy and natural resources specialists can work with you on:

• accessing alternative and traditional funding
• structuring transactions and planning for exit
• modelling capital projects and controlling operational costs
• commercialising new approaches and technologies
• building a sustainable business and managing key stakeholders
• establishing a robust governance framework and managing risk.

Demographic, organisational and resourcing issues are radically changing the global healthcare industry. And we’re only just beginning to understand the impact of recent technological advances – in life science research, medical equipment, and the internet.

But healthcare businesses are rising to the challenge. Public sector providers are looking for ever greater efficiencies. Healthcare payers are revising business models and becoming more responsive. And pharmaceutical, life science and health IT firms are taking advantage of the openings that change always brings.

We’ve worked with all types of healthcare clients, including health IT, provider, payer, pharmaceutical and life science organisations. Worldwide, we have a long and varied list of clients, within both the public and private sector.

It’s given us a deep understanding of the unique issues facing the industry. It means we can help you navigate the healthcare world.

We offer a wide range of assurance, tax and advisory services. So, whatever challenge you face we have the breadth and depth to help you succeed.

Our solutions



We also know that every organisation is different. Our healthcare specialists apply their sector understanding to provide advice and tailored solutions to achieve your organisation’s goals, including:

• Risk management including IT audit and systems assurance
• IT advisory in electronic health records
• Programme and project management
• Business process re-engineering/lean six sigma
• Corporate and international tax
• Mergers and acquisitions
• Strategic planning.

Change is one of the only certainties in the insurance industry. In the current environment, following world events such as the COVID-19 pandemic, Brexit, and changes to regulation and digitalisation, insurers must be alert to the challenges that lie ahead.

Growth exists for those who can adapt, and we are working with many businesses to do just that.

We understand that every business has unique goals and faces a diverse set of challenges. Our global insurance team comprises deep industry experience with strategies and solutions that effectively manage risk and drive growth.

We offer an array of innovative services to the full suite of insurance providers. We leverage technology to create value throughout the lifecycle of your business, from keeping up to date with regulatory reporting through to reducing costs without sacrificing quality.

The life sciences industry reaches across biotechnology, pharmaceutical and medical devices, medical technology and related manufacturers as well as other industry sub-sectors. This industry remains highly regulated, highly capital intensive and highly reliant on data quality.

Recent opportunities and challenges following the global pandemic in 2020 are forcing companies in this industry to constantly transform their every aspect of their business and their processes. We can help guide life sciences businesses through this disruption towards sustainable growth.

The media industry is in the grip of a technological revolution where distribution models, commissioning procedures and revenue streams are all evolving as the industry responds to the shift to digital and personalisation. This has resulted in a flood of new channels, platforms and experiences, all of which have to be constantly fed with compelling, quality content. If they are not, audiences move on.

There has also been an increase in mergers and acquisitions, as big companies expand and new spin-offs spring from established businesses. In some regions it’s vertical, while in others it resembles an ecosystem.

Forward-thinking companies, prepared to revise their strategies, operations, products and services, can turn the challenges into real opportunities.

We’ve worked with players across the breadth of the industry, from film animators to studio infrastructure providers and games distributors to music broadcasters. We've supported businesses from start-up to IPO, through domestic mergers and international acquisitions.

Grant Thornton media experts can work with you on:

• cross-border film and TV
• accessing bridge and gap funding
• corporate finance and specialised media M&A work
• strategic advisory and business consulting
• local and international tax advice
• outsourcing, production accounting and payroll.

Across the globe, not-for-profit organisations are increasingly expected to deliver more, while at the same time facing cuts in government funding and voluntary giving. We understand the commitment and scrutiny within this sector and will work with you to meet these challenges.

Having worked with all types of not for profit clients, including charities, housing associations, education providers and trade unions, we have an understanding of the unique issues facing the sector.

We have specialists in not for profit across tax, assurance and advisory. The people in our not for profit teams are passionate about helping you achieve your mission and goals.

Our teams can offer innovative solutions to help you develop new skills and open up sources of funding.

Our solutions

We know that every organisation is different. Our not for profit specialists apply their sector understanding to provide advice and tailored solutions to achieve your organisation’s goals, including:

• external audit
• direct and indirect tax, and VAT
• corporate finance, including raising finance, debt advisory and due diligence services
• funding and regulatory reports
• business risk services, including internal audit, governance reviews and technology risk management.

Our network of experts are here to help mid-market businesses navigate the private equity landscape. Once a client or prospect has decided that private equity investment is right for them, we can help them find the right deal – and partner – for their business. We have extensive relationships across the global private equity community, so are well placed to help clients identify the best financial and strategic investor to help them achieve their ambitions.

