Description

A focused course, tailored for you

The Legal Entity Controller Playbook

Build the intercompany reconciliation methodology and statutory disclosure skills that external audit expects from each entity you own.

When an intercompany position breaks, it breaks at the entity level. The controller is the person who explains the discrepancy to external audit, to the local board, and to the prudential regulator. Most controllers have a working mental model of how the reconciliation holds together. The documented methodology is what auditors and regulators actually ask for, and that gap is where close cycles overrun.

$199 one-time

Tailored to your situation. Access within 24 hours. 30-day money-back.

Includes a hand-built implementation playbook delivered alongside course access, generated for your specific situation.

Why this course

Managing a portfolio of legal entities across multiple jurisdictions means the close never runs to a single standard. Each entity has its own GAAP basis, its own regulatory filing calendar, and its own intercompany exposure profile. When the Singapore entity's intercompany loan balance does not agree to what the Luxembourg entity is carrying, the question is not which number is right. It is who has a signed reconciliation protocol, who owns the sign-off, and what evidence the external auditor will accept. When that methodology lives in the controller's head and not in a documented procedure, every close cycle re-solves the same problem from scratch. Rationalization projects add another layer: producing final statutory accounts for entities being dissolved requires the controller to run a close under liquidation-basis accounting, coordinate tax clearance, notify the regulator, and produce a board pack that satisfies director obligations under the local Corporations Act. Without a documented playbook, each of these steps is negotiated ad hoc, and project timelines slip.

What you walk away with

Produce a documented intercompany reconciliation methodology that external audit can rely on across close cycles without re-negotiating the protocol each time.
Build a statutory disclosure checklist calibrated to the GAAP basis and jurisdictional filing requirements of each entity in your portfolio.
Manage a legal entity rationalization project from governance review through final accounts to deregistration, on schedule and with a complete audit trail.
Prepare going concern assessments and directors' declarations that satisfy the local Corporations Act or Companies Act requirements for entities with thin equity or group-support dependency.
Reconcile entity-level regulatory capital reports back to the statutory trial balance for prudentially regulated entities under APRA, FCA, or SEC oversight.

The 12 modules

Module 1. Building the Entity Inventory

You will map each legal entity by jurisdictional status (regulated, unregulated, dormant), GAAP basis (IFRS, local GAAP, US GAAP), regulatory owner (APRA, FCA, SEC, ASIC), and intercompany exposure profile. The deliverable is a master entity register that the finance operations team, external auditors, and tax advisors can all read from a single version, with clear flags for entities approaching a filing deadline or carrying unsupported intercompany positions.

Module 2. Intercompany Reconciliation Methodology

The intercompany reconciliation is where the close breaks. This module builds a methodology for matching intercompany positions across jurisdictions: who sends the first confirmation, what tolerance is acceptable before an escalation is triggered, and what documentation the external auditor expects when two entities sit under different GAAP. The artefact produced is a reconciliation protocol with sign-off thresholds calibrated by entity type and transaction size.

Module 3. IFRS-to-Local GAAP Mapping for Intercompany Transactions

A loan that is a financial liability under IFRS 9 may be treated differently under local GAAP in a given jurisdiction. This module works through the practical mapping exercise: identifying the five most common IFRS-to-local-GAAP divergence points for financial institution entities, building a translation bridge for intercompany loans, dividends, and management fees, and producing the documentation that satisfies both the local auditor and the group controller reconciling up to the consolidated accounts.

Module 4. Statutory Disclosure Preparation

Statutory disclosures are where external audit spends the most time. This module covers the preparation process for related party disclosures, going concern notes, and directors' declarations: what level of specificity the local Companies Act requires, how to handle intragroup transactions in the related party note, and how to draft a going concern paragraph that is defensible when the entity carries thin equity or relies on a group support letter.

