Consulting and other professional services in the field of economics and management act as the primary reason for exit Russian Federation(RF) to the level of world standards of management and business activities.

In the practice of industrialized countries with market economies, investing in the acquisition of intellectual capital in the form of services consulting organizations are considered to be significantly more effective than the acquisition of machinery, equipment, and technologies. In the Russian Federation, a paradoxical situation has formed in this area: despite the existence of large intellectual potential in the field of economics and management, its use during the transition to a market economy has decreased significantly. Old government forms forced introduction of scientific knowledge is not used today, but the involvement of independent consultants has not yet become widespread enough. At the same time, the majority of organizations in the Russian Federation are currently in a rather difficult economic situation, and not the least role in this was played by the fact that they were unable to determine forms of management of their activities that would be adequate to the new economic conditions.

At the same time, those few modern-minded leaders and managers who nevertheless found a solution and used the services of consulting organizations have already felt (often, not without surprise) the effect of problem diagnostics, financial and economic analysis, and determination of strategic goals in the conditions market reform, development of recovery programs and exit from bankruptcy, active marketing, development of assortment, financial, tax and investment policies, etc.

The desire to “save” on solving management problems, as the practice of Russian organizations shows, only intensifies these problems and is subject to colossal financial and material losses. However, many Russian managers, not knowing the proper information about consulting services and the skills of using consulting organizations, still try to treat the problems of their organizations with “home remedies”.

Consulting is professional support from highly qualified management specialists to business managers and management personnel of various organizations (the client) in the analysis and solution of problems of their functioning and development, implemented in the form of advice, recommendations and solutions jointly formed with the client. The main distinguishing feature is syncretism, in which consulting is a combination of several oriented disciplines.

1. Consulting. Subjects, types and objects of consulting

Consulting provides assistance in such areas of a company’s activities as economic, financial, marketing, personnel, management (including optimizing the overall functioning of the company, doing business), etc.

The main task of consulting is to increase the efficiency of both the company as a whole and to increase the labor efficiency of each of the company’s employees individually.

Consulting is a whole area in the service sector. It is impossible to pinpoint exactly what consulting companies do; the profile of consultations is quite broad. Yes, and there are various companies: some of them operate only in one area of ​​​​business, others are engaged in consulting in almost all possible areas. This is where the difference lies in the possible interpretations of the definition of consulting.

Consulting is a type of intellectual activity, the main task of which is to assess situations, analyze them, substantiate development prospects, taking into account the subject area and problems of the client

In countries with market economies, inviting professionals is a prestigious indication that the company has a sufficient business culture to use the intellectual capital offered by the market in the field of management. The absence of specialist consultants when developing a responsible decision is considered the same as the absence of an architect when developing a building project, a doctor when treating a patient, or a designer when developing a new car model.

1.1. Subjects, types and objects of consulting

Professionals who provide professional assistance are called consultants. There are external and internal consultants.

External are independent consulting firms or individual consultants providing services to clients on the basis of an appropriate agreement.

Internal - these are specialists in economics and management employed on the staff of a particular organization (they constitute the analytical, “headquarters” subsystem of the organization).

Carrying out consulting.

Further in the text, the term “consultant” will refer to any consulting structure, regardless of whether it is a consulting firm or an individual consultant. In addition, unless otherwise specified, we will be talking primarily about external consultants.
The advantages of management consultants over managers are as follows:
1) independence, impartiality of views;

2) broader outlook, possession of extensive information in the most various areas management and management (due to less workload with current management problems);

3) focus on broad study and transfer of experience of other organizations (this mainly concerns external consultants).

Consulting services are most often provided in the form of consulting projects, and not in the form of oral, one-time advice. They include the following main steps:

1) diagnostics (identifying problems);

2) development of solutions;

3) implementation of solutions.

The implementation of such a project can take from several days to several months. Sometimes contacts with clients can last for many years.
From the point of view of methods, the following types of consulting can be distinguished: expert, process and training. During expert consulting, the consultant independently carries out diagnostics, develops solutions and recommendations for their implementation. The client's role is mainly to provide the consultant with access to information and evaluate the results. In process consulting, consultants actively interact with the client at all stages of the project, encouraging him to express his ideas, considerations, proposals, and, with the help of consultants, analyze problems and develop solutions. At the same time, the role of consultants is mainly to absorb (gather) these external and internal ideas, evaluate the solutions obtained in the process of working together with the client and bring them into a system of recommendations. In educational consulting, the consultant not only collects ideas and analyzes solutions, but also prepares the ground for their emergence by providing the client with relevant theoretical and practical information in the form of lectures, seminars, manuals, etc.
How is consulting different from teaching? The advantage of consulting is its specific, individual, “piecemeal” approach. At the same time, the knowledge that consultants possess is transformed in order to solve specific problems of a particular enterprise.

