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The firm has launched a new chief financial officer advisory service in the wake of COVID-induced demand, set to be headed by a former EY partner.
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Grant Thornton launches new CFO advisory service
06 July 2021
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Grant Thornton on Monday announced the launch of its new chief financial officer advisory service, born of increased demand in the face of COVID-19 and the associated complexities the pandemic has brought to the role.
The firm said CFOs have faced increasing pressure for years, as their remits have extended beyond company finances to the implementation of digital transformation and automation.
The new business unit will be headed by incoming partner Peter Barnikel, who joins the firm from 5 July, and takes its partnership to 159.
Mr Barnikel joins the firm from Castle Wyatt Consulting, where he spent less than a year as partner. Before that, he spent some 14 years at EY — the latter four of which as partner — after spending just over five years at the firm’s London offices.
He has more than 20 years’ experience, the last decade of which has seen him work in a split role, as both an independent auditor and adviser, “unpacking complexity and addressing CFO headaches”. Some of his clients have included AMP Capital, Foxtel, News Corp Australia and Westfield, among others.
Mr Barnikel said, like tax teams and their advisers, legal teams and theirs, accounting teams, too, should have access to technical accounting expertise.
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“Auditors are becoming less forgiving of poor documentation,” Mr Barnikel said. “Due to independence constraints, those same auditors aren’t providing the hands-on support they once did to their audit clients, so having a trusted adviser who can step in to assist is invaluable.
“Tax teams have tax advisers. Legal teams have legal counsel. Accounting teams should have access to technical accounting expertise as well.”
Grant Thornton national managing partner of audit and assurance Andrew Rigele said the shortage of accounting and audit expertise hasn’t only been felt by professional services, but in-house teams, too.
“We are certain that our clients and contacts will find Peter’s business acumen and technical expertise extremely useful as they continue to respond to regulatory change and variable market conditions,” Mr Rigele said.
“He’s a safe pair of hands and genuinely understands the pain points experienced by CFOs. As we offer a full suite of services across financial advisory, tax, risk, technology and management consulting, we look forward to directly addressing short-, medium- and long-term challenges faced by our clients and contacts.”
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