Management bodies in today’s business world need a certain amount of ‘craftsmanship’ to keep up with all the emerging legislation, something that consumes time and resources that should be focused on carrying out the company's activities. These difficulties are most felt by ‘modern-day’ entrepreneurs operating in Portugal, especially those who don't reside in Portugal and are looking to invest here for the first time, and set up their businesses. Given the strong incentive, by the Portuguese government, to welcome these entrepreneurs and their need for the growth of the national economy, at first glance, it can be extremely complex for those wishing to start a business here. The mere fact of having to navigate the immense bureaucracy and legislation can cast doubt on the decision to enter the Portuguese market.
It is, therefore, natural that nowadays, as a result of tax and accounting complexity related to the abundant legislation, it is more difficult to analyse and produce valuable information for enterprises as well as for an entrepreneur to navigate the challenges of starting and managing a business in Portugal.
In this way, Forvis Mazars, namely by providing outsourcing services, has optimised and simplified the day-to-day business of its clients, allowing them to focus on their core activities. That is how Forvis Mazars operates in sectors as diverse as real estate and hotels, energy and industry, to the wine and agricultural sectors, helping them to make decisions in terms of cost control and financial reporting, as well as ensuring compliance with tax and payroll obligations.
In this way, Forvis Mazars teams, operate with the ultimate aim of reducing existing restrictions and constrains in the company's processes, either by simplifying them or taking over their execution through our expertise, or by just implementing procedures that facilitate the execution of these processes so that the business operational side can be freed up and completely focused on the company's current operations, thus translating into greater efficiency in terms of adding value to the business, by having management mainly focused on the operational side and at the same time guaranteeing the safe and reliable fulfilment of all the legal, corporate and tax obligations inherent to the activity carried out, as well as having the possibility of obtaining updated reporting information with the most detail so that management can make decisions based on credible information that guarantees the success of future operations.
Most of these constraints or restrictions on management decision-making can go unnoticed and can arise in various ways inside organisations, such as:
- Poor control or lack of knowledge of day-to-day tax obligations;
- Complexity associated with how to correctly fulfil tax returns;
- Lack of knowledge of the corporate obligations of Portuguese entities and their deadlines;
- Complexity associated with how to correctly account for the financial information produced by companies and the correct presentation of it;
- Lack of internal procedures to record and control financial information appropriately, in order to extract reliable and trustworthy information;
- Difficulty in processing and analysing data;
- Inexperience or lack of knowledge in matters related to employees’ payroll and inherent obligations.
By knowing this, Forvis Mazars in Portugal, mainly with its outsourcing team, provides close support to clients from the first moment of contact, providing all the necessary information in a transparent way, to allow our clients to feel safe with their investment decisions. The service that we aim to provide is to advise in every stage of a company’s corporate life, namely by analysing and foreseeing the impact that a particular decision may have on the company's financial statements, as well as its tax impact. In this manner, ensuring that management has all the relevant data for decision-making.
We base our work on creating value, seeking to go beyond just being the mandatory certified accountant and assuming the responsibility for accounting or the technical regularity of tax returns, by producing reporting models built tailor-made for each client with emphasis on their operations, or by complying efficiently with corporate and tax obligations, or even taking on the work associated with monthly payroll or other areas such as invoicing. Thus, enabling management bodies with an intrinsic vision of the company in a clear and objective manner, providing greater knowledge of the costs of operations and their impact in the business, as whole.
Our commitment goes beyond the mere provision of services. We are a present and proactive partner in the daily management of our clients.
Carlos Rodrigues, Accounting Senior at Forvis Mazars in Portugal
Sofia Azevedo, Accounting Manager at Forvis Mazars in Portugal