Practice area
IPO readiness.
Control environment, governance, and reporting infrastructure ahead of S-1. Built so the first 10-Q is not the discovery moment.
Ready before you file, not after.
The first 10-Q is not the right time to learn that your close cycle is 18 days.
A pre-IPO institution is a private-company control environment about to be measured against public-company standards: SOX 404, quarterly close discipline, audit-committee independence, whistleblower programs, insider-trading controls, disclosure controls, MD&A, segment reporting. The window between filing and effectiveness is the wrong time to assemble all of that.
Our practice maps the gap between where the institution is and what a Form S-1 will require, sequences the remediation, and runs the program through filing. We are not the underwriter, not the law firm, not the auditor — we are the firm that gets the control environment to the place where those parties can do their jobs.
The work usually starts 12 to 18 months before the filing. Eight months is possible. Four is not. We will tell you that on the first call.
The work in this practice, named.
- Gap assessment — Current-state diagnostic against S-1 readiness, sequenced into a remediation roadmap.
- SOX program build — Scoping, control identification, testing infrastructure stood up before year-one filing.
- Close cycle & reporting — Days-to-close, materiality, segment reporting, internal reporting package design.
- Governance & committees — Audit committee composition, charter, independence, whistleblower program.
- Disclosure controls — DCP design, sub-certifications, MD&A drafting workflow.
- Investor & analyst readiness — Q&A briefing book, earnings-cycle dress rehearsals, IR/communication interface.
A typical pre-IPO timeline.
| Phase | Timing | Deliverable |
|---|---|---|
| Gap assessment | T-18 to T-12 mo | Diagnostic, remediation roadmap, board orientation. |
| Build | T-12 to T-6 mo | SOX scoping, controls, governance, close discipline. |
| Dress rehearsals | T-6 to T-1 mo | Mock close cycles, mock earnings, mock disclosure committee meetings. |
| Steady state | T+0 onward | Year-one SOX, quarterly reporting cadence, audit committee rhythm. |