For business owners, having a solid accounting and finance function is essential to achieving sustainable growth and success. If you’re an Australian business that’s experiencing growth, it is essential to have the right finance resources and team in place to stay on top of the numbers so you can make informed decisions.
Can accounting be outsourced? The answer is yes. A growing number of companies are moving away from hiring locally in Australia due to growing wage pressure and talent limitations. These savvy businesses are opting to engage outsourced accounting experts to supplement their finance team, so that they can focus on building a thriving business.
What is outsourced accounting?
Outsourced accounting involves engaging an external specialist service provider to recruit, train and onboard offshore finance team members to supplement and grow the finance team of your business. Outsourced accounting service providers can handle similar accounting tasks that you would expect from local finance team members, including bookkeeping, accounts payable and receivable, cash flow management and financial reporting. They can also make sure your business is maintaining good compliance practices and staying on top of key finance tasks.
There are many drivers for Australian businesses to outsource their accounting requirements. Having timely financial information is critical to running and making key business decisions. This involves filing vital resourcing gaps in your finance team — while freeing you up to focus on your core business. Outsourced accountants are experts in their field, and can support your operations and growth.
How to outsource accounting services
As for which tasks you could delegate to offshore accountants, it’s the full scope of accounting.
This may include core accounting functions, such as:
- Accounts payable/receivable
- Bank reconciliation
- Bookkeeping
- Establishing and tracking KPIs
- Financial statements and reports
- Fixed asset management
- Month-end close documentation
- Payroll
- POS and accounting software
- Sending invoices
- Tax compliance and preparation
- Cashflow management & forecasting
- Correspondence with key stakeholders such as customers and suppliers
As a specialist outsourced accounting service provider, S&B Private is well equipped to support more sophisticated financial functions as well. We can help you outsource advanced tasks, including:
- Budgeting and forecasting
- CFO and strategic decision-making support
- Financial controller functions
- Accounting and ERP software setup
Key benefits of outsourced accounting services
Every company needs tailored accounting and bookkeeping services based on its size, industry and stage in the business lifecycle. Outsourced accounting professionals can not only support your day-to-day financial functions but they can also . This can ultimately help to boost your business’ bottom line.
Let’s dive into the benefits of bringing outsourced accountants onto your team.
Cost savings and financial efficiency
Hiring in-house accountants can be an expensive exercise. Think salary, equipment, office space and sick days, plus all the expenses related to onboarding. Also the costs of training up new employees and ensuring that their ongoing professional development needs are met in an industry that you may not be familiar with. With the current talent shortage of accountants in Australia, finance team members also tend to fall on the higher end of the pay scale. Outsourcing your accounting reduces those costs significantly. You don’t need to pay the additional benefits of full-time staff members, and you can capitalise on more affordable rates without sacrificing on quality and output..
Saving money doesn’t have to compromise quality, either. At S&B Private, our offshore accountants are trained in Australian accounting standards, bookkeeping, software systems and tax law and compliance. Having spent several years building a talented team in Sri Lanka, we have developed a rigorous training and professional development program so that our accountants remain best-in-class as the business landscape evolves.
Access to expertise and skilled talent
Finding, nurturing and retaining top talent is no small task. By outsourcing your positions within your finance team, you’ll gain access to highly skilled, carefully vetted professionals with the skills you need to support and strengthen your business’ finance function. Our streamlined recruitment process and networks developed in Sri Lanka allow us to identify and recruit highly motivated accountants that have the domain expertise and industry experience to hit the ground running. If you ask any recruiter, they’ll tell you: Casting a wider net gives you access to a better range of talent. Hiring offshore accountants expands your talent pool and your company’s global reach, especially in light of the limited availability of local talent in Australia. They also enable you to extend your office hours across multiple time zones, enhancing your ability to service your customers.
What’s more, you can expect a seamless integration. Our offshore accountants work via the same IT systems and communication channels as your in-house employees, so they’re easily accessible.
Scalability and compliance for growing businesses
Interested in scaling up your business? Outsourced accountants can make that process a lot easier. Accounting operations can be complex and challenging, and you don’t want to skip steps or bypass any regulatory or compliance requirements when you’re growing the business.
