Eppo Horlings (1944), chartered accountant and financial specialist took an ambitious step at an age when his contemporaries were thinking of retirement. In 2007 he founded the Horatio Assurance Group, an off-shoot of a prestigious accountants' office which he set up 35 years ago.
As well as having years of experience as an accountant he is well-known and respected as a legal expert and advisor in substantial damages cases concerning detriment compensation, dispossession and damage by planning, and in conflicts with regard to valuation of shares. In addition Horlings has more than 25 years' experience as a lecturer at various universities and is the author of several books with financial themes such as “Balance reading” and “What do the figures say?” In addition to university lectures Horlings also gives regular courses for lawyers and entrepreneurs among others.
Horatio offers high end financial service for high end entrepreneurs with boundless ambition. Clients come in all kinds. Some facility in discriminating is needed. We aim at those entrepreneurs who are active round-the-clock in attempting to achieve the high end of their additional value in the market. We want to achieve a win-win situation with them.
Getting a business off the ground needs enterprise, creativity and an innovative attitude. If these factors are present an organisation grows and attention for the organisation of management increases. Carrying out the core business takes precedence. Drawing up annual accounts, accounting controls, tax returns and administration are necessary evils of business life; tasks that are in keeping with the work of a standard accountant. Just as our clients do not offer a standard product in a standard market, neither does our work stop at standard accountant's services. Keeping up with the developments of our client demands a broad and deep interest in the affairs of his organisation. Passion in service and interest and attention for the client are for us indispensible elements; and in such a way that his financial management is optimal. We do not shrink from the challenge, just as we have successfully dealt with the challenge of talked about claims. To date we have dealt with more than 500 claims to the value of more than one billion euros.
The challenge in this line is finding the balance between supporting and encouraging ambition and keeping both feet on the ground with regard to responsibility. That is a fantastic, dynamic field of tension. We all know the fraud cases in which the dynamics are accompanied by corruption. It happens only too often that entrepreneurs who run ahead of themselves have to flatter the figures to make it seem that all the ambitious and enthusiastic goals have been achieved. Often people with boundless ambition have too little attention for the responsibility.
Neither do average accountants have an eye for ambition. My people do have that. We support ambition and aren't afraid of it. Entrepreneurs with passion and dreams need a financial specialist with vision and guts. At the same time it is the trick to keep both feet on the ground regarding responsibility. That field of tension is wonderful and that is why I still enjoy operating in the market.
Everybody can calculate. It's all about how you deal with the rest around it.
As our accountants so rightly say: “We haven't finished when the report is ready. That's when we begin.” We are financial specialists who pro-actively think with you, advise and like to sit down with our clients for a good talk.
Noteworthy is that we also play in two fields, that of the business world and that of government.