Module 5. Regulatory Notification and Filing by Jurisdiction

Each regulatory jurisdiction has its own notification requirement for material entity events: restructure, recapitalization, change of control, dormancy, and dissolution. This module maps the requirements across ASIC and APRA in Australia, FCA and PRA in the UK, and the SEC in the US: what triggers a filing, what the timeline is, and what the controller prepares versus what falls to legal counsel. The output is a jurisdiction-by-jurisdiction notification matrix.

Module 6. Transfer Pricing Documentation at Entity Level

Transfer pricing is a controller risk because the entity-level profit and loss is directly affected by management fees, cost allocations, and intragroup service charges. This module builds a documentation workflow: identifying controlled transactions per entity, matching them to the group transfer pricing policy, flagging entities where the local margin falls outside the arm's length range, and producing the local file documentation the tax authority expects at the time of audit.

Module 7. Going Concern Assessment at Entity Level

Going concern is assessed at the entity level for statutory accounts, not at the group level. This module works through the methodology: the cash flow stress test the auditor wants to see, how to handle a thin-equity entity that relies on group support, what the directors' declaration needs to contain, and how to document that the parent has confirmed its intention to maintain support. The deliverable is a going concern memo template that meets the standard the external auditor applies.

Module 8. Related Party Transaction Disclosure

Related party disclosures generate the most audit queries of any note in the statutory accounts. This module covers the full preparation process: identifying all related parties for each entity (group parent, sister entities, key management personnel, associates), categorizing each transaction type (loans, guarantees, management fees, cost allocations), and producing the quantitative note at the specificity level the local GAAP standard and the auditor's materiality threshold require.

Module 9. Legal Entity Rationalization Project Management

A rationalization project targeting 30 entities for closure over 12 months involves far more than legal work. The controller owns the accounting component: producing final statutory accounts for each entity, coordinating the group consolidation handoff, ensuring intercompany positions net to zero before deregistration, and flagging latent tax exposures that crystallize on dissolution. This module builds a project-management checklist and timeline template calibrated to the controller's workload alongside the regular close cycle.

Module 10. Entity Dissolution: Final Accounts and Regulatory Sign-off

The final accounts for an entity being dissolved are the most scrutinized accounts that entity will ever produce. This module covers the close-out procedure: valuing residual assets at liquidation value, recognizing previously deferred tax liabilities, producing the liquidation-basis balance sheet the auditor and regulator expect, and coordinating the final dividend or return of capital that precedes deregistration. The deliverable is a dissolution checklist and a final accounts template.

Module 11. Entity-Level Capital Adequacy Reporting

Regulatory capital adequacy reports are required at the entity level for prudentially regulated entities, not only at the group level. For an APRA-regulated entity, that means preparing quarterly prudential returns from the entity's own trial balance. This module covers the reconciliation of the regulatory capital position back to the statutory balance sheet, the treatment of capital instruments that qualify differently under IFRS and APRA's capital rules, and the disclosure note the external auditor checks.

Module 12. Legal Entity Governance Board Pack

The quarterly legal entity governance board pack is the artefact that ties every module together. This module covers its structure and content: entity-level profit and loss summary, intercompany position overview, regulatory capital headroom, open audit findings, compliance obligations due in the next quarter, and the going concern assessment update. You will produce a board pack template and a presentation narrative that meets the directors' obligations under the local Corporations Act.

How this addresses your situation

Specific modules that map to what you said you are dealing with.

Q4 close with an intercompany break: Modules 2, 3, and 4 walk through the reconciliation protocol, GAAP mapping, and statutory disclosure preparation in sequence.

Legal entity rationalization project underway: Modules 9 and 10 cover the controller's project checklist and the final accounts process for entities scheduled for dissolution.

External auditor requesting going concern documentation: Modules 4, 7, and 8 cover the going concern methodology, supporting memo, and related party disclosure preparation.

Regulatory capital return due for a prudentially regulated entity: Module 11 covers the reconciliation of the capital position back to the statutory trial balance and the required disclosure note.

