“Out of the frying plan and into the fire” was a phrase that my mother would use when I was child. Escaping a bad or difficult situation only to find oneself in a much worse one!

This is somewhat timely when we thought we were out of a crisis . . .

ICFR Playbook and Assessment Framework

There are 3 big forces that have combined to create a fairly unstable state (risk, uncertainty) which affects our business and our internal controls over financial reporting (ICFR) right now;

1. Prior to 2020, Digital Transformation was already accelerating, but it has become clear that we did not pay enough attention to our changing risk profile as we changed processes, working practices and technology stack.
2. 2020/2021 – COVID accelerated business change for all the obvious reasons but, in the heat of the pandemic, did we give enough thought to the ongoing risk impact of these very changes?
3. 2022+ Turmoil & uncertainty still very much front and centre – Inflation, supply chain disruption, changing regulations, investor expectation, rising interest rates, new working models, ESG pressures, increased focus on third party risk, M&A activity, changing consumer behaviour, enhanced cyber risk, geopolitical instability, war . . . .

How do we respond?

We ran a very well attended discussion recently, where experts shared observations and recommendations.

They described the “Playbook” with 10 actionable strategies to ensure we are well aligned to navigate the uncertainties and optimise our risk management as it relates to business processes affecting financial reporting. 

You can get a copy here . . .

It also provides a framework for you to assess your current strategy against these best practices.

There is no better time than the present.