Better Choice Co Inc
For the period ended Sep 30, 2024. Filed Nov 14, 2024.
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A company's report for each of its first three quarters. The financial statements are not audited. It shows how the business has moved since the last annual report, and what management says changed.
Sep 30, 2024 · Filed Nov 14, 2024
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Item 4. Controls and Procedures
Evaluation of Disclosure Controls and Procedures
Under the supervision and with the participation of management, including our Chief Executive Officer (our Principal Executive Officer or “PEO”) and our Chief Financial Officer (our Principal Financial Officer or “PFO”), we evaluated the effectiveness of our disclosure controls and procedures as defined in Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e) under the Exchange Act as of the end of the period covered by this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q. The term “disclosure controls and procedures,” as defined in Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e) under the Exchange Act, means controls and other procedures of a company that are designed to ensure that information required to be disclosed by a company in the reports that it files or submits under the Exchange Act is recorded, processed, summarized and reported within the time periods specified in the SEC’s rules and forms. Disclosure controls and procedures include, without limitation, controls and procedures designed to ensure that information required to be disclosed by a company in the reports that it files or submits under the Exchange Act is accumulated and communicated to the company’s management, including its principal executive and principal financial officers, as appropriate to allow timely decisions regarding required disclosure.
Management recognizes that any controls and procedures, no matter how well designed and operated, can provide only reasonable assurance of achieving their objectives and management necessarily applies its judgment in evaluating the cost-benefit relationship of possible controls and procedures. Based on this evaluation, our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer have concluded that, because of the material weaknesses in our internal control over financial reporting described in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2023, our disclosure controls and procedures were not effective as of September 30, 2024. We are actively remediating these weaknesses, with ongoing improvements being made to the design and operating effectiveness of our internal controls.
Notwithstanding the material weaknesses in our internal control over financial reporting, we have concluded that the condensed consolidated financial statements included in this Form 10-Q, when read with the notes thereto, present fairly, in all material respects, our financial position, results of operations and cash flows for the periods presented in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America.
Material Weaknesses
We previously reported three material weaknesses in the design and operation of our internal control over financial reporting that were identified in connection with the audit of our fiscal year 2023 consolidated financial statements. A “material weakness” is defined under SEC rules as a deficiency, or a combination of deficiencies, in internal control over financial reporting such that there is a reasonable possibility that a material misstatement of the Company’s annual or interim financial statements will not be prevented or detected on a timely basis by the Company’s internal controls. The material weaknesses relate to (i) failure to maintain controls over the operating effectiveness of cybersecurity and IT general controls; (ii) insufficient policies and procedures to review, analyze, account for and disclose complex transactions; (iii) failure to design and maintain controls over the operating effectiveness of revenue recognition controls.
Remediation of Prior Year Material Weaknesses
Cybersecurity and IT General Controls
To remediate the material weakness associated with failure to maintain controls over the operating effectiveness of cybersecurity and IT general controls, we have (i) fully transitioned to a new managed IT service provider with an appropriate level of knowledge and technical experience to design and maintain cybersecurity and IT general controls; (ii) established policies and procedures for the design and operation of IT generals controls and manual controls to prevent cybersecurity breaches, such as multi-factor authentication implemented and enforced, anti-virus and anti-malware software suites installed, a cybersecurity training platform for all employees through the industry leading KnowBe4 platform, and the dual approval of vendor payments and wiring instructions; (iii) sustained operation of our controls over a period that is appropriate in order to conclude that the controls are operating effectively.
Accounting for Complex Transactions
To remediate the material weakness associated with accounting for complex transactions, we have implemented sufficient policies and procedures to review, analyze, account for and disclose the following complex transactions in 2024: (i) Acquisition of Aimia (Note 9 - Business Combinations), (ii) extinguishment of the Alphia Term Loan (Note 8 - Debt), (iii) the July 2024 public offering (Note 1 - Nature of business and summary of significant accounting policies) which included issuance of warrants (Note 12 - Warrants), and (iv) the issuance of convertible notes (Note 4 – Note receivable). To address the material weakness in internal controls related to the accounting for complex accounting transactions, we have (i) added resources responsible for the execution and oversight of accounting and financial reporting operations; (ii) expanded the use of specialist involvement in highly complex and technical areas of accounting and valuation; and (iii) sustained operation of the implemented controls over a period of time that is appropriate in order to conclude that controls related to complex transactions are operating effectively.
Remediation Plan
Revenue Recognition
To address the material weakness in internal controls related to the revenue recognition, we continue to evaluate the design and operating effectiveness controls supporting revenue recognition and are in the process of enhancing certain controls over revenue, including adding resources and training programs addressing the design, implementation, and documentary evidence requirement of control procedures over revenue recognition for appropriate personnel.
Although we implemented measures and plan to implement additional measures to remedy our internal control deficiencies, there can be no assurance that our efforts will be successful. In addition, until the remediation steps have been completed and operated for a sufficient period of time, and subsequent evaluation of their effectiveness is completed, the material weaknesses identified and described above will continue to exist.
Changes in Internal Control Over Financial Reporting
We completed one acquisition for an aggregate purchase price of $0.4 million during the nine months ended September 30, 2024. The Company continues to evaluate the internal control environment of the acquired entity and has not yet concluded on the integration and effectiveness of internal controls. Our assessment is ongoing to ensure that all controls are appropriately aligned and integrated with our existing framework. The acquisition represents less than 1% of our consolidated total assets and has no revenues as of and for the nine months ended September 30, 2024, respectively.
Our remediation efforts were ongoing during the quarter ended September 30, 2024. Except for our ongoing remediation efforts of the material weaknesses described above, and the remediation of our material weaknesses related to cybersecurity and IT general controls and accounting for complex transactions, there were no changes in our internal control over financial reporting that occurred during the quarter-ended September 30, 2024 that materially affected, or that are reasonably likely to materially affect, our internal control over financial reporting.
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