www.pwc.ch/annualreview
Annual Review
2009–10
Contents
Foreword 3
Facts & figures 4
Market 6
Strategy 7
Assurance 8
Tax & Legal Services 9
Advisory 10 Client quotes 11 Value management 14 Client relationships 15 People 16 Processes 17 Brand 18 Key messages 19 Performance 20 Online 22 Publisher’s information 23
Foreword
We are pleased to present our 2009–10 annual review.
“Developing relationships, creating value”. That is the brand promise to which PwC is committed. We work with our clients to find new ways of creating value. We understand our clients. They place their confidence in us and it is this combination which enables us to pull together to generate value. Mutual confidence helps us develop the right ideas and solutions.
We lend our full support to our staff, enab ling them to establish, nurture and develop their relationships with their clients. After all, it is only when employees have the con fidence to develop their professional and so cial expertise to the full that they can deliver what their clients most prize: value.
Our audits are designed to give clients a sense of comfort and security in their busi ness, while our consultancy services aim
Dr Markus R. Neuhaus,
CEO of PwC Switzerland and member of the Global Network Executive Team
Hans Wey, Chairman of the Board of Directors of PwC Switzerland
to help them add value. The needs of our clients and the market are constantly taking us into new areas of business.
As the country’s leading professional ser vices company, PwC aims to play its part in ensuring that Switzerland remains a model of success and an attractive location for busi ness.
Again this year, the printed version of our annual review contains core statements on our market, strategy, value management and performance. More indepth information on these matters is available on our website: www.pwc.ch/annualreview. There you will find interviews with members of the man agement board, numerous links to sites on technical matters, and the views of our cli ents in video form. Our combined electronic and printed annual review also reflects our commitment to the environment.
Facts & figures
at 30 June 2010
Corporate values
Excellence, teamwork, leadership
People
Headcount 2,623 (59% male, 41% female)
58 nationalities Average age 34
More than 10% of revenues invested in staff learning and education
Clients
12,500 clients, including:
101 listed Swiss companies audited by PwC (42% of SIXlisted companies) 7,400 SMEs and private individuals
Lines of service
Assurance (headcount 1,246)
Tax & Legal Services (headcount 672)
Advisory (headcount 295)
Gross fee revenues 2009–10
CHF 704 million
Gross fee revenues 2009–10 by line of service
Assurance: CHF 378 million Tax & Legal Services: CHF 230 million Advisory: CHF 96 million PwC Global Countries: 154 Headcount: 161,000 Legal structure “PricewaterhouseCoopers” refers to PricewaterhouseCoopers AG, Switzerland, or, as the context requires, the Pricewater houseCoopers global network or other mem ber firms of the network, each of which is a separate and independent legal entity.
Management Board
Dr Markus R. Neuhaus CEO
Peter Binz COO/CFO
Dr Urs Landolf Leader Markets Peter Ochsner Leader Assurance Andreas Staubli Leader Tax &
Legal Services Markus Bucher Leader Advisory Dr Matthias Jeger1) Assurance Chief
Quality Officer Hanspeter Plozza1) Assurance Risk
Management Partner
1) Member of the Extended Management
Board
Board of Directors
The Board of Directors consists of the Core Management Board plus Hans Wey, Chairman.
Offices
Aarau Basel Bern
Chur Geneva Lausanne
Lucerne Lugano Neuchâtel
Sion St Gallen Thun
15
offices in
Switzerland
subject to the greatest risk, with the excessive gains staged by the Swiss franc and the modest prospects for growth in some EU economies posing the main threats to the Swiss economy’s continuing uptrend.
Industry environment: Auditing could not escape the effects of general economic developments. The downswing has only served to intensify competition further. In a saturated market, practically the only way for auditing firms to grow their mar ket share is by crowding out the competi tion. Here reputation, technical expertise, resources and – more than ever – client relationships are key.
The situation in the advisory market is more differentiated. While demand for classic advisory services has picked up again as the economy has gained momentum, the deals business has collapsed. The main focus for consulting at present is projects to improve efficiency and effectiveness. In Tax & Legal Services the focus is on crossborder tax is sues, especially transfer pricing and interna tional VAT law.