Across the globe, countries are moving towards leaner, more commercial, locally focused and responsive government and public sectors. At Grant Thornton, we are perfectly placed to help your organisation deliver this vision in the longer term.

We work with all types of agencies, including central and state government, local government, donors (including bilateral and multilateral international development organisations), autonomous agencies, public-sector units and public-private partnerships.

Grant Thornton professionals in more than 130 countries can work with you to help you appraise and deliver solutions more effectively, demonstrate transparency, improve controls and develop new infrastructure to support your economic development. We have four key service areas to support donors and public-sector entities:

• Operational efficiency
• Infrastructure
• Governance
• Audit

Our public sector teams are locally based and have first-hand experience of specific issues relevant to your organisation. Across our global organisation of member firms, we can draw on the experience of specialists across the developed and developing world.

We don’t believe in off-the-shelf solutions and we know that public-sector organisations are unique. Whatever your goals, we will work closely with you to truly understand your organisation, the resources at your disposal and the environment in which you operate.

Our solutions



Our public sector industry teams provide services tailored to your industry, including working with you to:

• deliver the best possible public services within financial constraints
• demonstrate transparency through financial, performance and IT audits
• improve public sector accountability and control
• develop new infrastructure to support economic progress and competitiveness.

Forces of change, including urbanisation, shifting demographics and the drive for sustainability, are throwing up new challenges and opportunities for the global real estate and construction sector. At Grant Thornton, we aim to help you successfully read the turns of the industry and navigate this shifting landscape.

We combine sector expertise with a unique way of working built upon our genuine interest in our clients’ business. As a result, we ensure that you get more time and attention from partners and senior advisers. We deliver a faster response when you need quick answers and clarity. We work across service lines to build the best possible team to support you. And we create solutions around your needs, not our structures.

We support clients with pragmatic, tailor-made solutions for improvement and growth, through every stage of the business life cycle. Recent projects of interest include assisting with major cross border acquisitions, including valuation of over 1,400 sites, assisting a residential developer win a competitive tender, profit improvement reviews for a large franchised real estate group and undertaking a controls review for a large construction group’s supply chain.

Our solutions

As well as the full range of tax, advisory and assurance services, we provide a set of industry-specific offerings based on our specialist expertise in construction and real estate.

These enable you to:

• Manage risk and regulation
• Optimise your operations
• Maximise ownership and stakeholder value
• Manage talent for competitive advantage
• Finance the development of the business
• Achieve sustainable growth

The past two years saw the retail industry experience significant disruption. The priority for businesses should now be trying to build on the lessons learned and establish sustainable and well executed growth strategies. And for those businesses that remain under significant stress, there will still be opportunities to effectively restructure and reposition for future success.

Rapid change and complexity have always been hallmarks of the technology industry. And it is even more so today. Start-ups are going global from day one and the lines between technology, telecommunications and the media sectors are blurring.

Successful technology firms are responding by continually revising their business models, business strategies and product mix. They are growing, restructuring, improving margins and then growing again.

Whether your goal is to enter new markets, scale operations, manage costs, source funding or comply with regulations, we have the insight and experienced judgment to help you succeed.

Our teams offer services tailored to your industry, including working with you to:

• scale operations as you grow
• create trust and manage risk in the cloud, mobile and digital world
• secure capital for growth
• reduce costs and optimise profits
• understand technology and R&D-specific incentives
• identify regulatory issues and compliance with global regulatory requirements.

The telecommunications industry is changing rapidly and facing pressure from all sides. But despite the serious margin squeeze affecting balance sheets worldwide, telecommunication companies are handling the roll-out of new network technologies and an insatiable demand for bandwidth.

They are also responding to increased regulatory pressures and the flood of disruptive technology firms entering the market. And they are tackling churn in a converging marketplace.

Our global network of professionals work with a wide range of telecommunications businesses, at all levels of the value chain. We support businesses of all sizes, from emerging companies to rapidly expanding ones as well as established industry players. Depending on your needs, we can help your business grow globally or in your local market.

We can work with you to:

• achieve sustainable growth
• manage risk and regulation
• optimise operations
• finance growth
• manage talent for growth
• manage issues of ownership and stakeholder value.

The travel, tourism and leisure industry is undergoing dramatic change: consumers are now calling the shots.

It’s down to the invention of new technologies and the sharing economy, which have given customers flexibility, control and new expectations. There’s also been a shift in the pattern of demand, as millennials become a force to be reckoned with and the emerging economies open up new markets.

Powerful forces such as globalisation and rapid technological change are disrupting traditional business models. By working with Grant Thornton, you'll better understand these forces and their impact. We can formulate solutions to keep you ahead of disruptive change.

