• Timmermans Consulting Middelbeers - Kees Timmermans Owner Timmermans Consulting

General news

Development and General News

Training program developed on Internal Control for multiple organisations

Timmermans Consulting has developed a training program based on the experiences over the last decade in the area of Internal Control to enable an increasing awareness for employees in different organisations on all aspects of internal control.

By applying this training program, organisations will be able to improve the knowledge and skills of their key employees in the area of internal control and in that way make risks more visible and controlled. The training program has been used already in other international organisations and further improved to comply with different objectives to be applicable for companies in a broad range of branches.

For further information with regards to this training program, please contact us so we can give further details.

 

Attachment: Training IC Project

Imtech has internal control problems

February 5, 2013

Today, Imtech announced it has major problems with its investments in Warsaw, Poland.

Imtech is facing major problems in various projects in Poland. The technical service provider expects due to financing problems and “possible irregularities” at least 100 million euros to write off on their projects and therefore can not fulfill the agreements with lenders. Because of the uncertainty about the precise extent of the depreciation, Imtech can not prepare its financial statements and the publication of the annual figures scheduled for February 5 is postponed as the company announced today.
The lack of an adequate internal control has caused loss of confidence in this company by invester and financial institutes.
The Imtech problems demonstrates, an adequate internal control structure is necessary for a company to be able to manage its objectives and strategy and get informed of problems and irregularities on a timely basis.

Timmermans Consulting has many years experience in the implementation and improvement of the internal control structure in (international) companies. For information how we can assist your organisation, please contact us.

Eindhoven plays with community funds!

This week, an article in the Eindhoven Dagblad (ED) was published  with regard to the irregularities on the relocation of some caravans (total costs approx 9 Million Euro). The city of Eindhoven had an external interim manager appointed (which according to the ED also in other municipalities delivered insufficient quality of work) without the necessary antecedents investigated (1st risk). This interim manager was insufficiently controlled and managed with respect to the project objectives (2nd risk). The internal organization was apparently insufficient laid out to run projects on this scale (3rd risks) and finally the local government admitted that the accounting of the project expenses was not sufficiently transparent and could no longer be retrieved (4th risk) .
All in one, the municipality has taken clear risks with public money without an adequate control structure in place.
This example again shows that major risks are taken where this is not necessary because a small investment in a setup of the appropriate controls can be implemented and the financial consequences of such projects will be minimized!
For information, please contact our organization and we are happy to inform you on possibilities.

 

Password protection

People are pretty predictable when choosing a password and that has been proven unwise. The less secure but most common password is ‘password’. Place 2 and 3 are the same less secure passwords ‘123456’ and ‘12345678’. If we realize that our life gets more and more determined by the digital environment then we are taking serious risks.

Important tips for a secure password:

  • Provide a password of eight or more characters
  • Use different symbols: letters, numbers and punctuation marks
  • Use different passwords for different websites / applications

The UK Corporate Governance Code (The Code)

The first version of the UK Corporate Governance Code (the Code) was produced in 1992 by the Cadbury Committee. Its paragraph 2.5 is still the classic definition of the context of the Code:

“Corporate governance is the system by which companies are directed and controlled. Boards of directors are responsible for the governance of their companies. The shareholders’ role in governance is to appoint the directors and the auditors and to satisfy themselves that an appropriate governance structure is in place. The responsibilities of the board include setting the company’s strategic aims, providing the leadership to put them into effect, supervising the management of the business and reporting to shareholders on their stewardship. The board’s actions are subject to laws, regulations and the shareholders in general meeting.”

The Code has been enduring, but it is not immutable. Its fitness for purpose in a permanently changing economic and social business environment requires its evaluation at appropriate intervals. The new Code applies to accounting periods beginning on or after 1 October 2012 and applies to all companies with a Premium listing of equity shares regardless of whether they are incorporated in the UK or elsewhere.

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Timmermans Consulting B.V.

Timmermans Consulting Middelbeers - Logo klein Heiakkerweg 3
5091 KW Middelbeers
The Netherlands


  T. +31 (0)13 5143822

  M. +31 (0)6 53 361917

  F. +31 (0)13 5144326


  Einfo@timmermansconsulting.nl

  Wwww.timmermansconsulting.nl


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