When training, knowledge in the field of management, economics, law, etc. are transferred to managers in general form and then they apply them in practice.

The positive aspects of both methods of knowledge transfer are combined in training and process consulting.)

Ratio various types consulting and traditional forms of knowledge transfer (training):

Consulting Training

1. Expert 1. Active teaching methods (training)

2.Procedural 2.Informational communicating teaching methods

3.Educational

Of course, in specific projects or at their various stages, combinations of all three listed types of consulting can be used and then it becomes expert-process, process-training, expert-training, etc.

In industrialized countries, process and expert-process consulting are predominantly carried out, while in Russia, expert and expert-training consulting has so far become most widespread.
This is explained, first of all, by the lack of preparation of Russian clients themselves for creative work with consultants, and by the desire of managers to receive ready-made solutions. This situation often leads to negative consequences and dissatisfaction with the results of consulting projects, since, firstly, the client may not perceive ready-made solutions, if they are not developed together with him; secondly, some essential information cannot be obtained by the consultant outside of an active dialogue with the client.

In Russia there are many consulting facilities, which can be divided into at least the following groups:
- by type of ownership: state, private, joint-stock and mixed enterprises;

By size: small, medium and large enterprises;
- on a territorial basis: central (federal) and regional administrative entities.

Accordingly, the consultants' clients are owners or managers of private enterprises, heads of state-owned enterprises or relevant departments, central and local authorities authorities, as well as heads of such territorial entities as technology parks, ecopolises, technopolises, free economic zones, etc.

The experience of the Russian Association of Economics and Management Consultants shows that in Russia primarily the following types of organizations apply for consulting services:
1) Young, rapidly growing private enterprises and banks.
2) Progressive-minded local authorities.
3) State and former state enterprises who are in a crisis situation.

The first two groups are guided by the golden rule of management, formulated by Thomas Peters: “You need to reform what works well, because here forces can be mobilized immediately, or at least faster than in other areas.” As for the third group, all is not lost for them: in consulting there are special methods for overcoming crisis situations. In particular, nearby Russian consultants The development of programs for reforming and rehabilitating enterprises located in the “imminent bankruptcy zone” is being successfully carried out.

The modern set of consulting services developed in the 1950s and 60s, which in the West are called the “golden age of consulting,” which is associated with the post-war accelerated development and internationalization of the economy, which caused an increased need for consulting services.

The European Directory of Management Consultants currently identifies 84 types of consulting services, grouped into 8 groups.

Types of consulting services (According to the classification of the European Directory of Management Consultants):

1. GENERAL MANAGEMENT

1.01 determination of the effectiveness of the management system

1.02 business valuation

1.03 innovation management

1.04 determination of competitiveness/study of market conditions

1.05 diversification or formation of a new business

1.06 international management

1.07 management assessment

1.08 mergers and acquisitions

1.09 organizational structure and development

1.10 privatization

1.11 project management

1.12 quality management

1. 13 reorganization of engineering services

1.14 research and development

1.15 strategic planning

2. ADMINISTRATION

2.01 analysis of the office work

2 02 placement or relocation of departments

2.03 office management

2.04 organization and management methods

2.05 risk management

2.06 security guarantees

2.07 planning workspaces and their equipment

3. FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT

3.01 accounting systems

3.02 capital cost estimation

3.03 company turnover

3.04 cost reduction

3.05 insolvency (bankruptcy)

