KPMG
KPMG is the global network of professional services firms who provide audit, tax and advisory services. We operate in 144 countries and have 137,000 people working in member firms around the world.
KPMG’s Performance & Technology practice combines deep functional experience in Financial Management, People and Change, Business Effectiveness, Technology and Operational Strategy with extensive industry knowledge to help clients address a wide range of challenges.
By working with the breadth of specialists that KPMG firms offer our clients across Audit, Tax, and Advisory, we are able to provide objective advice to help organisations enhance value across their operations.
Our firms are among the trusted advisers to the boards and executives of some of the worlds leading organizations. Our member firms operate in developed markets; we also have a dynamic presence in many of the emerging economies of Central and Eastern Europe, Russia, Latin America, India, China and elsewhere in Asia.
We believe there is no substitute for local knowledge and with experienced, capable people on the ground, our firms’ professionals seek to respond quickly and effectively.
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Are you optimizing costs or just making false economies?
CFOs should look beyond ‘slash and burn’ to sustainable savings that transform businesses
by CLAIRE OLDFIELD AND WALTER HALE
Nearly 800 years ago, an unknown Florentine banker invented double-entry bookkeeping. A fragment of his account book survives, proof that as far back as 1211, keeping track of outgoings and incomings was a challenge. Even with all the data, spreadsheets, and IT systems at a modern CFO’s command, their picture of their business’s costs is unlikely to have the clarity and simplicity of a 13th-century banker’s, making it especially hard, at this critical point in corporate history, to be sure they are managing cost effectively. That’s why the institutionalized approach – “a 10% cut in budgets across the board” – is so appealing. Appealing but potentially dangerous. The key is not to cut costs, but to optimize them. The distinction might
sound meaningless but Steve Hill, Principle in the US firm’s Dallas office and Head of KPMG’s Business Performance Services practice, disagrees. “It’s about getting people to do things better, smarter and more efficiently. You have to look at how to shift assets to value creation. That’s why KPMG firms talk about cost optimization, not reduction or cuts.” The aim is to cut the right costs through operational and organizational change that will ultimately make the business more viable in the long term. Hill suggests one of the first steps is to look at your business in 3D. Focus on key factors as you consider the problems you face: people, processes, technology and risks. “You should look at these in terms of sustainability,” Hill says. “Then measure them to ensure those metrics have been maintained or improved on.”
View the full article in Source for Consulting's thought leadership. This article was from Agenda, Issue 3, KPMG International 2009. Click here to view other articles from Agenda Magazine.
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Creating a leaner and more effective local authorityThrough a dramatic cost improvement programme, KPMG helped an adequately performing council become smaller and stronger, saving £53 million over three years to allow repeated zero percent council tax increases and radical improvements to services. These savings amount to thirteen times the fees paid.
The programme was delivered over 15 months...
APACS – bringing faster payments to the UK banking systemWith KPMG’s support, the UK banking industry successfully launched a new system of same-day payments, putting it at the forefront of the world’s financial sectors. Inheriting a hugely complex and technically challenging £300 million initiative that was six months behind schedule, we applied highly professional and rigorous programme...
thought leadership
As the world economy moves slowly towards growth, many companies are finding that the deep cost cutting measures they undertook to survive the financial crisis are looking increasingly unsustainable. Our research holds important implications for companies in the post-recession era and provides recommendations on how to embed sustainable cost...
Not since the end of the Second World War have global supply chains been fraught with so much risk. Unexpected environmental disasters, political turmoil, market turbulence, exchange rate fluctuations and pending regulatory changes all combine to create volatility and uncertainty that must be identified and managed. At the same time, questions...
Our White Paper on non-core services in the Public Sector includes new perspectives on how to respond to these massive financial challenges over the next few years. When some organisations in the public sector devote up to 60 percent of their costs on support functions, the scale of impending cuts faced is such that a complete rethink is required....
