Insights of experts

Grant Thornton Baltic UAB has been included in the list of external asset or business valuators maintained by the Authority for Audit, Accounting, Property Valuation and Insolvency Management (AVNT). From now on, our team provides licenced business and intangible asset valuation services recognized by all major national institutions.

A great business idea, a company founded on its basis, rapid development, horizons of new markets and constantly growing profits - an idyllic picture of a successful business. Too good to be true? A successful idea and growth are truly inspiring factors, financial experts agree. However, they remind us of an important point - in the idyll of business growth, quite simple fundamentals such as financial flow management are sometimes forgotten.

Three of the threats uppermost in the minds of business leaders in the mid-market were inflation, cyber attack, and economic slowdown.

Many economies around the world are preparing for a rather unusual recession. One that is characterised by conditions usually associated with a boom, such as low levels of unemployment (instead of increasing levels) and central banks raising interest rates (instead of cutting them). These unusual characteristics combined with what many commentators expect to be a shallow and short recession, could mean the ‘usual’ response to a recession may not be the right course of action for businesses.

New research from Grant Thornton reveals how mid-market businesses globally are failing to take adequate steps to protect their business against the threat of inflation. The research coincides with the release of Grant Thornton’s “Essential action plan for managing in inflationary times” and highlights that around three-quarters of businesses globally have not taken the actions we are recommending.

The law transposes the EU directive into Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia law and entails an obligation for organizations to create internal and external reporting channels for reporting internal misconduct. The infringements that whistleblowers can report are very different – breaches of procurement procedures, internal fraud, breaches of environmental requirements, and so on.

The success of the company and its organizational structure is driven by smart decisions and efficient management. The quality of the business solutions (including strategy development) and their implementation have a direct influence on the performance, the development and maintenance of standards and management standards.

"Blockchain is not the solution to everything," warns Wayne Pisani, head of financial services at Grant Thornton Malta. "Rather, it is typically part of a solution to a situation you might already have and are using multiple processes which you want to simplify.

Blockchain, the technology behind the bitcoin digital currency, has broken loose from its origins. Given the explosion of interest in blockchain beyond financial services across utility, transportation, business and governmental industries - it is gaining momentum.

How has blockchain been put into practice as part of live, commercial business solutions?"[Blockchain] spells the death of the invoice," proclaims Lee Pruitt, co-founder and CEO of spend-control-as-a-service provider InstaSupply.

Blockchain – the technology behind the bitcoin digital currency – has gone from being a potential pipedream for the future of financial services to a legitimate application for businesses worldwide. It is currently being utilised across many industries, from property sales to environmental conservation, as a real-world commercial opportunity for organisations to put into operation right now. The challenge for those not already on board lies in understanding how to capitalise on the boundless business promise now within reach.

The Eurozone has been a weak pillar of the global economy for many years. But now, in 2017, we’re getting used to a new narrative.