In today’s world of finance, staying one step ahead of the game can be the difference between success and failure. While operating your enterprise, small business or multinational company comes with its set of challenges and rewards. Finance plays an enormous role in all aspects.
From payroll to monthly accounts, financial services are vital for any business. This is why capital and resources are spent on staff training and employing qualified accountants to manage these tasks. However, maintaining in-house accounting team is often costly and time-consuming, especially for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) who need to manage their resources wisely.
It is in this context that financial services outsourcing has come into existence and provide businesses with flexible solutions that meet their budgets and specific requirements. Outsourcing such services not only offers you a chance to gain assistance for solving complex financial problems but also reduces the cost of hiring additional staff.
Outsourcing provides a certain sense of flexibility to respond to the volatility of the market as well as to deal with the variable nature of revenue earned. It also does away with the additional cost of having to train staff or on having to spend on expensive accounting software.
A business would have an in-house team of accountants and as the company grows so would the number of accounts staff employed. In turn, this leads to more infrastructure and resources being needed. This ever increasing cost is mitigated with the use of an outsourced firm who have their set of qualified accountants.
Another benefit of outsourcing financial services is the fact that it reduces risk and provides more control over trading support processes, which in turn become more consistent. In addition to this, since reputed outsourcing firms have a wealth of experience at their disposal, they can develop a plan and strategy that specifically suit your business and needs. Such benefits are just a few of the many reasons as to why financial services outsourcing is the future.
Those interested in utilizing the benefits of outsourced accounting can employ the services of such companies. Virtual accounting and bookkeeping, preparation of tax and VAT returns, payroll processing, company secretarial services and preparing year-end accounts are among the many services provided by this experienced online accounting firm.
What is Accounting Outsourcing Services Outsourcing?
Accounting services outsourcing is one of the most prominent outsourcing strategies nowadays. A lot of companies now are transferring their accounting responsibilities to independent third party experts in order to focus on core activities of their businesses. Accounting outsourcing is being utilized by many companies from different parts of the globe operating in various industries because of the myriad advantages that it brings to the business.
Outsourced accounting services give companies financial and managerial flexibility by helping businesses manage the financial activities of the company while at the same time meeting the challenging demands of the customers. Outsourcing accounting is one of the best ways to lower the costs of overhead and operations and free the company from the hassles and burdens brought by the process of recruiting, hiring, and training of accountants. There will be a third party involvement which will take care of all the time-consuming accounting tasks of your business for a lower price.
Developing countries in Asia like Singapore, China, India, Malaysia, and the Philippines are popular outsourcing locations because they have a lower economy as compared to the countries where the companies that outsource services are coming from. These countries are offering accounting services at much lower rates than what is being offered locally. Developing countries have lower economies; companies can capitalize on the economic difference or arbitrage in order to save money. The amount that the companies can save from hiring less expensive services and staff can be regarded as the profit of the business.
There are many advantages of outsourcing financial services:
→Financial Flexibility. Outsourcing helps companies decide and choose the kind of services that are needed. They can either hire full-time service or pay only for the service that was rendered by the outsourcing provider. Fixed costs can be converted into variable costs and releases capital for other investment. The company’s ability to outsource can make the business more attractive to investors since the company is able to obtain more capital directly into revenue-generating activities of the company.
* Managerial Flexibility. In outsourcing, there will be a third party involvement in managing your accounting activities. This means someone will manage your accountants while your focus is on the key staffs of your business. You have an option when to add and subtract head counts anytime.
* Increase in the efficiency of the business. Not all business owners are knowledgeable about accounting activities. The accounting department has the important role of making sure the business is run smoothly. When accounting activities are outsourced, companies no longer need to carry the burdens and complexities of accounting. Company owners can do other business tasks without sacrificing the quality of the accounting section of the business.
* Opportunity to tap into the best available resources globally. The vast pools of available resources globally are up for grabs in the outsourcing business. With accounting services outsourcing the company can share resources with the outsourcing provider. Latest technologies that are usually expensive will be available to small and medium-sized entrepreneurs and startup businesses. Highly qualified and competent accountants are not only exclusive for big multinational corporations.
You should also think about the payment structure. Aside from the actual fees that the accounting firm charges, you should know if these fees will be charged as fixed monthly fees or if there will be lump sum bill by year’s end. For a number of companies, a fixed fee is more manageable and helps them plan their budgets better.
To help you find the right accountant for services and maintain the level of performance after you have found the right vendor, you should prepare a list of tasks and their corresponding timelines or deadlines. This list can help you determine the accounting tasks that should be prioritized. Use the deadlines for each of the tasks as the basis for monitoring productivity and performance. Be strict with the deadlines. Set measurable targets by finding the specific, measurable elements of the goals of the tasks.