This report, written in association with the ACCA, looks to summarise the key trends, with some suggestions and examples of how companies and organisations have used a strategic approach to finance talent management to generate a competitive advantage for their organisation.
Download the full report...
Pricing trends during the recession and implications for future strategy
We conducted independent, anonymous opinion research among 200 UK-based senior decision-makers on pricing during the recession and their future strategies. This report sets out the findings from our research and our views on what is now required in the post recession...
Cost structures are not immediately associated with dynamic change, but the reality is that many business innovations of recent times – outsourcing, category management, process standardization, low cost market procurement and some Internet sales models to name a few – arose largely out of cost concerns. In a highly competitive, globalized...
A view from Jeremy Kay, Cost Optimisation Partner at KPMG on achieving sustainable improvements in cost efficiency.
‘I believe that if businesses really are serious about reducing their cost base and making that reduction sustainable in the long-term, then they must be prepared to challenge the accepted business model orthodoxy which underpins...
Social networking and collaboration, the basis of Gov 2.0, are driving the evolution of information exchange and service delivery. Recognising these are important tools for the future of public sector service delivery, we provide an holistic framework for transitioning to Gov 2.0 for better decision-making, efficiency and effectiveness.
Offering...
Outsourcing vendors can expect to come under increased pressure from their clients after Chief Information Officers (CIOs) worldwide signalled their intention to squeeze more value from outsourcing arrangements.
According to the report, From Cost to Value, published by KPMG International, the renewed outsourcing focus is symptomatic of CIOs' wish...
The execution of business strategy is often hampered by a lack of reliable information. In today's turbulent and unpredictable conditions, it's more important than ever to gain continuous market insight and have the agility to react quickly.
Huge investments in IT do not necessarily guarantee better information. What is more important...
Ensuring that companies have anti-bribery and corruption (‘AB&C’) compliance programmes in place can assist them in turning this risk into advantage by helping them to build a sustainable business, says KPMG.
This is particularly the case where ethics is a factor in investment decisions, making good AB&C programmes an important...
Regulation remains key driver of convergence
Nearly half of companies don't have full clarity about who in their organisations is in charge of governance, risk and compliance ('GRC'), according to a survey "The Convergence Challenge" by KPMG International and the Economist Intelligence Unit. It examines how organisations are converging their...
Managing data isn’t glamorous but Conrad Wolfram, the business brain behind the new name in online search, says it could make your company work smarter
Accurate information has never been more crucial for cash-conscious businesses but, says Conrad Wolfram, getting hold of data is only half the battle. The real question is: how quickly can your...
In turbulent times, being prepared is essential if you aim to thrive rather than merely survive. Here are ten challenges that could define your future.
1.Achieving closure
“If it were done, when ’tis done, then ’twere well it were done quickly.” Many firms that close units have followed Macbeth’s advice. However, the...
The prognosis seems bleak as healthcare inflation grows – and that’s as critical for business as for patients and governments. Three specialists diagnose the problems.
The panel
Alan Downey
KPMG’s Global Head of Healthcare and a partner in the UK firm; a former civil servant
Dana Goldman
Chairman and director of health economics,...
CFO's should look beyond 'slash & burn' to sustainable savings that transform business
by CLAIRE OLDFIELD AND WALTER HALE
Nearly 800 years ago, an unknown Florentine banker invented double-entry bookkeeping. A fragment of his account book survives, proof that as far back as 1211, keeping track of outgoings and incomings was a challenge. Even...
Insights From Leading Finance Functions
KPMG recently surveyed leading mining and upstream oil and gas organizations for their views on the latest trends, priorities and challenges for Finance, including their response to the current economic turbulence.
The Energy and Natural Resources sector must cope with many, sometimes unique issues that pose...
In 2006 research, Being the best: Insights from leading finance functions, KPMG International and the Economist Intelligence Unit found that although CFOs were being pressured to slip back into a traditional control and compliance role due to the fall-out from international accounting scandals at the beginning of the 2000s, the long-term need remained...
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