We offer a full suite of services to address the biggest challenges businesses face across any sector or global market: sustaining and financing growth, managing risk and talent, optimising operations and protecting value.

Our solutions

Strategy & performance improvement

We deliver strategy development and performance improvement services at every stage of your growth journey.

Financial management

We can help you improve your financial processes and systems, and transform the finance function so you can focus on informing decision makers and enhance business understanding.

Productivity improvement

We deliver systematic improvements across people, processes and technology right through the supply chain.

Technology strategy & management

We engage, specify and deliver scalable solutions across the business, including finance, the supply chain, human resource functions and cyber security.

Human capital

We support businesses with the strategy part of the human capital challenge, from organisation design to training and managing cultural change.

Change and programme management

We deliver large-scale transformation programmes, such as ERP deployment and post-merger integration, and ensure that change is fully integrated and sustainable.

Helping you balance risk and opportunity

The relationship between a company and its auditor has changed. Organisations must understand and manage risk and seek an appropriate balance between risk and opportunities.

Our full suite of services can help you strike that balance.

Our solutions

Internal audit

We assess corporate level risk, identify areas of greatest risk and develop appropriate work plans and audit programmes to mitigate these risks.

Sarbanes-Oxley consulting (SOX)

We streamline your efforts towards SOX compliance to improve your efficiency and effectiveness.

Enterprise risk management (ERM)

We can implement this leading approach to managing and optimising risk with a bespoke strategy for identifying, analysing and monitoring potential risk.

Cybersecurity

We will help you assess your security vulnerability, establish or improve your IT security processes and remediate breaches or compliance failures.

Anti-fraud services

We can deter and detect fraud or abusive activity, conduct forensic investigation, uncover evidence and support companies involved in existing or pending litigation.

Anti-bribery and anti-corruption

We can develop, implement and continuously monitor your compliance programmes.

As organisations grow, back office processes and meeting reporting requirements across multiple jurisdictions can become a distraction. We remove the burden of back office operations and worries about compliance to enable you to focus on growth.

With first-hand experience of local reporting requirements in over 100 locations worldwide, we provide a consistent international service through a single point of contact.

We are the leading adviser to dynamic organisations, providing a full consultancy and delivery service for organisations looking to improve their finance and accounting business processes.

Our solutions

Back office outsourcing

We provide outsourced accounting, payroll, HR and tax services to domestic SMEs or local branches of international organisations. If you face complex tax and payroll challenges, our tax, global mobility and wealth management specialists provide expert advice.

Global compliance partnering

Our global compliance partnering solution delivers all local statutory financial reporting, centralised statutory audits, tax compliance (corporate, sales and payroll), payroll administration and local country filings for multinational organisations through a single point of contact.

Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) and Shared Service Centre (SSC)

Our BPO solution allows large organisations to fully outsource their finance and accounting processes. We also advise on optimising finance and accounting processes, including building a full-scale BPO delivery capability or setting up a SSC where this is our recommendation.

As organisations become increasingly dependent on digital technology, the opportunities for cyber criminals continue to grow.

The explosion of data generated by digital technology, combined with a new degree of connectedness among organisations, means that there is ripe opportunity for the technologically savvy and criminally minded to take advantage.

Cyber attacks are more focused, skilful and ambitious. Geographical borders are meaningless. Regulators and stakeholders are increasing the pressure on organisations to manage these risks and cybersecurity is now a top of the boardroom agenda

Our solutions

Prepare

We help you understand your current exposure to cyber security risk and support you to develop an effective security capability. Our services include cyber security risk and threat assessments; security policy development; security process or technical assessments; and third-party cyber security assurance.

Protect

We develop and implement the technical framework and broader processes required to protect. We can help you with security architecture; security technology implementations; security process design and implementation; identity and access management; privacy and data protection; data classification; enterprise application integrity; business continuity and disaster recovery; and penetration testing.

React

We work with you to support and monitor your cyber security operations, and help you to respond rapidly and forensically in the event of a security or data breach.

Change

We can help you improve and better manage your cyber security capability. Our services include security programme strategy and planning, security governance; and security awareness.

Rapid and customised approach to investigations and dispute resolution

Fraud and corruption pose a growing challenge worldwide. The commercial landscape is changing fast. An ever more regulated environment means organisations must adopt stringent governance and compliance processes. As business has become global, there is a need to deal with multi-jurisdictional investigations, litigation, and dispute resolution, address the threat of cyber-attack and at the same time protect the organisation’s value.

The sheer volume of data generated by modern, digital businesses poses the challenge of quickly identifying the key facts in the context of reputation and regulatory enforcement issues.