Overall economic environment: Switzer land’s economic recession lasted exactly one year. On a seasonally adjusted, quarteron quarter basis, the economy began to contract in the third quarter of 2008 and continued to do so until the second quarter of 2009. Since the summer of 2009, the Swiss economy has been growing continuously. The most recent figures released by SECO, Switzerland’s State Secretariat for Economic Affairs, show that GDP expanded by 0.9 per cent in real terms versus the previous threemonth period, putting yearonyear GDP growth at 3.4 per cent and enabling Switzerland’s real GDP to regain the levels it had reached before the economic crisis took hold.
In the most recent quarter (Q2 2010), growth has essentially been driven by do mestic demand, as evidenced by the 2.1 per cent increase in companies’ capital spend ing. The growth in foreign trade, conversely, slowed somewhat, having turned in a not ably impressive performance in the first seven months of the year, during which the value of Swiss exports rose by 5.8 per cent in real terms, while imports advanced 5.0 per cent. Government economists now see external trade as the GDP component
Competitive situation: Last financial year, PwC further consolidated its position as Switzerland’s leading professional services company. PwC Switzerland worked for more than 12,500 clients, including some 7,400 SMEs. It was chosen by 101 companies on the SIX Swiss Exchange to perform their external audit – giving it a share of 42 per cent of the listed segment. Taking its entire service offering into account, PwC has client relationships with 79 per cent of all com panies listed in Switzerland, and 100 per cent of SMI companies. PwC is also firmly established with small and mediumsized businesses, generating one third of its fee revenues in this segment.
Review:
The Swiss economy has survived the downturn remarkably well
Cutthroat competition in the assurance business has become even more intense There has been demand for services for
improving effectiveness and efficiency
Outlook:
PwC aims to strengthen its competitive position
Indepth industry knowledge will be increas ingly important in the advisory business PwC will further intensify crossborder
collaboration
Market.
The Swiss economy got to grips with the finan
cial and economic downturn better than many other countries.
Most companies have had sufficiently solid finances and adequate
liquidity – or have been able
to gain access to sufficient
liquidity in time. They are
endeavouring to improve
their organisational efficiency
and effectiveness.
704
million francs
gross fee revenues
Strategy.
In the 2009–10 financial year, PwC main
tained its market leadership, and it plans to continue growing.
PwC has been closely analysing individual markets and market
segments, and the current and
future needs of clients, as a
basis for identifying fields
of growth that will form a key
element of its growth strategy.
Review:
PwC is no. 1 in its industry
PwC generated stable revenues in a difficult environment
PwC has done market analysis as the basis for identifying strategic growth units
Outlook:
PwC intends to exploit market opportunities to grow further and create jobs
PwC Experience will be used as the basis of the company’s corporate culture and service philosophy
PwC wants to attract outstanding specialists and teams
PwC’s growth strategy focuses primarily on organic growth. This can be achieved by connecting knowledge from different areas of the organisation as effectively as possible so that PwC can offer clients solutions that maximise utility and add value. But there are limits to this type of growth, and it has to be supplemented by nonorganic expansion. Here PwC is more interested in acquiring outstanding specialists or teams than in acquiring businesses as such.
Market leadership also entails close atten tion to managing the brand. According to the Brand Health Index, a market survey con ducted by a neutral specialist, PwC Switz erland enjoys a better reputation among business circles than any other professional services company. Its overarching goal is to help its clients succeed in an increasingly complex world. PwC aims to add value for its clients by drawing on its pooled knowledge and ensuring best practice behaviour. PwC is the leading professional services
company in Switzerland. It intends to build on this position in the coming year. Revenues, profitability and growth are key to being able to maintain this leadership. But the company will also have to deliver services of outstanding quality, maintain the excellent reputation of its brand, and remain highly attractive as an employer.
