Accounting Compliance

Turn compliance from complexity to opportunity

Changes in the regulatory, audit and tax landscape mean that the preparation of Statutory Financial Statements (SFS) is becoming more complex, and an increased burden.

Global organisations in particular face a number of complexities in reconciling local versus group GAAP and maintaining local GAAP knowledge. This can be time consuming and costly for businesses, and typically a source of control risk.

The pressure on in-house finance teams to gather appropriate data and to correctly prepare SFS has become a strain. Unlike tax returns, SFS are public. Getting these filings wrong can present reputational, operational and fiscal risks.

To deal with these challenges, companies are increasingly turning to co-sourcing (sharing responsibility for the management and preparation of SFS with an external provider) and outsourcing (where the provider prepares all financial statements and associated filings).

We’re excited to show you a new experience, which simplifies tax complexity to accelerate your business.

Our statutory accounting compliance service uses innovative processes, smart technologies and a fresh perspective to untangle the complexity for organisations. Helping organisations to overcome the challenges and keep one step ahead of change.

Our statutory accounting compliance service uses innovative processes, smart technologies and a fresh perspective to untangle the complexity for organisations. Helping organisations to overcome the challenges and keep one step ahead of change.

The Future of Statutory Financial Statement preparation

Delivering quality reporting is an increasing challenge for UK and Global Business. Emerging UK and global reporting requirements, increased regulatory and auditor scrutiny, wider stakeholder reporting demands and ever tighter reporting timescales all create a perfect storm for external reporting. Traditional approaches to Statutory Financial Statements need to evolve to meet these challenges.

Our new end-to-end Statutory Financial Statement solution brings increased control and efficiency through combining our accounting and reporting expertise with leading technology and operational delivery excellence. It builds a new standard of trust in reporting.

Working with the Workiva platform helps revolutionise financial reporting, bringing everything together in one place, giving you one version of the truth and financial statements fully reconciled to your accounting systems. Our approach and knowledge, alongside Workiva, streamlines processes, enables collaboration and ensures consistency - all within a controlled, audit-ready cloud platform.

The unique combination of our practical and technical subject matter expertise in preparing statutory financial statements including Group to local GAAP reconciliation, proactively supporting the management of the audit process and strong processes, together with investment in continuous improvements, means we can improve existing operations for organisations and create value from the financial reporting process.

Whether it is co-sourcing or outsourcing you are after we make your organisation stronger in the long-term giving you flexibility, resilience and help in solving sourcing issues so you achieve results that make the difference.

Technology enabled approach

Utilising the Workiva platform helps revolutionise financial reporting, bringing everything together in one place, giving you one version of the truth and financial statements fully reconciled to your accounting systems. Our approach and knowledge, alongside Workiva, streamlines processes, enables collaboration and ensures consistency - all within a controlled, audit-ready cloud platform.

Single collaborative platform allows us to work with you and your auditors in a controlled, digitised environment, creating one single data set, one version of the truth.  

PwC technical and practical knowhow supporting the technical and technology content within the tool, reflecting our continuous improvement.

Improved data processes, combining data collection, storage, cleansing, analysis and mapping in one tool.

Visibility and standardisation of deliverable, working papers and processes, providing efficiency and insight across internal and external stakeholders.

Sustainable commercial model for compliance delivery.

A flexible model - resourcing and expertise that delivers a new way of managing compliance technologies.

The need for a focus on best practice and horizon scanning

Whilst none of us have a crystal ball your solution needs to look to the clues that exist today, and be flexible enough for us to deal with what we expect and what we cannot foresee.

Below we set out some of the clues we see today that demonstrate the scope of the challenges of keeping on top of technical and technological change.

Environmental Social and Governance (ESG)

We are seeing disclosure increasingly flowing down to subsidiaries. Whether it be employee engagement, modern slavery or energy usage. How this data is collected and disclosed will be subject to increased stakeholder scrutiny. We recommend that any solution would include processes and templates to gather this data, the audit trail and common language to give you consistent messaging globally.

Digital Links

Perhaps another area will be the need to maintain digital links between the ERP and the accounts and returns. This will accelerate the demise of excel as a solution to statutory accounting and reporting.

Governance

With the introduction of UK SOX, SAO, CCO and the role SAR preparation has in tax compliance, best practice risk management suggests that there will be greater need for controls, audit trail and visibility to allow those accountable to be able to meet their obligations.

Best practice

Organisations can’t stand still in terms of the way that they approach accounts compliance. Our services include an unwavering focus on best practice and horizons scanning to prepare you for change:

Best practices

How can we help?

We can help organisations to manage the complexity and risk of their accounting compliance obligations. Our flexible range of services allows you to leverage our investment in people/processes/technology to maximise your strengths, enabling you to focus on your core business operations.

The services we can provide under our Connected Tax Compliance include:

Preparation of annual Statutory Financial Statement

Preparation of statutory accounts, both in the UK and Globally. We utilise technology (Workiva) to provide a real-time, collaborative experience. Our people specialise and focus on preparation of financial statements and our processes are tried and tested and continually updated to reflect change. We pride ourselves on an agile and flexible approach.

Year End as a Service

Going further than just the preparation of your annual Statutory Financial Statements. Year End as a Service is a flexible solution to supporting organisations with all of the process and tasks of completing a year end e.g. assisting with the audit process and annual/interim compliance activities including: Statutory reporting, Supporting the audit process, Group consolidations, Management Accounts, Corporate Tax Compliance, Tax Accounting, Transfer pricing, Indirect Tax Compliance, Company Secretarial.

Bookkeeping & Reporting

Utilising your data sources and our technology to deliver an increasingly automated bookkeeping and management reporting service, whilst our dedicated accounting compliance specialists provide valuable insights on business and accounting matters. Management accounts and other reports are customised for specific reporting needs.

Accounting projects

A flexible solution when an organisation has a temporary need for an additional resource to focus on delivering a specific accounting project. Our technically skilled and commercially minded people supplement your available resources with their practical experience of working with clients on a wide range of accounting projects, using a variety of accounting systems.

Compliance insights and global operating models

Global organisations face the additional challenges of Group v local GAAP reporting and remaining legally compliant in each jurisdiction. We can provide flexible global solutions that leverage your investment in technology, and your strengths, adding our technology and local expertise to give you a consistent experience across the globe.

Contact us

Tony Price

Partner, PwC United Kingdom

+44 (0)7808 138376

Email

Jonathan Lloyd

Partner, Accounting Services, PwC United Kingdom

+44 (0)7740 894815

Email

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