Creative industry - Mazars - Netherlands

An ingenious approach towards a creative sector

Doing business in the creative industry is slightly different from doing business in many other sectors. Mazars is aware of this, considering our clients include numerous companies from this industry. Specifically in response to the specific needs of the sector, we have pooled our knowledge and expertise into the Creative industry sector.

Capital and raw materials used to be the main production factors. By now, the competitive battle is increasingly fought in the areas of human resources, knowledge and creativity. The rise of the creative sector seems to be unstoppable, as is also reflected in the themes of management books published in the last ten years. In 2002, for example, the American professor Richard Florida introduced the term ‘creative class’ in his best-seller The Rise of the Creative Class. In Western economies, this class – ranging from designers and architects to consultants and engineers – makes up one third of the total economy. This share will certainly increase even further in Western countries, also because standardised work that involves little creativity is increasingly outsourced to low-wage countries. Accordingly, profits in this manufacturing industry are falling, while the money is earned in the design industry. Just like the iPod: which is made in China and designed in California.

Creativity is therefore increasingly becoming the fuel for sustainable commercial success. Although this – in point of fact – applies to every business, it certainly plays a key part in the creative industry. After all, advertising agencies, publishing companies, software houses, architects and TV producers have one thing in common: they can only survive if they display an uninterrupted flow of creativity and innovation.

Pooling top-quality knowledge

Mazars understands this and has a strong market position in this sector. Mazars also knows that vital innovation is only possible if the space is available and the company culture allows it. We know the tension that may arise in this respect and the challenges faced by the management of companies in the creative industry. Our accountants and advisers therefore put their full weight behind the entrepreneurs in the creative industry in trying to find solutions geared to their specific conditions and market situation. Our professionals know, for example, that attracting and retaining staff – whether or not by means of staff participation schemes – is often very important. The ability to take decisions rapidly is a matter of course. The creative industry, more than other sectors, is a world full of – quickly changing – alliances.

Precisely because we pooled the knowledge and experience of our accountants and advisers, Mazars is excellently placed to respond to the specific challenges of this challenging sector. The great advantage of this pooling is not only that solutions are found which are suitable for this sector, but also that the Mazars professionals speak the language of entrepreneurs in this industry. They know the specific needs of the sector and can identify the properties that are essential for doing business successfully.

The expertise of the Sector covers, among many others, the following areas:

• Supervising start-ups (fiscal, legal and financial aspects)
• International tax planning, for instance with regard to IP structures
• Employee participation models
• Assessing and designing earnings models
• Financing issues
• Providing assistance and advice regarding expatriates
• Flexible working
• Merger and business succession issues
• Transaction services
• Valuation issues
• Audit