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In Estonia the state is placing increasing emphasis on money laundering prevention. Therefore, companies with a duty to prevent money laundering must be prepared for more thorough and more frequent inspections to determine whether they comply with all the rules laid down by law. Read more from the article written by Grant Thornton Baltic's Senior Internal Auditor Kai Paalberg.

The experience of Grant Thornton Baltic's risk management advisors in conducting money laundering and terrorism financing prevention audits, especially in institutions supervised by the Financial Supervision Authority, shows that the problems are largely similar. Grant Thornton Baltic Business Risk Services adviser Riin Veidenberg opens the subject in her article.

The amendment of Bankruptcy Act entered into force, where the commencement of the term of the obligation to submit bankruptcy petition shall be suspended for the time of emergency situation due to coronavirus and two months thereafter. Aet Sallaste, head of legal services in Grant Thornton Baltic explains who are concerned by the amendment of the Bankruptcy Act.

In a crisis, companies need to be able to respond quickly to change and to meet the needs of their employees, customers and partners, while managing the company's financial and operational challenges. Grant Thornton Baltic's Chief Internal Auditor Kai Paalberg names 5 top priorities that all companies should concentrate on when dealing with the crisis management.

Reorganization is being used to help a company that has temporarily become insolvent, for example due to the current pandemic and crisis. It is important to emphasize that a company can be reorganized if the business model is sustainable, and the difficulties are temporary. Grant Thornton Baltic partner Artur Suits opens the subject further in his interview.

Though analysts consider the agricultural sector as having high potential for the next year, their optimism doesn’t always pan out. Farmers have to expend effort and cooperate to overcome challenges, as a radio programme produced by the Äripäev business daily, “Kasvukursil” revealed.

Who is an electricity undertaking? What requirements does the ELTS impose on electricity undertakings? Which undertakings should have their activities audited? What precisely is audited? In the following, we draw attention to bottlenecks related to the ELTS and auditing.

A stock-taking or physical inventory performed in a quality manner gives the heads of all units in a company assurance that financial statements and databases present a true and fair view of assets and inventories in stock. Periodic stock-taking is also quite effective for preventing fraud.

Companies that follow IFRS accounting standards were required to make the transition to recognizing and accounting for operating lease agreements according to new principles at the latest starting from reporting periods commencing on 1 January 2019.

An annual audit is an indispensable resource for obtaining assurance that a company’s financial statements and accounting is free from material misstatements. One of the most important preconditions for productive cooperation between auditor and the company is adherence to deadlines and being ready for the audit at the agreed time.

Stock-taking quality depends on preparation for and performing of the physical inventory. In the following, I will provide an overview of what to devote attention to while performing it.

For several years now, new thresholds have been in force for auditing annual reports, which exempted many companies from the obligation to have their annual reports audited. From the company’s viewpoint, it may seem a good solution to be rid of the audit or review obligation: less work and financial expense. Yet the other side of the coin should be considered – what do the company and the public have to lose?

Although technology has an important role in preventing cyber attacks, companies are neglecting an equally important means of preventing cyber threats from realising: their employees. The results of a recent study by Grant Thornton showed that the weakest link of cyber defence was overreliance on technology to protect personal data.

This Briefing Paper provides insight into the latest VAT and Customs developments for both importers and exporters of goods and services in a ‘no-deal’ scenario.

A local government has the obligation to organize internal audit activities. This can be done by outsourcing internal auditor services or by hiring an internal auditor. In the latter case, the requirements in laws and professional standards for internal auditors must be considered.

Temporary employees are usually employed under fixed-term employment contracts, and it is important to note the differences compared to contracts with indefinite term.