Ethics, sustainability and accounting for the post-Covid Accountant The climate is changing - are you standing still?
Sustainability means more than becoming a paperless practice. It’s about making conscious decisions for the types of
@ArexMarkets
Perttu Jalkanen, Co-Founder & CCO, AREX Markets Perttu Jalkanen, Co-founder and Chief Commercial Officer at AREX, has 15 years’ experience in FinTech and start-ups. A track record of success, Perttu was the VP of Business development of FinTech start-up Maventa, which grew to 20,000 corporate customers processing billions of e-invoices. Maventa was later acquired by Visma. A firm believer in equality of access to capital markets, Perttu cofounded AREX Markets to help put the power back into the SMEs hands.
businesses and processes a practitioner should recommend going forward.
This article is
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here has arguably never been as much focus on sustainability and ethical business practices, which are increasingly scrutinised when it comes to a company’s partners and suppliers. The topic of ESG (Environmental and Social Governance) is especially hot and set to rapidly spread its influence into all aspects of a business’ operations.
Even the sole practitioner accountant will soon need to have a view on the ESG focus of their suppliers and business partners. In the face of current business challenges, adaptable options are required which give a business and its finances flexibility. Rather than financing products which lock companies in for lengthy
terms and charge eye-watering interest rates, practitioners and accountant advisors need to be aware of fresher alternatives. Through the emergence of more alternative finance options specifically designed for SME use, alternative finance is offering greater choice for businesses to take more control of their balance sheets. AltFi options, like AREX, are where SME business needs can match the need for sustainable and ethical business practices. We built our business model from scratch as a more ethical way for businesses to access cash through a marketplace approach to financing invoices. This means that the business gets better rates of return, from a longstanding process traditionally held in the hands of few providers. This lack of competition led to invoice financing often considered as a last resort decision, due to archaic and unsustainable terms. With the introduction of newer entities like us, companies seeking more latitude with their cashflow can use financing on demand, essentially by reducing their debtor days to 0, tapping
12 / Issue 28
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