PwC has set an ambitious target in terms of growth: in the markets in which it operates it wants to grow more rapidly than the market overall. To achieve this goal, PwC needs to systematically seek out and seize the oppor tunities offered by the market. PwC wants to harness market trends rapidly, and be the first to occupy new areas of business. It has been doing close analysis to find out where the needs of clients currently lie, and where they will lie in the immediate future, as the basis for identifying eleven areas of growth or growth units. These growth units are a core component of PwC’s growth strategy. To be able to harness the potential of these growth units without delay, PwC has drawn together the relevant competencies from all its lines of service.
Relationships are key to success – relation ships with clients, and relationships between the people who work for the company. PwC’s strategic differentiating factor is its ability to build and manage relationships. Building sustainable relationships means knowing the market in which clients operate and showing them specific ways of generating value. Rela tionship management and value creation are inseparable. Together they are the corner stones of a successful growth strategy. Business performance: In the 2009–10 financial year, PwC saw fee revenues remain stable at CHF 704 million in gross terms (no change in percentage terms on prior year); in net terms (taking only Swiss production into account, and net of expenses and services delivered by other PwC firms), fee revenues declined 1 per cent.
Auditing has also not been able to escape the effects of general economic developments. This has led to even stiffer competition. Auditing is a mature, saturated market where predatory competition is practically the only way of achieving growth. But even under the current cost pressure, PwC refuses to make concessions in terms of quality, and will not accept engagements where the fee bears no relation to the work involved. Auditing companies are being forced to seek ways of boosting process efficiency, and take a very riskbased approach. The efficiency of the audit process can be improved through the way workflows are organised and by means of software. For this reason, as part of its audit transformation programme, PwC has moved over to a new audit support soft ware called AURA.
Review:
Client relationships prove to be stable, even in difficult times
Predatory competition has become more intense
Audit work is becoming more efficient and risk based
Outlook:
PwC will translate competitive advantage into greater market share
PwC will create additional benefit for clients with auditrelated services
The new AURA audit software will be implemented for all engagements
Business performance: There were virtually no bankruptcies among PwC’s audit clients; particularly in times of economic difficulty its solid client base helps maintain a stable structure of engagements. In the 2009–10 financial year, the Assurance line of service saw gross fee revenues decline 1 per cent to CHF 378 million, 54 per cent of PwC Switz erland’s total revenues. Net of expenses and services delivered by other PwC firms, fee revenues increased 1 per cent.
Assurance.
The audit is the basis for building
the trust of investors and other stakeholders in the financial
statements and the audited entity. A good audit also helps make
a company’s financial statements
clearer, more transparent and
understandable for the
addressees, and thus raises
the quality of its financial
reporting.
378
million francs
gross fee revenues
Maintaining audit quality while also ensuring that the process is efficient entails close cooperation between the auditor and its cli ent; at the same time, however, the external auditor must always maintain independence and a sceptical attitude of mind. In addi tion to the audit itself, auditors can also offer auditrelated advice and services. PwC supports clients in auditrelated areas such as financial reporting (for example IFRS or Swiss GAAP FER conversions), capital market transactions, and mergers and acqui sitions. There are also signs of demand for external support with IT systems and process assurance and internal audit.
The internal audit, as well as risk manage ment and the internal control system, are mechanisms that help organisations preserve value and achieve their strategic objectives. Many organisations have had these functions and tools in place for years, but in many cases they are not sufficiently well devel oped or geared to material risks. Given that it is the strategic risks that have the biggest impact on value, it makes sense to extend the scope of the internal audit to cover these highrisk areas.
230
million francs
gross fee revenues
Review:
Demand for tax advice has grown again PwC’s tax and legal services have seen
substantial growth
PwC positioned itself via its total tax contribution initiative
Outlook:
Service offering in human resource consulting is to be expanded
There will be a further increase in demand for advice on transfer pricing
The offering of international VAT consulting services will be extended
The taxrelated issues currently of most con cern to companies are transfer pricing and valueadded tax. Many governments want to, and have to, increase their tax revenues, and are doing everything they can to raise the taxable base. One result of this is more stringent requirements for documenting transfer prices.
Since the beginning of this year, Switzerland has had new VAT legislation, and the 2010 financial statements will have to be adapted accordingly. One challenge for multinational companies is how to apply international VAT rules correctly.