Our forensic capability is integrated with our wider advisory services. It's not an add-on. With the help of our experienced investigators, forensic accountants and computer forensic specialists, our seamless team approach offers you a full range of expertise.

Our solutions

Fraud and regulatory investigations

We investigate suspected fraud, bribery, corruption and money laundering. We offer fraud risk management services and fraud awareness.

Expert dispute resolution

We provide independent advice on contract breaches, partnership disputes, auditor negligence, shareholder disputes and company valuations, disputes for corporates, the public sector and individuals.

Digital forensics

Digital forensics and data acquisition services in disputes, fraud and regulatory investigations. Our e-discovery and data analysis can help you identify, collect, recover and preserve electronic evidence quickly and accurately.

Cyber-security

To make sure you receive a rapid response in the event of a security or data breach, we can prepare and provide on-going protection.

Insurance solutions

Supporting you to resolve insurance claims, including business interruption, subrogated claims, product recall, personal injury, fraudulent claims and claims’ reviews.

Globalisation and company growth ambitions are driving an increase in M&A activity worldwide.

We work with entrepreneurial businesses in the mid-market to help them assess the true commercial potential of their planned acquisition and understand how the purchase might serve their longer- term strategic goals.

Through our highly experienced team, we offer seamless access to a full range of transactional and other advisory services to ensure you get maximum value from your deals. With market-leading teams in all key financial centres, we can advise wherever you are looking to acquire.

Our solutions

Buying a business

We work with you to identify the best target if you are looking to acquire a business.

Private equity advisory

We offer bespoke solutions, from initial investment through performance improvement and growth to exit, for private equity houses, private equity-backed companies and management teams seeking private equity investment.

Exit strategy services

We can project manage and implement the sale or closure of your underperforming or non-core corporate entities.

Performance improvement

We can help to improve your business processes, implement new business strategies, divest non-core businesses and design new capital structures.

Valuations

We will provide an independent view on value for you if you are considering a merger, acquisition or restructuring, or if you require support for a proposed financial structure.

Selling a business

We will achieve the highest possible value for your businesses.

Raising finance

We can help management teams, corporates and private shareholders raise private equity and/or debt finance.

Tax structuring

We can provide advice on the full tax implications of any deal and establishing effective tax structures, taking into account the personal tax planning needs of business owners.

Financial reporting

We will consolidate newly acquired businesses into group accounts (including breaking out recognisable intangible assets from goodwill).

The turns of the economic cycle can produce seismic shifts in the outlook for individual businesses and potentially destroy value at speed. We help recovery and reorganisation professionals, companies and their stakeholders devise ways to maximise value and deliver a sustainable recovery.

Our fully integrated, global capability, which includes market-leading teams in all the key offshore financial centres, means we can advise on the most complicated group structures.

Our role in helping develop cross-border restructuring legislation means our clients have access to the latest restructuring solutions.

Our solutions

Crisis stabilisation and turnaround

We can help you create financial stability, assess cash flow and improve short-term liquidity in the early stages. We will analyse the causes of under-performance and assess the strategic opportunities if you are in crisis.

Accelerated M&A

We advise and manage transactions associated with the acquisition or disposal of distressed assets or businesses.

Exit strategy services

We implement the sale or closure of underperforming or non-core corporate entities for the best value.

Corporate insolvency

We advise distressed companies, their creditors and other stakeholders in situations where a business can't be saved or where a formal insolvency process is required.

Asset recovery and tracing

We identify and recover misappropriated assets, often as part of formal insolvency processes or in support of on-going litigation or fraud investigations.

Operational and financial restructuring

We provide specialist restructuring support, including transforming business processes. We also implement new business strategies, divesting non-core businesses and designing new capital structures.

Financial markets and insurance

If you are in the financial or insurance sector, we can help you with restructuring and exit strategies for both solvent and insolvent situations.

Debt advisory

Our teams have experience of devising tailored funding solutions as part of a sustainable capital structure in line with your strategic ambitions.

Pension schemes solvency

We can advise corporates and trustees on the solvency of pension schemes.

Financial monitoring for regulators

We advise central banks in relation to the solvency of financial institutions. We also work with the European Commission on restructuring plans and state aid.

Transactions are significant events in the life of a business, so the stakes are high for both buyers and sellers.

It requires experience, determination and pragmatism to bring deals safely through to conclusion. This is what our dedicated team of transaction specialists delivers.

If you're a business owner or part of a management team, we can help you prepare for and execute your transactions. With our extensive global network we can advise on the most international of deals, but always remain focused on ensuring you get the senior attention you deserve.

Our solutions

Exit readiness

We work with you to enhance business value through operational improvements 12– 18 months before a disposal to present the business ready for sale.

