Companies that do not transform will eventually leave the market. This is because, in a rapidly changing market, they are not meeting the increasing expectations of customers, employees and other stakeholders such as regulators. The drivers of the transformation are technological changes such as the implementation of new systems such as SAP S/4HANA, but also the introduction of new technologies such as robotic process automation or artificial intelligence in business processes. Another driver of transformation is changes in business models, such as the outsourcing of business processes or the outsourcing of processes to shared service centres. Regulatory changes can also lead to transformation, such as the IFRS 16 leasing standard or ESEF reporting.

Although the benefits of a complex transformation can be considerable, they are not without significant risks, and not all companies achieve the expected results. Failure to successfully manage inherent risks can have many negative consequences, including production and financial impacts and potential reputational damage.

Despite the high use of corporate resources, transformation projects still have to contend with a high failure rate, a problem that is increasingly attracting the attention of management boards, supervisory boards and internal audits. All these groups are beginning to recognize the risks involved in large-scale transformation initiatives. They want answers to questions like:

Are we on time and within budget?
Are we delivering the planned scope?
Do we maintain the integrity of our control environment?
Will we achieve a positive return on investment?
Do we comply with legal requirements?

BDO makes a difference

BDO's Transformation Assurance team helps companies answer these questions and focus on achieving their transformation goals by using forward-looking indicators to highlight potential issues and risks throughout the project lifecycle.

We complement our team of certified PRINCE2® experts with experts in IT, processes and accounting. As an audit firm, we provide an independent audit of your projects, based on relevant audit and review standards.

Our transformation assurance services include

Pre-implementation reviews: project-related reviews according to IDW PS 850, for example, SAP S/4HANA implementation projects
Post-implementation reviews: Post-implementation migration review according to IDW PS 850/330
Project Management Reviews: Project (follow-up) review of project management effectiveness with emphasis on project risk identification
Project Quality Assurance: Support in establishing an efficient and effective project management office using best practices in project methodology, monitoring and quality assurance of project progress.
Outsourcing Project Assurance: Audit support for outsourcing projects, eg shared service centres or other external service provider organizations (cloud computing).