Another increasingly relevant issue is the disclosure of a company’s total contribu tion to public finances. The response to PwC studies on these matters shows that the total tax contribution (TTC) will be an important issue going forward. The TTC enables stake holders to accurately assess a company’s overall tax contribution. It also facilitates internal monitoring of tax strategy, processes and risk profile, as well as being a crucial factor in global competition to attract busi nesses.
Business performance: PwC posted consider able growth again in all its core businesses, especially in the second half of the year. In the 2009–10 financial year, the Tax & Legal Services line of service saw gross fee revenues increase 3 per cent to CHF 230 million, 33 per cent of PwC Switzerland’s total revenues. Net of expenses and services delivered by other PwC firms, fee revenues increased by around 1 per cent.
Many companies – and not just financial institutions obliged to do so by law – are looking very closely into the design of their compensation systems. The key is to choose a holistic approach covering all the aspects of the compensation system, including the business, tax, legal and accounting compo nents. Designing a compensation system is not just about variable salary components for top managers or employee profitsharing schemes; social security contributions, ancil lary wage costs and pension plans also have to be taken into account.
However, compensation is not the only issue facing human resource managers. Other matters high on their agenda include how to structure the workforce optimally, talent management and global mobility manage ment. Staff exchanges between different countries involve some complex tax and legal issues.
Tax & Legal Services.
PwC’s Tax & Legal Services line of service once again grew sub
stantially, particularly in the second half of the financial year,
with corporate interest centred
on crossborder tax issues.
The trans actions business,
by contrast, remained very
sluggish.
96
million francs
gross fee revenues
Advisory.
Demand for advisory services has
picked up again. Many organisations are seeking to improve
their efficiency and effectiveness by implementing modern
financial management tools,
redesigning their finance
function, enhancing their
IT architecture, or outsourcing
routine work to shared service
centres.
One growth market for advisory is the health industry. This is a market with many points of intersection and different players: not just life sciences companies, hospitals and health insurers, but the nutrition and wellness industry as well. In the next few years we will see completely new methods of care and treatment, and innovative technologies such as telemedicine that will revolutionise health care. Everyone in the market will have to be prepared for new health care management models.
Last year saw almost a complete lack of mergers and acquisitions (M&A) activity, with transaction volumes down around 50 per cent on predownturn levels. Demand is still scant, particularly in due diligence. However, recently there have been signs that the market is picking up again. PwC is well positioned for a recovery in the deals business. It offers a comprehensive spectrum of services ranging from lead advice, due diligence and structuring to tax and legal deal support to valuation. This is what dif ferentiates PwC as an M&A advisor. As the economy picks up again, demand for
advisory services is increasing. And while most companies, still acutely aware of the need to keep costs under control, are still reluctant to commission comprehensive advisory projects, there is plenty of demand for advice on improving efficiency and ef fectiveness. Many companies are seeking to implement modern financial management tools and enhance their IT architecture. The trend is to redesign the financial function and outsource routine work to shared service centres. PwC supports clients in all these areas.
Demand for advice is particularly high in the financial industry. In response to the downturn, financial services companies reduced capacities more dramatically than in other industries. Now they often do not have sufficient resources to deliver projects, and are having to bring in external consultants for support.
Business performance: PwC’s Advisory line of service comprises two areas of business, Consulting and Deals. The market has devel oped very differently in these two areas. In the 2009–10 financial year, the Advisory line of service saw gross fee revenues decline 3 per cent to CHF 96 million, 13 per cent of PwC Switzerland’s total revenues. Net of expenses and services delivered by other PwC firms, fee revenues declined 8 per cent.
Review:
The consulting market has picked up again after a sharp correction
PwC has been able to support clients seeking to improve their efficiency and effectiveness As before, there has been little sign of activity
on the M&A front
Outlook:
PwC will expand resources dedicated to advising highgrowth industries
There are signs of a trend among organisa tions to more efficient financial management PwC is well positioned for a recovery in the
Four of our clients comment on scaling
the heights and keeping one’s feet on
the ground in turbulent times.
