Expanding Business into Other Countries

Companies that face challenges abroad, or foreign-based businesses which require assistance to enter and setting up a company in the US, often pay unnecessary costs and encounter unexpected delays due to insufficient information about confusing laws, regulations and local market standards that differ from country to country, state to state and often city to city.

Our practice group of experienced CFOs solves this. We offer a proven process of assessment and planning to identify the risks and obligations often unfamiliar to companies entering foreign markets. We help companies to establish their foreign offices, with particular expertise in the United States, Europe, Singapore, China, Australia, and New Zealand.

Our consulting CFOs can work alone or gather a team to execute a short-term crucial project or a long-term responsibility. Each consulting CFO has relationships with bankers, attorneys, auditors and specialty service providers who expedite your entry and develop financial processes for scaling your company as it evolves and grows.

We specialize in management reporting processes, company accounting policies and procedures, internal control assessments, ERP-implementations, interim CFO-functionality, CFO services for startups, global internal audit support and transfer pricing support. We often also facilitate strategy planning sessions with your team to align and coordinate everyone’s efforts for success.

Further, we offer an integrated recruiting and staffing service, including a full range of outsourced recruiting services customized to your needs.

Our partners both understand local languages and regional business cultures. With their support, your international venture will be more successful.

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WHO WE SERVE

Established Foreign Companies

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Established foreign businesses understand how to operate a successful business and recognize and appreciate effective financial management. What they need is a local country expert who is both knowledgeable of the relevant financial and human resource management strategies and tactics of the US marketplace. They need a guide that allows them to quickly expand into to the new territory, avoiding the legal and regulatory potholes as we develop the professional and service relationships to realize their US market potential. Or they require a local resource that can provide the high-level knowledge and expertise to support the foreign subsidiary on an interim basis as it is transitioning to the next phase in its growth cycle.

Foreign-Born Entrepreneurs

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For foreign-born entrepreneurs the situation is similar but not the same as for established foreign business. They are not adapting established successful practices to a new market. Rather, they are developing new practices in a new market usually while applying for a VISA. They need someone to identify and prioritize the most crucial decisions that they must get right the first time from those that are best delayed until the business develops and reveals its true promise and opportunity as well as its obligations. Someone who can anticipate needs as well as find solutions, and prioritize them, advising on when to best execute.

Established US Companies

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Established US businesses understand that they operate in a global market place and the expertise to move effectively outside of the US is often not found in the full-time management team. What they need is an expert who is both knowledgeable of the relevant financial, tax and human resource management strategies and a network of professional relationships for the target marketplaces. They need a guide that allows them to quickly expand into to the new territory avoiding the legal and regulatory potholes as we as develop the professional and service relationships to realize their market potential outside of the US. Or they require an experienced global resource that can provide the high-level knowledge and expertise to support the foreign subsidiary on an interim basis as it is transitioning to the next phase in its growth cycle.

CAPABILITIES

Entering the US market, we help:
  • Anticipate problems in starting a business in the US, regarding laws and practices.
  • Set up banking relationships including bank accounts, merchant bank accounts, lines of credit, and letters of credit.
  • Set up credit and collection relationships including outsourced credit underwriting to know your new customers before granting credit.
  • Set-up single or multi-state US payroll with benefits and human resource programs that are locally compliant to regulations and competitive in the marketplace.
  • Identify and manage US compliance reporting requirements including tax and regulatory agencies.
  • Provide local representation to respond to communication and manage regulatory/compliance problems.
  • Provide rapid access to the E-2 Investor Visa Program for foreign investors to temporarily live and do business in the United States and EB-5 Immigrant Investor Visa program for foreign investors who would like to permanently live and do business in the United States.
  • Provide direction and/or support to technical accounting issues including working with outside financial auditors.
  • Provide general bookkeeping and accounting services for the US subsidiary either on or off premises.
  • Evaluate and develop talent acquisitions strategies including recruiting of sales, operations and administrative staff and executives – Recruiting Process Outsourcing (RPO) offerings.
  • Recommend financial accounting systems for the US subsidiary ranging from QuickBooks and Zero to SAP.
For US companies requiring global support, we:
  • Set up effective management reporting processes to ensure that foreign operations are accounted for properly.
  • Evaluate local control environments and review implemented policies and procedures to ensure operating effectiveness.
  • Oversee transitions in foreign subsidiary accounting systems and ERP-implementations.
  • Provide interim CFO-functionality or temporarily provide local financial directorships.
  • Restructure intercompany agreements and intra-company relations in view of transfer pricing concerns and transfer pricing studies required.
  • Manage and direct internal audit teams to execute specific global internal audit efforts on a project basis.

SUCCESSFUL CLIENT ENGAGEMENTS

  • Worked with the incorporating attorney and the CEO to understand the issues that had made setting up a US bank account difficult. Navigated numerous barriers that had been road blocking the company, and executed on a strategy to set-up both corporate and personal bank accounts.
  • Provided global support and restructured internal audit plan to efficiently and comprehensively cover the European operations of a large US technology manufacturer.
  • Worked with VP of Sales to reconcile standard job descriptions against market compensation studies as well as conversations with local recruiters to develop compensation packages that achieved hiring objectives.
  • Worked with Corporate Counsel and the CFO to review Department of Labor complaints and develop a successful response. Evaluate and redesign job descriptions to avoid future reclassification risk and future exposure to overtime regulations.
  • Worked with the CEO and outside immigration attorney to organize a business plan that both produced a conditional VISA for the immigrant entrepreneur as well as a useful operating plan that produced a Green Card at the end of the second year.
  • Coordinated evaluation of the existing stock option plan to ensure compliance with the outside tax counsel and administrated the stock option plan including yearly 409A Valuation as well as preparation of the FAS 123R calculations prerequisite to the stock compensation expense journal entry.
  • Hired multi-lingual (French/English) consulting CFO who could work with Board and CEO of Paris based technology company to restructure and relocate to Silicon Valley.
  • Assisted the M&A team of a European company aiming to take over a fast- growing US based website business.

PRACTICE LEADER