Outsource Your Accounting
Posted by: admin under Accounting
Owners/CEOs of mid size enterprises have two challenges:
(a) Facilitate growing their enterprises without compromising on the “nimble footedness” that got them to where they are and yet put in place processes that are absolutely necessary to enable to the business handle volumes far bigger than their current size; and
(b) Keep costs trimmed and aligned to business volumes
In other words, be capable of growing with processes that are necessary to scale up; and yet remain profitable without ballooning overheads.
Outsourcing your back office processes, especially accounting services, is a step in the right direction. Increasing pressure on profits is driving more and more midsize enterprises to look at outsourcing to cut costs and improve competitiveness in market place; something that Fortune 500 enterprises have been doing with success for the last ten years.
Can accounting be outsourced?
You would be surprised at how easy it is to outsource accounting.
o You keep your accounting system in your computers in your premises.
o You scan all incoming documents and store them as digital images.
o Your accountants, located outside your enterprise, access your computers in a safe/secure way, read the documents, process them according to your business rules and update your accounting records.
o When you enter your office, your inbox contains reports that you can print and read; checks you should print and sign; and queries that require resolution.
Just that simple!
Your first decision: What to outsource?
Your finance function comprises:
(a) CFO function focused on maximizing stockholder wealth by helping you make right decisions on pricing, resourcing, investment, funding and dividends; by ensuring your business generates the anticipated cash and this cash is deployed in the right direction
(b) Management accounting who help you plan the business; provide analytical support
(c) Treasury which manages the cash and
(d) Financial accounting which
a. maintains the books of accounts,
b. processes sales orders, sales invoices and receipts; monitors accounts receivable
c. processes supplier invoices and payments; monitors accounts payable
d. processes payroll, expense claims etc
e. prepares financial statements and other internal reports
Financial accounting (or any part of it) can easily be outsourced. This would step up service quality. A hare that runs for its life always runs faster than a lion running for its lunch; independent third parties would always be more focused on service (without losing emphasis on control) than in house accountants.
Your second decision: Who should do your work?
You should look for someone with experience in serving midmarket enterprises. TaurusQuest (www.taurusquest.com) have unique strengths here.
TaurusQuest have a track record in serving midsize enterprises in the United States; and have been ranked 4th worldwide in providing finance/accounting services to midsize enterprises by the Black Book of Outsourcing.
We understand small and mid market enterprises better:
CEOs of mid market enterprises are looking at outsourcing of back office processes as a strategy to remain competitive (against larger players and peers) and protect their margins.
If you are a mid market enterprise, you need to be twice careful in the choice of your vendor for outsourced services. The vendor should understand the need for the enterprise to be flexible and nimble footed in managing the processes and provide an entrepreneurial understanding of your opportunities.
We at TaurusQuest understand small and mid market enterprises better. We recognize that upfront investments need to be small; value realization should be reasonably quick; processes may not necessarily be structured and disciplined.
We have a track record of success in growing with our customers in this segment.
We have been placed fourth worldwide for customer satisfaction and operational excellence in our most important business: providing accounting services to mid market enterprises by a US based publisher of global league tables based on independently conducted customer surveys for 2007.
We were awarded this when we were at the finance/accounting services division of Quscient; now we are an independent corporate entity
We consider this a testimony to our credentials for “delighting” our customers.
Accounting services that can be outsourced:
A wide range of accounting services including:
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