3.06 increase in profit

3.07 increase in income

3.08 taxation

3.09 financial reserves

4. PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT

4.01 professional movement" and staff reductions

4.02 corporate culture

4.03 equal opportunities

4.04 frame search

4.05 personnel selection

4.06 health and safety

4.07 reward programs

4.08 internal communications

4.09 work evaluation

4.10 labor agreements and employment

4.11 management training

4.12 workforce planning

4.13 motivation

4.14 pensions

4.15 performance analysis

4.16 psychological assessment

4.17 reward

4.18 advanced training of employees

5.02 corporate image and public relations

5.03 after-sales customer service

5.04 design

5.05 direct marketing

5.06 international marketing

5.07 market research

5.08 marketing strategy

5.09 development new products

5.10 pricing

5.11 retail and dealership

5.12 sales management

5.13 sales training

5.14 socio-economic research and forecasting
6. PRODUCTION

6.01 automation

6.02 Equipment use and maintenance
6.03 industrial engineering

6.04 materials recycling

6.05 regulation of internal distribution of materials

6.06 packaging

6.07 scheme for organizing work at the enterprise

6.08 product design and improvement

6.09 production management

6.10 production planning and control

6.11 performance improvement

6.12 procurement

6.13 quality control

6.14 control over the supply of components and parts

7. INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

7.02 Use of computers in auditing and evaluation

7.03 electronic publishing activities

7.04 information retrieval systems

7.05 administrative information systems

7.06 systems design and development

7.07 selection and installation of systems

8. SPECIALIZED SERVICES

8.01 educational consulting

8.02 consulting on electricity management

8.03 engineering consulting

8.04 environmental consulting

8.05 information consulting

8.06 legal consulting

8.07 consulting on management of materials distribution and logistics

technical supplies

8.08 consulting in the public sector

8.09 telecommunications consulting

This classification is subject-specific, that is, consulting differs by type in accordance with the functions performed by managers. Consultants do not perform these functions themselves, but develop recommendations for their implementation. They advise managers on how to carry out general management, administration, financial management, implementation information technology and other functions.

Let us briefly consider what problems can be solved by inviting consultants for each of the eight groups of consulting services listed in the diagram.

1. Consultants for general management are invited to help in solving problems related to the very existence of your enterprise and the prospects of your business. They assess the state of affairs in your organization as a whole and its external environment, determine the general goals and value system of the organization, develop a development strategy, make forecasts, help in organizing branches and subsidiaries, give recommendations on changing forms of ownership and composition of owners, and acquiring property , shares or shares, improvement organizational structures etc.

2. Consultants for administrative management(administration) deal with such issues as the formation and registration of companies, organization of office work, data processing, administrative control system, etc. Their main task is to optimize the management of the organization

3. Financial management consultants provide assistance in

solving three main problems:

1) search for sources and use of financial resources;

2) assessment and improvement of the current financial efficiency of the organization’s activities;

3) strengthening the financial position of the organization for the future.

They deal with issues financial planning and control, taxation, accounting, placement of shares and shares on the market, credit, insurance, profit and cost, insolvency, etc.
4.Human resources management consultants develop solutions on issues of employee selection, personnel quality control, remuneration system, advanced training and personnel management, labor protection and psychological climate in the team. Their main task-- assist managers in optimizing the attraction and use of such a key resource for any organization as the human factor.
5. Marketing consultants assist managers in solving a vital task for any enterprise operating in a market economy: ensuring its functioning so that the goods and services it produces are purchased by consumers. They deal with market research and provide decision-making in the areas of sales, pricing, advertising, new product development, etc. Since in a market economy the most difficult problem

for an enterprise it is not production, but the sale of products; marketing is one of the most important areas of business consulting

6. Production consultants with an understanding of economic, managerial and engineering issues assist managers in solving problems such as technology selection production process, stimulating labor productivity, assessing and monitoring product quality, analyzing production costs, planning production, using equipment and materials, designing and improving products, evaluating work, etc.
7. Information technology consultants develop recommendations for the implementation of systems computer-aided design(CAD) and automated control systems (ACS), information retrieval systems, the use of computers in accounting and other quantitative methods for assessing the activities of an enterprise.
8. Specialized consulting services are those types of services that do not belong to any of the seven groups described above. They differ from them either in methods, or in objects, or in the nature of the knowledge being introduced (engineering consulting, legal consulting, etc.)

2.Consulting in Russia and in the world. Weaknesses and strengths of Russian and foreign consultants

In a modern market economy consulting services have long been an essential element of the infrastructure supporting its functioning.
Consulting is distinguished by statistics as a separate industry, in which, for example, 700 thousand people are employed in the USA, and the annual turnover is 50 billion dollars. Not a single serious economic and managerial decision in countries with market economies, not only in developed ones, but also in the so-called developing ones (India, Brazil), can be done without the use of consultants: economists, lawyers, marketers, etc., individual ,

and more often united into consulting firms.

