Business Risk Services

Grant Thornton offers a broad range of Business Risk Services that stand out because we focus on turning compliance obligations, risk concerns and performance questions into opportunities for business improvement. 

We work with you to understand your business and the risks to which you are exposed. We detect inefficiencies in existing processes, control systems and technological capabilities and then create sound strategies to mitigate your risk and improve the efficiency of your operations. 

Internal audit services
The internal audit (IA) function encompasses all aspects of an organisation. Our IA services team can assist you in assessing your corporate-level risk, identify the areas of greatest vulnerability and develop appropriate work plans and audit programmes to mitigate these risks. The existence of an IA function gives owners, Management and investors peace of mind that corporate risks are being effectively managed and that the control environment is operating properly.  

Full outsourcing of IA function
If you do not have an existing IA activity, we can perform this function to help your Audit Committee, Board of Directors and Management team assess the adequacy and effectiveness of current risk management, control and governance processes. This will also promote continuous improvement of your company’s control environment through timely and regular examination and testing of existing business processes and controls.  

Co-sourcing with the existing IA function
We can work with your existing internal audit team by helping to accomplish tasks required by Shareholders, the Audit Committee, the Board of Directors, Management, regulators, creditors and other stakeholders. We can also help assess your IA function and determine gaps between your current practices and the best practices from a risk-based perspective. In such engagements one of our objectives is to help develop the skills of your internal audit staff to ensure they can complete such procedures in future, thus enhancing the value of the IA activity to your organisation.   

Enterprise-wide risk management (ERM) advisory
We can provide you with a structured and disciplined approach to addressing key business risks which impact your overall business objectives.  

ERM implementation assistance
We can act as your ERM consultant and facilitator to help your organisation identify vital strategies and action plans that address key business risks. Grant Thornton is pioneering ERM as an effective approach to IA and risk management. Using ERM we can also help you re-engineer management practices and develop effective strategies to execute risk management practices across your organisation. Our approach is tailored for each business due to its unique structure, business objectives, products and operations.   

Assurance services
For entities with formal compliance reporting requirements, we can conduct reviews and/or training for your IA team on:

• US Statement on Auditing Standards No. 70 (SAS 70) assurance;
• Assistance in Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX) compliance (for US-based listed companies and their subsidiaries)
• Support in SOX section 404 audit reporting on internal controls;
• Quality Assurance Review (QAR) in accordance with International Professional Practices Framework of the Institute of Internal Auditors.  

Business Process Review
Our Business Process Review service can help you improve business performance by addressing efficiency and effectiveness issues. Our solutions consider the alignment of people/organisations, technology and business processes. We analyse the issues facing your current business processes, identify opportunities to strengthen internal controls and reduce cost and assess whether or not your organisational design and performance metrics support your strategic goals.

Taking into account your industry and your unique organisational needs, our professionals will study your business processes as part of laying the groundwork from which we can identify objectives, risks, controls and control gaps and then make appropriate recommendations. The review may also include providing recommendations on process improvements based on local and international industry best practices. Our system includes an assessment of both manual and programmed controls used in your business processes.  

Process documentation and manual preparation
Our goal is to help you improve the documentation of your systems and processes in order to reflect the current procedures of your company and that of the industry best practices. Process documentation may be in the form of process flow narratives, flowcharts or a manual of operations. 

Accelerated financial close process
This review focuses on your financial statement close design processes to help you develop streamlined closing and reporting processes. This will enable you to consolidate and produce reports more efficiently with less hassle, provide timely information to managers on the front line and eliminate non-value tasks. 

Governance advisory
Governance standards benchmarking
We can benchmark your company’s governance policies, procedures and processes with the codes and standards set forth by the Organisation of Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) to ensure that the company practices good governance.  

Fraud and forensics
In most companies, it is estimated that 7 percent of revenues are lost to fraud. We can help you to avoid being part of that statistic.

We can advise you regarding appropriate actions you can take to detect and prevent fraud. We can assist you in assessing your company’s vulnerability to fraud and in strengthening your internal controls to prevent it. In case fraud has already been committed, we can quantify its impact on your organisation to help you craft an appropriate response. In certain cases, we can also help you identify parties from whom you may seek compensation while working with legal counsel to support legal claims that may be filed in court in connections with a fraud case.   

Fraud vulnerability assessment
We will develop an understanding of your business processes in order to assess your vulnerability to fraud and identify fraud risk factors. We can then provide solutions to eliminate the gaps and efficiently manage the identified risks. 

Fraud investigation and asset tracing
We provide investigative services to detect or quantify fraud, coordinating our work with your senior management, your legal or internal audit/regulation functions or law enforcement agencies. Our work may be required in support of criminal proceedings.