Public-company reporting
Reporting that holds up —
quarter after quarter
Public-company reporting is unforgiving: fixed deadlines, technical IFRS requirements, auditor scrutiny, and an audit committee that expects clarity. Cipher Financial takes ownership of demanding reporting cycles, brings senior public-company leadership to the process, and leaves behind reporting infrastructure that outlasts the engagement.
- IFRS quarterly and annual statements
- MD&A and continuous disclosure
- Audit and audit-committee coordination
- Close-process and calendar improvement
The reporting cycle
Seven stages, four times a year
Quarterly and annual cycles share the same skeleton; the annual cycle adds the audit and year-end disclosures. Reporting stops being stressful when every stage has an owner and a date.
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Pre-close planning
Reporting calendar, issue identification, technical-accounting questions surfaced before the close instead of after it. Annual cycles add audit planning with the external auditor.
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Close and consolidation
Month- and quarter-end close, consolidation, reconciliations, and supporting schedules — run to a checklist with clear ownership.
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Draft reporting
IFRS financial statements and note disclosures; MD&A drafted consistently with the statements. Annual cycles add year-end-specific disclosures.
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External review
Auditor review or audit fieldwork: request-list management, technical position papers, and keeping the timetable honest.
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Governance review
Audit-committee package, committee review, and board approval — with enough lead time for real questions.
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Filing and communication
SEDAR+ filing, certifications, news release where applicable, and coordination with legal counsel on disclosure.
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Post-cycle improvement
What slipped, what dragged, what to fix before next quarter. The cheapest quarter to improve is the one that just ended.
How the work moves
From preparation
to filing
Each handoff is a point where quarters are won or lost. Cipher Financial's job is to make every handoff boring.
Finance team + Cipher Financial
Close, statements, MD&A, support schedules
External auditors
Independent review or audit
Audit committee → Board
Committee oversight, then board approval
Filing & communication
SEDAR+, certifications, news release with counsel
Who does what
Responsibility, stated plainly
Clear roles are half the battle in issuer reporting. Management remains responsible for the financial statements and disclosures; external auditors provide independent assurance; legal counsel advises on legal and securities-law matters. Cipher Financial supports preparation, coordination, review, process ownership, and executive oversight depending on the engagement.
| Activity | Management | Cipher Financial | External auditors | Legal counsel | Audit committee | Board |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Financial statements & disclosures | L | S | A | — | R | D |
| MD&A and continuous disclosure | L | S | — | S | R | D |
| Close process & reconciliations | L | S | — | — | — | — |
| Technical accounting positions | L | S | A | — | R | — |
| External audit / review | L | S | A | — | R | — |
| Audit-committee reporting | L | S | A | — | R | — |
| Filing & certifications | L | S | — | S | — | D |
- L
- Leads and is responsible
- S
- Supports, prepares, or coordinates
- A
- Independent assurance
- R
- Reviews and oversees
- D
- Decides or approves
- —
- Not typically involved
Financial statements & disclosures
- Management: leads and is responsible
- Cipher Financial: supports, prepares, or coordinates
- External auditors: independent assurance
- Legal counsel: not typically involved
- Audit committee: reviews and oversees
- Board: decides or approves
Management remains responsible for the financial statements; Cipher prepares, reviews, and coordinates depending on the engagement.
MD&A and continuous disclosure
- Management: leads and is responsible
- Cipher Financial: supports, prepares, or coordinates
- External auditors: not typically involved
- Legal counsel: supports, prepares, or coordinates
- Audit committee: reviews and oversees
- Board: decides or approves
Counsel advises on legal and securities-law matters.
Close process & reconciliations
- Management: leads and is responsible
- Cipher Financial: supports, prepares, or coordinates
- External auditors: not typically involved
- Legal counsel: not typically involved
- Audit committee: not typically involved
- Board: not typically involved
Cipher can own the process design and supervise execution.
Technical accounting positions
- Management: leads and is responsible
- Cipher Financial: supports, prepares, or coordinates
- External auditors: independent assurance
- Legal counsel: not typically involved
- Audit committee: reviews and oversees
- Board: not typically involved
Position papers prepared to withstand auditor review.
External audit / review
- Management: leads and is responsible
- Cipher Financial: supports, prepares, or coordinates
- External auditors: independent assurance
- Legal counsel: not typically involved
- Audit committee: reviews and oversees
- Board: not typically involved
Auditors provide independent assurance; they are never replaced by Cipher.
Audit-committee reporting
- Management: leads and is responsible
- Cipher Financial: supports, prepares, or coordinates
- External auditors: independent assurance
- Legal counsel: not typically involved
- Audit committee: reviews and oversees
- Board: not typically involved
Committee oversight is distinct from board approval.
Filing & certifications
- Management: leads and is responsible
- Cipher Financial: supports, prepares, or coordinates
- External auditors: not typically involved
- Legal counsel: supports, prepares, or coordinates
- Audit committee: not typically involved
- Board: decides or approves
CEO/CFO certifications remain with the certifying officers.
Cipher Financial does not act as your external auditor, does not provide legal or securities-law advice, and does not guarantee compliance, filing acceptance, or audit outcomes. Roles are agreed in writing for each engagement.
When issuers call
Common engagement
situations
The pattern behind most of them: reporting treated as a last-minute compliance exercise instead of a managed process.
- 01
A CFO departure with a filing deadline inside the notice period
- 02
A first year of public reporting after a listing, RTO, or qualifying transaction
- 03
Statements chronically late, or filed with post-filing corrections
- 04
A finance team competent at closing the books but stretched past capacity by issuer reporting
- 05
An audit that runs long every year because preparation starts too late
- 06
A financing or transaction that adds pro-forma and disclosure workload to an already full quarter
- 07
IFRS transition, a new standard, or an unusual transaction needing a defensible position
Beneath the calendar
IFRS and governance
depth
Technical accounting
Position papers and analysis for new standards, unusual transactions, and areas of judgement — share-based payments, financial instruments, revenue recognition, impairment, going-concern — prepared to withstand auditor review.
Board and audit-committee reporting
Reporting packages a committee can absorb before the meeting, and attendance at meetings where the engagement calls for it.
Internal controls and documentation
Practical control design proportionate to the size of the issuer, with documentation that supports certifications rather than existing for its own sake.
Transitions and transactions
CFO transitions, staffing gaps, financings, and going-public preparation — the moments when reporting workload spikes and experience matters most.
Discuss your reporting cycle
before the next one starts
A brief conversation about your calendar, your team, and where the last quarter hurt. Confidential, and useful either way.