Monique Bourquin,
country managing director of Unilever Switzerland
“You can’t afford to lean back and enjoy
the heights. If you
rest on your
laurels, you’ll be
overtaken
in no time
at all.”
Monique Bourquin, who has a degree in economics from the University of St Gallen, started her career at what was then Price Waterhouse Management Consultants, and then worked in corporate finance at STG. In 1994 she moved to the food industry, working for Knorr, Rivella, Mövenpick and Unilever Switzerland, where she has been country managing director since 2008. Michael Hobmeier, CEO of Valiant Holding
“Being close to our clients is essential
to us. That, and our policy
of only doing
business we fully
understand.”
Michael Hobmeier has been CEO of Valiant Holding since 20 May 2010. Since 2003 he has been a member of group management of Valiant Bank, serving as CEO since 2005. Prior to this, Hobmeier was with PwC as partner and head of financial services Switzerland, subsequently performing the same role at IBM Switzerland. He studied finance and accounting at the University of St Gallen, and electrical engineering at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) in Zurich.
Dr Jörg Wolle, CEO of the DKSH Group
“Those who do not reinvent
themselves will
go under.”
Dr Jörg Wolle studied engineering at Chemnitz University of Technology. In 1991 he joined SiberHegner in Hong Kong, and in 2000 was appointed CEO of the SiberHegner Group. Since 2002 he has been CEO and managing director of the DKSH Group. He is also a member of the board of directors of Kühne + Nagel International, and honorary professor of intercultural communications at the West Saxon University of Applied Sciences of Zwickau, Germany. At the end of 2009 his book “Expedition in fernöstliche Märkte” (“Expedition into FarEastern markets”) was published.
Robert Deillon, CEO of Geneva International Airport
“Managing an airport has become more
complicated, but the airline industry
is extremely
crisis resistant
with a great
capacity for
innovation.”
After studying hotel and catering in Lausanne, Robert Deillon trained in man agement at the University of St Gallen, in Boston, and at the Institute for Manage ment Development in Lausanne. Follow ing various roles in the Swissair Group, in 2001 he took over the operational management of Gate Gourmet in Europe. Since 2006 he has been CEO of Geneva International Airport.
Value management.
PwC systemat
ically manages value as a means of implementing its strategic objec
tives. The key value drivers are client relationships, the people who
work for the organisation, the
quality of processes, and the
brand. Value management is
the operational link between
strategy and performance.
PwC Experience is an initiative launched by PwC in August 2007 designed to influ ence people’s behaviour to create lasting value for clients and staff. PwC Experience has become an important component of PwC’s corporate culture. PwC Switzerland’s pioneering role in making this cultural change happen has been recognised by the global organisation: in August 2010, Markus R. Neuhaus was appointed Global Leader for PwC Experience. He is now CEO of PwC Switzerland and a member of the Global Network Executive Team.
Professional services is a people business where clients and employees are the most important value drivers. PwC owes its existence to its ability to deliver services in such a way that they help clients achieve the success they desire. PwC is a knowledge organisation: the technical and social skills of its staff shape relationships with clients, and relationships between the people who work for the organisation. Successful value management also extends to efficient, highquality processes and effective brand management.
12,500
clients in
Switzerland
Client relationships.
With 12,500
clients, more than 2,600 staff and CHF 704 million in revenues,
PwC is the leading professional services company in Switzerland.
This size has considerable
advantages for clients, enabling
PwC to amass, draw on and
apply a pool of knowledge
unrivalled in its industry.
For many years PwC has been convinced that the way services are delivered is key to a sustainable client relationship. This convic tion is also manifest in PwC Experience, a programme launched by PwC in August 2007. This programme has put the way em ployees behave firmly at the centre of PwC’s corporate culture and approach to client relationship management. PwC Experience was deepened and differentiated further in the course of last financial year.
