Make the group ledger and the local one agree.
Group accounting policy and local statutory requirements rarely line up on their own. HSP’s financial consulting team maps the differences, sets out the adjustments and the tax consequences of each, and makes your finance operation work the same way in every country.
Tell us where your books diverge and we will tell you what it takes to close the gap. A consultant replies within one business day.
Where we advise
A centralized finance model meets a local statutory one.
Managing accounting obligations across diverse regions means running one set of books for the group and another for each jurisdiction. Three things decide whether that holds together.
Every difference is identified, not discovered at year end
We identify the differences between your group and local accounting ledgers, prepare the list of adjustments needed to align them, and set out the accounting and tax consequences of each corrective action at a local jurisdictional level.
The system speaks both languages
We advise on local accounting and tax requirements during software localization, working alongside your technology teams, and perform user acceptance testing to confirm both compliance and functionality before anyone relies on the output.
Liquidity is visible at country level
Group-level cash tells you very little about whether a subsidiary can meet its own short-term obligations. We prepare a cash forecast focused on working capital country by country, which is where the shortfall actually appears.
One row per difference, with the adjustment beside it.
A reconciliation that only says the two ledgers disagree is not much use. The output of this work is a list: what the group treatment is, what the jurisdiction requires instead, and the entry that bridges them.
- A mapping file between the group and local statutory charts of accounts, with advice on which ledger accounts to add or optimize
- Wage type catalogues mapping earnings, deductions and contributions to the statutory chart of accounts
- A payroll accrual file, and the gaps between group accounting policy and local requirements that affect how payroll costs land
How you fund a subsidiary changes what it costs you.
Funding an overseas entity by intercompany loan and funding it by share capital look similar on the way in and behave very differently afterwards. The choice carries legal and tax consequences that are easier to design for than to unwind.
- Guidance on intercompany loans versus share capital contributions, including technical insolvency and thin capitalization
- Finance expense restrictions and notional interest rules in the jurisdictions you are funding into
- Country-level cash forecasting, so you can see whether each entity covers its own short-term obligations
Map, reconcile, embed.
Whether the scope is one country’s ledger or a finance function across a dozen, the method is the same.
Accounting process mapping across the countries in scope, plus a mapping file between the group and local statutory charts of accounts. This is also where the funding structure and country-level cash position get documented.
Identification of the differences between group and local ledgers, a list of the adjustments needed to align them, and guidance on the accounting and tax consequences of each corrective action in that jurisdiction.
Localization of the accounting software with user acceptance testing, payroll accounting built into the chart of accounts, and finance transformation work to leave the operation more efficient than we found it.
What we cover.
Local GAAP reconciliation
Identification of differences between group and local accounting ledgers, a list of necessary adjustments, and guidance on the accounting and tax consequences of corrective actions at a local jurisdictional level.
Chart of accounts review and mapping
A mapping file between group and local statutory charts of accounts, with advice on adding new general ledger accounts at group level or optimizing them locally.
Localization of accounting software
Guidance on local accounting and tax requirements through the localization process, in collaboration with your technology teams, including user acceptance testing for compliance and functionality.
Payroll accounting solution
Wage type catalogues mapping earnings, deductions and contributions to the statutory chart of accounts, design and preparation of the payroll accrual file, and identification of gaps between group policy and local requirements.
Capital structure optimization
Guidance on the legal and tax consequences of intercompany loans versus share capital contributions, covering technical insolvency, thin capitalization, finance expense restrictions and notional interest.
Cash forecasting and finance transformation
Country-level cash forecasts focused on working capital, so each entity’s short-term liquidity is visible, plus guidance on improving operational efficiency in finance departments by leveraging technology.
More on books that have to work twice.
Questions we get asked.
How is this different from your accounting service?
Accounting is the recurring work: bookkeeping, management accounts and statutory filings on a calendar. Financial consulting is the structural work behind it, usually one-off and project-shaped, such as mapping a chart of accounts, reconciling to local GAAP or localizing a system. Either can be engaged on its own.
We are implementing a new ERP. Can you help with the local requirements?
Yes, and this is one of the most common engagements. We advise on local accounting and tax requirements through the localization process, work alongside your technology teams, and perform user acceptance testing so compliance is proven rather than assumed at go-live.
Our local accounts never tie back to group. Is that normal?
It is common, and it is fixable. The usual causes are an unmapped chart of accounts, group policy applied where local GAAP requires something different, and payroll costs posted in a way the statutory ledger does not recognize. A reconciliation identifies which of those applies and what adjustments close the gap.
Should we fund a new subsidiary with a loan or with share capital?
It depends on the jurisdiction and on what you need the entity to do. We set out the legal and tax consequences of each route, including technical insolvency, thin capitalization, finance expense restrictions and notional interest, before the funding goes in rather than after.
Do you work with our existing accounting provider?
Yes. Financial consulting is scoped independently of who keeps the books, and much of it involves working with whoever does. Where HSP also handles the accounting, the advantage is that the adjustments identified here are carried straight into the ledgers that report them.
Is anything on this page accounting or tax advice?
No. This page is general information. Treatments depend on your facts and on the rules in each jurisdiction involved, which is what an engagement establishes.
100+
countries covered
1,000+
clients supported
2
sets of books, reconciled to one another
Start with the mapping.
Tell us which countries you report in and what your group policy is, and we will show you where the two will not agree.
A consultant replies within one business day. No sales sequence.