The FINANCIAL — The revenue of KPMG, the global network of professional service firms providing audit, tax and advisory services, in Georgia has increased by 75 percent as of September 2011 compared to the same period last year, according to Andrew Coxshall, Southern Caucasus Managing Partner.
The audit segment makes up 60 percent of total revenue, advisory – 25 percent, and tax – 15 percent.
Since its establishment KPMG has proved to be a fast-growing company which serves the needs of the local business community by providing high-quality services. For the last few years KPMG in Georgia and the CIS has been one of the fastest growing practices of KPMG worldwide. Last week KPMG celebrated its ten year anniversary in Georgia. The event was attended by KPMG clients, representatives of the local business sector, government, embassies, and international organizations operating in the Georgian market.
KPMG is a global network of professional firms providing audit, tax and advisory services. The company operates in 150 countries with 138,000 people working in member firms around the world.
“Georgia was having a very hard time ten years ago when we established our firm here,” Andrew Coxshall told The FINANCIAL. “The country has significantly developed since the Rose Revolution. The reforms implemented after the revolution changed Georgia incredibly. More businesses are starting up here, more investors are coming in and there are more professionals working in different businesses. I was not here ten years ago but I’ve heard from people how difficult the situation was in Georgia. I’m really lucky to be here now.”
KPMG Georgia’s major clients are the largest business organizations in the country, these include Georgian Railway, Magticom, Madneuli, Lomisi, Rakeen Uptown Development, Lukoil, Quartzite, Georgian Manganese, Poti Sea Port and many others.
“Georgia is the easiest place to do business in the whole region, but businessmen still need professional advice,” said Coxshall. “For example, getting tax advice is very important for businesses as the Tax Code in Georgia is often changing. I encourage everyone to ask for professional advice before starting a business. As for the businesses, there are lots of opportunities here including agriculture and tourism.”
KPMG Georgia has quite strict requirements for companies wanting to be clients of the firm. The firm checks all kinds of information about potential clients before signing an agreement. KPMG has a global independent check system. A company has to have a good reputation and shouldn’t be involved in anything illegal to become a client of the firm.
“Delivering high quality service is made possible by having professional staff,” Mr. Coxshall stated. “But lack of good professionals was our main problem when we started operating in Georgia. During this period we trained lots of people and we now have 46 individuals employed. We help them to pass ACCA and CPI exams. Their knowledge and professionalism is steadily growing.”
As well as staff problems, another challenge KPMG faced when they entered the market was low recognition.
“We were a small firm and people had never heard of us at the time. But we successfully overcame this challenge as well,” he added.
Recognition of KPMG has grown as the company delivers high quality service. Clients have expectations of their auditors, for them to be independent and provide a high level of service on time. KPMG claims that the firm has a good reputation because it is always delivering good service on time.
KPMG is one of the largest professional services networks in the world and one of the Big Four auditors, along with Deloitte, Ernst & Young and PwC. Its global headquarters is located in Amstelveen, the Netherlands.
KPMG employs 138,000 people and has three lines of services: audit, tax, and advisory. Its advisory services are further divided into three service groups – Management Consulting, Risk Consulting, and Transaction & Restructuring.
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