Junior oil and gas companies

Accounting advisory services

We provide a wide variety of integrated services to both audit and non-audit clients, tailored to accommodate each client’s unique circumstances and needs. Our team of highly experienced accounting professionals, subject matter specialists and local resources across Canada are ready to help you address:

• Accounting Standard Adoption;
• GAAP / IFRS Interpretation and Conversions;
• IPOs and Capital Market Transactions
• Complex Mergers and Acquisitions;
• Regulatory Issues and Restatements; and
• Training Services / Expert Secondments.

ESTMA reporting

The Extractive Sector Transparency Measures Act, or ESTMA, introduces complex reporting requirements for oil and gas, and mining organizations engaged in commercial development in Canada and abroad. Our proprietary data solution and market leadership provide our clients with a comprehensive end-to-end solution, easing the burden of ESTMA reporting and making sure management is confident in its filing.
 

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Transaction services

PwC professionals are well trained to assist you through the financial and tax due diligence process. We can assist in interpreting historical operating results and net working capital/debt position and exposures of the company being evaluated. Our team is available to assist post deal with closing adjustments, purchase price allocations, or other financial reporting needs. Our professionals work closely with your in-house team and your legal and technical advisors throughout the process to identify issues relevant to you on a timely basis. 

Joint venture billing automation

Joint venture billing can be extremely complicated and costly.  Our proprietary JIB Analyzer solution automates the burdensome and manually-intensive joint venture review process, increasing calculation accuracy and transactional reporting data while improving timeliness for the expenditure-to-recovery cycle.

Value-add tax advice

In addition to the traditional tax compliance and planning services, PwC can help identify best practices for tax operations management and strategy to improve data management and help you get smart about your tax function. We find optimization opportunities to enhance shareholder value through effective global tax strategies by advising on: appropriate business and financial structures for foreign operations; acquisition and financing of operations and investments abroad; repatriation of funds and taxation of foreign-source income; and the impact of tax treaties, foreign tax holidays and exchange controls.

For start-up operations in Canada, PwC can optimize foreign and Canadian taxes, develop strategies to repatriate Canadian earnings and comply with Canadian tax filings. For those expanding abroad, we work closely with member firms worldwide to provide seamless global tax service to foreign-based multinationals. We help international companies optimize Canadian and foreign taxes, develop tax efficient strategies to repatriate cash to Canada, and comply with Canadian and foreign tax filings to better serve Canadian-based multinationals.

Other tax services include:

• Indirect tax review
• Production royalty review

Consulting

The lower for longer oil price environment has placed additional pressures on Junior oil and gas companies to streamline operations, find new efficiencies and deliver more value. Our consulting practice can help with these challenges in a variety of ways:

• Digital transformation strategy, technology implementation and change management including enterprise application assessment and integration (Oracle, Microsoft, Salesforce, SAP and Workforce)
• Data analytics
• Cyber security and privacy including crisis management incident response and containment
• Enterprise application assessment and implementation
• Operations excellence
• Capital project and asset management
• Procurement and supply chain optimization
• Workforce mobility and transformation
• Risk advisory

SR&ED

Under the Scientific Research and Experimental Development investment tax credit program, Canada offers some of the most lucrative tax credits in the world.  For certain Canadian-controlled private corporations, or for corporations undertaking SR&ED activities in Alberta, the credit is refundable even if tax isn’t owed.  At PwC, we can help optimize your SR&ED claim while minimizing administrative burden.

CSOX

PwC provides risk and control services, as well as NI 52-109 compliance. We have consolidated all of our SOX and CSOX testing engagements. Using a single common methodology and reporting standard, our top-down and risk-based approach is based on the following key principles: 

• Using an account-based financial reporting and disclosure risk assessment process to focus on what areas to test (i.e. accounts, processes, transactions), what types of controls to test (i.e. entity-level controls, automated application controls, manual business process controls), when to test (walk-through, preliminary testing, roll-forward testing), and how to test (i.e. re-performance, examination, observation and inquiry);
• Assessing entity-level controls that helps management mitigate financial reporting and disclosure risks before more detailed business process-level controls are considered;
• Documenting and evaluating IT General Computing Controls as a key element for reliance on automated applications within your controls environment;
• Addressing residual risk remaining after applying entity-level controls by testing business process-level controls, with a focus on which controls are effective in addressing more than one objective and risk; and
• Incorporating the documentation and evaluation of disclosure controls and procedures using PwC’s proprietary oil and gas controls database. 

Industry benchmarking study

Most of the benchmarking studies undertaken in the oil industry focus on the larger, global or complex companies. Information from these studies is especially important given recent volatile market conditions – whether investment, merger, pricing, operational, political, environmental or regulatory driven. Our first survey is broad-based and covers topics ranging from Information Technology, Human Resources, Supply Chain Management, Risk and Controls, Financial Effectiveness and Operations.

Enhanced Production Audit Program (“EPAP”)

Ensures compliance with Directive 076–“Operator Declaration Regarding Measurement and Reporting Requirements”.  PwC can assist with projects relating to controls over volumetric measurement and reporting. We can help you: assess how the key ERCB-EPAP related directives will impact your business; understand the linkage between ERCB reporting themes; non-compliance events and the non-compliance indicators; complete your annual risk assessment for EPAP; and document your current “as-is” operational and production accounting processes and the related controls around volumetric reporting and measurement.

International expansion

As part of a global network, PwC has an international team at its fingertips. This guarantees compliance with regulations, controls and accounting policies throughout the world. We have assisted many local-based companies interested in expanding globally with guidance on structuring and capitalizing their foreign investments and repatriating capital and profits for them. Our team is available to support you in gaining access to capital in other markets such as the AIM/LSE.