-
Business valuations
We offer expert valuation advice in transactions, regulatory and administrative matters, and matters subject to dispute – valuing businesses, shares and intangible assets in a wide range of industries.
-
Capital markets
You need corporate finance specialists experienced in international capital markets on your side if you’re buying or selling financial securities.
-
Complex and international services
Our experience of multi-jurisdictional insolvencies coupled with our international reputation allows us to deliver the best possible outcome for all stakeholders.
-
Corporate insolvency
Our corporate investigation and recovery teams can help you manage insolvency situations and facilitate the best outcome.
-
Debt advisory
An optimal funding structure for your organisation presents unprecedented opportunities, but achieving this can be difficult without a trusted advisor.
-
Expert witness
Our expert witnesses analyse, interpret, summarise and present complex financial and business-related issues which are understandable and properly supported.
-
Financial models
A sound financial model will help you understand the impact of your decisions before you make them. Talk to us about our user-friendly models.
-
Forensic and investigation services
We provide investigative accounting and litigation support services for commercial, matrimonial, criminal, business valuation and insurance disputes.
-
Independent business review
Is your business viable? Will it remain viable in the future? A thorough independent business review can help your organisation answer these fundamental questions.
-
IT forensics
Effective ESI analysis is integral to the success of your business. Our IT forensics experts have the technical expertise to identify, preserve and interrogate electronic data.
-
Mergers and acquisitions
Grant Thornton provides strategic and execution support for mergers, acquisitions, sales and fundraising.
-
Raising finance
Raising finance - funders value partners who can deliver a robust financial model, a sound business strategy and rigorous planning. We can guide you through the challenges that these transactions can pose and help you build a foundation for long term success once the deal is done.
-
Relationship property services
Grant Thornton offers high quality independent advice on the many financial issues associated with relationship property from considering an individual financial issue to all aspects of a complex settlement.
-
Restructuring and turnaround
Grant Thornton’s restructuring and turnaround service capabilities include cash flow, liquidity management and forecasting; crisis and interim management; financial advisory services to companies and parties in transition and distress
-
Transaction advisory
Our depth of market knowledge will steer you through the transaction process. Grant Thornton’s dynamic teams offer range of financial, commercial and operational expertise.
-
Corporate tax
Grant Thornton can identify tax issues, risks and opportunities in your organisation and implement strategies to improve your bottom line.
-
Employment tax
Grant Thornton’s advisers can help you with PAYE (payroll tax), Kiwisaver, fringe benefits tax (FBT), student loans, global mobility services, international tax
-
Global mobility services
Our team can help expatriates and their employers deal with tax and employment matters both in New Zealand and overseas. With the correct planning advice, employee allowances and benefits may be structured to avoid double taxation and achieve tax savings.
-
GST
GST has the potential to become a minefield and can be expensive when it goes wrong. Our technical knowledge can help you minimise the negative impact of GST
-
International tax
International tax rules are undergoing their biggest change in a generation. Tax authorities around the world are increasingly vigilant, especially when it comes to global operations.
-
Research and Development
R&D tax incentives are often underused and misunderstood – is your business maximising opportunities for making claims?
-
Tax compliance
Our advisers help clients manage the critical issue of compliance across accountancy regulations, corporation law and tax. We also offer business and wealth advisory services, which means we can provide a seamless and tax-effective offering to our clients.
-
Transfer pricing
Tax authorities are demanding transparency in international arrangements. We businesses comply with regulations and use transfer pricing as a strategic planning tool.
-
Audit methodology
Our five step audit methodology offers a high quality service wherever you are in the world and includes planning, risk assessment, testing internal controls, substantive testing, and concluding and reporting
-
Audit technology
We apply our audit methodology with an integrated set of software tools known as the Voyager suite. Our technology has been developed to produce quality audits that are effective and efficient.
-
Financial reporting advisory
Our financial reporting advisers have the expertise to help you deal with the constantly evolving regulatory environment.
-
Business architecture
Our business architects help businesses with disruptive conditions, business expansion and competitive challenges; the deployment of your strategy is critical to success.
-
Cloud services
Our team is led by cloud business experts who tailor services to the needs of your organisation, from strategy and implementation to ongoing services assurance.
-
Internal audit
Our internal audits deliver independent assurance over key controls within your riskiest processes, proving what works and what doesn’t and recommending improvements.
