Features of settlements with customers in the big four companies

Abstract

This article examines the specifics of settlements with clients in the world's four largest audit companies by revenue. As a result of the study, it was found that billing customers for the services provided takes place in several stages. The main responsibilities of the company's participants who are involved in the process of invoicing customers are clarified. It is established that companies have multi-level control over the generated invoices, which involves employees of the operational and financial departments of companies, as well as project managers who are direct service providers to the client. It was revealed that in the process of communicating with customers and making settlements with them, the big four companies use the Microsoft Office, a specially developed system for invoicing based on SAP, and BAS accounting software products, M.E.Doc, a service for electronic document management between the company's structural units and the client «Vchasno». However, despite the coherence of the billing mechanism and several levels of control, companies face certain risks that can negatively affect the quality of information in accounting and reporting on the status of settlements. In particular, this is due to technical failures in software due to uneven server load, as well as loss of information caused by a human factor - errors in entering data into the electronic system, negligence, abuse of official position. In the course of the study, it was found that insufficient awareness of employees of the operational and financial departments, as well as limited access to the necessary documents for making settlements with customers, can lead to a decrease in the quality of information in the company's reporting, fraud and other illegal actions. Based on the results of the study, approaches to solving existing problems in companies when making settlements with customers were described. The study showed that in an unstable economic environment, the Big Four companies constantly need to adapt to changes in the business environment and comply with the highest standards of data quality and security.