Financial Reconstruction for a Family-Owned Fishing Business

A Namibian family-owned fishing and fish-processing company based in Lüderitz, holding quota rights for horse mackerel and hake under Namibia's fishing rights allocation framework.

When the founding patriarch passed away, the family engaged a legal firm to manage the estate and sought to place the business on a formal footing ahead of a potential sale. There were no audited or management financial statements for any prior year, no fixed asset register, no formal loan documentation for the shareholder loans owed to the estate, and the bank accounts had been used interchangeably for personal and business purposes.

We undertook a full financial reconstruction covering five years of activity, working from bank statements, quota allocation records, and fuel and vessel maintenance invoices. We established a fixed asset register for the vessels and processing equipment using insured values and remaining useful life estimates. We prepared management accounts for each of the five years, formally documented the shareholder loan position, and separated personal from business transactions to produce a clean opening balance sheet.

Five years of management accounts prepared and documented. Fixed asset register established. Shareholder loan position formally documented for estate purposes. The business was placed on a structured financial footing for the first time. The family is now in a position to commission a proper valuation and has retained us on a monthly accounting engagement.