Optimize your financial reporting function.

As regulations multiply, the advanced accounting capabilities that enable strong, effective reporting are more critical than ever, but today's lean finance functions are contending with shortages of both resources and talent.

In this challenging environment, it is important to leverage the right advice when addressing a range of increasing complex accounting areas, and how they relate to financial statement preparation. Increasing requirements for transparency from international regulators impact the content of the annual reports by requiring additional and more detailed disclosures. All these requirements increase the complexity and therefore the necessary expertise to compile such reports.

Key issues

More than ever, markets and investors alike, including fund allocators, look for high quality and transparent statements compiled to standards of industry best practice. Increasingly, funds are looking to publish their annual, semi-annual or quarterly accounts well within the prescribed regulatory deadlines.

The challenge is how to meet these demands with a quality product, with the flexibility to work in multiple accounting and reporting standards and at the same time ensure co-ordination and a smooth workflow across numerous stakeholders.

While responsibility for preparing financial statements remains with management, the preparer of the financial statements must hold the requisite technical expertise to apply accounting policies and best practices, or risk costly delays in issuing the financial statements and creating investor concern. And for SEC registered advisors, reliance cannot be placed on a fund's auditors to fill this role. The SEC prohibits a fund's auditor from playing any role in financial statement preparation – from suggesting language on new and complex disclosures to processing changes. Any such prohibited activities would be deemed to impair an auditor's independence.

Main challenges

  • In the interests of cost effectiveness, clients are looking to have a single process to produce annual and interim reports across multiple jurisdictions, products, accounting principles and information providers.
  • For the process to be efficient, regulatory and accounting changes must be built into the process at the onset.

A core, not an ancillary activity

  • In many cases the preparation and production of financial statements is seen as an adjunct to the daily NAV process, which is not the case in this increasingly complex and evolving environment.
  • Fund reporting is an essential and core activity in its own right in the annual fund cycle.
  • The importance of financial statements, their complexity, the multiple interactions surrounding them and the scrutiny they attract, all require high quality processes, systems and execution.

Our services

  • High-level quality service performed by manager-level qualified professionals with expertise in investment company reporting and the audit process, and application of best practice standards in accounting and reporting.
  • Anticipation of potential issues for early resolution.
  • Frequent communication of the status of the compilation process.
  • Ensuring regulatory and audit timeframes, in terms of reporting and filing, are respected and applied on time.
  • Competitive and 'all-in' quote allowing for easier cost management.
  • A dedicated central point of contact.

How can we help?

  • Enhance your ability to meet or accelerate financial reporting timelines.
  • Compile financial statements of funds with special legal requirements and complex structures, such as multi-class funds, master-feeder structures, pooled sub- funds, segregated portfolio companies.
  • Support management's mastering of US GAAP and IFRS.
  • Coordinate and manage the process to ensure collaboration with all stakeholders.
  • Use of a proven, robust, reliable and user- friendly on-boarding process.
  • Our secure web-based portal allows authorized users to centralize documents while providing transparency over status and timeliness of the reporting process.

The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.