Vendor assist

We work with sellers to anticipate and explain any areas on which prospective purchasers may require comfort, thereby helping protect shareholder value.

Bid support

We deliver bid support services throughout the acquisition process and are committed to supporting you at every stage.

Vendor due diligence

Our approach to vendor due diligence balances the vendor’s desire to protect shareholder value, with the need for a robust and independent report to be used by the purchaser and their funders.

Separation and integration

We prepare businesses for sale by separating them from existing operations, and integrate newly acquired businesses, cutting out duplicate operations to release value.

Financial modelling

We build integrated models for pricing and structuring deals, and quantify returns, risks and sensitivities to provide a clear point of view to help you make better decisions.

Transaction tax

We provide practical and pragmatic advice on tax that complements your commercial objectives.

Financial due diligence

We help you make wise investment decisions, providing financial due diligence that is clearly linked to your requirements as purchasers, and also suitable for your funders.

Commercial due diligence

We deliver thoughtful, robust advice based on primary and secondary research combined with quantitative analyses, focusing on the key issues that impact value.

Operational & IT due diligence

We provide specialist operational and technology advice to help a range of organisations in the public and private sectors achieve their deal goals.

For organisations involved in a transaction or a dispute, or embarking on restructuring, the value of the business involved and its assets is always an important commercial consideration.

Our valuation specialists blend technical expertise with a pragmatic outlook to deliver support during transactions, restructuring and disputes.

We also provide robust commercial independent advice on regulatory and administrative matters – valuing businesses, listed and unlisted securities, complex financial instruments and tangible and intangible assets.

With market-leading teams in all the key financial centres, we are perfectly positioned to advise you on complex, cross-border valuations.

Our solutions

Bid support

We deliver bid support services throughout the acquisition process and are committed to adding value at every stage.

Transactions

An independent view on value for mergers, acquisitions, restructuring and proposed financial structures.

Tax

Third-party valuations to enable directors to meet their fiduciary duties and to support proposed tax treatments.

Share option schemes

Schemes for employees and directors, with specialist advice on structuring and valuing such schemes.

Fund administration

We provide third-party valuations for investment funds to support periodic reporting of net asset values or to enable the transfer of assets.

Financial reporting

We get valuations to help consolidate newly acquired businesses into group accounts, including breaking out recognisable intangible assets from goodwill.

Valuations to support asset-backed lending decisions

We provide valuations to support asset-backed financing, including valuing shares and intangible assets, and providing periodic valuations of assets to confirm that the terms of the loan agreement are being met.

Dispute resolution

We offer valuation support for breach of contract, intellectual property disputes, negligence, lost opportunity, matrimonial disputes or where an expert determination is required. We act as independent experts in courts or at arbitration tribunals.

Our member firm IFRS advisers can help you navigate the complexity of the Standards so you can focus your time and effort on running your business.

The International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), are a set of global accounting standards developed by the International Accounting Standards Board for the preparation of public company financial statements. With well over 100 countries using them, they are fast becoming the global accounting language.

Using IFRSs can help increase the quality, comparability and transparency of your financial information. Applying them correctly will increase your company's credibility and improve access to credit and investment opportunities.

The Standards are very detailed and technical. To the untrained eye, they can appear hard to navigate. But at Grant Thornton, we have people who are very well versed in their intricacies and can translate them into language that you can understand and apply to your financial statements.

Financial instruments - IFRS 9 guidance

All businesses hold financial instruments in some form, from cash and trade receivables at the simplest end of the scale to complex derivatives at the other.

Accounting for them under International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) has always been complex and this is set to increase further with IFRS 9 ‘Financial Instruments’ fundamentally rewriting the accounting rules. IFRS 9 introduces a new approach for financial asset classification; a more forward-looking expected loss model; and major new requirements on hedge accounting.

We have gained extensive insights into the challenges presented by the new Standard and can work with you to help prepare for them. Review our IFRS 9 publications below to start getting your business ready for IFRS 9. Our series highlights the impairment requirements and classifying and measuring financial instruments as well as a newsletter on the hedge accounting requirements.

Our related guidance also addresses the classification of a financial instrument as liability or equity under IAS 32 ‘Financial Instruments: Presentation’, a critical issue for management when evaluating alternative options.

Mergers and acquisitions

Mergers and acquisitions (business combinations) can have a fundamental impact on the acquirer’s operations, resources and strategies.

The assessment of whether one entity controls another (ie when a parent-subsidiary relationship exists) is essential to the preparation of financial statements under International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS).