As a business owner, you should be focusing on strategy and execution. By offloading financial functions to a trusted accounting outsourcing partner, you’ll be able to prioritise the high-level, revenue generating strategic work that will help your company achieve the better business outcomes and growth targets. You’ll have the peace of mind knowing your company will have accurate, up-to-date books, a compliant and timely payroll, and better lines of communication with key stakeholders.
What to consider before outsourcing your accounting
Thanks to the shift in remote work and advancements in cloud software technology, outsourcing is more popular and achievable than ever before. These are some of the questions to ask yourself before jumping on the bandwagon.
Is outsourced accounting right for my business?
Accessing outsourced accounting services is no longer limited to large corporations. If you’re in any of these situations, it’s worth exploring offshore accounting:
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- You’re a small or midsize business owner who needs additional full-time accounting resources in your business, but you do not have the budget to hire more finance employees locally.
- Your finance manager or CFO does not have the capacity to onboard and train a new local employee from scratch, and would rather have another professional recruit, onboard and train an accountant for you, while you just manage their workflow.
- Your company is scaling, and you are struggling to recruit and onboard local talent quickly to meet the growing finance demands of your business.
- You’re looking for an accountant with industry experience, whether that’s in professional and corporate services, or the retail, healthcare, property development or travel space.
- You run a not-for-profit organisation and require an accountant with experience in managing donations, annual reporting and grant funding specific to your industry.
- You’re not receiving timely financial information and lack visibility over your business numbers as your CFO or finance manager is stuck in the day to day finance operations of your business, making it difficult for them to step away and focus on strategic financial reporting and business partnering.
- You’re finding it challenging to find skilled local accounting resources in Australia, making it challenging to manage your business’s financial needs effectively and efficiently.
Does outsourcing align with company objectives and KPIs?
Outline your short- and long-term goals for the company. Then, assign actionable and realistic KPIs to those goals. Once you’ve done that, think about whether having a streamlined, expert accounting service could help to achieve those goals. In many cases, the strategic value of outsourced accounting lies in the tasks it takes off your plate and the tasks that you are currently not doing that you should be, so you can focus on growing your business.
How do I evaluate potential outsourcing partners?
With the widespread adoption of outsourcing among Australian companies, there are plenty of providers to choose from. When you’re comparing options, consider whether:
- The provider is an experienced specialist in finance and accounting outsourcing, or whether they are simply a labour hire company for offshore workers.
- The provider’s experience, expertise and track record meets your needs.
- The way they work aligns with your business culture and corporate values.
- You have the technology and IT infrastructure to support an offshore accounting team.
- They have comprehensive training and career development programs to nurture and develop accounting talent.
As experienced Australian accountants ourselves, we pride ourselves on matching our clients with the best offshore accounting talent. We can also help guide your business for success in finance outsourcing, from implementing finance processes, structuring finance team responsibilities to establishing the right IT environment to support an offshore accounting team member.
Do you have buy-in from key stakeholders?
Accounting has a key role within any business. It is important to make sure the key stakeholders in your business are on board with the move to outsourcing your accounting. It takes an ongoing commitment and time to see the greatest benefit from the decision to pursue outsourced accounting for your business. However, once you experience the benefits it will be difficult to envision what your business was like before you made the decision to outsource accounting in your business.
Potential challenges with accounting outsourcing and how to navigate them
Outsourcing is a transition, much like bringing any new hire on board and there are a few pitfalls to avoid. The good news? If you’re considering making the leap to outsourcing one or more roles within your finance function, it means you’re taking a proactive approach to gain the cost efficiencies and addressing pain points in your process.
Here are some common mistakes when considering stepping into the outsourcing world, and how to avoid them.
Mistake: Choosing the wrong partner.
Solution: Assess both hard and soft skills. In terms of concrete, hard skills, it is essential to choose an outsourced accounting partner that has a comprehensive training program covering Australian accounting, software systems and tax compliance. At S&B Private, we have trained our specialist outsourced finance team in these areas, benchmarking our team against equivalent local talent. As for soft skills, we also focus on finding the right culture match with your business. Our accountants have an acute awareness and understanding of Australian culture, and can embed themselves into an Australian-based team as you would expect with a new hire sitting in your own office.
