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Financial administration
An accurate financial administration provides you with the information you need to take the right decisions. The big advantage of a digital financial administration is that it provides insight into your most important financial processes at any time, whether this is the invoices, salary payments or bank changes.
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Financial insight
You want to take the right decisions, based on trustworthy and clear management information. You want to have access to all your financial data, 24/7, in order to determine your position and be able to adjust where necessary.
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Global compliance partnering
Outsourced compliance services comprises the total financial compliance of your business, in accounting, financial reporting, payroll, legal and various tax reporting obligations. We can make sure you don’t have to worry.
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Business risk services
Minimize risk, maximize predictability, and execution Good insights help you look further ahead and adapt faster. Whether you require outsourced or co-procured internal audit services and expertise to address a specific technology, cyber or regulatory challenge, we provide a turnkey and reliable solution.
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Corporate finance
Finding a suitable match at the most optimum terms. That, in a nutshell, aptly describes the objective of mergers and acquisitions. To most businesses mergers or acquisitions are not standard daily practice. It is, however, for the professionals at Grant Thornton! Seeking their services will add value instantly.
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Cyber risk services
What should I be doing first if my data has been kidnapped? Have I taken the right precautions for protecting my data or am I putting too much effort into just one of the risks? And how do I quickly detect intruders on my network? Good questions! We help you to answer these questions.
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Impact House
Building sustainability and social impact. That sounds good. But how do you go about it in the complex world of stakeholders, regulations and frameworks and changing demands from clients and society? How do you deal with important issues such as climate change and biodiversity loss?
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Transaction services
What will the net proceeds be after the sale? How do I optimise the selling price of my business or the price of one of my business activities? How do I capitalise on synergies following an acquisition? Am I not offering too much? These are all good questions when you’re buying or selling a business. It’s a transaction that concerns significant amounts, impacts your future, and therefore must be executed properly. We provide a solid foundation for your decisions.
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Valuation, investigation & dispute services
Do you require a fact finding investigation to help assess irregularities? Is it necessary to ascertain facts for litigation purposes?
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Auditing of annual accounts
You are answerable to others, such as shareholders and other stakeholders, with regard to your financial affairs. Financial information must therefore be reliable. What is more, you want to know how far you are progressing towards achieving your goals and what risks may apply.
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IFRS services
Financial reporting in accordance with IFRS is a complex matter. Nowadays, an increasing number of international companies are becoming aware of the rules. But how do you apply them in practice?
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ISAE & SOC Reporting
Our ISAE & SOC Reporting services provide independent and objective reports on the design, implementation and operational effectiveness of controls at service organizations.
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Pre-audit services
Pre-audit services is all about making the company’s entire financial administration ready for checking before the external accountant begins his/her audit of the annual accounts.
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SOx law implementation
The SOx legislation dictates that management is structurally accountable for reporting on the internal control relevant to the financial statements.
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International corporate tax
The Netherlands’ tax regime is highly dynamic. Rules and the administrative courts raise new challenges in fiscal considerations on a nearly daily basis, both nationally and internationally.
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VAT advice
VAT is an exceptionally thorny issue, especially in major national and international activities. Filing cross-border returns, registering or making payments requires specialised knowledge. It is crucial to keep that knowledge up-to-date in order to respond to the dynamics of national and international legislation and regulation.
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Customs
Importing/exporting goods to or from the European Union involves navigating complicated customs formalities. Failure to comply with these requirements usually results in delays. In addition, an excessively high rate of taxation or customs valuation for imports can cost you money.
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HR services
Do your employees determine the success and growth of your organisation? And are you in need of specialists which you can ask your Human Resources (HR) related questions? Human Resources (HR) related questions? Our HR specialists will assist you in the areas of personnel and payroll administration, labour law and taxation relating to your personnel. We provide you with high-quality personnel and payroll administration, good HR guidance and the right (international) advice as standard. All this, of course, with a focus on the human dimension.
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Innovation & grants
Anyone who runs their own business sets themselves apart from the rest. Anyone who dares stick their neck out distinguishes themselves even more. That can be rather lucrative.
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Tax technology
Driven by tax technology, we help you with your (most important) tax risks. Identify and manage your risks and become in control!
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Transfer pricing
The increased attention for transfer pricing places greater demands on the internal organisation and on reporting.
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Sustainable tax
In this rapidly changing world, it is increasingly important to consider environmental impact (in accordance with ESG), instead of limiting considerations to financial incentives. Multinational companies should review and potentially reconsider their tax strategy due to the constantly evolving social standards
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Pillar Two
On 1 January 2024 the European Union will introduce a new tax law named “Pillar Two”. These new regulations will be applicable to groups with a turnover of more than EUR 750 million.
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Expand into new markets
Do you seek for opportunities in the global business arena? Whether you are about to open a new office in a foreign country or considering an international acquisition, you need certainty of making the right choices for your company. Global expansion isn’t always as simple as it sounds. The good thing is that we’re here to help!
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Expanding your business in the Netherlands
International expansion is an important step. The Netherlands can be your gateway to Europe for doing business abroad. But why you should choose the Netherlands?
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Global contacts
Wherever you choose to do business, you want access to people with the best ideas and critical thinking that will enable you to grow your business at home and abroad.
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Corporate Law
From the general terms and conditions to the legal strategy, these matters need to be watertight. This provides assurance, and therefore peace of mind and room for growth. We will be pro-active and pragmatic in thinking along with you. We always like to look ahead and go the extra mile.