A number of issues relating to consolidated financial statements can have a significant effect on your business. Our guidance relates to applying the requirements of IFRS 10 ‘Consolidated Financial Statements’, where we highlight the challenges you will face. We also help you to be able to identify and value intangible assets in a business combination when accounting under IFRS 3 ‘Business Combinations’.

Corporate reporting – Financial Statements

Preparing your financial statements under IFRS International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) is challenging for any business.

Each year the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) publishes new Standards with the potential to significantly impact both the presentation of the primary statements and the accompanying disclosures.

There are a number of best practices when preparing and presenting financial statements. To enable yours to be an effective communication tool with your investors and stakeholders, we guide you through some of these in our publication ‘Telling your Story: Making your financial statements an effective communication tool’.

We can also help you to identify which Standards will apply for your reporting period (using our Navigating the Changes to IFRS publication) and provide practical tools, illustrating both interim and a full year set of financial statements prepared under IFRS.

Accounting for Revenue under IFRS 15

June 2014 marked a landmark achievement when the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) issued IFRS 15 ‘Revenue from Contracts with Customers’.

It will provide a major boost for investors looking to compare company performance across borders.

Nearly all businesses generate revenue and the likelihood is that many are entering into contractual arrangements today that will be accounted for differently under the new Standard.

A number of challenges will follow the new Standard. Our special edition newsletter on IFRS 15 explains all you need to know about the changes and how your business can prepare for them.

As well as telling you about the Standard in general terms, we also provide industry specific guidance for a number of different sectors.

Leasing – A new era of accounting under IFRS 16

IFRS 16 ‘Leases’ represents the first major overhaul in lease accounting in over 30 years.

The Standard brings fundamental changes to lease accounting that replace previous accounting that is considered no longer fit for purpose.

IFRS 16 will affect most companies involved in leasing that report under International Financial reporting Standards (IFRS). It will have a substantial impact on the financial statements of lessees of property and high value equipment – requiring that leases be placed on-balance sheet by recognising a ‘right-of-use’ asset and a lease liability.

Further information on the changes and how you can prepare for them can be found below.

IFRS 17 – Insurance contracts

IFRS 17 ‘Insurance Contracts’ represents the culmination of a twenty year project by the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) to improve the comparability of companies that issue insurance contracts.

Replacing IFRS 4

The new Standard replaces the similarly titled IFRS 4 (which was issued some time ago as an interim Standard) and will have an impact on data, technology solutions and investor relations as well as financial reporting. The new Standard has an effective date of 1 January 2023 but may be applied earlier (subject to considerations imposed by local legislation).

Get to grips with IFRS 17

Our publication entitled 'Get to grips with IFRS 17' is designed to help prepare and guide you for this major new Standard. It explains the Standard’s key features and provides insights into their application and impact.

A key component of our global strategy is to promote the delivery of consistent, high quality client service worldwide.

Grant Thornton Audit Review

Having a robust process of quality control is one of the most effective ways to guarantee we deliver high quality services to our clients.

To accomplish this, each member firm submits to an inspection of its quality control system under the Grant Thornton Audit Review (GTAR) at least once every three years.

The GTAR monitors compliance with professional standards and global audit policies. It is conducted by independent partners and managers from other member firms under the direction of the global audit quality control leader.

The inspection process includes an evaluation of the member firm’s assurance policies, benchmarking these against the international organisation. The team reviews financial statements, audit reports, engagement work papers and files, and interviews partners and staff.

The report on a firm’s quality-control system will report one of the following: 

• suitably designed and operating effectively (an unqualified report)
• suitably designed and operating effectively except for one or more significant deficiencies (an except-for report)
• having material weaknesses in the design or operation of the quality-control system (an adverse report).

When the GTAR identifies a deficiency, the member firm is expected to address the deficiency and document its action plan to address the findings within a reasonable period of time and submit appropriate documentation. When follow up actions are required by member firms to address findings identified during the GTAR, a further visit or remote assessment is made to review progress in implementing these actions.

We apply our global audit methodology through an integrated set of software tools known as the Voyager suite.

The suite includes:

Voyager: a tool for assisting audit teams in the identification of financial statement risks and linkage to the processes and internal controls established to address those risks. Voyager also assists audit teams in documenting, evaluating and testing internal controls and designing an appropriate substantive response.

TBeam: a trial balance and workpaper generation tool that is fully integrated with Voyager, allowing audit teams to automatically update lead sheets for changes to the trial balance, perform analytical procedures, evaluate misstatements and create standard and custom workpapers.

Voyager Information System (VIS) Tracking: an application that provides member firms with the ability to view information about their assurance clients contained in Voyager files; manage and monitor concurring review policies; control and monitor the archiving process for annual and interim periods; and control the storage and protection of archived Voyager files.

