"Answering the various challenges faced by companies and entrepreneurs"
From the very founding of Affirma in 2011, Régis de Graveron wanted to go beyond the strict framework of accountancy and statutory auditing to provide companies and entrepreneurs with a broad range of advice addressing their various challenges.
How did your career lead you to create Affirma?
From 1997 to 2001, I created and then developed two businesses in Italy, one in consulting and accountancy, the other in audit. I managed to have the latter registered with CONSOB, the Italian equivalent of the AMF, qualifying it to audit listed companies. That entrepreneurial venture lasted four years. I then returned to France for another entrepreneurial venture, this time in the healthcare field. In 2004, I joined Deloitte's Transaction Services activities as a director. As I speak Italian fluently, I took charge of the Italy Desk and continued numerous exchanges between the two countries. That is when the idea of creating Affirma came to me, driven by one ambition: to add a touch of consulting to the accountancy and statutory audit profession.
What is Affirma's DNA?
I created Affirma in 2011 with a Franco-Italian vocation from the outset. From the very beginning, I wanted to go beyond the strict framework of accountancy and statutory auditing to provide companies and entrepreneurs with a broad range of advice addressing their various challenges; whether legal matters, human resources, payroll, taxation or administration. What makes Affirma special is offering its clients a single point of contact who coordinates absolutely all of these actions, factoring the impact of each one on the others into the overall picture.
Where does the name Affirma come from?
In Italian, "signature" is "la firma". We are here to affirm advice and to sign expert-reviewed and audited accounts.
How do you differentiate yourselves in a market with many quality players?
Today, Affirma presents itself as a consulting firm offering a very comprehensive range of services, enabling companies, entrepreneurs and groups in development to access all of these services in one and the same place. At a reduced cost compared with implementing equivalent in-house services.
What is your role in the relations between French and Italian companies?
I spent my early childhood in Monza. My knowledge of Italy and its culture enabled me to quickly build a client base there that has remained loyal to us for 10 to 15 years! Beyond speaking Italian, it is important to explain to French companies the specifics of Italian taxation, and vice versa. Like France, Italy is unitary when it comes to tax, which facilitates financial and commercial exchanges. But there is a genuine regionalization of business, as Italians generally remain very attached to their region of origin. Our two countries are neighbors, closely linked for centuries. Our two cultures and sensibilities are extremely close, yet this apparent proximity can prove misleading when running a business. Exchanges between French and Italian companies often run into mutual misunderstanding. Affirma's role is precisely to bring fluidity and a relationship of trust.
Do you have a presence in Italy?
To better assert our presence in Italy, in 2015 we formed a close partnership with the Milan accountancy firm MMVN, the successor to the firm I had created in 1997.
Does a company need cross-border activity to call on your services?
No, we have many clients that are 100% French or Italian, attracted by Affirma's one-stop-shop aspect.