The ROI of Outsourced Finance & Accounting

The Finance as a Service solution offers growing organizations greater flexibility, efficiency, scalability, and cost savings than traditional F&A department building.
Updated: December 2, 2024

Growing companies face a critical decision as they reach a certain size and scale of operations: Is it better to outsource finance and accounting or keep it in-house? At first look, both options have benefits, but Finance as a Service (FaaS) offers higher velocity with lower cost and effort than building in-house.

Traditional accounting: costs and ROI

FaaS is a major departure from the traditional method of handling accounting. First, let’s consider the costs of traditional accounting.

Costs

Traditional accounting costs are expensive and variable by nature. Organizations that handle such efforts in-house have to repeatedly address some uncertainties related to staffing, software and equipment over time that increase the amount of labor and funds spent on accounting. While these circumstances play out differently for all enterprises, they represent a notable, sometimes substantial cost.

  • Training: Over $4,000 per new hire, on average.
  • Median Salary and Benefits:
    • Accounting field: ~$70,000 per year
    • Entry level bookkeeper, accounting clerk and audit clerk: ~$40,000 per year
    • Senior financial managers and analysts: Over $100,000 per year

ROI

With efficient hiring practices, strong training and the right software, traditional accounting practices can still provide
strong returns. However, when compared to outsourced accounting, the more variable, unpredictable costs and potential for increased spending quickly stand out in terms of ROI.

Finance as a Service: costs and ROI

The FaaS approach to providing consistent, secure and effective results are very different from the traditional outsourced accounting strategy.

Costs

Outsourced accounting with a Finance as a Service model, based on company headcount and specific needs, carries an average cost of $3,000-$10,000 per month for a medium-sized business.

With a yearly value between $36,000-$120,000 and all the people, process and systems you need to have an effective finance function, the total yearly price tag is significantly less than the cost of one controller earning the industry
median of salary plus benefits.

As the headcount of a company increases, outsourced accounting costs will also scale with the size of a business in a far more direct and predictable structure.

ROI

The FaaS model stands out over in-house F&A is several key areas.

Consistency and reliability of service: No matter how fast a business scales, FaaS provides high-quality service that adapts quickly to any organizational changes or developments.

Lack of need for training, onboarding, or addressing employee turnover: means smoother operations, provided by a seasoned team of financial professionals who are ready to start offering consistent, high-quality service from day one.

A more streamlined implementation of software and new processes: The provider will have plenty of experience in installation and user training. These attributes also increase stability and provide increased peace of mind to company leaders.

Learn more from industry peers about the advantages of FaaS

We’ve scratched the surface of the differences and cost and ROI between in-house vs. outsourced F&A. Our complimentary whitepaper explores these factors and more with industry leaders in finance. Download your copy below.

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Finance as a Service

Cutting edge technology, processes, and people in a fully-managed solution to deliver precise financial visibility and improved operational scalability, plus a lower and more predictable cost structure. 

Flex Finance

Keep your existing technology and processes. We can manage the back-office F&A function from end-to-end process, including closing the books. When you need skilled talent, we can supplement your F&A team.

Advisory Services

Expert advice and strategies to help you grow.

• CFO Advisory Services
• FP&A and Reporting
• Technical Accounting & Clean-Up
• Business Process and Technology Transformation

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