Outsourced Accounting Services & You
Outsourcing as a business strategy is hugely prevalent among businesses of all sizes across industries. Whether you are a startup, small business, or a large enterprise, at one point, you must have contemplated outsourcing one or more of your business functions. Regarding accounting, companies across sectors unanimously agree that outsourced accounting services offer a profitable answer to many of their accounting problems.
We, too, have covered the benefits of outsourced accounting services at length in many of our past blogs, eBooks, Etc. Thus, we will skip that for this one and explain why you need outsourced accounting services before discussing some valuable tips on selecting the best outsourced accounting services for your CPA firm. So, let us start.
• Boost Your Bottom Line
The foremost reason to consider outsourced accounting services is the immense savings that they offer in terms of overhead costs, software costs, and the cost of hiring an in-house accounting team. With accounting, the only cost you incur is that of the services you avail, which makes it an incredibly scalable solution.
• Enhanced Security and Reduced Fraud Risk
Outsourcing service providers operate in highly secure and independent environments, significantly reducing the risk of internal fraud. This ensures the complete safety of your financial data, providing you with peace of mind.
• Expertise on Demand
Outsourced accounting services typically have a large team of accounting experts, each specializing in various accounting departments from tax to audit. This means you have a wide range of expertise and insights available whenever you need them.
In addition to these compelling reasons, depending upon your business requirement, you can opt for outsourced accounting services to gain more accuracy across your service line or free up some time from your already packed calendar.
Key Tips to Finding Best Outsourced Accounting Services
Whatever the reason you opt for outsourced accounting services, you must be careful when finding the right outsourcing partner. Here, we have shared some tips for selecting the best accounting services for your CPA firm; you can use them to chart your path to the ideal outsourced accounting service provider.
• Expertise and Experience
While many outsourced accounting services providers are in the market, you must look for one with a proven track record of success in the industry. They must also specialize in the most valuable services to your CPA firm. You can request them for some of the case studies or other vital insights into their work and offerings.
• Tools & Technology
Most outsourcing service providers have a rich ecosystem of tools and technology covering the entire accounting services spectrum. However, you must check if they have legitimate and updated versions of all the tools. You also want to ensure that their software suite is compatible with the ones you work on. In most cases, outsourcing service providers work with tools you use; however, to ensure maximum accuracy and efficiency, you must ask in advance regarding the compatibility tools and technology.
• Security and Compliance
As a CPA firm, you work with sensitive financial information of your clients. Thus, data security and compliance become paramount. You must ensure that your outsourcing service provider has robust data protection protocols, end-to-end encryption, and secure servers to safeguard financial information.
• Budget
While cost should not be a constraint when deciding to outsource, you must always ensure that your outsourcing partner has a transparent pricing structure and that there are no hidden costs at any given time. You also evaluate the potential return on investment in terms of improved efficiency, minimized errors, and the additional services that you can offer to your clients.
• Communication and Support
The success of your outsourcing operation largely depends on the support and communication offered by your outsourcing partner. In most cases, the outsourcing service providers are located in an entirely different time zone, and hence, you must ensure that they are readily available to address any query or qualm that you might have, irrespective of the time difference.
You must also ensure they have a prompt support system from onboarding assistance to ongoing training and troubleshooting. All these factors will make your outsourcing experience overall seamless.
Common Pitfalls to Avoid When Choosing an Outsourced Accounting Service
While we have discussed some essential tips for selecting your CPA firm’s best outsourced accounting services provider, it’s worth examining some common pitfalls. Here are some of them that you should stay away from.
• Overlooking Experience in Favor of Cost
While outsourcing does have a cost attached to it, selecting a partner purely on the basis of price can be a costly mistake. Service providers with experience offer highly accurate and tailored services free from errors, which is not the case with low-cost service providers. Therefore, it’s important to avoid overlooking expertise in favor of cost and to prioritize quality over price.
• Ignoring Security Measures
When outsourcing, security should be a top priority. Even a tiny security lapse can result in heavy data breaches and the loss of confidential information. Hence, you must never ignore security.
• Crosschecking References
Check the references for your outsourcing partner to avoid ending up with a partner with a poor track record for their services. Therefore, it’s crucial always to ask around and check for testimonials or past work samples before entering into a formal agreement with any outsourcing service provider.
In addition to these common pitfalls, depending upon the services you are looking for and the region from where you are outsourcing, there can be some additional business constraints that you need to take care to make sure that you are partnering with the right outsourcing service provider.
Outsourcing Offers a Lot, When Done Right
To conclude, outsourced accounting services offer a lot to CPA firms in terms of scalability, efficiency, and even expertise, all of which can give you a competitive edge. With the tips above, you can easily select the best outsourcing service provider to fulfill your business goals. However, if you still have doubts regarding outsourcing services for CPAs, please write to us at [email protected], and we will help you get started.
