How PwC can help?

Business improvement

• Spot opportunities and assemble teams to execute a transaction as the need arises
• Integrate businesses post-merger to enhance long-term acquisition value
• Re-align financing and strategy, leverage opportunities and address challenges resulting in re-negotiated financing
• Develop cost saving opportunities in line with business objectives
• Implement improved procurement functions and sourcing strategies
• Revamp working capital management
• Consider the opportunities shared service centres or outsourcing might offer
• Prioritise performance improvement initiatives and develop the improvement roadmap
• Select and monitor KPIs and the realisation of new targets (e.g. margin improvements, cost savings, working capital reduction)
• Improve budgeting and forecasting and link to actual performance
• Mobilise key staff in developing new ways of working to make change stick
• Align KPIs to strategy
• Identify single-point accountability and improve transparency around what is measured
• Improve distribution channel effectiveness
• Review pricing and conditions
• Improve sales force effectiveness
• Support rapid improvement strategy

• Assess business partners to evaluate continuity, dependence and credit worthiness
• Re-evaluate alignment of objectives, risks and controls
• Establish supplier risk mitigation plan
• Third party assurance services
• Evaluate the current internal control framework effectiveness and efficiency and eventually redesign according to best practice standards
• Review current status of compliance and risk management approaches and reduce major areas of overlap or blank spots
• Align Enterprise risk management processes for more strenuous Credit rating agency evaluations
• Develop a Strategic risk profile and assist in evaluating and improving the effectiveness of remedial measures
• Realise improvement in cash flows through effective short-term forecasting and management of working capital
• Implement solutions to ensure real-time visibility of cash balances
• Design cash pooling structures to increase control and centralise excess cash
• Select banking partners to support regional/global cash management
• Explore new strategies around funding risk, given the constraints in the credit markets
• Review and re-engineer policies for foreign exchange and interest rate risk management to align with best practice in a volatile environment
• Establish hedging programmes for financial and non-financial (commodity) exposures, including compliance with hedge accounting rules
• Establish monitoring and control systems to limit and manage exposure to financial counterparties, including more complex exposures (e.g. derivatives)

• Independent review of the assumptions underlying a company’s business plan and cash flow projections against market trends
• Sensitise management projections to identify areas of risk, cost reduction opportunities and synergies
• Options analysis to determine actions that will preserve most value (optimised exit, accelerated M&A, turnaround)
• Commence dialogue with stakeholders using the independent review to manage expectations
• Financial advice during a restructuring process
• Insight into current market trends for loan values and rates
• Sensitivity analysis of the company’s business plan to changes in revenue and subsequent impact on cash flows
• Ascertain the impact of new debt costs and/or loan facility size on the company’s business plan
• Options analysis to determine actions that will preserve most value (optimised exit, accelerated M&A, turnaround)
• Commence dialogue with stakeholders using the sensitivity analysis to manage expectations
• A review of the financial health and capacity of the borrower to keep to the original terms
• Options review to determine best strategy to recover outstanding monies
• Debt collection services and in some jurisdictions, enforcement of security through insolvency appointments

• Re-align talent to new business strategy and reduce headcount
• Identify what the business (and its employees) should be doing differently to ensure they are in a strong and agile position for the future
• Manage people costs effectively, including often overlooked share schemes, sickness pay, benefits and international assignment policy
• Reinforce robust financial housekeeping policies and ensure employees adhere to them
• Manage redundancies, where necessary, whilst identifying ways to keep employees who are vital to the business
• Identify and retain the pivotal talent from which major competitive advantage is gained
• Ensure the right reward structures are in place to demonstrate you value your employees and can continue to offer development opportunities
• Explore ways to make incentives schemes more financially efficient
• Motivate and engage employees to flex their outputs according to business needs
• Develop a workforce plan and select a few solutions that will have the highest impact

• Identify whether cross border intra-group finance arrangements should be reconsidered. Consider the impact on intra-group rates or guarantee charges
• Consider the impact on thin capitalisation requirements, domestically and offshore, especially where arm's length tests are applied
• Consider whether write downs concern assets which can attract income tax deductions.
• Consider the impact on thin capitalisation safe harbour tests. Are other asset revaluations available?
• Tax reviews of working capital patterns including:
  
  
  • identification of major tax drivers of growing working capital
  • analysis of inventory management and the tax treatment applied to obsolete or slow rotating stock
  • review of agreements with business partners and identification of areas where the tax burdens may be reduced

• Review common errors, risk areas and revisit benefit policies, particularly in relation to fringe benefits tax and payroll tax.
• Consider employment packages of senior executives and especially option plans in an underperforming stock market.
• Consider employee share plans and employee share trusts.
• Look at options to offer salary sacrifice arrangements (pensions, childcare etc)