Whether you are a large business who needs a Chief Financial Officer or a smaller operation who needs bookkeeping, data entry and general accounting advice, outsourcing can make a lot of sense. It’s an expense that often pays for itself but knowing which of your accounting functions to outsource and to who is a big decision.
In general, outsourced accounting services are classified into two categories:
- Accounting Services – This includes general accounting work including data entry of income, expenses, debtors, creditors, and payroll services.
- Virtual CFO – This is a high-level position that assists the management of the business and strategic decisions.
The key point in relation to outsourced accounting services is the flexibility to provide the services and advice that your business requires while only paying for what you need. Traditional accounting staffing for a business would include an accounting team and CFO. While this may be appropriate for a large business, it can be too complex and expensive for many small and medium businesses.
The advantages for outsourced accounting services are as follows:
Cost reduction – By outsourcing the accounting for your business, you are able to reduce many costs including wages, recruitment, training, software etc. This is because with outsourcing you pay for the time and resources you need, not for a whole salaried position and the associated costs with that.
Flexibility – As your business grows or matures, the outsourcing of these functions can be quickly and easily increased or decreased as required. This saves both time and cost as there is no recruitment required. This ensures that you are able to get the business-critical information you need, when you need it.
Focus on your business – You will have additional time to focus on your core business by removing the accounting functions and/or management of the business. This time can be used to focus on the business rather than accounting tasks. The goal is to use this time to increase or improve your core business resulting in increased sales, improved margins etc.
Quality of work – Administration functions will be completed by trained and specialised accountants. This allows the business owner to be confident that the work is being completed in accordance with the latest regulations and enables reports to be generated from trustworthy data to assist with making the business decisions.
Virtual CFO – Outsourcing the CFO role allows small to medium business access to high level advice and strategic decisions without the requirement to hire a full time CFO and the costs associated with same.
Outsourced accounting services are an effective way for businesses to get the expertise and advice they need without having to employ a full accounting department. Due to the flexibility of the arrangements all businesses from small to large can benefit from these arrangements.
If you need more information in relation to these services, please contact your local Accru office.
