Have you been informed that your company is facing an investigation by “reporting accountants” or “investigating accountants”? If yes, this will have significant implications for your company.
This step, when taken by the bank, usually means you are already on the path to a restructuring, whether you wanted that or not. It is very important for you to retain control of the process.
We strongly recommend that if the Bank has appointed their own adviser, being the Investigating Accountant, then you need to have your own adviser that will look after your interests. If you are in this situation why not CALL US NOW for CONFIDENTIAL FREE ADVICE.
Read on if you’d like to understand more about Investigating Accountants before calling. There is more information below or follow these links to pages that answer the most common questions:
- What is the role of a Investigating Accountant?
- What will an investigating Accountant cost?
- Will I see the Investigating Accountants report?
- Will I have input into the Investigating Accountants report?
What is an Investigating Accountant (or “IA”)?
When a business has financial or operating difficulties it can often breach its borrowing facilities from the bank or from factoring companies. This can lead to bounced cheques, problems with the payments of direct debits or missed loan repayments. Banks have quite sophisticated systems for monitoring this risk, but often they are “in the dark” with regard to the up to date financial performance of the company that owes it the money. One way of addressing this is for a bank to have the ability to demand detailed and up to date information from your company. The loan agreement you have signed will usually allow for this. So if a bank has concerns over the quality or timeliness of information they have received regarding your company they may appoint an Investigating Accountant.
Who can you get to help?
You can get assistance from your internal or external accountants. But you should keep in mind that you have just entered The Restructuring Spectrum, even if you did not want to. You need your own restructuring expert to so that you will lead the process rather than being forced to follow the path set by the bank. Clearly the path chosen by the bank will be the path with least risk and better returns for the bank. That may not be for the benefit of the company.
We can help your business prepare a restructuring plan that maximises the outcome for you whilst taking account of what the bank will need from the process. Remember, you’ll be paying for an expert anyway because the bank will make you do so. So you might as well retain your own adviser. We have worked with dozens of companies and advised them how to plan their actions when the bank starts putting pressure on the facilities and is asking for investigating accountants. We are also known to the banks and will present your plans to the bank. In that way, you may avoid having to pay for the banks investigating accountant or at least significantly reduce the cost of their report.
Our view is that you should go to the bank with the solution not the problem!
So if your company is getting pressure from the bank or its Investigating Accountant, then contact us now using one of the methods shown on the right hand side of this page.
