“Our Managed Services model enables us to cultivate profound, enduring relationships with our clients, much like becoming part of their family! Through our services, we provide our clients with peace of mind, thus distinguishing ourselves and making a meaningful difference.”
Debbie Matthys, Senior Manager, Advisory, KPMG in Belgium, gives us a sneak peek into how her team assists companies in leveraging a new class of managed services, transitioning from back-office functions to mission-critical operations.
Your colleague Lucas Yuksel introduced us to the interesting model of Managed Services from a tax perspective. How do the Advisory services differ?
Debbie Matthys: That’s right. Lucas introduced you to “Managed Services”, our holistic approach where we ultimately take charge of entire processes for multinational companies, ensuring accountability and lightening their workload. By leveraging automation, standardization, and deep business expertise, we deliver high-quality services and, at the same time, enhance efficiency for our clients.
So, in essence, the methodology for Tax and Advisory is similar – we take over responsibility of certain activities from our clients with the aim to alleviate their burden and allow them to operate with greater efficiency. However, the type of activities that we take over is different. This also means that the type of content, technology, and tools we use is also different. Imagine a patient visiting their doctor with complaints of shoulder pain and an eye infection. The doctor will use a holistic approach to diagnose the patient – they may order a blood test for the infection and an x-ray for the shoulder pain. The goal is the same – to alleviate the patient's suffering, but the tools and technologies used to diagnose and treat the patient differ.
Like the analogy above, we adapt our tools based on the specific needs of the situation and the client, while maintaining the overarching goal of providing relief and improving outcomes for our clients.
Have you seen a shift in the market in terms of what kind of support clients need?
Debbie Matthys: Yes! We've noticed a remarkable surge in demand for Managed Services, particularly in three key areas. Firstly, there's a discernible shift towards infusing data, technology, and AI into traditional domains previously reliant on human intervention. This presents an opportunity for service providers to innovate through unique intellectual properties, collaborative partner ecosystems, and the nurturing of specialized talent pools.
Secondly, we've noticed a growing willingness among more established clients of transactional services to outsource higher-level functions, driven by the need for enhanced transparency and evolving regulatory landscapes.
Lastly, our services are evolving to prioritize targeted outcomes, transcending beyond the provision of skilled individuals to offer comprehensive, multi-functional solutions. These solutions seamlessly integrate operational proficiency with the expertise of our highly skilled team, including data scientists, advanced technological insights, and industry-specific knowledge.
Ok, this (again) sounds like a lot of mumbo jumbo, which I’m starting to think is a secret weapon of consultancies! What makes KPMG so special?
Debbie Matthys: What makes us so special is our ability to offer a unique combination of services that sets us apart in the market. Our dedication to providing resources stems from our understanding that clients often struggle to locate the specific skills they require. Additionally, our expertise in various sectors and functions remains up-to-date through regular, accurate training sessions – which EVERYONE has to participate in. We excel in managing multiple technologies, tools, and data, streamlining processes for clients while aiming to reduce costs.
By integrating these capabilities, we deliver comprehensive end-to-end services, enabling us to fully support clients throughout their transformation journeys. We’ve got it all in-house! You just need to tell us what your end destination is, and we’ll bring the right people around the table to get you there as quickly as possible while keeping costs to a minimum. I mean, common on! How many firms on the market today can say that and ACTUALLY have the track record to back it up?
True, true. Which kind of services are we offering exactly?
Debbie Matthys: I’d like to highlight four key services we offer:
1) Internal Control in a Box aims at long-term management of internal control, SOX, and J-SOX programs. It includes keeping up-to-date with compliance mandates and managing expectations of management, auditors, and regulators;
2) Know Your Customer (KYC)/Customer Due Diligence (CDD) as a Service focuses on KYC & CDD processes to complete ongoing rolling reviews and clear backlogs of complex files to meet regulatory requirements;
3) Third-Party Risk Management centers around continuous screening, identification, and mitigation of third-party-related risks throughout the lifecycle of 3rd party relationships; and
4) Our Cyber managed services solutions are strategic by design – meaning that our experts support cybersecurity programs from strategy and transformation through to managed services. The speed and power at which the digital environment keeps evolving is leaving plenty of people feeling vulnerable. By providing the best of our people and the best of technology, KPMG can give clients the confidence to get on with their business, knowing that cyber threats are being responded to in real-time, by real people.
Now the million EUR question – [drum roll] - how is KPMG helping to make a difference?
Debbie Matthys: As a strategic partner, we can guide transformation journeys from conceptualization to tangible value creation. At the core of our philosophy lies the belief that people, and their expertise are paramount. Yes, technology plays a pivotal role in enhancing efficiency and standardization, but it’s the synergy between human intelligence and technological advancements that truly drives success. People must remain in control of technology, leveraging its capabilities to optimize operations effectively. But, the opposite is also true - relying solely on human resources without adequate technological support can be expensive and inefficient. Integrating technology into workflows will increase processing capacity, reduce manual errors, and allow for seamless data integration. And I’m just scratching the surface!
By harnessing the power of technology alongside human expertise, we empower organizations to thrive in today's dynamic business landscape, achieving operational excellence and sustainable growth.
Evolution of Managed Services: Bridging Human Expertise with Technological Innovation
Enter the realm of Managed Services, where we take charge of our clients' processes and drive improvement through strategic automation and standardization. Join us on a journey through the evolution of Managed Services, from Tax to Advisory.
Explore
Connect with us
- Find office locations kpmg.findOfficeLocations
- kpmg.emailUs
- Social media @ KPMG kpmg.socialMedia
