If you want to meet regulatory requirements, increase profits, and reduce overhead costs, you should take advantage of finance and accounting outsourced services. With the help of a third-party F&A that will handle your company’s finances, you can focus on core business problems and benefit significantly from an increase in your ROI. Finance and accounting is one of the most commonly outsourced business activities for many companies, while outsourced finance and accounting is among the fastest-growing areas for CPA firms. And it is not just about helping clients keep their accounts clean but also about leveraging financial data to provide insight that allows clients to make better decisions.
In the past, CPA (Certified Public Accountant) firms have focused on accounting for transactions that their clients already completed. However, the resulting financial reporting was too slow for an accounting-focused approach to be of much use in running the business. Thanks to tech advancements, finance and accounting professionals can now be part of the transaction process, which allows them to deliver higher-value services such as:
- Providing real-time information that helps improve financial visibility
- Assisting clients with focusing on the business or core issues instead of accounting
- Supplying expertise, best practices, and cost-effective access to technology
As companies look to leverage the power of their financial records, they decide to outsource to get better technology and expertise resources than they have in-house. Outsourced accounting service providers are going to have access to the latest technology, and that analytics power can help companies better understand their spending throughout the entire supply chain. That will allow them to boost business efficiency by standardizing procedures and controlling budgets company-wide.
Increasing Efficiency by Outsourcing Finance and Accounting Function
The benefits of outsourced accounting regarding business efficiency include:
- Focus on the business and leave accounting to the pros
What often convinces clients of the benefit of changing their business approach are the efficiencies provided by advanced technology and a skilled accounting and finance team. Helping companies efficiently run their accounting and finance departments allows them to spend more time on core competencies and less time dealing with numbers and documentation. The approach is efficient for both clients and CPA firms because modern tech solutions increase accounting accuracy, lower service costs, free up resources, and allow financial advisors to spend more time addressing their clients’ issues.
Besides collecting and processing financial information, financial advisors and CPAs can also provide value by interpreting the results and providing advice about potential pitfalls and opportunities. Instead of reacting to situations after they’ve occurred, this allows for a proactive approach to preventing issues from happening.
- Proactive approach
Besides the technical expertise and technology, outsourcing F&A services also allows clients to pinpoint business inefficiencies and move their account management from reactive to proactive. Unlike traditional accounting (also known as reactive accounting), proactive accounting can help you identify growth opportunities and benefit from savings, gaining market credibility, and increasing value in the long-term.
- Real-time financial information
Traditional financial reporting doesn’t occur in real-time, so companies don’t find it very useful in improving their business efficiency. On the other hand, having real-time information about key business drivers is extremely valuable in that context. Your F&A provider can help you identify key drivers of your company’s success and use cloud-based, real-time technology to make that information understandable and easily accessible. However, this approach cannot replace traditional financial reporting, which is still necessary for banks, investors, tax returns, and audits.
- High level of accuracy
Outsourced finance and accounting teams are made up of skilled staff trained for your company’s finance and accounting needs. Their work is monitored by top management to ensure the highest level of accuracy is achieved. Accounting is a complex area with many regularities and rules that business owners may not be aware of. To avoid any breaches, it’s always highly recommended that the financial function of a business is managed by a skilled accounting professional.
- Meeting compliance deadlines
When it comes to meeting compliance deadlines, it’s essential to have a clear history. However, deadlines are easily missed when business owners and accountants are overburdened with daily tasks and operations. Meeting compliance deadlines is crucial for any business, especially for those that plan to seek third-party funding in the future. Your outsourced professional finance team will make sure that all returns are up to date and will send timely notifications to remind you of any upcoming deadlines.
- Financial and managerial flexibility
Outsourcing your finance department helps you decide and go with the types of services that your company needs. You can either pay only for a specific service or hire full-time services. Fixed costs can be converted into variable costs, releasing capital for other investments. Your company’s ability to outsource can make the business more attractive to investors since the company is able to acquire more capital directly into its revenue-generating activities. Also, you get all the required financial data within the timeframe you need it, meaning you can make business decisions more efficiently and quickly.
