Financial Advisory Support : How To Choose A Financial Advisor

“What are Financial Advisory services?”, “Why should I use external financial advisory support?”, “Which are the financial consultants and financial advisors near me and which of them are the best financial advisors ?”,  …. These are some of the common questions we are often asked.

We answer these questions in this piece on Financial Advisory services including financial advisors’ role and responsibilities, financial advisors’ benefits, why businesses need external financial advisory support and how to choose the best financial advisory services .

What are Financial Advisory Services?

In the rapidly changing world of 21^st century business , with ever faster technology advancements and an ever evolving regulatory landscape, the finance function has become both more complex and increasingly more central not only to the organization’s growth but also its very existence.

Equally, it also demands specialized inputs into every aspect of these dynamics to maximize organizational performance. However, the requisite talent and time for that is something which internal finance departments, especially at smaller businesses, often lack.  And larger companies too benefit from the dispassionate view of  external experts. And that is where financial advisory services comes in.

Financial advisory services is the comprehensive bundle of expert third party strategic advice  for organizations to meet their business, financial and operational objectives.  While a financial advisor is in essence a financial consultant, every financial consultant is not a strategic financial advisor!  The latter , at least the best financial advisors, take a wider and deeper perspective of the finance function beyond financial statements alone.

Financial Advisors’ Role / Financial Advisors’ Responsibilities

As mentioned, financial advisors’ responsibilities and roles encompass various aspects of finance and its overlap with strategy, business disciplines and organizational value and performance. They range from  preparing and maintaining financial statements to the communication flow on these statements and other financial information and advice on their strategic business implications.

The following are some of key areas of support that MBG’s financial advisory services offer and our financial advisors’ role in them:

• Financial Reporting and Audit : Preparing Financial Statements; preparing audit schedules; coordinating with auditors for on-time audits
• Accounting : Preparing and maintaining books of accounts; stakeholder communication across customers, suppliers and financers; advice on complex accounting issues; MIS; accounting packages
• Stock audit verification : Conducting stock audits; physical status reporting; stock reconciliation; inventory valuation, accounting and coding and categorization
• Management reporting : Providing high quality monthly reports to top management from financials to controls , regulatory and tax environments; operational health checks ; MIS outsourcing
• CFO advisory: Management accounting and reporting; budgeting systems designs and structures; working capital optimization; cost and profitability management; accounting and finance services
• Contingency support : such as during Covid-19, ensuring overall financial, operational and business continuity during times of disruption

Financial Advisors Benefits

The above capture the significant value and benefits that the best financial advisors such as MBG Corporate Services provide to businesses.

Financial advisors’ benefits go beyond these, however. They help businesses navigate the rapid changes in business in these disruptive times. These include new complexities in accounting and financial reporting, typically brought on by changes in technology and regulations. Another benefit is the reduction in costs and administrative burden of using the same services in house.

Choosing the Best Financial Advisors

Given the importance of financial advisory support , how do you go about selecting the best financial advisors and financial advisory services ?

The first thing before beginning the search process is to be clear on your business needs. This not only ensures you select the provider on the basis of their most appropriate financial advisory services capabilities – as only the best advisors like MBG tick all boxes and most specialize in only a few -  but also that the post-appointment expectations and evaluation criteria are aligned.

That done , the following is a checklist for assessing the financial advisory services firm

1. Talent quality : Accredited, accomplished and experienced professionals who are capable of navigating complexity while identifying and solving problems. The quality of the team is important across levels – from high level strategic advice to the timely and accurate preparation of reports.
2. Experience : Experience of the firm across diverse sectors and geographies, bringing that breadth of perspective and knowledge to offer the best solutions for your business. This is critical in the increasingly more interrelated and interconnected world of today.
3. Reputation : How they rate in the market , and what their clients and other stakeholders say about them. Reputation is always earned in business , and seldom if ever buyable. Hence it is an important indicator of the quality of a firm.
4. Size , scale, and reach : Size, scale and reach correlate with most of the other requirements. It means a strong talent and accumulated learning and knowledge. At a day to day level, it ensures there is always a ‘bench strength’ for back up support if required.
5. Cross domain expertise: Another correlative of size, cross domain capabilities frame and align your finance function within an organizational perspective. For example, a firm like MBG which also has with audit, legal, and technology capabilities not only offers a seamless one-stop-shop service but also offers richer , more strategic advice.
6. Technology infrastructure and capabilities : Technology is key in terms of financial software and applications use and in operational capabilities, e.g., remote working; and also in terms of understanding the broader dynamics of how technology is reshaping your business.
7. Culture : How the firm approaches its work and its peoples and processes and how that fits with your own business culture.

As a highly renowned consultancy offering a range of verticals across Finance, Audit, Legal, Risk, and Technology (among others) with high quality expert professionals across a large network of offices in four continents, MBG’s financial advisory services remains unmatched !

Winning with MBG’s Financial Advisory Services

At MBG Corporate Services, our proven methodology and professional experience in financial advisory services have been vouched for by clients for over two decades.  Our experts analyze the client’s financial processes,  identify weaknesses and eliminate or reduce them. We identify the effectiveness of key internal controls in the accounting and financial reporting process.

With specific and in-depth insights into your  business , our financial advisory services leverage capabilities across all business disciplines to accelerate your company’s performance. Our  Data and Analytics (D&A) services facilitate a better understanding for stakeholders and driver smarter and higher quality decision-making.