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After 70 years of operation in Belgium, pioneering is still a priority for Deloitte’s Accountancy business. A multidisciplinary approach and national focus are the keywords. Going to the market under the subbrand Deloitte Fiduciaire, accounting is integrated with tax and legal advice and fiscal optimisation. As the market leader in these fields, more than 450 of our dedicated specialists serve over 5,000 customers. Additionally, the consulting services of the unit have really come into their own, explains Dirk Clarysse, Managing Partner Accountancy.
During the past financial year, a number of activities grew in popularity. Via our FRO service line (Financial Resources & Outsourcing) we are assigning more and more accounting professionals to our clients for longer periods. This is usually in connection with long-term projects, such as internal restructuring of
accounts departments or IT implementations. We can arrange this type of secondment for all sectors and markets. This is Deloitte’s response to a continually growing demand from the marketplace.
The legal outsourcing department has also expanded for the same reason. Our corporate lawyers can now be employed by clients for a specific period or at regular intervals. Growing companies that consider it is premature to recruit a permanent in-house lawyer are able to obtain the necessary legal support.
Innovative offerings
Innovation is high on Deloitte’s agenda. The new Grants & Incentives practice is expanding fast. It is intended to provide consultancy to multinationals, government institutions and knowledge centres about obtaining grants, loans and tax breaks. Brussels is the subsidy decision-making centre of the European Union. That is why the Dutch Grants & Incentives unit was integrated into the Belgian practice last year. It puts a total team of 30 grant experts at our disposal.
We set up two new departments. The first is our innovative Family Services. It advises clients about business succession within the family or the sale of the family firm. The work we do after the sale is just as important as the sale preparation. We help our clients make the transfer to the next generations as tax-efficient as possible.
The second new department is Mergers & Acquisitions. It helps SMEs with growth plans. For businesses where there is no potential family successor, our M&A department can contribute substantial added value. For example, by enabling the family shareholders to make a smooth and tax-efficient exit. Here, we work closely with our M&A colleagues in Corporate Finance.
Marketing pays
Deloitte Fiduciaire organised or took part in over 250 events, external seminars, lectures and workshops last year. One highlight was the international conference of the Grants & Incentives practice, held in Bruges. We also had a series of articles published in the Belgian business press.
Moreover, we received a great deal of attention from the Deloitte Global CEO, Bill Parrett. His visit to Belgium took him to Unilin, one of Deloitte Fiduciaire’s longstanding clients. He described our work with family firms as a fine example that could be followed in other countries.
Focus on SMEs and family firms
In the past financial year, Deloitte Fiduciaire recorded growth of 5%. If we break that down, we can see that the pure accountancy activities stagnated. We generated substantial added value from comprehensive support for growing SMEs and family firms. In that area, we provide highly competitive services, even for the local market. The outsourcing department also recorded strong growth.
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