Ubisoft 2016 Annual Report Download - page 51

Governance, risks, riskmanagement andinternalcontrol
3
Report of the Chairman of the Board of Directors on corporate governance, internal control andriskmanagement
new products, the hiring of new staff in France or abroad, and
negotiations with new partners). They manage the portfolio of
industrial property, handle any disputes and continually monitor
regulatory changes in the various countries in which Ubisoft
operates;
♦ the Tax Department assists and advises the Group’s French
and foreign companies with the analysis of the tax aspects of their
projects. In coordination with the various internal departments,
it ensures the Group’s tax security by organizing risk prevention,
identifi cation and management. It implements the Group’s
transfer price policy;
♦
the Information Systems Department is involved in
selecting IT solutions, ensures their consistency, and monitors
their technical and functional compatibility. The IT Department
monitors the progress of IT projects and ensures that they are
compatible with requirements, existing systems, budgets, etc.
An annual review of medium-term projects has been put in place.
This is periodically revised to take account of developments
within the Company, priorities and constraints.
The Risk Security and Management Department is responsible
for ensuring and organizing the protection of Ubisoft activities,
which include but are not limited to the security of applications,
information systems, online games, human resources and
property. The team has also established rules and control
measures with the aim of preventing and managing risks. These
internal policies and procedures are reviewed regularly, circulated
and adapted to maximize their effi ciency.
INTERNAL CONTROL OF THE PREPARATION
OFFINANCIAL AND ACCOUNTING INFORMATION
The internal control procedures relating to the preparation and
processing of fi nancial and accounting information are mainly
implemented by the various accounting and fi nance departments.
Financial statement preparation and consolidation
processes
The fi nancial statements of each subsidiary are drawn up, under the
responsibility of their manager, by the local accounting departments,
which ensure compliance with country-specifi c tax and regulatory
constraints. These fi nancial statements are subject to a limited
review for the interim fi nancial statements of the key subsidiaries
and a complete audit carried out by the auditors for the majority
of the subsidiaries at the year-end.
Reporting of accounting information, in standardized monthly
reports, is carried out on the basis of a schedule established by the
Consolidation Department and approved by the Administration
Department. Each subsidiary must apply existing Group procedures
to the recording of accounting data for monthly reporting, interim
and annual fi nancial statements and quarterly forecasts.
The reporting of subsidiaries is established according to the
accounting policies of the Group, which are formalized in a Group
policies manual distributed to all the subsidiaries. The consolidation
statements are subject to an audit or a limited review with regard
to this Group accounting policies manual.
The subsidiaries’ accounting information is uploaded, reconciled
and then consolidated in a central software solution, HFM from
Hyperion, under the responsibility of the Consolidation Department.
This software supports automatic verifi cation and consistency
checking of fl ows, the balance sheet, specifi c line items in the income
statement, etc. It also allows fast, reliable data reporting and is
designed to make the consolidated fi nancial statements secure.
The Company has taken measures to shorten the process of
preparing the consolidated fi nancial statements and to make it
more reliable. For example, the Consolidation Department has
drawn up procedures, which are updated periodically, enabling
subsidiaries to optimize understanding and effectiveness of the
solutions, and to guarantee the standardization of published
accounting and fi nancial data:
♦ drawing up a Group chart of accounts;
♦
implementing automatic mapping between the corporate
fi nancial statements and the consolidated fi nancial statements;
♦ drawing up a user manual for the consolidation statement;
♦ drawing up a consolidation manual;
♦ drawing up an accounting policies manual.
The Consolidation Department also carries out ongoing monitoring
so as to track and anticipate changes to the regulatory framework
applicable to Group companies.
Organization of information systems
With a view to continually improving its information system and
ensure the integrity of accounting and fi nancial data, the Company
invests in implementing and updating IT solutions and procedures
to meet the requirements and constraints both of the local teams
and of the Group.
Most of the subsidiaries are integrated in PeopleSoft – Oracle for
the accounting and management of operational fl ows (procurement,
manufacturing, logistics, etc.). This centralized application, which
uses a single database, allows the sharing of frameworks and
transaction formats (product database, customer and supplier
fi les, etc.). This ERP was installed as an attempt to respond to issues
relating to growth of Ubisoft’s activity.
With a view to integrating and automating accounting and fi nancial
solutions, the Group implements PeopleSoft – Oracle in its new
subsidiaries. The computerization of data exchange (interfaces
between accounting systems and the consolidation system, daily
integration of banking entries, automated payment issuing, etc.)
optimizes and improves processing and guarantees greater reliability
of accounting processes.
The consolidation and management forecasting applications are used
by all Group companies, providing an exhaustive and standardized
view of business activities, and accounting and fi nancial data. They
thus help improve the effectiveness of information processing.
Similarly, special attention is paid to the security of IT data and
processing. The Risk Security and Management Department is
constantly working with IT to improve levels of control to ensure:
♦ availability of online services and systems;
♦ data availability, confi dentiality, integrity and traceability;
♦ protection of online services from unauthorized access;
♦
monitoring of the network against internal and external threats;
♦ data security and recovery.
- Registration Document 2016 49