Finance & Accounting: In-House vs. Outsource

Every company that wants to get a better handle on their finance and accounting function has the eternal dilemma of either hiring an in-house team to perform it within the company or retain the services of a professional finance and accounting firm that already does this for many others.

The truth is that many successful businesses have long been using the services of third-party vendors. It has been a while since they realized that this is:

  • A more efficient solution, and
  • A more cost-effective solution.

However, it’s much more than that. The times have changed, and professional Finance as a  Service firms like Consero have perfected their methods. They have improved the model they work on and have gained vast experience working with hundreds of clients on the same thing – dealing with their books and overall finances.

Finance and Accounting (F&A) vendors can now add much more value to their service. More importantly, they can add more value to their partner organizations through the use of:

  • High-quality services
  • Automation of many processes
  • Close and constant communication

It gives CEOs, CFOs, and other stakeholders the tools and the data they need to lead their company. It gives them all the things they need to grow the business, to innovate, and add more strategic value to the rest of the team.

How does in-house F&A fall short?

We are not here to talk poorly about in-house teams and say that they are not professional enough. On the contrary, we work with many companies who want to keep their key finance staff. However, you should know that many companies are still unaware of all the benefits outsourced F&A can offer.

The main problem with full-time finance and accounting staff is that they require a lot of talent. Yes, they are often very knowledgeable, skilled, and engaged, but they lack the best tools and resources that can help them excel in their duties. These tools and resources require a substantial investment on your end – the type of investment you don’t have to make when your resources need to go towards sales, marketing, R&D, etc.

It is not empty talk; the statistics already provide more proof than one could expect.

  • Around 50% of businesses in the US say that their accounting staff tends to be reactive rather than proactive. It makes them respond to problems only, without working on improvements and advancement.
  • 34% of executives stated that they lack guidance from their accounting team.
  • A staggering 80% of business leaders say that it’s becoming crucial to integrate the front office strategy with their back-office operations, yet are finding it hard to achieve this quickly and efficiently.
  • Only 40% of business leaders feel that they are very knowledgeable about accounting and finance in their company and in general. It shows that there is not enough cooperation between the executives and F&A departments.
  • 47% of business leaders state that their current function does not have the right combination of capabilities that will meet future priorities.

All of these numbers show that CEOs, CFOs, and executives are often uncertain of the effectiveness of their F&A teams. They feel that there’s not enough guidance, and advice offered by these groups, which most likely stems from the fact that the F&A departments have a lot on their plates.

In the end, the biggest problem here is that there’s not enough improvement and advancement. In-house teams do not have the time and the means to do their everyday work and at the same time make improvements and take the finances of the company to the next level.

It is precisely where outsourcing comes in.

Where outsourcing F&A comes in

Outsourcing F&A changes everything. It provides:

It is only the tip of the iceberg of what you gain by hiring the services of third party F&A vendors. So many other smaller details can be improved as well, which we could talk about for ages.

However, we wanted to give you more numbers that will show you, in bright light, the benefits you can gain by hiring a firm like Consero to take care of your finances and accounting needs.

  • 33% of executives now rely on the quality services offered by outsourced F&A teams. They provide them with intellectual capital, cost-savings, and global scalability.
  • 31% of executives see the many benefits of their outsourced partners, and they consider them as primary sources of growth.
  • 69% of executives feel that the finance leader role is fundamentally changing because the traditional finance tasks are now being automated and managed in shared services centers to which they have access.

The last fact shows how Consero and firms like us are changing the industry with our modern methods that undergo continual improvement. We go beyond outsourced accounting and finance and are giving companies like yours everything that they need to excel.

We take care of the little details through automation and thus have more time to deal with other pressing matters in your finances. Additionally, this leaves the CFOs with more room to move and focus on strategic and other tasks that will grow the company.

If you choose to hire Consero, we can implement our system and provide full integration of our finance teams with your business in 30-60 days.

Then within a month of hiring us will you see our foolproof model at work for your company. Shortly after that, you’ll also start seeing the benefits we previously said and see why the numbers and statistics we mentioned are facts.

If you want to see the statistics we talked about in a more shorter and concise form, take a look at our infographic that compares in-house and outsourced accounting and finances. Then you will be able to decide which road your company should take.

Consero FaaS: Disrupting the Outdated Traditional F&A Model

Transformation
  • Cash to GAAP conversion
  • Clean-up work
  • Interim oversight & support
  • Accounting software Implementation

Build it Yourself Solution

  • CFO / Interim CFO
  • Consultants / VARs

Consero FaaS Solution

  • CFO / Interim CFO
  • or Consero Interim CFO
  • Consero Setup/Transformation
Ongoing F&A
  • Monthly financials
  • Daily accounting support
  • Management reporting
  • Integrate add-on acquisitions

Build it Yourself Solution

  • CFO
  • Controllers & Accounting Team
  • Enterprise Accounting Applications

Consero FaaS Solution

  • CFO
  • or Consero Fractional CFO
  • Consero FaaS Enterprise F&A Software and Services

New PE Platform Investment F&A Challenges

Founder Owned Company Accounting:
  • Existing accounting done on a cash/hybrid basis
  • Run on SMB accounting software and other disparate applications
  • Inability to produce auditable financials
  • Lack of know-how to develop projections & KPIs
  • No consistency/structure to customer contracts
  • Underqualified staff
  • Non-scalable manual processes
Carve-Out Accounting:
  • Required to move off parent company accounting applications in a timely fashion
  • Have to build an entire F&A team
  • No documented operational policies and procedures
To Optimized Finance & Accounting:
  • Monthly financials available in 5-10 business days
  • Audit and diligence ready support details
  • Integrated enterprise grade accounting software
  • Budget and forecast reporting
  • Business KPIs
  • Efficient & scalable processes for rolling in add-ons