IWhen clients call
Services / 07 — Advisory & consulting
A report that sits in a drawer was never really advice.
Business advisory, feasibility and restructuring support, technical training and capacity-building, and ISQM quality management support for other accountancy firms.
Advisory work is only useful if the people giving it also understand what implementing it involves. Most of what sits under this heading connects to work we do ourselves — audit, tax, accounting and quality management — so recommendations come from people who have actually done the underlying thing, not repeated a framework from outside it.
Building or reviewing a quality management system?
ISQM 1 implementation has a real deadline for many firms. Tell us where your firm currently stands and we'll tell you what's realistically left to do.
We need an outside view before a major decision.
Business advisory grounded in how the numbers and the operations actually work, not a generic framework applied from outside.
We're a smaller accountancy firm and ISQM 1 is due.
Quality management system design and implementation support from a firm that has been through its own.
Our team needs structured technical training, not another one-off session.
Training and capacity-building built around what the team actually does, not a generic course.
We're restructuring the business and want the case tested first.
Feasibility and restructuring advisory before the decision is made — not a justification for one already taken.
We want a second opinion on a structure our current advisers proposed.
Independent review, without the incentive to defend a recommendation we didn't make.
Our board wants better financial literacy at the table.
Training and capacity-building pitched at governance level, not repurposed technical-staff material.
We're being onboarded to ISQM 1 for the first time and don't know where to start.
Practical implementation support from people doing the same exercise for their own practice.
We need help building a business case for investment or expansion.
Financial modelling and feasibility work built to survive investor or lender scrutiny.
IIWhat we do
Scope of the advisory and consulting practice
Advisory, training and quality-management support delivered by the same people who do the underlying audit, tax and accounting work.
01
Business advisory
Independent input into decisions that need more than an internal view.
- Strategic and operational advisory
- Business case development
- Performance improvement reviews
- Board and management advisory support
- Second-opinion reviews on existing advice
02
Feasibility and restructuring advisory
Testing whether the plan works before it is committed to.
- Feasibility studies and business case modelling
- Financial modelling and scenario analysis
- Operational and financial restructuring advisory
- Cost reduction and efficiency reviews
- Investment and expansion appraisal
03
Training and capacity-building
Structured and technical, built around what the participants actually do.
- Technical accounting and reporting training
- Audit and assurance skills development
- Tax and regulatory update training
- Governance and financial literacy training for boards
- Bespoke in-house training programmes
04
ISQM and quality management support
For other accountancy and audit firms — practical implementation from a firm that has done it for itself.
- ISQM 1 gap assessment
- Quality management system design and documentation
- Engagement quality review support
- Monitoring and remediation process design
- Ongoing quality management support and review
05
Governance and risk advisory
Structural input into how decisions get made and reviewed.
- Corporate governance framework review
- Board effectiveness and structure advisory
- Policy and procedure development
- Committee structure and terms of reference
06
Financial modelling and analysis
Models built to be interrogated, not just presented.
- Financial and valuation modelling
- Budgeting and forecasting model design
- Scenario and sensitivity analysis
- Management information system design
07
Process and systems advisory
Where a process problem is a design problem, not a compliance one.
- Finance function process review
- Workflow and approval process design
- Policy documentation
- Change management support during implementation
08
Sector and market entry advisory
For businesses assessing a new sector, structure or market.
- Market entry assessment
- Sector-specific regulatory landscape review
- Partner and structure selection support
- Coordination with our tax, legal and corporate practices
IIIWho each service is for
Three services under one heading, and who each is for
"Advisory & Consulting" covers three genuinely different kinds of engagement.
| Service | Who it's for |
|---|---|
| Business & restructuring advisory | Businesses and boards making a specific decision — a structure, an investment, a turnaround. |
| Training & capacity-building | In-house finance teams, boards and organisations wanting structured technical development. |
| ISQM & quality management support | Other chartered accountancy and audit firms building or reviewing their own quality management system. |
ISQM 1 applies specifically to firms performing audits, reviews and other assurance or related services engagements — this strand is for other firms, not general businesses.
Where advisory ends and audit begins
Advisory input into a decision is different from making the decision or implementing it on a client's behalf — we stop at the recommendation and leave execution with management, which is also what keeps the boundary with any audit relationship intact.
