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Financial Accounting Advisory Services - Ernst & Young - United Kingdom

Financial Accounting Advisory Services (FAAS)

Navigating a changing accounting landscape

In the current economic conditions shareholders, regulators and professional bodies are taking greater interest in how companies derive, report, disclose and communicate about their financial position. This environment is driving extensive change across accounting standards.

Companies seeking to optimise their businesses face complexity in both IFRS and US GAAP accounting for mergers, acquisitions, IPOs and carve-outs. Accounting convergence also changes the requirements for reporting on financial instruments, fair value accounting, impairments and revenue recognition.

The current environment requires businesses to be able to address the concerns of their stakeholders and be prepared to change processes in order to adapt accounting and finance practices. This will allow them to ensure they are positioned to respond to market demands both now and in the future.

How can we help?

Our Financial Accounting Advisory Services teams leverage their extensive expertise to bring together global, multi-disciplinary teams. We offer deep sector knowledge to help you navigate the complex finance issues facing your business.

GAAP conversion

GAAP conversions require deep technical knowledge of not only accounting differences, interpretations and potential approaches, but also ongoing business implications for performance measurement, compensation schemes, tax, regulation or financial communication. We help clients to:

    Manage conversion as well as interpretations and potential approaches
    Understand the impact of conversion on existing systems and processes and designing
      new ones, or integrating new processes with existing systems
    Provide project management assistance across all work-streams
    Train staff and prepare the first set of IFRS/IPSAS financial statements
    Understand the ongoing tax reporting implications of complex accounting treatments

Transactions, IPOs, and financial reporting assistance

Our team works with you to optimise the transaction outcome by addressing key accounting and regulatory challenges that arise on mergers, IPOs, acquisitions and divestitures including:

    Identifying and analysis of accounting issues
    Analysing financial and regulatory impacts
    Preparing opening balance sheets, carve-out, pro forma or combined financial statements
    Modelling of impacts on future income statements, balance sheet items and KPIs
    Analysing financial communication and competitor benchmarking
    Working with our transaction advisors on valuation projects and determining the appropriate
      acquisition accounting adjustments.
    IPO readiness
    Post IPO support

Restructuring and asset financing

We assist clients when undertaking restructurings or when financing the purchase of assets in understanding:

    The values at which transfers of legal entities, businesses or assets should be recorded
    The interaction of accounting requirements and the provisions within company law relating
      to merger relief and group reconstruction relief
    Distributable reserves issues that may arise which could limit future dividends and
      suggestions on how to alleviate such issues
    The mechanics of merger accounting and acquisition accounting
    The accounting for employee benefit obligations, share awards and goodwill as
      businesses and responsibilities are transferred between group entities
    Determination of the functional currency of the entities involved
    Accounting for financing obligations involving asset finance and leasing arrangements
    Determining the accounting for refinancings

Accounting standards and regulatory requirements

We support companies in implementing new accounting standards and regulation in their businesses. Our support includes:

    Implementing IFRS for published or forthcoming financial statements including advice on
      notes to financial statements and adequacy of documentation
    Technical assistance in complex accounting issues and enhance financial information as
      well as analyzing and improving information gathering process and competitor
      benchmarking
    Meeting local regulatory requirements under local GAAP
    Identifying reporting needs and the impacts in the implementation phases
    Understanding the impact on accounting information systems
    Understanding the tax implications to assist to proactively control and manage tax reporting
      requirements and the effective tax rate
    Benchmarking and analysis of prospective impacts of accounting standard developments
      on financial statements

Accounting and financial processes

The need to improve your business systems and processes can arise at any time. Our team works with clients on:

    Designing and enhancing accounting and financial reporting processes as well as KPIs
    Redesigning accounting processes to ensure effective and efficient control
    Transitioning from cash to accrual basis accounting in public sector organizations
    Monitoring long-term contract performance
    Reviewing sources of loss of accounting control and assist in the implementation of
      accounting remediation plans
    Enhancing their cost accounting system

The Future of UK GAAP

The Future of UK GAAP: Are you ready?

The ASB’s proposed changes to the financial reporting framework present a new challenge and opportunity for all companies currently reporting under UK GAAP.
Financial Reporting Outlook

Financial Reporting Outlook 2012

Ernst & Young hosts its annual Financial Reporting Outlook conference in London on Monday 5 November 2012.
Distant lighthouse at sunset

Contacts

Contact one of our FAAS leaders.
Andy Davies

Andy Davies Email
FAAS Leader, London
+44 [0]20 7951 3237

Amin Mawji

Amin Mawji Email
London
+44 [0]20 7951 7107

Suzanne Robinson

Suzanne Robinson Email
North and Scotland
+44 [0]113 298 2480

Andy Smyth

Andy Smyth Email
London
+44 [0]20 7951 3747

Ian Wilson

Ian Wilson Email
London
+44 [0]20 7951 0282

Phil Hosp

Phil Hosp Email
London and South
+44 [0]20 7951 0095

Fergus Condon

Fergus Condon Email
Ireland
+353 [0] 1 2212 727

Financial Reporting Outlook 2011
Navigating through uncertain times
Find out more about the key themes and findings from our Financial Reporting Outlook 2011 conference and a series of Technical update seminars held across the UK & Ireland in the autumn of 2011.

Download the FAAS brochure as a PDF 
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