Why You Should Outsource the Accounting Services
- Written by Diana Smith
In the global market, outsourcing is one of the most important tools that a business has for cutting down costs and increasing productivity. Almost all types of tasks are now being outsourced, from different companies, like a German PEO, but some still have reservations about outsourcing accounting because it’s one of the most important tasks for the business.
However, if you create a system and choose the best worker abroad, this decision can be one of the most impactful and lucrative ones you can make.
Financial savings
The most important benefit of outsourcing the accounting services is the savings that come with it. The accounting services are expensive and they require trained professionals to be done efficiently. That makes it a big burden for a small company that’s just getting started on the market.
Using accounting services based abroad means that you get to pay based on the economy of the country the accountant is in. There are also a lot of savings that come from not having to employ anyone full-time and not having a traditional infrastructure that’s implied within the office environment.
Communication issues
It’s important for the company and the accounting to have clear lines of communication. A good accountant can save you a lot of money, but your vision of company finances need to be on the same track, if not completely identical. This is sometimes difficult to accomplish even when you see your accountant every day, but it becomes even harder when you outsource.
There are ways to handle these issues, but they need to be built-in within your office workflow. Take the time to meet the accountant in person at least once a year and schedule regular meetings via Skype as you would with the accountant in your own city.
Using specialists
Most of the times, the company would benefit the most from hiring accounting specialists with expertise in SMSF that specialize in the field the company is in. That’s a much smaller pool of potential employees, but it provides you with expert knowledge about the matter.
Finding a hospitality accounting expert can help a small hotel much more than any garden-variety accounting company ever could. Using outsourcing means that you can rely on such experts from all over the world and thus make your search easier and more efficient.
Security problems
The accounting is an essential part of modern business management. It controls your finances in a very real way and it can cause numerous legal problems if it’s not handled in a responsible way. That’s why it’s a job that can only be done by someone you can trust and whose results you can verify.
You shouldn’t jump into the relationship with an accounting working abroad. The safest way to go is to let them assume more and more duties over time, once you get to know them and make sure that they are both competent and honest.
Time savings
Every business owner quickly comes to two main conclusions about running a company. First and foremost, managing a company is often much more difficult than setting it up and funding it. Secondly, time is one of the most important resources you can have and it can’t be replaced. Outsourcing accounting services can help with both.
When you outsource the accounting jobs to someone you can trust, you don’t need to hand-hold them while they work. This frees up the management to work on things that are actually important, such as expanding and growing the company.
Language
In the end, working with professionals abroad can present a problem in terms of language barriers. These days almost everyone speaks English well enough to work online, but things are more complicated when it comes to accounting. It’s very important to measure and use your words carefully since their meaning can greatly affect your business as it relates to accounting. Make sure that the accountants you choose also have soft skills such as translation and experience in professional correspondence.
It can also be useful to have accountants that speak foreign languages in case your business expands on the foreign markets. Those who speak Chinese could be especially useful in the years to come.
There are upsides and downsides to outsourcing accounting services, but for the most part it’s a smart business decision. It’s a complicated and important task so you need to choose the accountant with great care.