About Us
Overview
| Mission | To bring you the peace of mind regarding your financial position |
| Value proposition | Strict compliance with applicable technical standards or best practices Personal service Prices at discount to Big 4 |
| Service delivery features | Experienced teams Focus on efficient communication |
| Customer focus | Small and medium size private businesses which value technical excellence and personalized attention |
| Track record |
300+ financial outsourcing projects 500+ specialist advisory engagements 700+ tax advisory and transfer pricing projects 1000+ financial audits |
| International affiliation | A member of the global network of CBA Cross Border Associates (www.cba.associates) |
Milestones
-
1998
August: the firm established as an audit and tax practice
-
2000
May: launch of transaction advisory and business valuation services
June: affiliation with Moores Rowland International
-
2002
August: departure from Moores Rowland International
-
2004
June: launch of accounting services
September: affiliation within Grant Thornton International
-
2007
2007: moved to office premises at Citadeles 12, Riga
-
2009
September: launch of internal audit
-
2011
October: departure from Grant Thornton International
-
2013
March: affiliation with RSM International
December: launch of CFO outsourcing services
-
2015
January: departure from RSM International
May: repositioning to status of a national firm with focus on financial advisory and accounting
December: affiliation with CBA Cross Border Associates, a global network of business consultants
-
2016
July: Finance Monthly announces Merhels as the winner of the award ‘Strategic Business Consultant Firm of the Year Latvia’
October: Wealth & Finance INTL announces Merhels as the winner of the ‘2016 Tax Excellence Award’
-
2017
March: Lawyer Monthly selects Edvards Merhels for ‘Expert Witness Awards 2017’
September: Acquisition International announces Merhels as the winner of the award ‘Best Accountancy Firm 2017 – Latvia’
-
2018
August: Merhels celebrates 20 years of business
August: Acquisition International announces Merhels as the winner of the award ‘Best Accountancy Firm 2018 - Latvia’
-
2019
March: Acquisition International announces Merhels as the winner of the award ‘Leading SME Accountancy, Tax and Business Advisory of the Year, Latvia’
August: Acquisition International announces Merhels as the winner of the award ‘Best SME Accountancy Firm 2019 - Latvia’
-
2021
March: Finance Monthly’ announced Merhels as the M&A Advisory Firm of the Year Latvia
September: Merhels moved to office premises at Republikas laukums 3-124, Riga
-
2023
April: M&A Today announced Merhels as ‘Best Accountancy Firm Latvia 2023’
Edvards Merhels
Managing partner
Certified Auditor, FCCA
edvards@merhels.lv
Briefly about Edvards
Edvards has been in the business of auditing since 1994. Until September 1998, when Merhels was founded, he worked in the Riga office of a large international audit firm, primarily being involved in the audits of commercial banks. Since autumn 1999, Edvards has been accredited as a Latvian certified auditor. In 2000, he became a member of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (FCCA).
While Edvards has participated in various audit and advisory engagements to a diverse range of organisations, he feels most inspired in handling transaction advisory related engagements, for example, financial due diligences and business valuations. His other fields of activity inter-alia include statutory valuations of in-kind contributions, forensic investigations, corporate taxation of companies, transfer pricing and assessment of economic losses.
Until 2010 Edvards was a long standing member of the Quality Assurance Committee at the Latvian Association of Certified Auditors.
Service lines
Audit, transaction support, financial advisory, computation of economic losses, strategic services, transfer pricing
Languages
Latvian, English, Russian
Dace Merhele
Partner, tax advisory
Certified Auditor
dace@merhels.lv
Briefly about Dace
Dace commenced professional activities in 1994. Work in the Riga office of a large international audit firm as well as managing the internal audit department of a medium size commercial bank has contributed to Dace’s accumulation of diverse professional experience. Since 2000, Dace has worked at Merhels. In 2000, she became certified manager and then certified auditor of quality systems. In 2001, Dace was admitted to the Institute of Internal Auditors in Latvia and passed exams under the IATCA and IRCA schemes for lead auditors of quality systems. Dace has been a member of the Institute of Internal Auditors since 2003. In 2006 Dace was accredited as a Latvian certified auditor.
She has accumulated considerable experience in due diligence projects, financial and internal audits of private sector entities. Dace leads tax audits and provides compliance and tax planning services to companies. Dace has experience in audits of quality systems of service organizations either operating or being related to financial services.
Service lines
Tax advisory, audit, transaction support
Languages
Latvian, English, Russian
Marija Smirnova
Partner, financial outsourcing
marija@merhels.lv
Briefly about Marija
Until the fall of 2001, when Marija joined us and got involved in audit, tax and accounting projects, she worked for 4 years as an accountant. For three of those four years, Marija worked in an international firm of external accountants, primarily rendering accounting services to subsidiaries and branches of Scandinavian companies. Marija has passed ACCA qualification exams.
Marija always has been active in and found about accountancy related engagements and as of 2004 she leads our accounting and tax compliance services. Marija has accumulated experience in financial audits of private sector entities, not to mention experience accumulated in rendering tax consulting both to companies and individuals.
Service lines
Financial outsourcing, tax compliance
Languages
Russian, Latvian, English
Customers
Over the years we have accumulated experience working with all sizes of private sector organizations engaged in different sectors and having different cultural backgrounds.
We have experience in servicing customers operating in agriculture, construction, education, energy, hotel & entertainment, holding company operations, investment management, IT, manufacturing, medical services, media, not-for-profit, pension management, private equity, professional services, retail, transport & logistics, technical trade, wholesale.
In terms of ownership structure, more than 70% of our customers are foreign investors. Most of these come from Scandinavia and our close neighbours – Estonia and Lithuania. To lesser but still significant extent we work with foreign investors from Germany, France, Netherlands and United Kingdom. We as well have experience of working with customers from Armenia, Austria, China, Czech Republic, India, Poland, Russia, Spain and United States of America.
