United by outcome
How Praxity members come together to achieve their goals
Collaborative work, across borders and in all areas of practice, is the basis for the Praxity Alliance to exist. Member firms are able to access expertise in other jurisdictions, as well as offer their own expertise when called upon. Using Praxity tools such as cloud computing portals and Alliance-wide CX ratings, member firms can work their magic for their clients that much more effectively.
A powerful example of this is a recent collaboration between Moss Adams in the USA and FALK in Germany. A client was shifting providers from a large international and had come to expect a certain level of international service. The firms were able to come together to offer this, while still maintaining total operational independence.
Patrick Loftus
Partner at Moss Adams
- tells us about the project in more detail.
How did the collaboration come about?
The collaboration came from a request for proposal (RFP). We received the RFP from a portfolio company that was recently acquired by an investor group with whom we have a pre-existing relationship. The Company’s business was complex, with operations across 15 European countries. The Company was previously served by Grant Thornton, a larger firm with a much larger member firm listing that covered all the countries where the Company had operations.
What kind of support did your firm offer?
We were ultimately engaged for all audit and tax services across the Company and have met all deadlines to date.
Is there any way in which the Alliance structure made this easier?
The preexisting relationships with network firms were very helpful. Having a consistent resource (such as FALK) that we could reach out to for such a complex pursuit made the process significantly easier.
What client need did it meet?
The Company was used to dealing with an international firm (Grant Thornton) for all audit and tax services, so our challenge was presenting a seamless client service relationship. We leaned heavily on the Praxity Alliance and included key members, such as FALK, in our calls with the prospect and in our final proposal. In our discussions with the Company and in our proposal, we promoted the close working relationship between the Praxity member firms with us (Moss Adams) being the primary point of contact should any service issues arise.
In turn, what expertise could you rely on from FALK?
FALK was a huge asset in the process and in subsequently serving the client. The Company is US based and they really appreciated meeting Steffen and his deep US GAAP, US GAAS and Germany business practice knowledge. Having FALK involved in the pursuit was a differentiating factor in winning the account.
Is there anything that the firm has learnt from undergoing inter-firm work like this?
Not necessarily learned, but reinforced. Relationships and connections in the business are paramount. Having a relationship with a firm like FALK grants us credibility when competing with international firms.
What was the outcome for the client?
A Seamless experience, deadlines were met.