Three tips to get the most from outsourcing your accounting functions

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An increasing number of SMEs in Britain are looking to outsource many of their essential but not core business functions. Helping them improve productivity, drive profits, engage with expertise and control spending, there are many benefits to doing this.

However, when you decide to outsource a function of your business, it is essential that the process to deliver it is robust. Here are three of the best tips to get your accounting outsourced in the best way:

1. Decide what needs to be outsourced

What functions you opt to outsource will very much depend on your personal, company and staffing circumstances. It will also hinge on other factors such as cost, time, expense and complexity of process.

If this is all relating to the accounting profession, then outsourcing the work makes sense. However, if the work requires a lot of knowledge and expertise to be applied from your company’s field of working, it may be best to keep it in-house.

However, with profitable businesses known to go to the wall, one function it could be worth starting with is forecasting. This can help your outsourced accountancy service understand the business better, making them more engage with you as a client and helping achieve better results.

2. Planning is key

Before any item of work can be outsourced, there will be a good deal of planning needed on your part. From getting documents together to drawing up checklists, it is important that everything that the accountants need to get to work is in place.

It is also a chance to show how reports in the firm are managed, presented and notated. This helps the accountants become a far more integrated part of the team. The secret to a relationship in this end is that, while the functionality is being externalised, the feel within the business is very much one of inclusion.

3. Have a dedicated contact for the management accountants

It is also important that the relationship should be effectively managed as part of daily operations and that clear contacts at each end of the relationship are in place.

As such, having a dedicated team to support the outsourced team makes sense. On the face of it, this may seem counter-intuitive, with the hire of the accountancy firm meant to save time among other plus points. However, having a group of staff able to assist where necessary is cost and time-effective management.

In many companies, the touch-point responsibilities are handed to a junior member of staff. A team comprising junior staff members and senior members makes more sense, however.