As for managerial flexibility that comes with outsourcing, it means that a third-party will be involved in managing your finance and accounting function (including managing your bookkeepers and accountants). Saving businesses’ time and money will leave them with more time to focus on their business’s key personnel. They have the option to add and subtract staff anytime.
- Security and cost-savings
With the right finance and accounting outsourced partner, you can outsource any function to them without the fear of confidentiality, privacy, or security issues. They can either upload your files to a secure cloud-based server or work with your server through remote access (so your files don’t leave your office). Your outsourced partner can back up your data on multiple secure servers and have a foolproof disaster recovery system across all their premises. Your finance provider should be able to guarantee internal controls for data security and risk mitigation.
Automating your business’ back-office functions, such as finance and accounting operations, has various benefits, aside from improving cash flow:
- Lowers the risk of human error
- Speeds up to time to create accurate reports
- Lowers the labor cost of accounting
- Decreases risk of fraud
- Supplies more data and reports than manual processes
- Increases profitability
Increased business efficiency that comes with outsourced finance functions also involves significant cost savings. When you get access to professional accountants, you get them at a lower cost, without compromising quality. The vast pools of available accounting talent globally are there for you to tap into, and highly-competent and qualified finance professionals are not exclusive to big multinational corporations anymore. You can also save on employment taxes, infrastructure costs, and other overhead costs. Instead of spending money on finding, training, and retaining talent, you can just outsource.
Outsourced Finance and Accounting Function for Meeting All Your Needs
Finance and accounting needs vary depending on the resources, structure, and size of the business. Outsourcing brings value by providing professionals that operate as business advisors, assessing needs, engaging in personal interactions, and providing finance and accounting services tailored to your unique financial position and circumstances. Businesses across the spectrum can increase their business efficiency with outsourcing. This includes:
- Companies that need process expertise and technology. Maybe your personnel is adequate, but they have minimum or no experience using cloud-based processes, technologies, and practices to increase the efficiency of their operations. It is possible to outsource accounting process expertise and technology without outsourcing the personnel operating them.
- Companies that need to supplement existing resources. Some companies have some finance and accounting resources, technology, and personnel – but not everything they need. They can bridge that gap by using outsourced finance and accounting services. As the needs of the business change, these services can scale.
- Companies that need full-scale finance and accounting support. Companies with no finance or accounting personnel and no desire to build and manage them are left with no other solution than outsourced F&A function. These companies usually outsource all of their F&A needs so they can focus on other important things.
While trying to operate their businesses economically and efficiently, business owners often encounter different challenges. Concerns about their organization’s wellbeing often lead them to oversee and take on too many tasks, which takes their attention away from critical aspects of the business. Outsourcing the CFO role provides them professional assistance and the ability to refocus on executing their company’s strategic vision. Benefits of outsourced CFO services include:
- Improved cash management
- Boosted time management
- Use of cost-saving technologies
- Receiving unbiased advice
- Alleviated financial constraints
- Internal growth
- Financial expertise at a lower cost
- Help in creating plans and implementing financial strategies
- Increased business revenue
From small to large enterprises, businesses of all sizes and shapes can benefit from outsourcing their finance functions in various ways. An increasing number of companies contracting for better business outcomes are exploring new ideas and seeking new ways to streamline their finance and accounting processes. They’re expanding outsourcing to new areas of F&A, new industries, and new sizes of companies. For CFOs who want to outsource your accounting and finance processes, driving efficiency is a matter of high priority. Whether it is within the F&A department or across the company as a whole, the main strategic aim of F&A is delivering efficiencies.
Financing and accounting outsourcing provides increased business efficiency by removing the need to manage and monitor your in-house accounting staff. It will leave you more room and resources to focus on core business tasks. Thanks to outsourcing, the CFO can spend more time on financial management and decision-making. If you want to know how outsourced finance and accounting can set your business on a path towards growth, reach out to Consero and request a free demo today!