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Employment Law
Small company or large multinational: in any company your people are of the utmost importance for your business. Employment brings with it many issues in many areas and often has legal consequences. For big strategic, but also for more everyday questions about employment law, our lawyers are ready to help you out. Also for questions about international employment law. Do you have your own HR department? We’ll gladly assist them. We deliver bespoke services and are there when you need us.
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Specialist Areas
Besides our focus on corporate and employment law, we also advise entrepreneurs on a range of (specialist) legal issues. A corporate acquisition, your company administration, complex question in the field of healthcare issues: you have come to the right place.
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Maritime sector
How can you continue to be a global leader? The Netherlands depends on innovation. It is our high-quality knowledge which leads the maritime sector to be of world class.
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Growth in an international network
At Grant Thornton, you will benefit from the expertise and quality of colleagues around the world who will benefit your knowledge, advice and growth.
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Varied customer portfolio
The customer package at Grant Thornton varies from (large) SME customers to (small) corporate customers. From local customers to customers from the international network of Grant Thornton International Ltd. All this diversity in customers can also be recognized in your customer package.
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Culture
At Grant Thornton we combine a solid base with a flexible and results-driven mentality.
The global pandemic has provided an enormous shock to businesses and, for many in the mid-market, fundamentally tested their ability to deal with crisis and disruption. Indeed, according to Grant Thornton's IBR data, 42.2% of global respondents think they will need to improve crisis management processes after the COVID crisis.
But those businesses with robust governance and contingency were able to respond to disruption more quickly and, in doing so, minimised their exposure to risk and improved their reputations accordingly. As businesses look to the future and attempt new initiatives, a proactive risk and governance approach can successfully deliver innovation and growth.
Start thinking of risk assurance as realising the opportunities
There is often a tendency to look upon risk and governance as solely defensive measures. Often focused on compliance - and aimed at avoiding negative consequences – the benefits of good governance is frequently overlooked.
Eddie Best, global co-leader of business risk services and partner at Grant Thornton UK, says: "It's actually about creating value. It's as much about the upside and making sure programmes are successful as it is about managing the downside.
"It's about supporting customer-facing initiatives, but also bringing technical rigour. It means asking questions from a security perspective, for example, or thinking how is data being handled.”
Good risk management and governance come from appreciating that they are intrinsically linked to new business initiatives and operations – not an afterthought to them. “You look at the opportunity and cover off the risk management piece that goes with it", says Best.
Revisit the fundamentals of your governance framework
Victor Sekese, group chief executive at Grant Thornton South Africa, says: "Boards have been challenged; in the board's minds currently are two things: (A) survival now, and (B) survive beyond COVID-19. And they're starting now to deal with the key issues. The pandemic is forcing businesses to go beyond lip service to their governance frameworks and compel them to go back to basics."
It comes down to the board setting its strategy and risk appetite and then cascading that approach through the business successfully, through delegating authority, and implementing appropriate processes and reporting around key investments and programmes, and making sure the technology environment is robust.
Best says: "It's nothing more than good commercial business management. The best-run businesses, typically have the CEO, board and management teams continually looking at all these aspects refreshing priorities, strategy, comms, so that they're keeping pace with what's going on."
Review your strategy more regularly
In the past, businesses would develop a plan and perform a refresh and review with the board quarterly. Today, companies need to do that more regularly. "If you don't keep your eye on the ball, someone else will eat your lunch, or the economy takes a dive or government policies changes. The pace is fundamentally different and much more tech-driven.
"Those thought processes around sense checking your strategy, and your priorities are almost a daily, real-time imperative now."
Balance the technology with people and processes in decision-making
Businesses need to keep track in real-time through the use of technology. They should embrace powerful tools that distil complexity and provide data through dashboards, such as monitoring highly complex supply chains. But Best says technology is a double-edged sword. It does enable quicker, often better decisions but it comes with its own cost, complexity and risk.
"At a programme level in the past, decision processes would follow a waterfall approach where you have a structured plan with stage gates, and go, no-go decisions. Today, people are moving into the agile methodology where there is less structure. People come together for scrums, make decisions and then have shorts bursts of activity. It's a more informal but nimble approach to delivering key programmes.
"However, you don't see so many programme management officers as you used to, which can be a good thing because it enables pace. The downside is that there's not as much visibility and sometimes not enough rigour to decisions. Basic things like interconnection between different project streams sometimes get missed. When people run at pace and take away layers of governance and documentation around some of these projects, mistakes can happen."
Technology has a role to play in that, but a lot of it still comes back to human action and decisions and behaviour. It's not that one way is universally better than another, but instead that each project requires assessment and striking a balance to provide the best outcomes.
Use this time to check and fix behaviours
"Culture is fundamental," says Best. "If you look at the major frauds and errors, it mostly comes down to poor behaviour, judgement and culture."
"If you remove some of the checks and balances and you encourage people to go in a certain direction, you shouldn't be surprised when they overstep the mark, and do things that are inappropriate in pursuit of profit or whatever it might be.
A culture audit can bring to the surface some of the beliefs and behaviours within the management teams that enable people to act badly and take unnecessary risks.
"Culture is not an accident. You determine the culture you want. And some drivers deliver that around strategy, leadership, people management, and the process within the business so that you hire the right people, you train them the right way, and you reward and promote them in line with the culture you want in the business."
COVID-19 is disrupting many businesses, including their working practices and the way they sell products and services. Transformative innovations – both operationally and technologically – will play a key role in recovery but business must assess whether their risk management and governance processes are still fit for purpose. Do remote teams, for example, need extra layers of governance to ensure they are not pressured into behaviours that may betray best principles? While businesses must nail down the crisis management aspects they must also retune their processes to ensure they deliver on their strategic goals.
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