Strengthening Corporate Tax Compliance Through Internal Audit
To strengthen corporate tax governance, Advisense conducted a targeted review led by tax and internal audit specialists. The team brought together experts from Finland and Belgium. The engagement focused on risk identification, control assessment, and clear, actionable recommendations.
Tax Governance & Control Assessment
Regulatory Compliance Validation
Tax Accounting, Reporting and Risk Evaluation
Wärtsilä is a global leader in smart technologies and complete lifecycle solutions for the marine and energy markets. Headquartered in Helsinki, Finland, Wärtsilä operates through a worldwide network with a strong local presence in over 70 countries. The company serves both ship owners and energy providers, focusing on innovation, efficiency, and sustainability. Its identity is built on engineering excellence, long-term customer partnerships, and a clear commitment to enabling a decarbonized and sustainable future.
The Challenge
Wärtsilä launched an internal audit mission focused on the Corporate Tax function. The objective was to assess the design and effectiveness of the governance, processes, and controls covering the full tax scope, including tax strategy, compliance in direct and indirect taxes, transfer pricing, and tax accounting and reporting. The internal audit assignment would require tax expertise in various domains.
The Solution
Advisense deployed a team of two specialists with different tax expertise and internal audit expertise.
- Key risks and area of focus were identified and mapped.
- We provided concrete input on processes in place, documentation available and risk mitigation.
- We assisted in risk assessments, review of documentation, interviews with key stakeholders, writing of recommendations and audit report.
The Result
- Through a close and trusting collaboration between Advisense and Wärtsilä’s audit team, Wärtsilä succeeded in performing this complex audit, providing an overall assessment of Corporate tax processes within Wärtsilä and delivering within tight deadlines.
- The collaboration brought clarity, structure, and momentum to the audit process.
- The collaboration ensured that the Internal Audit department received the necessary support to effectively challenge Wärtsilä’s Corporate Tax experts, fostering knowledge transfer, enhancing technical understanding, and enabling benchmarking against leading tax governance practices.
Our key take-away was that our Advisense colleagues added significant depth to the audit subject matter and delivered clearly above expectation. Our auditees mentioned that Advisense served a purpose, the process went smoothly, and the audit challenged them sufficiently without unnecessary aggressiveness – resulting in a constructive and useful audit.
– Tom Unnérus, Chief Audit Executive, Wärtsilä
The strength of our audit lies not only in individual expertise, but in the seamless collaboration of our team and the foundation of trust we build with our partners. Together, we ensure the integrity and accuracy that corporate tax compliance demands.
– Isabelle Colin, Managing Director Internal Audit, Advisense
For more information please visit our Internal Audit page.