Using direct contact with clients to find out about their current and future needs is an in dispensable part of adding value for clients. Added to this is the ability to respond rapidly to these needs, to put together the right team to work with the client to develop solutions, and implement them consistently to high standards of quality. And closely observing the market and analysing individual indus tries is in turn the key to being able to create valueadding, forwardlooking solutions. PwC’s goal is to help its clients succeed in
an increasingly complex world. Its ability to make this goal happen is also one of the things that distinguishes PwC from the com petition. To achieve this goal, PwC concen trates on its strengths: the ability to focus on each individual client; the ability to use its indepth industry expertise to put itself in its client’s shoes; the ability to connect know ledge to create comprehensive, sustainable solutions in partnership with clients; and presence throughout Switzerland, which enables PwC to act as a trusted advisor that is always close to its clients.
PwC drew on these strengths to support its clients through the crisis. The challenge involved working with clients to create a foundation for aligning strategy, improving efficiency or prioritising projects. Overall, most companies turned out to be very robust and able to act with vision and foresight. They had sufficiently solid finances and liquidity to bridge the recession.
Last financial year, PwC worked for more than 12,500 clients, including some 7,400 SMEs. PwC was chosen by 101 companies on the SIX Swiss Exchange to perform their external audit – giving it a share of 42 per cent of the listed segment. Taking its entire service offering into account, PwC has client relationships with 79 per cent of all com panies listed in Switzerland, and 100 per cent of SMI companies.
Review:
PwC was able to rely on a stable client base even through the downturn
PwC has deepened its client relationship management
There has been a further improvement in client satisfaction and loyalty
Outlook:
PwC will endeavour to deliver responses to market trends
Technical expertise and industry knowhow will be even more closely interwoven PwC aims to add tangible value for its clients
85%
response rate
to Swiss
staff survey
People.
PwC invests in its people and offers them a
work environment in which they can develop both professionally
and personally. This is not just an important component of corporate
culture, but a key element of
service delivery as well: PwC
knows that the quality of its
service delivery is closely
bound up with the technical
and social skills of its people.
Diversity: A key goal of PwC in Switz erland and globally is to exploit the benefits of diversity by ensuring that the organisation includes people of different nationalities with different cultural and educational backgrounds, experiences and career paths, and age and gender diversity. Having staff with a broad spectrum of nationalities is a crucial advantage when it comes to collaboration within the global PwC network and sup porting international companies. Balancing family and professional life:
PwC offers employees numerous part time options. At present, 87 men and 283 women make use of these opportunities. Health management: PwC promotes the health of its staff by providing opportun ities for fitness training and advice on exercise and nutrition. The 2010 health week was held under the banner of “exer cise and relaxation”.
At the end of the 2009–10 financial year, PwC employed 2,623 people in Switzerland. PwC’s staff reflects the diversity of the organ isation, with 58 nationalities, a proportion of men to women of 59 per cent to 41 per cent, and an average age of 34 years.
Business and economics graduates have voted PwC the best place to work in its indus try for the last twelve years. Every year, PwC hires 400 new people, and invests more than 10 per cent of its revenues in learning and education. PwC’s HR policy focused on the following themes last financial year:
Employee development: The previous year, PwC had introduced a perform ance coaching and development process based on the PwC Experience behaviours. Performance is appraised on the basis of development plans and feedback from various sides.
The Global People Survey is the most import ant instrument for measuring the commit ment and engagement of staff in relation to the PwC Experience. The results of the latest global survey are once again outstandingly positive for the Swiss firm: the response rate in this country was a very high 85 per cent. Last year’s focus issues continue to be import ant themes for PwC in the 2010–11 financial year. PwC is also adopting new learning and education methodologies, us ing modern online tools, and joining forces with other PwC territories to develop the content of training programmes. Other key projects include harmonising promotion, salary and bonus processes throughout Switz erland, and talent management.
Review:
Investment in learning and education accounted for a good 10 per cent of revenues The new performance coaching and develop ment process for staff has proved its worth Internal communication has been further
intensified
Outlook:
Efforts to modernise learning and education methodologies will continue
Promotion, salary and bonus processes will be harmonised
The talent management process will be enhanced
78
ideas for innovation
from staff
Processes.
Lean, welldesigned processes are a
constant value driver, and in economically difficult times they
are indispensable. Efficient processes strengthen a company’s
own organisation as well as
creating advantages for
customers, enabling services
to be delivered more efficiently
at the same level of quality.
