A public-reporting entity discovered errors related to purchase accounting and needed to restate financials to the SEC. The restatement needed to be completed timely and accurately. Additionally, the company was looking for a partner with expertise in communicating with external auditors and SEC throughout the process. Lacking in-house experience, the company turned to CSuite for a partner with expertise with SEC reporting and GMP.
Challenges
Navigating the SEC restatement process posed several significant challenges for the utility company:
- Extent of Restatement: Identifying the scope of the restatement, including the number of erroneous accounts, quantifying the errors, and determining the periods to be restated.
- Re-Auditing and Filing: Re-auditing financial statements and filing corrected reports.
- Leadership Change: Addressing the resignation of the CFO during the restatement process.
- New Audit Firm: Collaborating with an external audit firm hired just before the restatement request.
Solutions
After the assessment of the situation, a solid restatement plan was created, including detailed timelines and assignment of tasks between all employees.
- Situation Assessment: After the assessment of the situation, a solid restatement plan was created, including detailed timelines and assignment of tasks between all employees.
- Correction and Re-Filing: Our team corrected past financial statements, facilitated the audit of restated periods, and refiled the corrected SEC reports.
- Leadership and Coordination: CSuite’s team of experts stepped in to fill the CFO void to assure a clear restating & re-auditing process.
Outcome
CSuite successfully completed the restatement. The CSuite team won the CEO’s confidence with their successful handling of the engagement. Due to the success, the CEO asked the CSuite team to stay on to help with a take-private sale of the publicly traded utility. The company was subsequently sold to a PE firm for $275M in an all-cash deal, resulting in a 56% premium for shareholders.