Our way of working

 “In a complex world, we create value by reassuring business leaders that their business is compliant and focused on optimal performance.”
Roger Heijens,
Chairman PricewaterhouseCoopers Belgium

Durable relationships

During the past year, we have reflected on those attitudes and behaviours that our clients value most in a professional services provider. These include:

• a willingness to invest in durable relationships;
• sharing and collaboration;
• an ability to see issues from their perspective and a focus on building value.

A distinctive client-oriented approach

Clients want to work with people who bring both their heads and their hearts together. In light of this, we have taken a fresh look at the way we interact with our clients and with our people, to actively promote those of our values, attitudes and behaviours that help deliver the distinctive client-oriented PwC Experience.

Seeking new opportunities

In response to the pressure to deliver sustainable growth, the world’s business leaders continue to look to emerging markets when seeking new opportunities. By 2050, the combined economies of the top-7 emerging countries are expected to exceed those of today’s G7 countries. PwC is already there, helping clients pave the way to growth both at home and abroad.

The current business environment – beyond borders

Over the last few months, confidence amongst CEOs and their ability to grow revenues has taken a knock as the world’s stock markets experinced a roller coaster ride driven by the subprime credit concerns in the United States. Whilst we expect CEOs to be more cautious about growth as they go into 2009, the recent credit crisis has only reinforced the increasingly connected and global world in which we do business, and has re-emphasised the need and desire to look beyond home markets for new growth and new opportunities.

Catalysts for business improvement – facing new challenges

Agility

Global corporations are daily confronted by the need for change. They are constantly re-inventing themselves to stay attuned to evolving circumstances. This as much a challenge for our clients as it is for us as we continually face the need to move towards an increasingly uniform, regulated business model for the accounting profession.

Trust

PwC welcomes this challenge. In Belgium, we have a strong reputation for working effectively with governments, regulators and corporations to enhance public trust, optimise organisational structures and ensure capital-market efficiency. Recent, large-scale regulatory work has restored public trust to a large extent but has created a complex environment of multi-country regulatory requirements.

Peace of mind

Along with our clients, we have built up an impressive track record of ensuring conformity within this environment, attaining the right level of compliance and creating the peace of mind that enables business leaders to focus on other challenges.

Taking the risk out of uncertainty: why clients turn to us

Reassurance

PwC Belgium is a trusted partner that helps clients optimise their decision-making in the areas of finance, corporate governance and compliance. We give them reassurance that they are taking all the right factors into account.

Risk management

Business challenges mean decisions have to be made. However, this doesn’t need to be done in a haze of uncertainty. Risk management is a key to good decision-making as it encompasses all the steps that can be taken to reduce doubt. Which is why clients turn to us: they value our expertise, the relationships they have with us, and our ability to act as objective sounding boards.

Promised value

Our expert advice and insights cover all domains of our clients’ business – from successful mergers and acquisitions that deliver the value promised, to implementing balanced, sensible tax strategies. We have an important role in managing the interface between the public sector and the business community, as champions of administrative simplification and supporting governments in making key decisions. By helping them all to manage risk, we are laying part of the foundations for sustainable economic growth.

Building relationships

Business challenges

Looking at business challenges from different angles lies at the heart of our culture. We listen to our clients and understand the challenges they are facing. Our relationship with them is evolving in new dimensions: auditors today are expected to provide a broader perspective on the entire range of clients’ issues.

Multidisciplinary teams

At PwC Belgium, we form multidisciplinary teams to provide the best solutions. We bring together individuals with outstanding expertise who will listen, think and act as an integrated team – that is what the PwC Experience is all about. Having a thorough understanding of our clients’ environments, we truly contribute to the achievement of their goals.