Strategic Finance Advisory and IFRS Reporting for a UK-based Medical Devices Distributor

Client Story

The client is a UK-based medical devices distributor in the healthcare and medical equipment trading space, with annual revenue above €45 million and a 5-entity group structure spanning the United Kingdom and India. The business runs on SAP ERP and has been on an active growth track, including strategic acquisition activity. As the group expanded and complex transaction events stacked up alongside ongoing IFRS and consolidation requirements, the in-house finance team needed a strategic partner that could absorb the technical accounting load.

The Bottleneck

1. Preparing audit-ready financial statements independently: the in-house team did not have the capacity to produce audit-ready FS (financial statements) at group scale on its own.
2. Group consolidation and IFRS compliance across multiple UK entities: standalone and consolidated financial statements had to meet IFRS reporting requirements — including IFRS 16 lease accounting — across multiple UK entities, with compliance gaps that needed closing.
3. Transaction-accounting complexity from BTA and M&A work: Business Transfer Agreement (BTA) accounting, SPA structuring and Purchase Price Allocation arising from M&A transactions sat beyond the in-house team’s technical accounting expertise.
4. Limited internal bandwidth for technical accounting and audit: leadership had finite hours for technical accounting work and audit handling, with the day-to-day finance team already absorbed in operational execution.
5. Audit vulnerabilities and ongoing Big 4 query load: the group carried recurring compliance issues and audit vulnerabilities, with Big 4 audit queries adding an ongoing coordination burden during cycles.

The Solution

1. Standalone & Consolidated FS preparation with audit-ready books: prepared Standalone and Consolidated Financial Statements with detailed supporting schedules across the group entities, and acted as strategic consultants to ensure audit-ready books and seamless audit closure.
2. IFRS-compliant group financial reporting frameworks: implemented IFRS-compliant reporting frameworks across the group — covering IFRS 16 lease accounting and other applicable standards — to align standalone and consolidated reporting with regulatory and statutory requirements.
3. M&A accounting advisory: BTA, SPA and Purchase Price Allocation: handled M&A accounting, SPA structuring and Purchase Price Allocation services during the strategic acquisition, acting as a technical accounting consulting extension to the in-house team for BTA and transaction work.
4. Dedicated FTE engagement model with SAP accounting support: delivered the engagement on a dedicated full-time-equivalent model, with end-to-end SAP accounting support for accurate bookkeeping and robust SOP documentation that freed senior leadership bandwidth.
5. Proactive Big 4 audit query resolution: proactively managed and resolved audit queries from Big 4 auditors on behalf of the client, supporting timely audit closure and reducing audit-cycle vulnerability across the group.

The Impact

• Freed 15–20 hours per week of senior leadership bandwidth through dedicated strategic finance advisory support.
• Delivered 100% IFRS-compliant standalone and consolidated financial reporting across all 5 legal entities in the UK and India.
• Closed Big 4 audit cycles smoothly with structured documentation and proactive query resolution on behalf of the client.
• Executed complex transaction accounting — including BTA, SPA structuring and Purchase Price Allocation — during a strategic acquisition.
• Sustained a 5+ year strategic finance advisory partnership that expanded with the client’s evolving needs.
• Closed long-standing IFRS 16 lease accounting compliance gaps and stabilised technical accounting posture across the group.

Closing Statement

Technical accounting demand is rarely steady — it sits quiet for months, then a transaction or audit cycle arrives and the in-house team is suddenly carrying work that needed expertise more than headcount. FinAdvantage’s approach — IFRS reporting services, group financial consolidation services, M&A accounting advisory and proactive Big 4 audit support — is what lets a finance team handle those spikes without having to staff for them year-round.

If your finance team is hitting the limits of what it can take on alone — particularly around transactions, consolidations or audits — we can help. Facing a similar challenge? Book a free 30-minute consultation with FinAdvantage →