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GROUP FINANCE AND ADMINISTRATION

The Group Finance and Administration division is a centralised service division that provides support to the other divisions in the group. It is made up of several departments, mentioned below, which attend to specialised functions. Overall, the division’s functions cover the following areas of responsibility:

FINANCIAL ACCOUNTING AND CORPORATE REPORTING

This department is responsible for:

  • collating data and producing the group’s interim and annual financial statements;
  • undertaking corporate communications and shareholder reporting;
  • ensuring compliance with all applicable accounting standards and statutory requirements; and
  • undertaking liaison with external auditors.

MANAGEMENT ACCOUNTING

Management accounting undertaken by the division comprises:

  • controlling the group’s financial accounting systems and internal checking procedures;
  • co-ordinating and consolidating all the group’s financial planning, including annual budgets and quarterly reprojections;
  • carrying out divisional financial reporting to enable accurate management decision-making; and
  • carrying out all operational financial reporting at store, area, regional and divisional level.

GENERAL FINANCE AND ADMINISTRATION

The division’s functions under this heading comprise:

  • processing and paying all merchandise costs, expenses and rental charges;
  • ensuring that all stores deposit the correct amounts daily; and
  • administering store and head office inventory and claims.

FINANCIAL SYSTEMS ADMINISTRATION

The maintenance and development of the SAP financial system is included in the division’s responsibilities. The division intends to continue to investigate the use of other modules within SAP in order to obtain the full benefits of the integration capabilities of the system.

The division is involved in any changes made to the group’s information technology systems that ultimately interface into the SAP financial system. This ensures that accounting standards and internal controls are maintained throughout the group.

TREASURY

This department is responsible for managing the group’s foreign exchange and funding policies. It ensures that the group’s funding needs are provided for with adequate credit lines and appropriate financial instruments at the lowest cost and that daily cash management is optimised. Investments and interest rate risk are managed in consultation with the financial director within the parameters laid down by the board. The department, acting in conjunction with the taxation department, assists with various commercial initiatives that affect the group.

TAXATION

This department is responsible for all aspects of the group’s taxation compliance. By its nature, it is staffed by highly skilled experts who constantly remain abreast of current and pending legislation.

SECRETARIAL AND ADMINISTRATION

This department is responsible for:

  • maintaining the group’s statutory records;
  • administering the Foschini Group Retirement Fund;
  • administering the group’s trademarks;
  • administering certain processes relating to the preparation and signing of the group’s store leases;
  • exercising the group’s compliance function; and
  • providing legal assistance and advice to other divisions of the group.

RISK MANAGEMENT

The risk management department is responsible for the following functions:

  • managing and controlling the risk management process, as defined by the group’s risk committee and as required by the Code of Corporate Practices and Conduct;
  • obtaining and maintaining appropriate insurance for the group;
  • administering all group insurance claims and compiling comprehensive loss statistics;
  • exercising control over the group business continuity planning process; and
  • facilitating inter-divisional store security meetings to allow cross-pollination of information and strategies regarding loss prevention.

A detailed risk analysis is contained in the Risk report within the corporate governance section of this report.

PROCUREMENT OF SERVICES

The group procurement process relating to non-merchandise procurement ensures that best practice is followed in all areas of the purchasing process throughout the group. Quarterly procurement reports are made to the procurement committee, comprising four members of the operating board and two senior managers. In addition, the procurement manager ensures that the BBBEE procurement strategy as defined by the transformation committee is implemented. Further details of initiatives in this regard are contained in the Transformation and CSI report.

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