-
IT advisory
Our hands on product experience, extensive functional knowledge and industry insights help clients solve complex IT and technology issues
-
IT privacy and security
IT privacy and security should support your business strategy. Our pragmatic approach focuses on reducing cyber security risks specific to your organisation
-
Organisational & cultural change
The key to sustainable and future growth is a unified organisation operating within a strong cultural context, where transparency and communication are the priority for Kaimahi, and where visible leadership means walking the talk – but where does that journey begin?
-
Payroll assurance
Our specialist payroll assurance team can conduct a review of your payroll system configuration and processes, and then help you and your team to implement any necessary recalculations.
-
PCI DSS
Our information security specialists are approved Qualified Security Assessors (QSAs) that have been qualified by the PCI Security Standards Council to independently assess merchants and service providers.
-
Process improvement
As your organisation grows in size and complexity, processes that were once enabling often become cumbersome and inefficient. To maintain growth, your business must remain flexible, agile and profitable
-
Procurement/supply chain
Procurement and supply chain inputs will often dominate your balance sheet and constantly evolve for organisations to remain competitive and meet changing customer requirements
-
Project assurance
Major programmes and projects expose you to significant financial and reputational risk throughout their life cycle. Don’t let these risks become a reality.
-
Risk management
We understand that growing companies need to establish robust internal controls, and use information technology to effectively mitigate risk.
-
Robotic process automation (RPA)
RPA is emerging as the most sophisticated form of automation used to help businesses become more agile and remain competitive in the face of today’s ongoing digital disruption.
Budget 2014: Lurking in the shadows - the need to closely monitor business compliance costs
Lurking in the shadows - the need to closely monitor business compliance costs
While the days of unanticipated losses and windfalls emerging from a budget speech have largely disappeared, lurking in the shadows behind every policy announcement in this year’s budget will be new, revised or continuing compliance costs.
Over the last decade, a wide variety of organisations across the country have commented on the perceived high level of red tape that surrounds dealing with the government.
While experts disagree on how much time SME owners spend on complying with the myriad of business laws and current regulations, it is clear that any decisions made to further reduce this, will appeal to many.
It’s fair to say that good progress has been made over the years to deliver better public services and reduce business compliance costs at the same time. When the government announced last year that a key target was a 25% reduction in the cost of red tape by moving more interaction with government agencies online by way of providing a “one stop shop”, there were few detractors. Coupled with this, the government also stated its intention to enable 70% of New Zealanders to undertake their most common transactions with government agencies online.
Buried deep within the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment website is a business cost calculator, which has been around for a few years now in various forms and guises.
It requires consideration of eight identified cost categories and a final catch all category that must be considered by every government department ahead of developing and promoting new regulations. They are worthy of some reflection and reconsideration, particularly in light of a budget.
The cost of notification
No doubts about it, businesses do incur costs when they have to report certain events to a regulatory authority either before or after an event.
Education
Businesses have to incur costs simply to keep up-to-date with various regulatory requirements. For example, communicating complex issues to staff such as a change to KiwiSaver, is likely to prove to be costly.
Obtaining the necessary permission
As we have seen in the much commented upon Resource Management Act, businesses sometimes face considerable costs when applying for and seeking permission to conduct certain activities.
Purchasing
When businesses have to purchase a service, usually in the form of taking independent advice, they will often incur a direct cash cost. Likewise, if there is a need for a product, in the form of materials and equipment to comply with a new regulation, cash resources will be needed. As many of SME business owners will bear testimony to, both service and product costs can mount up quickly.
Record-keeping
Digital world or not, New Zealand businesses must always keep their statutory documents up-to-date to a standard acceptable to government officials and this incurs cost.
Enforcement
Businesses always incur costs when they are obliged to undertake audits, review and other assurance-related activities.
Publication and documentation
While the costs of generating published material is generally on the decrease, when a document is required to be produced for a third party, be it for the organisation’s staff, customers, potential investors or appointed regulator, a hidden cost of compliance can lie in the amount of time it takes to draft the required publication or documentation.
Procedural activities
Often forgotten are procedural, rather than administrative, compliance costs. For example, a business needs to conduct fire safety drills several times a year. So where do the cost of these end up?
Finally there is a catch-all: any costs that don’t fit into any one of the eight categories noted above.
Worthy of note in this identification of the various types of compliance costs is that, with the exception of purchase costs, every cost category identified above involves some labour activity based costs. So it will be interesting to see how much commentary, if any, is given to compliance cost in this week’s Budget, given that every organisation in the country is affected by them in some way, shape or form.
Further enquiries, please contact:
Mark Hucklesby
Grant Thornton New Zealand Partner and National Technical Director, Audit
T +64 (0)9 308 2534
E mark.hucklesby@nz.gt.com