What you get with this course

12 written modules, each producing a specific working artefact before you proceed to the next
Downloadable templates: entity inventory register, intercompany reconciliation protocol, going concern memo, statutory disclosure checklist, entity dissolution checklist, and legal entity governance board pack
Hand-built implementation playbook tailored to your jurisdictional mix and entity portfolio
Access provisioned within 24 hours of purchase
30-day money-back guarantee

What you will have in hand by Day 1, Week 1, Month 1

Within 24 hours: course access provisioned and hand-built implementation playbook delivered.

Days 1 to 14: work through the 12 modules at your own pace, each producing one working artefact.

Ongoing: all templates and the playbook remain yours to use across every future close cycle and rationalization project.

Before and after

Before

The intercompany reconciliation methodology lives in the controller's head. Close cycles re-solve the same problems from scratch. Statutory accounts for smaller entities are delayed because sign-off protocols are undocumented and auditor queries cannot be resolved at first response.

After

A documented, repeatable close methodology for every tier of entity in the portfolio. Auditor queries on intercompany positions resolved with a reconciliation protocol the auditor can follow. Statutory accounts filed on schedule. Rationalization projects run to a controller's checklist, not to improvised timelines.

What happens if you do not address this

A close methodology that lives in the controller's memory is a regulatory risk. When the controller moves on, the intercompany reconciliation breaks. When external audit escalates a query to a finding, the absence of documented procedures is itself evidence of a control weakness. Entity-level regulatory filings that are late carry director liability under the Corporations Act. Rationalization projects without a documented final-accounts procedure routinely overshoot their planned closure date.

Who it is for

This course is for finance professionals who own entity-level close and statutory reporting for a portfolio of legal entities spanning multiple jurisdictions. You have a working knowledge of IFRS and intercompany accounting. Your challenge is not the accounting standards themselves. It is the governance layer: documented reconciliation methodology, cross-border sign-off protocols, statutory disclosure preparation, and the evidence standard that satisfies both external audit and the local prudential regulator in each jurisdiction.

Who this is NOT for. This course is not for group-level consolidation specialists or tax practitioners. It is not for accountants who work on a single entity in a single jurisdiction. The templates and methodology are designed for controllers managing portfolios of ten or more legal entities across at least two regulatory jurisdictions.

How it arrives

Text-based course in the Art of Service learning environment, plus downloadable templates and worked examples for every module, plus the hand-built implementation playbook delivered alongside course access.

Time investment. Approximately 4 to 6 hours across the 12 modules. Each module is structured to produce one working artefact before you move to the next.

Why $199 is the right number

Attending a general IFRS update course teaches the standard but not the governance layer. Hiring an external project team for a rationalization delivers the outcome but leaves the controller without a reusable methodology. Producing the methodology internally from first principles takes months of close cycles to stabilize. This course covers the governance and methodology layer so every future close and every rationalization project runs from documented procedures.

FAQ

Does the course cover entities under IFRS and also under local GAAP requirements in multiple jurisdictions?

Yes. Module 3 is structured around the IFRS-to-local-GAAP mapping exercise, covering the most common divergence points for financial institution entities across Australian, UK, and US jurisdictions, with a bridge template you can adapt for other markets.

Is the implementation playbook tailored to my specific entity portfolio and jurisdictional mix?

Yes. The playbook is hand-built after purchase, which is why access is provisioned within 24 hours rather than instantly. It incorporates your entity types, jurisdictions, and the regulatory frameworks most relevant to your portfolio.

Does the course address regulatory capital reporting for APRA-regulated entities specifically?

Module 11 covers entity-level capital adequacy reporting under APRA's prudential standards, including the reconciliation of quarterly prudential returns to the statutory trial balance and the specific disclosure note requirements.

30-day money-back guarantee. If after a week of working through the materials this is not what you needed, reply to the receipt email and a full refund is processed. No questions, no forms.

Within 24 hours your account in the learning environment is provisioned and the tailored implementation playbook is delivered alongside it.