Services
offered TO YOU
BY INTERGEST
Service N° 1
Services of Intergest Worldwide
BENEFITS
- Specialist advice and expertise on the international market since 1972
- One-stop shop for all services, custom-tailored to the respective corporate philosophy
- Internationally experienced partners (many of whom speak German) and employees
- Clearly defined responsibilities, reliability and adherence to schedules
- Collaborative style of partnership
Service N° 2
Internationalisation
InterGest specialises in tailoring service offerings suited to meet the needs of the small to medium-sized enterprise, providing a modern, cost effective and flexible route to successful foreign market penetration. The broad range of services, as well as the expertise garnered through decades of experience in each target market, form the ideal basis from which to provide support to export-focused companies, either through setting up and managing foreign subsidiaries, or delivering a direct sales function “in-country”.
With offices in more than 50 locations around the world, InterGest provides consulting and services to assist companies in developing foreign markets. This ranges from corporate formation and domiciling of a foreign business entity, through fiduciary administration of accounts, tax and legal consulting, to salary administration, controlling and reporting. Through our internationally co-ordinated network of global partners we have access to a comprehensive knowledge-pool covering all commercial and legal aspects in the respective regions. The complexities of international trade are our daily bread and butter.
Service N° 3
Business Establishment
We handle all formalities for our clients when they wish to set up a new branch or subsidiary
abroad, or to establish additional ones.
In order to ensure that the foreign operation has the right support from day one, our
services include:
- Experienced multilingual staff who, in addition to their national language, usually speak English, German and French, and deal with all office work, including bookkeeping and accounting
- An officially accredited accounting division under the direction of professionally certified accountants and tax advisors
- An experienced team of professionals for all specialised fields of international commerce, trade and banking
- Modern offices in the business centres of major cities across the world, with state-ofthe-art office communication and IT systems
- Comprehensive invoicing and bookkeeping services, sales and inventory statistics, profit calculations, agents’ commission processing, and payroll service
GLOBAL SERVICES
in 50 COUNTRIES
WITH 750 EMPLOYEES
FOR 1.700 COMPANIES
Service N° 4
Sales Development
The key to success in foreign markets is finding the right team to help you build an efficient and cost-effective sales function.
Our services include assistance in building up, managing and reorganising your representation or sales organisation.
Furthermore, we assist in the sourcing and selection of management personnel, trade representatives, agents and general commission agents. To ensure clear lines of communication between you and your foreign entity we assist in establishing the organisational framework for your representatives or sales team, manage the commission claims of sales representatives and translate the sales reports into your mother tongue.
Service N° 5
Administration
At InterGest our service offering includes the full range of administrative tasks required for the efficient operation of a foreign entity, subsidiary, branch or holding company, covering financial, controlling and human resources management.
In the initial phase we carry out an in-depth analysis of the most suitable legal and fiscal setup for your foreign business entity. We then assist you in forming the foreign company and in establishing the organisational structure that meets your company’s particular needs. In the the third phase, InterGest takes on fiduciary responsibility by carrying out all administrative tasks and requirements. Our clients have access to the latest figures and processes at any time.
Service N° 6
Accounting
Despite years of striving to establish internationally accepted accounting standards, almost every country still has its own legal requirements which need to be adhered to consistently, not only when filing annual tax returns.
Generally, larger corporations tend to follow US-GAAP or IFRS procedures within their companies in order to manage the consolidation of their international businesses as smoothly as possible.
InterGest is fully conversant with both requirements and will manage your bookkeeping according to your general corporate requirements as well as according to local accounting standards. Providing two annual statements, for example one according to IFRS and one according to local requirements, is par for the course for us.
Service N° 7
Controlling and Reporting
Anyone who entrusts the management of their foreign business to someone else is justified in expecting absolute transparency when it comes to business reporting. At the InterGest head office in Sarreguemines and at many of our partner offices worldwide we use SAP as our ERP system. This makes it easy for us to provide 100% transparency, round the clock, with regard to all financial operations by means of info-user licences.