The founder of the theory became one of the first professional consultants in the field of economics scientific management enterprises Frederick Taylor. The first management consulting company is the Research Service in

business" was founded in 1914 in Chicago, and in the 20s such companies appeared in Europe (primarily in England and Germany).
Professional support for business in Russia is now provided mainly by private consulting firms, of which there are several hundred. (For comparison: in Holland, with a population 11 times smaller than in Russia, there are more than 2 thousand.)

Consulting services on a commercial basis can also be provided by state educational, information and research organizations - universities, academies, scientific institutes, information centers etc.
Most Russian private consulting firms were founded either by these organizations themselves or by their former employees.
Foreign consulting firms also operate in Russia. In particular, the entire “big six” transnational consulting and auditing companies are represented (Ernst & Young, Coopers & Lybrand, Price
Waterhouse", "KPMG", "Deloitte & Touche" "Arthur Andersen"), as well as a number of medium and small firms from Western Europe (Holland, Germany, France, Great Britain), the USA and other countries of the world.

We can highlight some positive and negative aspects of using foreign consultants in Russian conditions(Scheme 4).
Russian consultants are well versed in the current economic situation in Russia and have high intellectual and educational potential. At the same time, they think quite broadly, understand and know the mechanisms of a Western-style market economy, some of them have experience working abroad. At the same time, Russian consultants have flexibility of thinking; in their recommendations they go beyond the standards accepted in the global economy, which is their undoubted advantage, since non-standard thinking is more consistent with the conditions of Russia. Based on Russian practice, they offer more realistic solutions.
The advantage of foreign consulting firms is their good command of consulting methods and detailed knowledge of Western-style market economies. In addition, audit and other reports of foreign firms are still increasingly recognized abroad, which is important for attracting foreign investors and other partners.

Advantages Disadvantages

Transfer foreign experience High cost of services

New setting of tasks Greater demands on the organization and

New solutions for client pre-preparation

New business and general culture Language barrier

Good command of the technique High requirements for household

consulting

The cost of services of Russian consulting firms is their advantage.
With high quality, their price is approximately 4-5 times lower than foreign colleagues. It averages $300 per person-day.

The services of Russian consultants are provided in the following main forms:
- One-time consultations on major business issues in Russia and abroad.
Such consultations are carried out orally and in writing in the form of a question.
- answer both directly and to questions prepared in advance by the client
- Implementation of consulting projects on client orders, including diagnosis of problems, development and implementation of solutions. During the project, services such as searching for partners, participating in negotiations, developing documents (protocols, agreements, contracts, etc.) can also be provided.
- Conducting consulting seminars, i.e. group work of consultants and enterprise representatives outside of production.
Information service. At the request of clients, statistical reviews and forecasts for the development of the economy as a whole and individual industries, information about, legislative acts, information about the reliability of potential partners, etc.
- Expertise. Consultants provide expert opinions on developments independently prepared by the client. business plans, investment projects, financial transaction schemes, contracts.
3.Shapes professional services related to consulting. Financial consulting.

The infrastructure of a market economy includes some other professional services provided to business managers. The difference between such services and consulting services is that assistance to the manager is provided not in the form of advice, recommendations and joint decision-making, but through the direct performance of certain organizational, technical or information functions.
There are 10 types of such services:

2) accounting services;

3) legal services;

4) provision of information technology;

5) engineering;

6) investment banking;

9) business information;

10) training.

What the above services have in common with consulting is that this assistance is provided on the basis of scientific and professional knowledge and, like external consulting, is provided on a commercial basis by independent firms. In addition, most firms and individual professionals providing such services are also engaged in consulting in their field, and many consulting firms are beginning to provide non-consulting types of services.

Thus, it can be noted that there is a certain interweaving of consulting and other types of professional services, with consulting acting as the core of this system.

Therefore, sometimes, for brevity, the entire set of services provided to business managers, and not just services in the form of advice, recommendations and jointly developed decisions, is called the general term “consulting.”

