What are business advisory services in the context of international financial services?
Very often they are linked with a company, trust or foundation. Ideally, your financial service provider will be able to cater for your requirements, so that the work is not broken up between different professionals; very often, however, this can cause problems with continuity, perhaps creating awkward delays in operations, and also possible miscommunication.
The range of business advisory is very broad and a few, without any degree of priority, are covered in this short article. Banking is often an important, central factor and might entail opening brokerage accounts for the purchase and sale of shares, bonds and other financial instruments.
Importantly, if your business plans involve setting up a satellite or branch of your domestic corporation in a foreign country, it is essential that you choose the right professionals to represent you and, importantly, to also liaise with any staff you may need to employ if a cubicle company (one managed from the professionals’ own offices) will not suffice.
Clearly, so many services can come under the umbrella of business advisory services, including purchase, sale, leasing of real estate, filing of taxes, maintenance of statutory records, and preparation of employees (if any) contracts.
Essentially, your service provider should be very familiar with the local business environment, and it follows that they should have good contacts with all professions that you need to engage. And, of course, under the umbrella of business advisory in Panama are straight forward consultancies, where only knowledge needs to be imparted. It may be of great importance, for example, that a proper family succession plan needs to be put in place, involving either a foundation or trust. On the other hand, perhaps just accounting services are required.
It can be a challenge, to say the least, to find every one of the normal business advisory services mentioned all under one roof. But it is not impossible. In considering, however, the varied range of services offered under the umbrella, it is very wise to be sure that it does not have any holes, so that should a sudden, unexpected storm come along you will not get wet. There is nothing more ruinous for your planning if you have relied on false promises which might lead to the collapse of all your expectations. Some steps taken cannot be retraced. So whether it is a corporation, foundation, trust, accountancy or related financial services you need, you should first determine if the service provider is suitably qualified and experienced in the field. In most cases the depth of knowledge is far more important than the breadth.
Unfortunately, any business advisory services are best discussed across a conference table, when body language and personality can be more easily gauged, but with a pandemic such personal encounters are no longer the norm, having been replaced by remote communications. You can say that half a loaf is better than none, but one of the side effects of the pandemic has been an increase in the popularity of reading which once played a prominent role in gathering information and knowledge. Even if reading is not a priority, a good suggestion is to visit the website of several service providers in the jurisdiction where you plan to base your international business and study their range of financial services’ experience and qualifications. If those fundamental aspects are not clear from a website, you should beware. This could avoid trying to hammer square pegs into round holes. You can tell a lot from the clarity of detail about professionals and their services set out on their website.
Remember: a good umbrella will have you singing, not crying, in the rain.