Securing comfort for stakeholders
Sensolus, a provider of end-to-end supply chain visibility and insights of non-powered assets (containers, boxes, trailers, etc.) via a bespoke IoT solution, has grown rapidly since its inception thanks not only to its truly innovative offering, but the investment of a number of venture capitalists who’ve financed the company’s growth. Of course, having investors means they want to know exactly how Sensolus uses its financial resources, how the firm’s organised for growth and more. To offer comfort to its board of directors, the now scale-up firm needed to have an external professional audit. For that audit, it opted to work with PwC.
Trust on an international scale
“Many members of our Board, our investors, are international. They come from outside of Belgium and have no understanding of the business and fiscal environment here. Nor should they,” explains Kristoff Van Rattinghe, founder and CEO of Sensolus. “Opting to bring in PwC means we’re working with a known audit firm and trusted brand in the market, one with a global presence that everyone knows. That meant we didn’t need to spend time convincing the board of why we chose PwC and could focus on more pressing matters,” he adds.
A tailor-made approach to audit
Many people may believe that the way in which an audit is carried out is the same for all firms, no matter the industry, size or geography. But in reality, an audit is all about providing comfort to stakeholders and the market about a company’s performance. That means that the process must fit the situation at hand. Sensolus was very impressed that PwC understood from the outset that, as a then start-up, it wouldn't have everything perfectly in place. “As a start-up, you build your strategy from nothing. Even when you move to being a scale-up, there’s work to be done. We were very impressed that rather than focusing on the negative of what we didn’t have, PwC looked at how we could make step-by-step improvements,” Kristoff Van Rattinghe explains. He goes on, “The team works with us to show us how we can make our processes more professional. They see the improvements we’re making year on year and use those as the basis for further enhancements. They really help us learn.”
“PwC sees the improvements we’re making year on year and use those as the basis for further enhancements.”
Learning from others
As a growing concern, Sensolus also took advantage of PwC’s bespoke Scale programme, an initiative that helps more newly founded firms accelerate their speed of growth by providing access to expert advice and potential partners and clients. “There are many events for start-ups on the market, but what I appreciated about PwC’s Scale programme was that it attracted many like-minded businesses who were facing similar challenges to us at the time and we could discuss ways of solving them. We attended in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic when events like this had virtually come to a standstill or were held online, as was the case with PwC Scale,” Kristoff Van Rattinghe enthuses. “While I’m certain it was a slightly different experience than had we been able to attend physically, it also afforded advantages. More of our people could attend the sessions and be part of the process, which they found very motivating,” he adds.
Moving Sensolus forward at speed
A further benefit that Sensolus took from the Scale programme experience was that “it forced us to take some distance and look at our business in new ways. When you’re busy in the day-to-day, you too often forget to do that. With PwC Scale, other people were analysing your company and offering advice, looking at it through a different strategic framework. This gave us new ideas and added impetus,” Kristoff Van Rattinghe recalls.
Maturing the audit approach in step with business growth
As Sensolus has grown internationally, it faces more complex challenges which requires a more mature audit approach. “PwC continues to work with us to make the changes we need, to provide the additional insights a more mature audit can bring and help us avoid “reinventing the wheel” as it were so that we can focus on the important concerns of our business. We’ve built a great deal of trust over the years and we very much appreciate PwC’s commitment and input in helping us provide the comfort our stakeholders expect,” Kristoff Van Rattinghe concludes.
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