Board meeting at a conference table

IPO Readiness

Helping organizations plan their path — whether it be through an initial public offering (IPO) or other path to going public — we help you navigate the risks and maximize the rewards in your journey.
Going public. It’s a massive, transformational effort with the potential to enhance value and create new growth opportunities for your company.
It also brings with it the prospect of increased regulatory demands, public scrutiny, risk complexity and scalability challenges. How do you know you are ready for the journey?

Conducting a holistic IPO readiness assessment

IPO readiness requires a whole-organization effort — an effort that is too often underestimated in its scope, scale and demands. Many start the journey only to quickly discover a critical lack of resources, infrastructure, knowledge and time to successfully navigate the process required to support the transaction properly without losing focus on daily operations. That uncertainty can put your endeavor at risk. 

Risk and compliance

  • Enterprise risk management
  • Legal
  • Data and cybersecurity
  • Internal audit
  • Ethics and compliance programs

Finance and accounting

  • Accounting and financial reporting (SEC)
  • Tax strategy and transfer pricing
  • Treasury and risk management
  • Internal controls / SOX
  • Financial planning and budgeting

Strategy and communications

  • Growth strategy and long-term business plan
  • Company story development and selling
  • Capital markets and investor relations
  • Internal communications and change management

Talent and business enablement

  • Technology implementation and scalability
  • Human capital: recruiting, onboarding, resource planning and
  • retention, executive compensation plans and D&O insurance
  • Third-party relationships

Governance and infrastructure

  • Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG)
  • Board and committee structure and composition
  • Organizational structure and operating model
  • Purpose and culture
  • Policies and procedures

Roadmap to readiness

Working side-by-side: Baker Tilly is poised to help you preempt potential challenges in financial reporting, filing, audit readiness, tax (including transfer pricing, tax strategy, global trade and value added tax -VAT- compliance), legal, governance, internal controls, ESG and enterprise risk management throughout your transaction. 

Deep subject matter specialization: We provide a breadth of core competency capabilities, including: transaction advisory, technical accounting, governance, internal controls, Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX) compliance, international tax, organization and human capital consulting and new technology implementation support. 

Scaling with you: We are an extension of your team providing the necessary skill sets to complete the work. We navigate all aspects of the process, bringing a team of experienced professionals and a customized approach for your journey. We partner with you now and tomorrow as you continue to grow, build and scale your organization. 

  • Plan and align
  • Establish and develop
  • Execute and prepare for Day 1

Plan and align

  • Explore IPO viability in context of broader business strategy and growth plan
  • Engage with advisors in capital markets and assess funding strategy
  • Assess people, processes and technology to develop roadmap and enable business readiness
  • Assess tax strategy, structure and compliance requirements
  • Align key internal stakeholders around “why”
  • Assess accounting policies, practices and capabilities to ensure clear path to accounting and reporting compliance

Establish and develop

  • Assemble IPO team and identify/engage with key business partners and advisors
  • Formalize corporate governance structure and reporting
  • Document policies and processes to support business operations and internal control requirements (404, 302)
  • Complete key SEC requirements (S-1 filing, PCAOB audits) and prepare investor presentations
  • Provide initial tax structuring and transfer pricing strategy

Execute and prepare for Day 1

  • Hold leaders accountable to managing the business like a public company
  • Prepare materials for roadshow and investor communications
  • Remediate significant control gaps, monitor completion and develop
  • SOX 302 certification process
  • Address SEC comments on S-1 and file final
  • Conduct roadshow and finalize funding
  • Begin accounting under public company reporting requirements

Our solutions

Conducting an objective and thorough IPO readiness assessment early in your decision-making process can uncover unknown issues both inside and outside the organization. Readiness requires an understanding of and insight into your strategy, governance and risk, financial, operational, legal, technological, people, change management, risk management and other areas to successfully develop and manage your going public journey.

Winding road leads to to the future

An eight step checklist to an IPO

Successful organizations going public will engage in the eight steps outlined in this checklist—from the initial phase of designing an IPO readiness roadmap through post-IPO filing and requirements.