Financial consulting. There is no doubt that the lately Financial problems in most enterprises in our country are associated, first of all, with their unsatisfactory use of their financial resources.
Characterized by poor orientation of enterprise managers in the current economic conditions in changes in the market infrastructure. Therefore everything higher value receives practice in business financial consulting.
It is generally impossible to judge the finances of hundreds of thousands of companies. More than 315,000 enterprises do not provide accounting and tax reporting.
The imperfection of existing legislation does not allow the application of vigorous measures to those enterprises and organizations that have the right to manage and control the flow of goods and money flowing within holdings.

Barterization of payments, which exists by 90% in many industries, brings us closer to the level of subsistence farming, and about 300 trillion. unsecured bills in circulation do not at all contribute to strengthening the finances of enterprises and the country as a whole. The chronic debt of each of more than three and a half thousand enterprises to the federal budget alone exceeds 3 billion rubles.

An important problem is also the formation of plans with maximum profit and acceptable profitability.

The consultant usually suggests the following enterprise financial management system. First of all, the main goals, criteria for their achievement and the strategy of the enterprise are determined, requirements for accounting policies are developed, as well as mechanisms for solving key tasks financial management, ensuring the achievement of set goals. It is important here to highlight the areas of responsibility in the area under consideration that are assigned to specific managers.
One of the most effective methods streamlining the movement of financial resources, which are increasingly recommended by consultants - implementation automated system. First of all, it is recommended to master the subsystem of planning and analysis of financial flows with profit-loss analysis, which opens up the opportunity to plan the receipts and payments of the enterprise, determine the terms of attraction and volumes borrowed funds, rational management of temporarily free financial resources, formation of the movement of financial flows both throughout the enterprise and at the level of divisions. This technology, as already noted, is quite simple. But success mainly depends on the production management accounting. The subsystem for planning and analyzing financial flows guarantees the financial stability of the enterprise’s finances and allows you to prevent the occurrence of critical situations.
Next, it is usually recommended to carefully prepare a profit and loss program. The usual advice is to implement a management system working capital, assortment and costs of the enterprise, which is designed to guarantee an increase in profits. All further work on more effective organization cash flow management is unlikely to be successful unless the work on establishing management accounting and its coordination with accounting is fully completed.
The next step in the consultant’s work is to establish a system for monitoring budget execution, analyzing the implementation of planned tasks, and adjusting plans. Subsequently, work should be carried out on planning the consolidated budget, managing equity and borrowed capital. A coherent budgeting system should be implemented throughout the enterprise.

It is advisable to use an automated management system, including planning, accounting and reporting. After this, the opportunity opens up to ensure the preparation and adoption of financial decisions in the form of a specific and clear sequence of steps:
- determination of financial and economic goals, selection of main criteria;
- development of plan options for revenue, profit, profitability, equity, financial stability, tasks for key indicators at the end of the planning period;
- is being developed financial strategy, which determines the actions necessary to ensure the sustainability of the company;
- the sales volume of the assortment, goods and services is assessed; choosing a cash flow option with a minimal cash deficit and on the basis of self-financing, as well as identifying the size and timing of borrowing;
- a scheme for using profits is further drawn up, the framework for the optimal change in the capital structure is fixed, the structure of means of payment (money, securities, barter, etc.) is determined.
- the most acceptable forms of payment are identified (prepayment, after payment, in installments);
- tax policy is being formed;
- a system of economic incentives for departments and personnel of the enterprise is approved;

The final version of the budget of the organization and its divisions is determined, as well as the conditions for making decisions in case of deviation from the plan.

A financial consultant is one of the key figures in the market. His role in making decisions about ways to manage the finances of the consulted enterprise is most often decisive. The role of a financial advisor is usually a large investment bank or a company that is active in a specific market segment and has a leading position in it.
The purpose of financial consulting is to increase economic efficiency management of resources, primarily the assets of the enterprise.
This is done in practice through:
- formation of a profitable and fairly low-risk investment portfolio;
- the most rational use of temporarily available funds in the most profitable segments of the financial market;
- reducing non-production costs.

Financial consultants are able to develop a strategy for the development of an enterprise, offer the most rational management system in specific conditions, help choose the optimal capital management model, identify options and suggest an authorized financial institution in the formation of the stock market of the consulted enterprise.
The role of the investment broker suggested by the financial consultant is important here. The broker determines the optimal stock quotes for the company” and actively influences changes in the market value securities enterprises, works to increase the liquidity of shares, and promptly responds to changes in the situation on the company's securities market.

