Finance and accounting is one part of an organization that is crucial in keeping the business fully functional and successful in the long term.
A business organization’s finance and accounting is considered as one of its core functions. This department includes important financial matters like audits, preparation of financial reports and tax filings. Apart from that, every business has to perform certain day-to-day accounting activities to keep its operations up and running.
Finance and accounting is one part of an organization that is crucial in keeping the business fully functional and successful in the long term. Many companies these days are also utilizing outsourcing to optimize their finance and accounting processes.
Outsourcing accounting means that you will be required to share private information of your company to a third party. This part of an outsourcing practice remains a gray area for some business leaders. More so, it often affects their decision-making in whether to outsource their finance and accounting or not.
Outsourcing definition
In simple terms, outsourcing is the subcontracting to an outsourcing provider or a business process outsourcing (BPO) firm to perform certain tasks from your business’ daily operations. A lot of entrepreneurs are making use of this practice as their strategic way to improve their efficiency. It also allows them to save more of their budget and resources while working with skilled experts.
What services can you outsource?
Finance and accounting outsourcing does not mean that you will be fully giving up control over your accounting team. Take note that you can always choose certain accounting tasks that you want to outsource such as:
- Bookkeeping
- Payroll
- Financial statements and reports
- Compliance management
- Procurement process
- Planning, budgeting and forecasting
These are just a few of finance and accounting services you can take advantage of from a BPO provider. Depending on the outsourcing company, some may offer a range of accounting services. It usually includes services from bookkeeping and back office support, controller tasks, to financial planning and analysis services.
Things to consider before choosing an outsourcing partner
There are a lot of outsourcing providers that can help your business. However, it is also important that you choose the one that best fits your type of business. Below are some tips you can consider before choosing your outsourcing partner:
- Determine your accounting needs and requirements.
- Define your goals in outsourcing.
- Select a reliable and established BPO company.
- Check if your chosen outsourcing partner is compatible with your company culture.
- Inspect their communication channels, technologies used in terms of accounting tools and software, as well as their infrastructure.
It is also important to consider looking into reviews of your chosen BPO’s former clients. Research everything that you need to know about your outsourcing provider. Do not simply make a decision based on superficial reasons, like: how well put their website is, or hiring someone just because they’re recommended by a friend.
