Why Should A Business Outsource An Accountant Or Bookkeeper?

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outsource-Accountant

There are many reasons for why a business would want to consider outsourced accountant services and outsourced bookkeeper services.  In this article we will examine the role of accountants and bookkeepers in a business and how to outsource bookkeepers and accountants.  We will also provide a Top 10 List for why do outsourced accountants and bookkeepers make sense. 

Role of an Accountant

According to job post site Zip Recruiter the basic Job Description of an Accountant is as follows.

“Accountants record and analyze financial records for companies or individuals. Their job is to compile and verify all transactions and ensure that their clients are financially efficient as well as compliant with lawful business practices. Accountants handle a wide range of responsibilities, depending on their specialty. On a daily basis, they may review financial statements for quality assurance, verify transaction compliance, and document individual expenditures. They are also expected to make budget recommendations to increase the financial efficiency of their clients. During tax season, it is the job of an accountant to calculate taxes owed, prepare tax documents, and follow up on payments made to or received from the U.S. government. Occasionally, in smaller enterprises, an accountant may double as an auditor around tax season. Normally, an outside auditor is brought in to review the accountant’s work.”

Role of a Bookkeeper

Regarding Bookkeepers, Zip Recruiter provides the following Role of a Bookkeeper.

“Bookkeepers work on the financial accounting within for-profit and not-for-profit organizations. A Bookkeeper’s job is to record accounting transactions, post debits and credits into a general ledger, record revenue and expenses, and help produce financial statements and other reports for the management of the company. Daily, Bookkeepers use accounting software and spreadsheets to enter or review information from invoices, receipts, income, or bills from the previous day or specified period. A typical day for a Bookkeeper may include entering financial transactions, checking the records for accuracy in figures, and preparing bank deposits. A Bookkeeper will also spend time reconciling and checking reports for accuracy. In many organizations, a Bookkeeper provides regular reports to the leadership team and works with a tax preparer. Some Bookkeepers may also prepare invoices and handle payroll.”

Why Do Outsourced Accountants and Bookkeepers Make Sense?

There are many reasons to outsource Accountants and Bookkeepers.  We would like to provide a Top 10 List of Reasons Why to Outsource Accountants and Bookkeepers in this article.

  • Acquire Needed Skills

Getting needed competencies and skills in the door is the number one reason to outsource staff and use staff augmentation services.  Frequently specific skills can be hard to hire staff for.  Other times it is possible to find staff but not within the budget a company has available for a position.  Getting needed skills in the door helps a business execute on its goals and serve customers.

  • Reduce Costs

When a business combines the salary for a role with additional costs it gets an accurate picture of the expense for every role.  Federal and state or provincial taxes must be accounted for.  Benefits for health care and retirement are also part of the package.  Infrastructure and overhead costs must also be examined.  After adding all of these expenses up, staff augmentation can often fill roles for 30% to 50% of these total costs.

  • Focus on the Core Business

An often overlooked reason to engage with service providers of staff augmentation is the ability to focus on the core business and the reason a company is in business in the first place.  Many roles filled by staff augmentation service providers are back office roles and roles that are not central to the reason a company is in business.  Assigning this type of work to someone who might be virtual makes tons of sense.

  • Complement Existing Staff

In nearly all of our engagements, resources we provide work very closely with local staff and help them to be more efficient.  While we can outsource entire departments it is much more common for us to provide several, a few, or even one person to support existing staff.  We are typically offloading all the work that does not need to be done in person and back office work that is best done offsite at lower costs.

  • Flexibility

Service providers of staff augmentation and outsourcing are able to scale up and ramp down quickly as needed by their clients.  Companies engaged in staff augmentation are in constant recruitment mode and have ample candidates to bring on to serve new clients.  They can also re assign workers quickly should a company need to scale down due to business conditions.

  • Economies of Scale

Service providers of staff augmentation are specialized.  They also have critical mass.  They have infrastructure in the form of service centers with 100’s of staff working in them.  They also have ample access to talent and are typically located in countries where there are young and well educated people looking for careers.

  • Speed of Implementation

Service providers are able to provide resources quickly.  They have made investments already to operate quickly and efficiently.  Frequently they have people on staff ready to assume roles.  If this is not the case, they are typically constantly recruiting and have a steady pool of candidates.

  • Consistency of Expense

When it comes to staff augmentation contracts, costs and charges are well defined.  The scope and statement of work are agreed upon ahead of time.  Rates are typically locked in and do not fluctuate.  Defined running costs let business focus on other priorities.

  • Stop Spending Time on Recruiting

Any executive or business owner who has done recruiting knows how much time it can take to do it well.  It is a time consuming process.  Recruiting also comes with risks and not every candidate hired works out.  Why not outsource the recruiting of staff in addition to the worker.  Staff augmentation service providers are pros at recruiting and are engaged in the process every day of the week, and every week of the year.

  • Talent Management

The staff and resources are the responsibility of the service provider.  After a client assists in the initial onboarding, the service provider will manage the resources and also train up back up staff and any potential future staff additions or replacements.  HR process and strategy is already in place with service providers.

How to Outsource Accountants

How to outsource accountants or bookkeepers is as simple as calling or emailing Valenta.  During a call, virtual meeting or in person meeting with one of our Managing Partners we will get to know your business and the scope of work for the role you wish to fill.  We will discuss important software tools a business uses and well as discuss already established workflows.  We will discuss the timeline of a potential client and also ensure that there is a match on budget.  Once this is complete, we will look to see if we have staff on the bench that meet the requirements.  If this is not the case, we will examine our current candidate recruitment funnel.  Finally, if required we will do a short recruitment process.  Once we have identified the right resource, we will forward profiles and videos of candidates for review.

Want to Learn More? 

Everything we do at Valenta is about helping companies focus on and have time for what they do best and their core mission.  We do this through process consulting, digital transformation, and the automation of tasks.  We also do this by providing staff augmentation.   Valenta is focused exclusively on SMB clients, typically enterprise customers with 10-1,000 employees.  We have Managing Partners located in cities across the US, Canada, the UK, the EU, and Australia.  Our Managing Partners work with other onshore consultants, plus offshore consultants, developers, and managers of outsourced staff to deliver the best services to our clients.

Please reach out to us here to discuss your staffing requirements at any time.  We look forward to serving you and helping your business.  Please find an overview of some of the roles we fill here.

 

 

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