However, we also provide customised reporting for companies which do not use SAP. Whether you prefer to use your own MIS software or to receive Excel files, whether you want periodic reporting or would rather log in via a VPN link to obtain your corporate financial information directly – at InterGest we will provide you with the solution of your choice.
We provide the following services in detail:
- Periodic overview of all company accounts in each country in the local currency or any other currency, as required
- Regular regional overview of all accounts in all foreign branches in one currency throughout, according to user requirements (consolidated reporting)
- Country specific and regional budgeting as well as P&L comparisons
- Periodic cost accounting with financial statements
Service N° 8
Human Resources
The HR services offered by InterGest include much more than reliable, timely completion of salary payments according to local statutory requirements. On your behalf, we will take care of drawing up local employment contracts and will assist you in employment termination proceedings according to the latest local legal requirements. We will manage expense accounts and use our local know-how when it comes to dealing with local authorities and insurance questions.
We also provide support with:
- Calculating and deducting social security payments
- Managing employee registration procedures
- Managing health and accident insurance payments
- Transparent regional reporting
Our local partners are fully conversant with the labour legislation and social security issues, and also utilise the longstanding business relationships between international InterGest partners to help search for competent and experienced staff – from sales representatives to managing directors.
Service N° 9
Debtor Management
In general, clients in foreign markets expect to be treated differently than those in our home markets. Different countries have different payment terms, in some locations forms of payment that we would consider old-fashioned – such as bills of exchange – are accepted. Of course no-one considers it necessary to adapt their payment terms to suit those of the foreign service provider.
Usually companies prefer to handle credit control centrally via their head office. When using a central ERP system with inventory management, this appears at first glance to be the most effective and efficient method. And yet it brings with it also the need for debt recovery and collection procedures. There is no other area of the business where more client sensitivity is called for than in debt recovery: in some countries reminders are sent within two weeks, while in others no written reminders are ever sent at all. Here the acceptable process is to simply call and remind tardy clients of their overdue balances.
It is our responsibility to bring our clients‘ liquidity requirements in line with the payment policies of their clients abroad. There are various ways to achieve this: factoring or invoice discounting are only two possibilities of many. We will tailor the right solution for your needs.
Service N° 10
Strategic consulting
An increasingly globalised world economy not only offers opportunities, but also puts traditional business models to the test. It is therefore essential to reflect on your own market situation and to identify strengths and weaknesses in order to increase the efficiency of your company. This is exactly where our strategy consulting comes in and aims to make your company more capable of acting and to prepare it specifically for the market changes in your segment. InterGest will support you in this.
Service N° 11
Payroll
In contrast to financial accounting, there are no worldwide standards for payroll. Each country has its own system of taxes and various levies such as social security, pension fund or health insurance. This is also due to the fact that there is practically no IT system that is able to carry out payroll accounting in different countries due to the same programming.
At InterGest, we therefore offer not only competent local payroll services, but also cross-border elaborations that make different payroll systems comparable and thus transparent.
Service N° 12
VAT
Hardly any area of company administration is more challenging from a tax point of view than dealing with cross-border VAT issues. Not only does practically every country have its own VAT system with different tax rates, but the question of where the VAT liability arises also raises considerable questions. Especially in the case of frequently existing triangular transactions across more than one national border, even experienced tax experts are often at the end of their wisdom.
InterGest draws its expertise in this regard from its many years of experience in cross-border trade in goods and services as well as from the highly competent InterGest partners involved in this area, for whom VAT issues are part of everyday business.
ADDITIONAL Services
Our range of services is strong and comprehensive, but we have equally strong partners who complement it in a very helpful way. That is why we have entered into cooperation agreements with them, so that we can support our clients beyond our own capabilities if necessary.
We maintain close contact and lively exchange with our cooperation partners in order to recognise the needs of our customers with them and to adapt to them together.