There has been a lot of new developments in financial consulting recently. Among such problems: improving capital management, forming an optimal portfolio of short-term financial instruments, developing an investment policy, improving interaction with shareholders and creditors. Note that small firms Such issues are not as pressing as for large enterprises.
In 1997, the importance of financial consultants in the Russian market increased significantly stock market. The relatively low liquidity of shares of the main part of Russian companies is naturally associated with the complication of work on organizing issues, selling blocks of shares, and carrying out other actions to organize the securities market of an enterprise.
Due to market instability, it is necessary to actively influence investment demand for shares of the consulted company. This is especially important given the undervaluation of shares of many Russian companies. Recently, the demand for services to maintain the rules and regulations adopted in the stock market has sharply increased. This is of particular importance in stopping the lack of investment and increasing competition in the field of mobilization cash on the market. The increase in debt and non-payments of enterprises has also led to the need to establish qualified work with their debts. Financial consultants strive to help solve problems of mutual settlements and mutual repayment of debts. This naturally improves the financial position of enterprises.
Let us further note that with the creation of large holdings in Russia, the expansion of sales of state-owned blocks of shares, the entry of Russian shares into the world market, the rapid growth of new issues, and the sharp increase in the need for serious investors, the role of advisory work is greatly increasing.

Financial consulting companies are able to exert the most energetic influence on “sponsored” enterprises in solving similar and other financial problems. Financial advisors stabilize domestic and foreign financial policies, which is especially important for large companies. industrial enterprises who seek to integrate into world economy.
Now the most powerful Russian investment companies have created trusting relationships with the management of large industrial enterprises.
The latter's shares are steadily quoted. Stable personal contacts between the managers of these enterprises help speed up the implementation of economic programs.
In the Russian financial consulting market, roles and specialization are becoming more specific among its participants. Foreign consulting companies, many foreign investment banks and funds help attract investment into the Russian economy, forming professional culture based on the relationships existing in the global financial community.

The role of Russian financial consultants, although for the time being is not so obvious, they have a serious trump card - they know Russian specifics better. The market for consulting services is developing due to the growing demand for them Russian enterprises, which are capable of becoming important investment targets in the coming times. They need advice, in particular, when bringing their securities to market and securing them professional level in actions on the stock market, especially in the secondary market.

However, the consultant's capabilities in this area are often limited.
They depend on many factors affecting the liquidity and stock price of the issuer. The consultant does not have the opportunity to influence the macroeconomic and political exchange rate factors of the economy. IN Russian practice characterized by the effect of such a destabilizing circumstance as the procedure, timing and price of shares when selling government blocks of securities of an enterprise. But a financial consultant has other ways of direct and indirect influence on the secondary market: he is able to act as a market maker, advise the issuer on the most appropriate depository, and recommend actions to improve the circulation of the company’s shares on the market.

Naturally, the largest opportunities for a consultant are related to solving internal problems of the issuer. Here the position of Russian companies largely coincides. Characterized, in particular, by the lack of a development strategy aimed at reducing costs, increasing revenues and increasing competitiveness, a well-organized internal audit, a favorable public reputation of the company, serious work with shareholders and investors, the presence of large debts, etc.

Recently, in Russian society there has been a significant increase in interest in the activities of financial consultants, in particular from large banks and investment companies.
There is no doubt that domestic financial consultants are becoming an increasingly strong link between Russian issuers and foreign financial circles. They carry out, in particular, the preparation and receipt of loans from foreign lenders, maximizing the time factor, volumes and interest on loans, and helping to more rationally use the received credit resources.
At the same time, financial consultants proceed from the criteria for foreign investors to evaluate the shares of the corresponding company, take actions to increase the attractiveness of the shares of the consulted enterprises for foreign investors, including helping to bring financial statements in accordance with international standards, provide advice on the selection of optimal schemes for subsequent issues and sales of blocks of shares, mergers, conversion of shares, assist in attracting investors and restructuring the company.
A lot of attention is paid to innovation. A financial consultant usually offers the client innovations in the stock market (conducting repo transactions, organizing options on the issuer's shares or on other derivative instruments of the stock market). This has the effect of increasing the liquidity of securities and increasing the activity of investors in transactions with them, which is very important, given the fact that the latter are more active in the stock market.
Russian financial consultants are striving to intensify their work on the securities market. As a result, the level of liquidity of the enterprise's shares on the stock market is stabilized (even in the case of the sale of state-owned stakes on it, or the enterprise carries out new issues.).

