Executive, Non-Executive Directors and auditors are under more intense public scrutiny than ever. In this context, the assessment of Going Concern is a key area of focus – the conclusion reached impacts the basis of preparation of the financial statements and provides insight to investors and creditors as to whether a business is viable to invest in or to provide goods and services to.

Going Concern assessments are not simple to do. There are lots of moving parts, judgments and estimates, which can change and lead to increased risk that the board’s conclusions on Going Concern do not pan out as expected.

As a Non-Executive Director (‘NED’), getting close to Going Concern assessments and the judgments taken by Management teams is critical to ensuring the inherent risk around Going Concern assessment is reduced.

In this video, BDO specialists from across audit, debt advisory and restructuring provide guidance to NEDs on what to ask, when to ask, as well as some key lessons learnt from experience to help inform the challenge areas NEDs can bring to the assessment over Going Concern.

On the 15th of January, BDO Natural Resources audit partners Louise Sayers and Pete Acloque will host a workshop for Audit Committee members, Non-Executive Directors, CFOs, Financial Controllers, and anyone else concerned with reporting at Natural Resources companies, which will provide practical guidance on key considerations for reporting post 2020.

Follow this link to sign up:

This workshop follows on from the 'Natural Resources reporting survival guide' BDO published in December 2020, which you can access here.

Does any of that hold true in a pandemic? Or does the bottom line matter more?

On Wednesday, 18th November we will bring together a panel of industry experts for the virtual launch of the 2020 Edelman Investor Trust report. The findings are based on a poll of fund managers and chief investment officers in key geographies around the world.

Panellists include:
Iain Dey, Head of Special Projects, Edelman;
Stephen Bird, CEO, Standard Life Aberdeen;
Jacqui Ferguson, Portfolio Non-Executive Director, Croda, Tesco Bank, Wood;
Chuka Umunna, Head of ESG, Edelman;
Jeremy Taylor, CEO, Lazard Asset Management (UK)

For more details and to register your interest, click the link below.

Topics and panelists will include:

The Economy – Tim Harford – Economist, senior columnist for Financial Times and presenter of BBC Radio 4

‍The economic consequences of the pivot to a more virtual world

People – Professor Adrian Furnham – one of the world's most productive psychologists and one of HR Magazine’s 20 Most Influential People in HR

Impact on your workforce of the new way of working

Maintaining control – Gilly Lord – Head of Audit Strategy and Public Policy at PwC

Control and reporting systems in a remote environment

Q&A

Please RSVP below and let us know if you would like to attend.

If you have any further questions about the event, please let us know here.

Panellists include:

Chuka Umunna
Head of ESG, Edelman, Panel Moderator

Sheila Patel
Chair, Goldman Sachs Asset Management

John Allan CBE
Chairman, Tesco PLC/ Barratt Developments PLC, and Vice President, CBI

Saker Nusseibeh CBE
CEO, Federated Hermes International