Nova Consultants

Colin Raeside FCCA

colin.raeside@nova-consultants.com

Colin has specialised for nearly 30 years in insolvency.

On qualifying as a certified accountant with the ACCA, Colin managed an insolvency department at Grant Thornton, before taking on a project coordinating the firm’s national approach to insolvency, primarily through standardisation, technical and training support. The role also encompassed marketing and practice management the latter providing him with extensive experience of partnership related issues.

Some fifteen years on, in 2003, Colin formed Nova with the specific aim of providing a similar, quality service to smaller practitioner firms.

Projects to date include: practice reviews, writing standard documentation, training, IT, marketing, undertaking reviews for RPBs and various ad-hoc issues using his considerable partnership experience.

Colin’s interests include sport, travel, photography and classic cars.

If you would like more information on our services or if you would like to discuss your particular requirements, send an email and I’ll be in touch.

 

What We Do

What we do depends on what you and your practice needs.

 

The following will give you an overview of our services, however at the heart of this is getting to know a clients business and understanding that the appropriate solution for one practice may not be the right solution for another.

 

Please feel free to get in touch with us to discuss any of our services and we will be happy to work with you to find the right compliance solution.

 

Annual Compliance Reviews

Since 2005, IPs licensed by the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England & Wales (ICAEW) have been required to conduct an annual review, in essence a mini audit, providing evidence of compliance with legislation, rules, SIPs and other statutory obligations.

 

As a bi-product, the review should highlight areas of weakness and put in place an action plan to address any matters of concern. Shortcomings may be technical, but the review will often also pinpoint where IPs can improve processes and staff efficiency.

 

Whether your need for an annual review is as a result of a regulatory obligation, or it is part of your firm’s agreed best practice, Nova has the experience and skills to guide you through the process and to develop with you and implement your future review programme.

 

IPA Self Certification Reviews

Since 2005, IPs licensed by the Insolvency Practitioners Association (IPA) have been required to submit annual self-certifications of conformity on cases selected by the IPA and assess both their and their firm’s compliance with statutory requirements and the SIPs. The actual number of cases to be reviewed for each practitioner is determined by the IPA as regulator, but overall will usually depend on the size of the firm and the satisfactory outcome of a practitioner’s latest monitoring visit.

 

Nova will undertake the self-certification reviews and draw up and implement a remedial action plan so that you meet your reporting obligations. In addition, we can act on your behalf as a liaison with the IPA and co-ordinate the timing of the reviews and the submission of the certifications.

 

Reviews for RPB’s

There are occasions when a practitioner’s Recognised Professional Body (RPB) will require (usually through its licensing committee) an external compliance review. At one extreme, this can be to satisfy the RPB that the practice is now compliant with a particular SIP (typically SIP3 or SIP9). At the other end of the spectrum, there may be a threat of licence restriction. Understandably, stress levels increase. We already have a proven track record of working with RPBs and understand the need for speed, confidentiality and pragmatism. As testimony to this, we have a number of clients who have been introduced through this process and to date 100% remain as clients and have gone from strength to strength.

 

Insolvency Standard Documentation

Experience shows that practitioners have insufficient time and resource to ensure their case management workpacks and standard documentation is fully up to date and legislatively compliant.This can lead to case management inefficiencies and expose the practitioner to unnecessary regulatory risk. At Nova, we understand this problem.

 

In fact, we are passionate in our belief that getting the documentation and processes right is key to successfully managing risk and optimising practice performance.Whether it’s assistance in drafting revisions to workpacks following legislative change, or simply bringing your own documentation up to date, we can help.

 

Compliance Systems Development

Optimising practice performance isn’t just about ensuring a practitioner’s standard documentation is up-to-date, it’s more than that.’ At Nova, we are also committed to finding ways to help practitioners develop their systems to ensure staff undertake tasks in the most cost effective way possible.

 

Whether it’s client engagement, managing conflict and ethical checks, money laundering risk assessments or assessing established protocols, Nova can assist you in developing compliant and efficient processes or critically appraise your current procedures to establish where improvements can be made.

 

SIPs Compliance & Reviews

Every IP will be only too aware of the importance of compliance with the Statements of Insolvency Practice (SIPs), but how many practitioners can be confident that this is achieved – and where it isn’t – what remedial steps are needed to rectify the position.

 

At Nova, we tailor our review work to look at this key area of best practice by focussing on your firm’s policies and procedures and sampling cases to ensure that SIPs are being followed. Where deficiencies are identified, we will work with you to ensure your procedures are updated and just as important, that your staff are trained to avoid the common pitfalls.

 

A common request of IPs is that we review problem cases or critique reports. There is enormous value in having an external view which often leads to system changes or standard documents being updated.

 

Technical / Legislative Updates

In an ever changing, highly regulated environment, can you be sure that your practice is up to date with the latest technical and legislative changes? At Nova, we can assist you in understanding the latest developments to ensure your standard documentation and procedures are up to date and where appropriate, provide assistance with in-house training.

 

Training

Whether it’s training on the latest SIPs, understanding legislative changes, dealing with ethical and conflict reviews or simply looking at effective case management, Nova can help you deliver the right messages to your team.

 

Advisory

At times, we all need to step back and assess where we are. IPs are no exception. During busy times, problems occur and are often revealed through high staff turnover or reduced profitability.

Working with a number of clients, we have been able to offer an impartial third party assessment of areas of practice concern.A sounding board is important.For single partner firm’s we often find this just is not available. Through experience we can claim to have already bridged that gap with the aim of assisting clients to find workable and practical solutions ranging from human resource issues to succession planning.

 

Technical Support

Given the level of practical and technical experience, it is not surprising that clients contact us to discuss technical issues. Invariably we will have a view and in most cases will be able to point to the relevant legislation.

 

We encourage both partners and staff to make contact and to use us as a sounding board. On occasions, the specific issue raised will highlight a training need which we will offer to address at the next planned compliance visit.

 

As the planned changes to the Insolvency Rules are introduced this is a service which is likely to be used by most if not all clients.