VBackgroundAnalysis
Chronicle of an Accounting Scandal: One Week in June 2020
How a blue-chip company became an insolvency case within seven days, which warning signs had been public for years, and what you can take from it for your own business.
Topic V · Economy & Regulation
Background & Analysis
Context, analysis, and dossiers on the economy, regulation, and the market environment from a business owner's perspective.
Wirecard, June 2020 · Share of total assets
1,9 billion €
Balances in trust accounts for which the auditor did not receive sufficient evidence.
What it’s about
Trust, reputation, and oversight help decide whether a business sells and grows. In the dossiers we work through business cases, separate what is documented from opinion, and draw the lessons for owners.
Dossier: Trust as the Foundation of Business
An accounting scandal, the role of the auditor, and the reputational damage, in six parts.
Trust and reputation
Why credibility is a factor in sales and growth.
Digitalization and AI regulation
Analysis of the market environment and of new rules.
Crypto and geopolitics
Individual articles from a business owner's perspective, which you can find via tags. Not investment advice.
Articles on background & analysis
VBackgroundAnalysis
Bitcoin on the Balance Sheet: What Owners Should Know Before Deciding
Some listed companies hold bitcoin as a reserve. For small and mid-sized businesses the questions are different: liquidity, accounting, custody, and who actually makes the call.
VBackgroundAnalysis
Geopolitics as a Business Risk: Rethinking Supply Chains
Tariffs, sanctions, blocked sea routes: what used to be a matter for corporations now hits small and mid-sized businesses. A grid for your own risk review and for honest delivery promises in sales.
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IGrowthGuide
Optimize Your Sales Process: The Gaps Between First Contact, Quote, and Close
Most businesses do not fail for lack of leads. They lose revenue at the handoffs: between inquiry and callback, conversation and quote, quote and follow-up.
IIMarketingGuide
Aligning Marketing and Sales: Where Leads Get Lost Before the First Call
Between the campaign and the sales conversation sits a handoff that nobody has written down in many companies. That is where inquiries you have already paid for drain away.
IIIOrganizationComparison
Project Management Tools Compared: What Really Matters When You Choose
Five criteria that matter more than any feature list, and how to find out in two weeks which tool your team will actually use.
IVEntrepreneurshipArticle
Founder-Led Sales: Why the Owner Sells Best at the Start
Nobody knows the product and the customers as well as the owner. That is an advantage at the start and the ceiling on growth later. What matters is what you write down in between.
Frequently asked questions
How do you handle ongoing proceedings?
We only report what is publicly documented, name the sources, and label assessments as such. Until a final, legally binding decision, the presumption of innocence applies.
Are the crypto articles investment advice?
No. They put into context what business owners should know, and they are no substitute for investment, tax, or legal advice.
What belongs in the dossier?
All analyses, case studies, and articles from every topic: pieces that take a closer look at a case or an environment instead of giving instructions. This includes the articles on the Wirecard case.
Why does Owners Council cover the Wirecard case?
Because the case shows how quickly trust is lost when oversight fails. Every business can draw lessons from it, listed or not.
How current is the analysis?
Every article shows its date. When the situation changes, for example through new laws or rulings, we update the article and note the date of the update.
Five articles that take you through all the topics once
If you’re new here, start with the “Start here” selection. Read in this order, each article builds on the one before.