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As the modern business world evolves, finance functions must keep up with the changing data privacy landscape. New regulations and legislations require organizations to take a proactive stance when it comes to protecting customer data. Finance leaders need to understand why realigning their operations and strategies is important, as well as how they can do so effectively.

Providing awareness of new Standards, Interpretations that have been issued and amendments made to existing ones.

The way in which brands communicate with their customers has drastically changed over the past two decades. Communication used to be extremely limited to one-off instances, such as the point of sale. Advertisement and marketing were one-way channels — potential customers saw your ads on print or tv, but they could not respond to them directly. Now in the digital era, communication channels with our clients are no longer confined to these singular and one-way interactions. Social media means that our clients can directly interact with our marketing channels, post comments and responses to our ads and message our marketing teams directly.

‘War’ is the only fitting description for the intensity of contest for labour skills and it’s getting even fiercer. The underlying problem is the shortage of available skills. That’s clearly seen in the fact that a record 57% of all mid-market companies now see this as a constraint to their growth, nearly twice the long-term average, as highlighted by Grant Thornton International’s Global Business Pulse.

The stampede of mid-market companies looking to expand internationally continues, despite the added challenges of transport costs and disruptions. The percentage of companies expecting to increase exports in the next 12 months remains high at 45%, while the percentage expecting to increase international revenue has risen 3 percentage points to 44%, according to Grant Thornton International’s Business Pulse.

We share a brief overview of the QR code announcement, along with download links.

With less than 16 days remaining to e-invoicing becoming mandatory in Saudi Arabia, the Zakat, Tax and Customs Authority (ZATCA) have provided further clarity to the applicable penalties which will be enforced for any non-compliance with the e-invoicing regulations.

As we move from voluntary ESG initiatives to mandatory legislation, we explore what the banking sector needs to prioritise.

Four key barriers in the way of the mid-market realising its sustainability aspirations.

Environmental, social and governance (ESG) credentials are no longer merely a ‘nice to have’: they are a must have for much of the mid-market.

The Board of Directors for Zakat, Tax and Customs Authority (ZATCA) have approved the amendments to Article 20 of the VAT Implementing Regulations for Saudi Arabia, which are effective from 1 November 2021. We share a summary of the updates.

The Personal Data Protection Law (PDPL) was implemented by Royal Decree M/19 of 9/2/1443H (16 September 2021) approving Resolution No. 98 dated 7/2/1443H (14 September 2021). It was published in the Official Gazette on 24 September 2021. The Saudi Data & Artificial Intelligence Authority (SDAIA) will supervise the implementation of the new legislation for the first two years, following which a transfer of supervision to the National Data Management Office (NDMO) will be considered.

In December 2021 Saudi Arabia will make electronic invoicing mandatory for all in country taxpayers. The implementation of the electronic invoicing system, named “FATOORAH” will commence on December 4th and will be implemented in two phases. Phase One will commence from 4 December 2021 and will focus on e-invoicing generation and saving enforcement, with Phase Two commencing from 1 January 2023 aimed at integration enforcement which will be implemented in phases. We share insights of Phase One.

Eight of the 13 monitored mid-market industries returned to positive health in H1 2021, as assessed by Grant Thornton’s unique Global business pulse, compared with just two in H2 2020. And the spread of index results narrowed markedly, as more industries enjoyed the benefits of the overall mid-market recovery. Among the biggest industry movers, transport jumped 10.4 points into positive territory to 0.7, while healthcare and manufacturing rose 6.6 points, both also returning to positive ground.

Grant Thornton’s unique Global business pulse index has tracked performance of several industries between 2020 and the same period in 2021. The overall healthcare industry index score turned positive in H1 2021, climbing nearly 7 points to 1.6, which is higher than the global average. The outlook rose by a robust 12 points to 52, above the pre-pandemic level of 51. This was driven by a strong rebound in optimism, shooting up 27 percentage points (pp) to 65%, following a sharp fall in H1 2020 and only modest improvement in H2.

Grant Thornton’s unique Global business pulse index has tracked performance of several industries between 2020 and the same period in 2021. After showing strength in H2 2020, the financial services (FS) industry index declined 2 points and remains in negative territory at -5.3. Supply and demand constraints dragged on the overall FS industry, despite a sharply improved outlook rising to 62, close to the record high of 64 in early 2017.