An important basis for long-term success are competent and
committed employees. Should we no longer be able to re-
cruit or retain suitable specialists or managers in the future,
risks could arise for the successful implementation of our
strategy (personnel risks). To counter these risks, ALTANA of-
fers a sophisticated work environment and an attractive
compensation system, which is supplemented by various pen-
sion plans and wealth creation schemes. Moreover, we
regularly offer further education and training programs to
budding junior staff members, as well as to specialized
and managerial staff.
Compliant Group Accounting
Essential accounting-related risks arise particularly when
extraordinary or non-routine issues are handled. These include
the first-time consolidation of acquired companies or parts
of companies as well as the recording of the sale of Group
assets. Accounting of financial instruments is also subject
to risks due to the complex evaluation structure. Risks also
arise from fraudulent acts.
At ALTANA, a separate department of the Group’s hold-
ing company coordinates and monitors Group accounting.
A core component of the control system are the guidelines,
process descriptions, and deadlines that this department
defines centrally for all companies, guaranteeing a standardized
procedure for preparing the financial statements. For
complex issues, the instruments needed for uniform accounting
are retained centrally for all Group companies. For re-
cording extraordinary processes and complex special issues, we
regularly obtain external reports, advice, and statements.
The financial statements of the individual Group com-
panies are prepared decentrally by the local accounting
departments. Hence the individual companies are responsible
for preparing the financial statements, in keeping with
Group guidelines and country-specific statutory accounting
requirements.
The work steps needed to prepare the financial statements
are defined such that important process controls are inte-
grated. These include guidelines pertaining to the separation
of functions and allocation of responsibilities, to control
mechanisms, and to IT system access regulations. The respective
management explicitly confirms to the Group’s mana-
gement that the annual financial statements are correct and
complete. In addition, important financial statements are
audited by the company or Group auditors in charge.
The local accounting statements are recorded and con-
solidated via standardized formats and processes in a cen-
tral IT system. At the divisional and holding company levels
numerous manual and IT-assisted control mechanisms are
applied. They encompass an analysis and a plausibility exam-
ination of the registered data and the consolidated results
by Group accounting as well as by the controlling department
and other departments with expertise in this area.
Required corrections of the information in the financial statements
are generally made at the level of the individual
company to ensure the data are uniform and are transferred.
The company auditor and the Group auditor examine
issues, processes, and control systems relevant for the gener-
ation of financial statements. The auditor reports on the
audit directly to the Supervisory Board and the Audit Commit-
tee. In certain cases, audits are carried out by the central
Internal Audit department.
After each process related to the preparation of the
financial statements, optimization potential identified at the
different levels is analyzed and necessary adjustments of
the processes are made.
74 Expected Developments