PwC’s ExpertFinder is a modular, web based database allowing the rapid, targeted searching and networking of experts.
IdeaStation is a webbased platform designed to facilitate the compilation and selection of innovative ideas from staff. The pilot phase is complete, and the system is now being implemented across Switzerland.
At the beginning of the 2009–10 financial year, PwC implemented new engagement management and financial accounting software. This system is very userfriend ly, and has already yielded substantial cost benefits.
Since 1 April 2010, accounts payable have been processed electronically on a centralised basis. This procedure simpli fies the invoice checking and approval process.
In the 2009–10 financial year, PwC too re duced costs, as it had the previous year. The goal was to offer clients professional services at more favourable terms, but without sacrificing quality. There is only one way of treading the line between costcutting and maintaining high standards of quality: by making processes as efficient as possible in order to have additional resources available to improve quality. In efforts to develop its workflow organisation, PwC has been able to build largely on existing processes – pro cesses that boost PwC’s efficiency as well as translating into immediate benefit for clients.
A groundbreaking contribution has come from closer industry focus and more intensive collaboration between the busi ness development, marketing and com munications and knowledge management departments, which together offer PwC teams a comprehensive, structured pack age of client management and marketing services.
Last financial year, the new staff coaching and development process was run for the first time throughout the entire firm. This ensures that HR performance measure ment is closely intermeshed with client relationship management.
Since June 2010, a new electronically based system called AURA has been used in As surance. It allows the complex analysis and linking of data, and documentation at a high level. The software is only one element of a PwC audit transformation programme in volving a review of the entire audit delivery process to achieve significant efficiency gains in this area too.
Review:
The new engagement management and financial accounting system has yielded cost benefits
Electronic accounts payable processing has simplified the checking of invoices A new electronic system called AURA in
Assurance is raising the quality of audit delivery
Outlook:
PwC will continue to develop processes in HR and marketing services
Process costs will be reduced further Assurance will move forward with its audit transformation programme
242
events to share
knowledge with clients
Brand.
Brand management is one of the most important
tools for positioning a business in the marketplace. In the twelve
years since the merger, PwC has established a strong, valuable
brand that enjoys as good a
reputation in business circles
as among university graduates.
In line with the global organisation’s growth strategy, PwC has revised the core elements of its brand management. In future the brand is to play an even greater role in ex tending PwC’s market leadership. The brand promise is summarised as “building relation ships, creating value”. PwC helps its clients create the value they want for themselves and their organisation. And it helps its people obtain the value and sense of purpose they want from their work. PwC’s visual identity is being made even more consistent. The new PwC logo will be better suited for use in digital media than the present visual brand. In future PwC will use a narrower but clearer and warmer colour scheme.
Last year PwC further underscored its thought leadership with empirical studies on economic crime and the total tax contribution, in addi tion to industryspecific publications. Regu lar publications on accounting and auditing (“Disclose” and “IFRS News”) serve the same purpose. Twelve years after it was first published, PwC’s “ceo” magazine remains one of the most popular client magazines in Switzerland. And PwC has launched a new newsletter called “3 Minutes” to deliver information to decision makers in compact form.
PwC is increasingly combining its established print publications and electronic newslet ters with media work on television and new interactive communications channels (social media) such as Facebook and Twitter. Last financial year, PwC also began to try to create a more uniform experience of the brand at PwC events. To raise the quality of events even further, PwC has drawn up event standards, which will be implemented con sistently over the coming year. A new policy for events with a specific industry focus is now also in place.
The key to longterm success is to deliver credibly on the promise of building relation ships and creating value. PwC wants to dem onstrate that with its support, companies are “well advised into the future”, and that the audit really does add value for the audited company. It wants to demonstrate that it is a trusted advisor to SMEs as well as a glo bally networked partner for multinationals. And it wants to demonstrate that it is a great place to work for its people, and that the PwC Experience is something that clients and staff are feeling in practice.
