From: Senior Financial Manager To: Financial Manager Subject: Partnership with a Global Consultancy Firm Hi, Thank you for your input on the previous matters, your feedback was greatly appreciated. We have successfully reduced the prices and demand for our courses has risen again. We now to seem to have a different matter on our hands. Janusz Reclaw, our Marketing Director informed me about a recent development in the industry. That is where the local training companies have been approached by, and have partnered up with global consultancy giants such as McKinsey. Attached is a short article published in last weekend's newspaper related to this (Reference Material). It has been brought to my attention, that we have also been approached by such a company and are considering this extensively. This will be a rather different business model but nevertheless will help to yield good revenue. But in the terms of the cost involved, these consultancy firms are charging substantial monthly retainers to provide their experts. The cost however is justified, as getting these professional trainers will add significant value to the reputation and profile of our company. I need your input on the following matters: We need to pay the monthly retainer if we sign the contract with the consultancy firm. Before that, we should carefully analyze whether we will extensively use this service to justify the cost. How can the risk involved in signing the contract be reduced? Outline the impact to our financial statements if we sign the contract.