Advisory services in Bangladesh cover projects that a finance team does not run every year: buying or selling a business, valuing an asset, investigating a suspected fraud, testing IT security or reviewing strategy. This article describes five common areas where chief financial officers (CFOs) bring in advisers, and how to scope an engagement so the result is useful. It reflects the position at the time of writing.

Deals and due diligence

Financial due diligence tests the numbers a seller presents: earnings quality, working capital, debt-like items and the reliability of forecasts. Tax due diligence looks at the exposure a buyer inherits. In Bangladesh the Finance Act 2026, as summarised by PwC, allows undisclosed income or expenditure found during reassessment to be assessed even if it is older than six years. It also revises the period of limitation for assessment. A buyer should therefore not assume that old tax periods are closed.

Ask for the diligence scope in writing. A useful scope names the periods covered, the entities included, the materiality level and the red-flag items that must be reported immediately as they are found. It should also say what the adviser will not cover, so that nobody assumes that legal, environmental or commercial due diligence is included.

Deal work usually extends to structuring, protections in the sale agreement and integration planning. RRH's Deal Advisory service covers financial and tax due diligence, tax structuring and forensic support.

Valuation

Valuations support acquisitions, share issues, impairment testing, financial reporting and disputes. The International Valuation Standards effective from 31 January 2025 include new standards on data and inputs and on valuation models. A sound report states the purpose, the basis of value, the valuation date, the key assumptions and the data relied on. Ask for sensitivity analysis on the assumptions that move the answer most, such as the discount rate and long-term growth.

For unlisted companies, valuation opinions rest more heavily on management forecasts, so the adviser should test those forecasts against historical results and market evidence. Where more than one method is used, the report should explain how the results were reconciled to a single conclusion or range.

Valuation, investment appraisal and deal structuring are part of RRH's Corporate Finance service.

Forensic services

Forensic engagements usually follow an allegation, a whistleblower report, an audit finding or a regulatory inquiry. Typical work includes establishing the facts, quantifying loss, tracing transactions, preserving digital evidence and supporting management when it reports to the board or the authorities.

Who commissions the work should be decided first. It is normally the audit committee or the board, so that the investigators report outside the management line under review. Legal counsel should also be involved before evidence is collected, so that documents and devices are handled properly. Forensic skills are used preventively as well, in fraud risk assessments and control reviews. RRH describes its Forensic Services as work that covers prevention, detection and response to fraud, misconduct and regulatory breaches.

IT and cyber advisory

Technology advice includes IT audit, cyber assessments and digital transformation. For banks and financial organisations, Bangladesh Bank's Guideline on ICT Security, version 4.0 (2023), sets expectations that include an internal information system audit at least once a year and an external information system audit at least annually. Companies outside that perimeter may have no equivalent mandate, but lenders, customers and parent companies often ask for evidence of control. Scope by the criticality of systems and data rather than by a list of technologies.

Management consulting

Market entry, feasibility studies, growth strategy and performance projects are decisions for the chief executive and the board, although the CFO usually owns the numbers and the budget. Insist on a clear question, an agreed evidence base and an implementation plan as well as a report.

In all five areas the adviser's work product feeds a decision made by someone else. A well-framed question at the start reduces rework later, which is why the scoping step deserves more of the CFO's time than it usually gets.

How to scope advisory services in Bangladesh

• State the decision the work will inform and who will take it.
• Define the deliverables and their form: report, model, data pack or presentation.
• Agree access to data and people, and name one contact inside the company.
• Build the timetable around decision dates.
• Match the fee basis to the certainty of the work: a fixed fee for defined tasks, a capped or time-based fee for open-ended investigation.
• Define reliance: who may rely on the report and for what purpose.
• Check independence from the statutory auditor before appointing anyone.

For listed companies the independence check is a substantive one. The BSEC Corporate Governance Code, as reproduced in company compliance statements, says the statutory auditor must not provide appraisal or valuation services or fairness opinions, financial information systems design and implementation, bookkeeping services, or internal audit services, among other restrictions. A CFO planning a valuation or a systems project at a listed company should confirm who is doing the work and whether the audit committee has approved it.

Once the engagement starts, agree a working rhythm. A short kick-off meeting to confirm scope and data requests, a fortnightly or weekly status call, an interim read-out before the report is drafted and a hand-over session for the finance team keep the work on track and reduce surprises at the end.

Findings need agreed handling as well. Decide in advance who sees draft reports, how management comments are recorded and what happens if the work uncovers matters that must be reported to a regulator or the board.

This article is general information and not legal, regulatory or tax advice. Rules and timelines change, so readers should confirm current requirements with an adviser before acting.