Complete Guide To Due diligence services – Importance, Process & Types
Have you thought of choosing due diligence services for your business yet? Well, stakeholders are making an informed decision with the aid of due diligence. The global due diligence market size will grow with an impressive CAGR (Compound Annual Growth Rate) of 5.4%. Read on to know more about due diligence and its importance for business.
What is due diligence?
Due diligence is a process to find out the best path for a business and make informed decisions. It is a type of strategic research to validate a business statement. For example, investors perform due diligence to make sure they are investing effectively. Before completing a business transaction, due diligence is performed to make sure all the aspects of the transaction are legal/valid. It is widely used to validate financial statements and find their accuracy. However, various types of due diligence can be performed according to the requirement of the business. Many third-party firms offer due diligence services for businesses.
Types of due diligence services
Various types of due diligence services are as follows:
• Financial due diligence: Stakeholders perform financial due diligence before investing in a company. In financial due diligence, the current and previous financial statements of the company are validated. If there are any outstanding dues on a company, then financial due diligence finds out the ability of the company to pay it.
• Tax due diligence: The tax liabilities associated with a business transaction are determined via tax due diligence. It includes a complete analysis of the tax liabilities and exposure for any company. It includes reviewing the income tax and sales tax statements of previous years. The required correspondence from the regulatory authorities is also checked via tax due diligence.
• Investigative due diligence: Investigative due diligence is used to monitor the performance and, the market reputation of competitors. It is also done to identify any fraud, bribery, or misconduct within the company.
• Administrative due diligence: Investors often perform administrative due diligence to know the operational cost of a company. It analyses the facilities, workplace, employees, etc., of the company to make sure it is worth investing in.
• Human resources due diligence: Various issues related to the workplace and employees are analyzed under human resources due diligence. Any non-disclosure agreement with the employees is also reviewed under human resources due diligence. Social issues like workplace harassment, exploitation, and abnormal working hours are also reviewed.
Due diligence process
The due diligence process generally follows the below-mentioned steps:
• For any new business project, the purpose of the project is determined. It is made sure that the particular project is a better business investment.
• Financial analysis is performed to determine the financial performance of the company/business.
• All the documents related to the business project are cross-checked and validated. It is made sure that a business transaction is proceeding legally.
• Business plan and longevity of the business are analyzed to make an informed decision. The business decision should always provide a huge ROI (Return on Investment).
• Risk analysis is performed to mitigate any financial risks associated with the business decision. Compliance checks are also performed to make sure everything is done according to the compliance norms.
• When all the financial statements and associated factors are analyzed, a business transaction is complete. Due diligence services also include post-transaction monitoring.
Importance of due diligence
The pros of due diligence services for business are as follows:
• It mitigates the information gap between seller and investor.
• An investor can confirm the financial and contract credentials of any company before allocating funds. It helps them in checking the credibility of a firm before investing.
• The risks associated with a business decision are found out via due diligence.
• The nature of the business deal is analyzed along with the expectations of the investor and seller.
• Due diligence helps in checking the compliance culture of any company. If the company is not performing within the legal jurisdiction, investors can know it via due diligence.
In a nutshell
You can partner with a reliable third party for conducting due diligence and making informed business decisions. It can help you determine the sustainability of a business plan and invest accordingly. Choose due diligence for making better decisions!
