Registration Document BOUYGUES

17.7 Information and
communication
The production and dissemination of information,
both inside and outside the Group, does much to
enhance internal control.
Information systems have been put in place to manage
and supervise the business. Communication
helps both to make staff more aware of the importance
of control and to provide those outside the
Group with reliable and relevant information that
complies with legal requirements.
17.7.1 Internal communications
The Group Corporate Communications department
plays an active part in circulating information to the
Group’s employees. This strengthens the Bouygues
group’s identity and plays a unifying role.
Reporting directly to the Chairman and Chief
Executive Officer of Bouygues, the department is
responsible for Challenger Express, a twice-monthly
newsletter for managers, and Le Minorange, an
in-house magazine published twice yearly that
forges genuine links between all Group employees.
The department also supervises e.by and e.bysa,
the respective Bouygues group and parent company
intranet portals, which provide online access
to a wealth of information. Bouygues and Group
employees use these sites as tools of work and
tools to share information.
The Group Corporate Communications department
also publishes Bouygues’ In Brief, a brochure summarising
financial, corporate, social and environnemental
information that is circulated externally
as well as to the Group’s managerial, supervisory,
technical and clerical staff.
The Group Management Meeting is also an important
channel for transmitting key information and
messages to the Group’s senior executives.
This is also the case at business segment level.
At TF1, for example, the Internal Communication
department publishes an employee magazine
three times a year (Regards) and a monthly newsletter
(Coup d’œil). In addition, employees can
access a wealth of information through the intranet
portal Declic.
17.7.2 External communications
The Group Corporate Communications department
works in close cooperation with the business segments
for their mutual benefit.
Its main tasks are to:
> promote the Group’s image (press relations,
public relations, corporate sponsorship, etc.);
> pass on information from external sources to the
Group’s senior management and executives.
> handle financial disclosures to the press and
the public, in collaboration with the Investor
Relations department.
17.8 Internal control
procedures relating to
accounting and financial
information
One of the main aims of internal control is to ensure
the reliability of accounting and financial reporting.
This is done through a comprehensive system and
a set of stringent procedures.
17.8.1 Quarter-end close
Each business segment sets its own procedures
for closing financial statements, which have to fit
into the broader framework of the Group’s consolidation
process.
At TF1, for example, the Accounting and Financial
Control departments use a common process to
analyse and sign off on inventory entries. The
Accounting department ensures compliance with
asset measurement procedures, which include
identifying impairment indicators for intangible
assets and accounting for impairments after testing.
It then presents the results for approval to
the Audit Committee and the statutory auditors.
Provisions are recognised in collaboration with the
Finance department, the corporate secretary and
the Legal Affairs department.
17.8.2 Consolidation process
At the parent company, the Group Consolidation
and Accounting department is chiefly responsible
for determining and establishing consistent rules
and methods of consolidation for the Group and
assisting the business segments in their consolidated
management. It also prepares the parent
company financial statements.
Consolidation is carried out quarterly on a step-bystep
basis. Each business segment consolidates at
its own level using identical methods defined by the
Group Consolidation and Accounting department,
which then carries out the overall consolidation of
the Group’s financial statements.
Special software, widely used by listed companies,
is used to consolidate the financial statements at
the various levels. Each of the business segments
uses it as part of their step-by-step approach to
consolidation. It ensures rigorous control over
preparation of the financial statements, which are
thus subject to standard procedures.
In addition to the computerised accounting system,
the Group Consolidation and Accounting
department has produced a Group consolidation
handbook containing the rules and procedures
applicable to consolidation throughout the Group.
The handbook is an important reference tool for
preparing the consolidated financial statements. It
is accessible to all accounting staff on a dedicated
intranet site describing the various principles and
options that apply within the Group.
As part of its task of organising and coordinating
financial statement consolidation, the Group
Consolidation and Accounting department also
regularly provides the business segments with
information about applicable rules and methods
(by organising seminars, distributing circulars,
etc.), and thus helps to maintain the consistency
of the system used to prepare the consolidated
financial statements. This was particularly the
case for the introduction of IFRS, and the related
interpretations and amendments.
The company uses accounting software to manage
its commitments and control its expenditure. To
monitor expenses, it also uses an application that
allows formalised and secure procedures to be
followed whenever expenses are incurred.
17.8.3 Internal control procedures for
finance and accounting
In addition to the core procedures set out in the
Bouygues group’s internal control guidelines in
terms of accounting and finance, each business
segment organises its internal controls in accordance
with its own system.
BOUYGUES • 2011 Registration Document • LEGAL AND FINANCIAL INFORMATION • Chairman's report • 188