IPO Readiness & Execution Support

Going through a US IPO as a European company is no easy feat…

But you can get an expert by your side for the ride

My 3 Phased Approach to IPO Readiness

PHASE 1
PHASE 1

Desktop Review

  • High level scoping exercise to determine topics that might require time & effort for readiness assessment & remediation
  • Main goal is to gather information about current state, assess areas of concern & complexity of each topic
PHASE 2
PHASE 2

Detailed IPO Readiness Assessment

  • Detailed assessment & report around accounting, reporting, corporate governance
  • Thorough stakeholder interviews & documentation review
  • Action items on next steps of “need to have” ahead of listing vs. “nice to have” best practices to be implemented post-listing
PHASE 3
PHASE 3

Ongoing Interim Support

  • Phase 1 & 2 cover snapshot assessment of company readiness as opposed to any ongoing CFO or accounting/reporting support for current period
  • Help with any hands on topics to pull together financials, work through audit preparation, etc.
  • Flexibly priced based on needs

How does Phase 1 work? 

01

Topic-specific Interview

  • Conduct interviews w/ accounting, reporting, FP&A corporate governance functions
  • Explore current processes, systems, challenges
  • Identify areas of concern
02

Documentation & Data Collection

  • Review existing documentation – financials, internal reports, policies, corporate governance, etc.
03

Analysis & Prioritization

  • Identify areas requiring. more in-depth assessment or potential improvement
  • Prioritize topics based on potential impact on IPO readiness & compliance
04

Scoping & Effort Estimation

  • Assess complexity & effort for each prioritized topic
  • Estimate effort needed for each topic
  • Prepare detailed proposal with scope, timeline & fee estimate

How does Phase 2 work?

01

Accounting

  • Accounting policies & procedures
  • Internal controls over financial reporting
  • FS & disclosure compliance
  • Revenue recognition policies
  • Significant accounting estimates & judgements
  • Financial close process
  • Audit documentation
02

Reporting

  • Internal reporting processes & systems
  • Management reporting to support decision making
  • External reporting requirements & disclosures
  • Pro forma statements
03

Corporate Governance

  • Board structure, composition, & independence
  • Corporate governance policies, committees, charters
  • Internal controls & risk management processes
  • Related party transactions & conflicts of interest
04

FP&A

  • Budgeting & forecasting processes & systems
  • FP&A practices
  • Accuracy & reliability of financial forecasts
  • Ability for cash flow forecasting & working capital management
  • KPIs & financial metrics

Who am I?

I am a US CPA who has been living in EMEA for the past decade.

Most of my career has been spent with PwC in Boston, Frankfurt (Germany), and Dubai (UAE) in the audit, capital markets and accounting advisory teams. I have worked on all aspects of accounting advisory – IFRS/US GAAP/European GAAP conversions, IFRS/US GAAP new standards implementation, IPO Readiness and execution for European companies into NYSE/NASDAQ.

I spent 3 years in private equity for a Toronto-based company, building their European accounting and reporting function from the ground up – I put all reconciliations, checklists, reporting files in place and managed acquisition into new territories around Europe. I also led their IFRS – US GAAP conversion and IFRS 16 (ASC 842) leasing implementation.

I now consult independently on all aspects around cross-border accounting and IFRS/US GAAP standards, working most recently on a US GAAP conversion for a UK SaaS company and for an Austrian subsidiary of a Fortune 100 company.

Working with Me Looks Like

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Preference Towards Async Work

  • Working across multiple international entities and timezones, working seamlessly in the background while you take care of business as usual
  • This means using technology to reduce meetings or make them more efficient – such as loom to walk through files over recorded video vs. in-peron meetings, or software to transcribe meetings when needing to be more present on calls
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Real-Time Project Management

  • I use ClickUp to put in place a project homepage with timeline and task management – so your team can check this daily to see progress made, time spent, and any bottlenecks or open questions/support that are on your plate.
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Helping Your Team to Help Themselves

  • Since I work on discrete projects, I know I am not going to be around forever. I enjoy the process of educating team members in the technical accounting space so they are empowered to run the day-to-day business with this extra responsibility. I would rather have them call me up to work on exciting new projects than being frustrated at current processes, so I will always give my two cents on how things might be done more effectively.
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My Competitive Advantage

Cross-border experience from living & working across borders for 10 years

Seasoned knowledge from serving various clients across industries

Specialized in European companies with US accounting & reporting needs

Big 4 experience across audit, capital markets & accounting advisory

Industry experience from building a European PE Finance function from scratch

Early adopter for async/automation tools, investing in scaling client solution

US CPA investing in continuous professional development CPEs

Disadvantages of Working with Other Advisors

Big4/Advisory Firms

  • Cross-border experience requires multiple jurisdiction support = expensive & disjointed communication
  • Lack of industry experience = theoretical vs. practical experience
  • Bloated, top-heavy structures with high overhead = high fees
  • Lack of partner support, mostly junior level client-facing teams

European FTEs

  • Lack of bandwidth to support in addition to day job
  • Lack of specialization in US GAAP and FPI experience
  • Limited experience to benchmark best practices & set up processes/documentation

Other US Freelancers

  • Limited benchmarking from similar FPI experience
  • Lack of experience in cross-border nuances / European GAAP
  • Limited investment in tools, such as
  • Intelligize (SEC benchmarking software, $10K subscription)
  • Inability to read/speak German

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