Where we are the statutory auditor, advisory work is scoped so it does not create a self-review or management-involvement threat under the ICAP Code of Ethics. We will tell you where that boundary falls before we quote.
IVHow we work on advisory engagements
Six things that make advice actually get used
01
The same team that advises also does the underlying work
Recommendations come from people who have built the models, run the audits and implemented the frameworks being recommended — not a separate advisory unit repeating theory.
02
Training is built around what the team does, not a generic syllabus
Sessions are shaped by the specific standards, systems and decisions the participants actually deal with, not a course delivered the same way to every client.
03
ISQM support starts from our own implementation, not a template
We built our own quality management system before offering to help other firms build theirs — the guidance reflects what was actually involved, not a checklist copied from a standard.
04
Recommendations are costed, not just described
Advice that doesn't survive a cost-benefit conversation is not finished advice. We include what a recommendation actually takes to implement.
05
Independent of the outcome
We are not paid more for one recommendation over another. Where the honest answer is "don't proceed," that is what gets said.
06
Handover, not dependency
The goal of capacity-building and quality-management support is a team that no longer needs us for that specific thing — not an ongoing dependency dressed up as a service.
These are the firm's controls applied to advisory work specifically. The full set, applied to every engagement of any type, is published.
VHow it's delivered
Three ways this gets delivered
The right model depends on whether the underlying need is a single decision, a skill gap, or an ongoing obligation.
Route 01
One-off engagement
A defined piece of work with a clear endpoint.
- Typically used for
- A specific feasibility study, restructuring case or ISQM gap assessment
- What you get
- A report and recommendation, scoped and delivered once
- Watch for
- Implementation support needs to be agreed separately if the recommendation is adopted
Route 02
Structured programme
Delivered as a series over weeks or months, not a single session.
- Typically used for
- Training and capacity-building for a team or board
- What you get
- A curriculum built around the team's actual work, with progress checked as it goes
- Watch for
- Programmes work best with a named internal sponsor who keeps attendance and follow-through on track
Route 03
Ongoing retainer
Support that needs to continue year over year, not conclude at a single report.
- Typically used for
- ISQM monitoring, governance advisory and quality management support
- What you get
- Periodic review and support, structured like any other ongoing engagement
- Watch for
- Scope should be reviewed annually — a quality management system matures, and support should scale down as it does, not stay static
We help work out which of these actually fits before proposing one — a structured programme priced and run like a one-off engagement rarely serves either side well.
VICommon questions
Questions we are asked
Do you only work with other accountancy firms on ISQM, or with any organisation?
ISQM 1 applies specifically to firms performing audits, reviews and other assurance or related services engagements — so this strand of the service is for other accountancy and audit firms, not general businesses. A business looking for a broader governance or risk framework would sit under our governance and risk advisory work instead.
Can you help implement a recommendation, or just advise on it?
Often, yes — many recommendations lead into work we already do, such as structuring, accounting or systems changes. Execution is scoped as a separate piece of work from the advisory phase, so you know what each stage costs before committing to it.
Does your training count towards CPD requirements?
Sessions are built to be directly useful against the technical CPD needs our clients' teams already have. Whether a specific session formally qualifies depends on your professional body's own rules — worth confirming with us when a programme is being scoped if that matters for your team.
How is a feasibility study different from a business plan?
A feasibility study tests whether specific assumptions behind a decision actually hold — market, cost, financing, capacity — before commitment. A business plan generally documents a decision already made. We are usually engaged for the former, often before the latter is written.
Can you advise on a decision and then audit the resulting entity?
Not always. Where we are the statutory auditor, advisory work that would create a self-review or management-involvement threat under the ICAP Code of Ethics is provided only to non-audit clients. We tell you where that boundary falls before we quote.
How long does an ISQM 1 implementation take?
It depends on the firm's current state — an existing quality control system under the old ISQC 1 gives a considerable head start over building from nothing. We give a realistic estimate once we've seen where a firm currently stands, rather than a standard figure.
How is advisory and consulting work priced?
Defined pieces of work — a feasibility study, a gap assessment — are scoped and fixed-fee. Training programmes are priced per programme. Ongoing quality-management or governance support is typically a retainer, reviewed annually as the underlying need changes.
Related
Where advisory work connects
Let's work together
Tell us what you're deciding, or what you're building.
A specific decision, a training need, or a quality management system to build or review. A partner will tell you what's realistic before anything is scoped.