There are favorable prospects for financial consulting, both for issuers and for large investment companies. The number of professional market participants is growing, and interaction between Russian and foreign investment consultants is being ensured. In the conditions of the modern financial market in Russia, bill turnover plays a special role.

A financial consultant is able to “fully carry out his mission if the issue of providing him with reliable, complete and accurate necessary data is resolved. As is known, the assessment of the financial position of an enterprise is carried out on the basis of materials financial statements. At the same time, the reporting of the enterprise is considered in two main aspects: from the point of view of establishing the rationality of the structure of property and its sources, ensuring current solvency, and from the point of view of identifying the financial result. The first task allows you to complete the balance sheet (form No. 1), the second - a report on financial results and their use (form No. 2).
Thus, from all of the above it is clear that financial consulting is gaining great importance in the modern Russian economy.

Consulting services are popular all over the world because they can be used to solve various business problems that are not directly related to the company’s core activities. Using consulting, the company has the opportunity to focus its efforts on core business.

Consulting is very useful service for businessmen. Those who have never used consulting services are interested in their cost. Not everyone understands economic benefit from attracting specialists from outside, and it can be very significant.

In order to assess what significance a consulting company can bring to business development, we will give a definition and consider the essence of this concept.

What is consulting?

Let's start with the definition of consulting according to the Oxford Dictionary.

Consulting means “being in the business of providing expert advice to people working in a particular field.” In other words, a consultant is someone who gives advice to a specific group of people.

Consulting is business of providing expert advice a certain group of people.

A consultant is someone who has a certain level of knowledge that a certain group of people considers valuable, and people in this group are willing to pay the consultant for access to their expertise.

It's worth noting that there is nothing mentioned about major firms, degrees or certifications. If you can provide expert advice to a specific group of people, you can be a consultant

All this begs the question, why is consulting so valuable?

The answer to this question lies at the heart of the meaning of counseling.

The true meaning of consulting - a consultant is one who gives advice. So it’s worth asking the question “why do people buy advice”?

Why do people ask for advice?

They want to change something, achieve something and they need help.

In case financial condition the company is not what managers want. They know what their desired state is, but they need advice on how to get there.

That's why people want advice. They want to get from point A to point B, but don't know how to get there. They are either lost or facing obstacles they don't know how to overcome.

The real point of consulting is to help people solve problems and move from current state to what you want.

And the more valuable the desired state is to someone, the more they are willing to pay for help.

For example, if a small business owner earns 60 million rubles. per year and their goal is to make 120 million rubles. per year, achieving their goal for them is 60 million rubles, and they are probably willing to pay 5 million rubles, 10 million rubles, 20 million rubles, perhaps even up to 60 million rubles.

Consulting in a nutshell: helping people in solving problems and achieving results.

So if achieving a desired state is so valuable to people, why don't they just find out for themselves?

Why do people hire consultants?

There are three main reasons why people decide to engage outside advice:

1. They are simply unable to understand it or get to the desired state on their own.
2. They have general idea, but they want to get there faster.
3. They want to save time and effort by following an effective, proven system.

Three main types of consulting companies

When someone says, "I'm a consultant," they usually fall into one from three categories.

1. Management consulting.
2. Corporate consulting.
3. Independent consulting.

Management Consulting is what most people think of when someone says “consulting”. This area is dominated by large firms to help businesses improve strategy and operations or manage significant business events such as mergers and acquisitions.

Independent consulting comes up often when someone has developed experience in the area they choose to build and run their own business around this experience rather than continuing as an employee.

Specific sold the experience can be almost anything, and thanks to the emerging gig economy, thousands of new independent consultants are creating highly profitable businesses for themselves.

How can you become a consultant?

Exists two main ways get advice:

1. Get a job.
2. Start your own business.

While getting a job in consulting is more competitive and more challenging It's still no easier than ever before starting your own consulting business.

With rising costs for full-time employees, more and more more companies seek temporary and permanent external assistance, often in the form of consultants and “we can do it for you” services. If you're interested in starting your own consulting business, there's never been a better time to get started.

