CPCON assisted INGREDION’s management (NYSE: ING) in addressing fixed asset accounting and controls issues to meet their requirements for financial reporting and regulatory compliance. As a leading Food & Beverage ingredient provider, Ingredion has approximately 12,000 employees with over $3 billion in fixed assets (2021).  The company struggled with their fixed asset accounting and management for internal control, financial reporting, and regulatory policy purposes. 

CPCON served as an independent advisor to INGREDION’s CFOs, Plant Controllers, and Supply Chain Finance. CPCON’s Fixed Asset Advisory team firstly performed a diagnosis of the client’s accounting register and asset management program. We evaluated the implementation of dynamic RFID inventory and asset tagging, followed by a register reconciliation and clean up. 

We assisted the client with the following:

• Diagnostic consulting of fixed asset records, completed these studies – including land improvements, computer and network equipment, leasehold improvements, building structures, plant equipment, furniture and office equipment- at 5 plants

• Conducted the fixed asset inventory, RFID tagging and reconciliation for a financial base of 40,000+ items

• Conducted an Asset Componentization – ungrouping records into single assets and breaking down costs – of the financial base for an improved internal accounting control 

• Utilization of Tablet with RFID inventory software to collect detailed asset data – such as, the asset descriptive (model, brand, type, etc.), serial number, location information, cost center, etc.

• Analyzed and review useful lives and residual assets of assets, along with depreciation studies

• Conducted a Line-by-Line Asset Register Reconciliation with follow up visits to department to verify any residual assets

• Analysis and data clean up over residual and matched assets

• IT Advisory to seamlessly populate SAP fixed asset base, without any changes to SAP infrastructure. 

Our work was presented to management and audited by a Big 4 audit firm. This work helped the company’s management to cleanse and fortify their internal accounting control, as well as complying with regulatory requirements. 

Sources:

Balance sheet. Ingredion Incorporated. (2021). https://ir.ingredionincorporated.com/stock-information/balance-sheet