Client acceptance: an application that enforces policies and procedures that each member firm must adopt to accept a new assurance engagement.

Consultation: an application that enables member firm audit teams to document consultations with firm specialists on accounting, ethical and auditing matters.

Our audit teams also use a data extraction and analysis tool, IDEA, to analyse large amounts of financial data and generate confirmations. Using IDEA, we access this data in a matter of seconds.

Corporate and business tax

Growing businesses need strong tax management to meet current and future tax liabilities and we can help you achieve this, whatever challenges you face.

Many businesses worldwide are eager to better coordinate and outsource their compliance processes. Our trusted teams can prepare corporate tax files and ruling requests, support you with deferrals, accounting procedures and legitimate tax benefits.

By using bespoke software, we offer a transparent service within your control that can be tailored to your individual business needs.

Direct international tax

Dynamic companies are increasingly seizing cross-border opportunities to build their businesses. We have the insight and agility to create the strategies you need to respond quickly to ever-changing tax laws.

Our teams have in-depth knowledge of the relationship between domestic and international tax laws. Through advanced tax planning, we can help you manage your tax exposure and support you with global structuring, transfer pricing, indirect taxes and taxes on expatriates.

We provide clear and practical solutions that meet specific commercial needs in the most tax-efficient way possible.

Global mobility services

Aligning a global mobility strategy with business objectives

In a globalised world, businesses must work seamlessly across borders. Organisations operate in multiple countries and view international expansion as a strategic objective. International talent mobility is a key element of a successful global business and with it comes challenges and risks, as well as opportunities. With ever changing global tax regulations, an effective, compliant and cost-efficiently managed international mobility program is a critical component of successful talent management and business operations.

Our teams of mobility and human capital advisers work together with you to build and evolve a smart global mobility strategy, along with policies and processes that address the complex challenges of managing an international workforce from assignees to business travellers.

For example: 

• minimising and managing international complexities in your business tax profile 
• aligning your internal policies and procedures, business culture and growth strategy 
• preparing your international assignees for the personal, professional and logistical considerations of relocation 
• evolving your mobility policy, informed by trends in the market and global legislative change 
• providing technology solutions, processes and policies to manage the complexities of business travellers.

Organisations that prepare carefully and leverage the right knowledge and advice can transform the challenges they face into their advantages.

A clear, transparent approach to expatriate assignments Our approach to mobility provides you with the forward-thinking solutions and compliance that provides successful management of your international assignments. Drawing on the knowledge and insights of our global network of mobility professionals, we work with you to deliver insightful solutions that: 

• delivers tax efficiencies
• is globally compliant
• avoids costly problems for employees assigned overseas.

We offer a wide range of services to support both companies and individuals, including:

Global Mobility Services for your business

• Strategic assignment planning
• Assignment policy development, including equalization, protection and ‘host plus’
• Budgeting and cost management
• Coordination of global compliance and advisory services
• Global compensation, pension and benefit advisory services
• Business traveller advisory and technology solutions
• Tax compliance and advisory services.

Global Mobility Services for Your People

• Arrival and departure tax briefings and compliance
• Tax preparation and consulting services
• Assistance with assessments, audits and notices
• Tax equalisation and protection reconciliation
• Knowledge of the overall impact of the assignment on personal tax affairs.

Indirect international tax

With more goods and services crossing national borders than ever before, you may be facing indirect tax obligations in many countries – even those where your customer is located.

Grant Thornton’s tax teams take a rigorous approach to helping you meet these obligations, whatever challenges you may face along the way. Using our finely tuned local knowledge, teams from our global organisation of member firms help you understand and comply with often complex and time-consuming regulations.

You may need to pay particular attention to indirect taxes if you’re doing business in an area that already has high rates of these taxes. On a global level, rates of indirect taxes are on the increase in countries that already impose these taxes. Countries without a zero base rate may also see indirect taxes as a means of raising revenue.

One thing that all indirect taxes do have in common is that they are transaction-based. That means you need to consider them at an early stage to avoid unexpected liabilities and unnecessary costs.

Grant Thornton can help with:

• identifying where transactions are taxed
• registration of local indirect tax in countries where taxable transactions are undertaken
• tax-efficient planning for transactions
• preparation and submitting indirect tax returns
• International indirect tax guide

If you would like more detailed information for your region, our international indirect tax guide provides an overview of tax systems in key countries and how you can get further support from Grant Thornton.

Innovation and investment incentives

Dynamic businesses must continually innovate to maintain competitiveness, evolve and grow. Valuable tax reliefs are available to support innovative activities, irrespective of your tax profile.

Are you developing innovative processes or products, undertaking experimentation or solving technological problems? If so, you may qualify to claim research and development tax credits.

