Mazars Compass*

When your business, customer or investment is underperforming or has an urgent need for additional funding, it is essential to act quickly to understand the extent of the problem and then agree on a clear action plan and timeframe to proactively manage the situation. 

Whilst a traditional Independent Business Review, which involves a detailed review of a company’s financial position, historic trading results and financial forecasts, remains a valuable and sometimes necessary tool in complex situations, they are sometimes met with resistance due to their high cost, can be hindered by the quality of management information or availability of management time and often become cumbersome to deliver in a timely and concise form due to wide-ranging or extensive scopes that focus too much on the historic results, as opposed to the likely future requirements of the business.

For Companies with turnover below c.£20m, we often find that a more targeted and quicker approach can be taken. 

In response, the Mazars Compass* Report – a fixed price, fixed scope review - provides clear guidance on the way forward, with a focus on those areas that matter most to clients and their lenders and investors.

The Compass* Report provides certainty of a low cost fixed fee and shorter time frames, targeting a 2-3 week report delivery following the provision of financial information.

Areas of focus include:

• Historic and future profitability – EBITDA bridges to provide an easy to understand graphical representation of key changes in relation to sales, margin, costs and the associated impact on profitability.
• Cash performance – Funds flow analysis to highlight the key drivers behind the cash position, covering P&L, capital and balance sheet items. 
• Scenario planning and options analysis – Estimated outcome statement (‘EOS’) provides a summary of key asset classes and the potential returns to stakeholders in an insolvency scenario.  It can also helpfully inform stakeholders in relation to decisions on funding including lenders (debt), members (equity) and directors (personal guarantees where relevant).
• Focussed action plan – Our clear conclusions and recommendations on the way forward.

Working with our panel of independent interim accountants and turnaround professionals, we can also provide a holistic approach to ensure the financial information is robust, timely and in a format that is ready for an independent review. 

Get in touch

Please contact our national Advisory team below If you would like to discuss this further.  

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