Mistake: Poor integration,
Solution: Make time for the transition. Preparation is the key to the success of an outsourced accounting engagement. When you hire outsourced accountants, we support the integration via our structured onboarding process. Think of it as a form of ‘client discovery.’ This process involves understanding and setting up access to your systems,training on your company’s policies, and specific needs as well as introducing them to the relevant members of your team who they will be reporting to.. We also schedule regular temperature checks with both the accountant and business owner to make sure everything’s working well from both a technical, efficiency and cultural perspective.
Mistake: Lack of clarity & direction.
Solution: Communicate tasks and workflows with your outsourced accountant in a clear and timely manner. For outsourcing to be successful, it’s essential to provide the right support to your new accountant. This includes not only access to your systems but also clear communication and reporting lines from within your organisation.
Your offshore accountant should be treated as an integral part of your team and can communicate directly with you, your other team members and external stakeholders as required. This communication can be via all the standard communication platforms, whether through Teams, Slack, email, phone calls, or other apps.
By establishing clear expectations and communication lines and providing the necessary resources to support their success, you’ll create a seamless working relationship and empower your outsourced accountant to deliver exceptional results while reaping the financial rewards of outsourcing.
Get started with outsourced accounting
Ready to reclaim your time, save money and grow your finance team? Let us partner with you to embed top-tier, Australian-trained accounting professionals into your business. We’re here to guide you through the end to end process, from recruiting the right talent to onboarding, training and managing the relationship as your business evolves. That’s how we work.
Contact us today to learn more about the strategic value of outsourced accounting.
FAQs about outsourced accounting
What is outsourced accounting?
Outsourced accounting is when a company hires an external service provider to provide dedicated accounting professionals who support the accounting and finance function of your Australian business. This can include a range of tasks, such as bookkeeping, budgeting, payroll, financial reporting, tax preparation, KPI monitoring and legal, regulatory compliance correspondence with key stakeholders and customers.
What are the main advantages of outsourced accounting?
Outsourcing your accounting function leads to cost savings. It reduces the expenses and overheads of an in-house accounting department, allowing you to reinvest those resources into other aspects of the business. Outsourcing can also help to mitigate risk by ensuring that finance tasks in your business are completed correctly and on time, freeing you up to focus on business growth and strategy.
What should I consider when choosing outsourced accountants?
Consider training and industry expertise. Rather than using a generic outsourcing company who may work across a number of verticals such as marketing, virtual admin and IT support, choose a partner that has specialist expertise and experience in finance and accounting. Ask about communication protocols, reporting and quality control processes, and make sure the outsourced accountants are a good culture fit.
At S&B Private, we focus on recruiting and training offshore accountants to the same exacting standards as Australian accountants. We invest significant time and resources into not only recruiting, but also training well rounded qualified accountants for your business. We oversee their work and are committed to continuous improvement and skill development. Additionally, our offshore accountants are trained in Australian business and cultural norms, meaning they will seamlessly fit in with your onshore team.
What are the working hours of offshore accountants?
In most cases, offshore accountants are online from 11.30am to 8.30pm AEST, effectively extending your Australian office hours while leaving ample time for collaboration with your onshore team.
How do offshore accountants keep data safe?
It is critical that all software systems used by offshore accountants to access your business are secure and confidential. At S&B Private, our IT systems are run by a leading external managed service provider based in Melbourne, Australia. We have invested significantly in building and maintaining robust IT infrastructure and cybersecurity practices to keep your data and information safe. This involves training in identifying and avoiding phishing scams and identity theft, and deploying the latest anti-virus software and software patches to respond to new, existing and emerging cyber threats. Contact us to learn more.
What are the benefits of partnering with S&B Private over hiring an outsourced accountant directly?
Partnering with S&B Private offers more than just recruiting offshore accounting talent for your business. We provide a fully managed outsourced accounting solution tailored to your needs and focused solely for the finance and accounting profession. Hiring an offshore accountant directly comes with significant risks around data security and reliability and demands a significant amount of local resources to vet, onboard, train and performance manage them. By partnering with S&B Private you have a trusted, Australian based partner who can take on this burden for you.