Local government funding may also be available to support hiring, training, capital investment, and international market expansion. How do you know if your business qualifies? And if so, how do you make a claim?

Our professionals are a diverse team of experienced practitioners that are engineers, scientists and specialised accountants. We can work with you to determine if you’re eligible and help you to optimise your tax credit and government funding opportunities. We can also devise processes that will help your business capture incentive related expenditures for future claims. We are experienced in delivering a maximised and robust claim methodology.

Our global network of local professionals can deliver value in this space through leveraging our knowledge and sector experience.

Industries that often qualify for tax credits include, but not limited to:

• Information and communications technology (ICT)
• Manufacturing
• Aerospace and automotive
• Green technology
• Construction
• Medical
• Pharmaceutical
• Agriculture

Private client services

Protecting business and personal wealth is of upmost importance for private clients worldwide. At Grant Thornton, we bring reason and instinct to all aspects of your personal finance and compliance planning.

Wherever you are in the world, our tax specialists can support you with overseas interests and investments. Our solutions include dealing with emigration and tax mitigation on the income and capital growth of overseas assets.

Transfer pricing

The laws surrounding transfer pricing are becoming ever more complex, as tax affairs of multinational companies are facing scrutiny from media, regulators and the public.

Well-run businesses need to consider this new emphasis on compliance and audit activity. Through our international organisation of member firms, we can help you understand these ever-more complex issues as your business continues its journey to growth.

Although these laws may share common features across various countries, the interpretations can differ from one country to another.

Making sure you take the right approach to compliance takes time and patience, as demands and penalties from authorities are increasing.

At Grant Thornton, our people can offer real insight in the following areas:

• audit support – our sophisticated economic arguments, research and databases can help you defend your transfer pricing policies before tax authorities
• documentation – we use local knowledge to prepare country-specific documentation to satisfy tax regulations in your region
• planning – the growth or restructuring of a company doing business internationally provides an opportunity to review transfer pricing and tax planning to minimise tax burdens
• supply chain re-engineering – we offer critical analysis of your supply chain to help you gain operational efficiencies.

Tax policy

Tax policies are constantly evolving, will these affect your business?

Grant Thornton’s teams can work with you to help you understand these regulations, develop a strategy tailored to your business’ individual tax needs and manage tax risk around the globe.

Base erosion and profit shifting (BEPS)

Businesses with a footprint in a number of countries will be aware of the variations in tax policies between regions.

 In recent years, these tax discrepancies have been at the centre of a public outcry and received huge amounts of media attention. Through aggressive tax planning, some organisations capitalised on these discrepancies and regional variations to avoid corporate tax or reduce their liability. This practice is known as base erosion and profit shifting (BEPS). Although legal in the vast majority of cases, this practice has raised ethical concerns worldwide.

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) launched a 15-step action plan to tackle and reduce BEPS, which could lead to major changes in international tax standards.

Action 1: Address the tax challenges of the digital economy

Action 2: Neutralise the effects of hybrid mismatch arrangements

Action 3: Strengthen controlled foreign corporation (CFC) rules

Action 4: Limit base erosion via interest deductions and other financial payments

Action 5: Counter harmful tax practices more effectively, taking into account transparency and substance

Action 6: Prevent treaty abuse

Action 7: Prevent the artificial avoidance of permanent establishment (PE) status

Action 8: Assure that transfer pricing outcomes are in line with value creation/intangibles

Action 9: Assure that transfer pricing outcomes are in line with value creation/risks and capital

Action 10: Assure that transfer pricing outcomes are in line with value creation/other high-risk transactions

Action 11: Establish methodologies to collect and analyse data on BEPS and the actions to address it

Action 12: Require taxpayers to disclose their aggressive tax planning arrangements

Action 13: Re-examine transfer pricing documentation

Action 14: Make dispute resolution mechanisms more effective

Action 15: Develop a multilateral instrument

View a copy of the detailed action plan from the OECD

If you do business across borders, you must understand these possible changes to tax systems. Having a firm grasp on the OECD’s plans could protect you from reputational damage and also make sure your business is compliant with necessary rules and regulations.

Increasing regulation and investor demands for returns and transparency continue to challenge the asset management sector. Businesses with the operational agility and infrastructure to embrace change can position themselves to thrive in today’s evolving market.

Our global asset management team consists of industry professionals who can provide expert advice on a range of complex issues across audit, assurance, tax and advisory. We assist our clients with every aspect of their asset management business: the drivers, dynamics, architecture and ways to achieve commercial success.

We can help you mitigate risk and respond to regulatory changes, streamline and digitise your customer experience, implement cyber security strategies, and maximise your profit margins.