Every company and business strives to develop and conquer its share of the market. But this is not always possible without huge investments and only on our own, especially at times when there are problems in the country’s economy.

To remain a popular and competitive company, you need to constantly change, develop strategy and tactics. And if there are no resources within the company for this, then you have to use external services– consulting. What are consulting services? What types of consulting are there? What are its advantages and disadvantages?

What are consulting services and why are they needed?

Even big ones international companies often face difficulties at work. This may be due to both external factors and internal problems. Most often, problems arise due to price fluctuations in the market, the appearance or departure of a competitor, but in companies there are difficulties with the very relationships between employees within the enterprise. Because of this, there is no opportunity or strength within the company to fight for its survival, so an excellent solution in this case would be to use consulting services.

Consulting is a type of service that essentially means consulting. One company or person provides services to solve certain problems to another company.

The issues that can be solved with the help of consulting are very diverse. Sometimes this can be a whole range of tasks, and sometimes it is provided only in a narrow area. For example, accounting consulting is the involvement of a specialized company or employee to solve problems related to accounting. That is why, when they talk about the concept of consulting, there is no clear definition.

Consulting services are a solution to organizational or management tasks within the company with the help of external specialists. Professional consultants in a certain field are invited to work for the company. Specialists assess the condition, see the cause of the problems and create a system for solving these errors.

A company turns to consulting not only when it experiences difficulties in development. Often the manager decides to expand, so there is an urgent need to increase the number of specialists. But even if you hire them, you will still need to spend months on training, monitoring the completion of tasks, and only after that assign difficult tasks to them. But a developing company doesn’t have that much time.

Consulting firms are specialized companies that provide consulting services. There may be a staff of employees who simultaneously collaborate with different organizations.

Stages of ordering consulting services (infographics)

Types of consulting services

• IT consulting– one of the newest and most popular types of consulting in Ukraine. This is consulting and assistance in the field of information technology. Essentially, IT consulting solves all issues related to the Internet and information business processes.
• Marketing consulting. Not all companies can afford to open a marketing department or hire professional employee who will resolve these issues. And today it is necessary to engage in advertising, because this is the only way to stay in the market and be a leader. In many cases, marketing consulting services are provided in conjunction with IT consulting.
• Legal consulting associated with solving current problems that are related to the law of the state. This will allow you to correctly evaluate the company’s activities and make the most profitable decisions. Legal advice is especially important during the expansion of an enterprise, when it will be necessary to open new branches or enter into agreements with intermediaries and suppliers.
• Financial consulting– services that are related to effective management of funds, budget distribution within the company, as well as correct external investments.
• HR consulting takes upon itself the establishment of internal relations between employees, the selection of new specialists who will meet the company's requirements.

Imagine that you ask all your burning questions to a team of highly qualified lawyers, auditors and tax consultants and receive an answer to any of your questions online! This is how the “Consulting Support” line of the AIP audit and consulting group works.

Any question in the field of taxation, accounting,
personnel records management and other areas of legislation of the Russian Federation

Buy a subscription to “Consulting Support” if:

• It costs a ruinous monthly sum to maintain in-house lawyers;
• Searching for a solution on the Internet takes a lot of time with no guarantee of results;
• One-time legal consultations are hard on your pocket;
• Do you want to reduce the costs of using legal reference systems?

Benefits of Consulting Support

Unlimited number of oral consultations per month. You can ask questions every day and throughout the working day.

On-line answer to any question. You receive an answer to your question immediately or within a business day.

No paperwork. You do not have to enter into a separate agreement for each consultation. While on subscriber services, you simply ask your questions by phone or e-mail.

Automatic inclusion of your company in the category of VIP clients. This means priority in service, fixed cost of services, access to closed master classes, access to the “Monitoring Russian Legislation” mailing list.

Skillful manipulation of laws. At master classes by leading specialists of AKG "AIP" you learn to effectively use legislative norms, communicate with our other clients, learn from their useful experience. Thanks to the “Monitoring Russian Legislation” newsletter, you are constantly aware of all legal innovations.

Quality assurance

Expert auditors, tax consultants, and lawyers are working on your issue, each of whom specializes in a narrow area of ​​law. You are guaranteed to receive an effective solution to your problem.

One-time services or subscription?