Review:
PwC has launched new social media channels
PwC has underscored its thought leadership with its publications
PwC has drawn up new standards for events
Outlook:
PwC will adopt a new brand promise created on the basis of PwC Experience
PwC will have a new logo, and a warmer, more consistent visual identity
PwC will follow up on its brand promise in practice
Key messages
Six good reasons for PwC in Switzerland:
1. PwC is Switzerland’s leading professional services company.
2. PwC is Switzerland’s leading advisor to SMEs, and audits and advises more SIX Swiss Exchange listed companies than any other professional services firm.
3. PwC is a driver of innovation and more importantly a driver of expertise in the economy. 4. PwC is committed to the sustainable development of the economy.
5. PwC aims to grow substantially and build on its market leadership in Switzerland. 6. PwC Experience: direct contact with PwC inspires trust.
Performance.
PwC Switzerland maintained
stable revenues during the 2009–10 financial year. Fee revenues
remained practically unchanged in gross terms, and declined 1 per
cent in net terms.
Gross fee revenues by
line of service in CHF m2008–09 in CHF m2009–10 in CHF mChange Change in % Percentage of total fee
revenues
Assurance 382 378 –4 –1 54 Tax & Legal Services 224 230 6 3 33 Advisory 99 96 −3 −3 13
Total 705 704 −1 0 100
In the 2009–10 financial year, gross fee revenues remained constant in percentage terms, declining CHF 1 million to CHF 704 million. This figure includes CHF 71 million for services delivered by partners and staff of other PwC firms on PwC Switzerland engagements (prior year CHF 65 million). Gross fee revenues also include expenses billed to clients.
Net fee revenues by
line of service in CHF m2008–09 in CHF m2009–10 in CHF mChange Changein % Percentage of total fee
revenue
Assurance 352 354 2 1 58 Tax & Legal Services 179 180 1 1 29 Advisory 87 80 −7 −8 13
Total 618 614 –4 –1 100
Gross fee revenues by
industry group in CHF m2008–09 in CHF m2009–10 in CHF mChange Changein % Percentage of total fee
revenues
Retail & Consumer, Industrial Products, Life Sciences
278 259 −19 −7 37 Banking, Asset Management, Insurance 245 250 5 2 35 Public Sector 82 91 9 11 13 Technology, Telecommunications,
Media & Entertainment
63 71 8 13 10 Energy & Utilities 37 33 –4 –11 5
Total 705 704 −1 0 100
Increased revenues in the financial, telecommunications and public sectors were offset by declines in retail & industry, and energy & utilities. SMEs accounted for one third of PwC Switzerland’s fee revenues. As a result of reclassification there have been minor shifts between industries.
Headcount 30 June 2009 30 June 2010 Change Change in %
Assurance 1,296 1,245 –50 –4 Tax & Legal Services 670 672 2 0 Advisory 314 295 −19 −6 Operations 429 410 –19 –4
Total 2,709 2,623 –86 –3
On 30 June 2010, PwC Switzerland employed 2,623 people, 3 per cent fewer than the previous year. These figures represent the actual headcount, not adjusted for parttime staff. Figures for the prior year have been reassigned to reflect shifts in teams.
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Publisher’s information
What’s important for you is also important for us.
We focus on three disciplines: assurance, tax and legal, and advisory services. What is your goal? We tailor our knowledge and experience to your objectives and apply them. In partnership with you we achieve what you want. Whichever of our 161,000 strong team (in any of 154 countries) works with you, they’ll start by asking questions. Are you looking to build trust? Increase the value of your business? Or adopt a completely new strategy?
We’ll get to know you and your entrepreneurial goals. Our specialists are at your disposal in 15 locations in Switzerland. © 2010 PwC. All rights reserved. “PwC” refers to PricewaterhouseCoopers AG, which is a member firm of
Publisher
PricewaterhouseCoopers AG, Zurich Editorinchief
Claudia Sauter
Text concept and editing Graf Moll & Partner Corporate Publishing GmbH, Zurich Design concept and production Roger Ellecosta
Photos
Markus Bertschi, Zurich Andri Pol, Basel
Roth und Schmid, Zurich Marc Wetli, Zurich Cédric Widmer, Lausanne Printing
Neidhart + Schön AG, Zurich Paper
