Brought to you by
AIA
Save content
Have you found this content useful? Use the button above to save it to your profile.

Outsourcing and Your Client

4th Mar 2014
Brought to you by
AIA
Save content
Have you found this content useful? Use the button above to save it to your profile.
In previous pieces, we have looked directly at the positive impacts Outsourcing can bring to your Firm in terms of growth and fee recovery. What about your client? 
 
As outsourcing is commonplace throughout industry, it is most likely that you will have clients who outsource functions such as IT, HR and Legal work, so the concept is nothing new. “But they are paying for my skills and knowledge” I hear you say, “It’s not like I can pass the work off elsewhere…” As in any Profession, Accounting requires experience, training, skill and constant development, however, the harsh fact is that most of your clients don’t perceive the same value as you do in the Year End Accounts preparation you provide and they pay for. What they do care about is their business and where you fit in as the trusted partner and advisor.
 
By combining management accounting skills and developing numerous relationships with other financial sector specialists, you, as their Accountant can be the one stop advice centre for your client. Providing Finance Director Services to their clients is seen as one of the major growth areas for Accounting firms and this added value service can cement the relationship between the business owner and your Firm. In reality, being able to offer this level of service requires access to up to date, good quality financial records and an understanding of why this information is important to your client’s business. Let’s look at the tools available to do this.
 
Cloud accounting platforms can make huge inroads in to transforming the quality and access to real time management information. It is now in standard use and industry experts are clear it will be the future of accounting. However, despite its huge advantages over desktop software it is still just a form of data collection and manipulation that requires feeding on a regular basis. Whilst it suits the growing number of small ‘tech savvy’ businesses, there is still a huge sector of companies operating in the dark, with disparate systems/sources of information, limited financial management information and no real idea of their financial position at any point in time. Some even after their Year End Accounts are prepared. 
 
So how does the Accountant tackle this? Charging a fee for FD services, only to find that every minute is spent trying to correlate information and deciphering poor quality transaction recording ends badly for both parties. 
 
How can outsourcing help? Lessons have been learned from the Large Corporates that regularly use shared services and outsourcing for their finance functions. It isn’t just about cost. Deploying Best Practice process and procedure and agreeing up front business rules, sets the business on the right course. Having those procedures and rules executed by a team of professionals adds the confidence required when it comes to analysing the data. For a Firm to take on this type of work on its own requires additional resource and the related costs.
 
Outsourcing the finance function provides more accurate records, keeps the costs down and adds a level of flexibility. With this type of service in place;
 
The Accounting Firm gains:
 
1. Quality Financial records from their client
 
2. The insight to provide valuable advice and services (business planning, funding requests etc.)
 
3. Improved fee recovery from a range of added value services 
 
The Client benefits from:
 
1. Greater Business Insight
 
2. Real time Management Reporting
 
3. A clear grasp of how the business is performing in terms of cash and profit/loss
 
4. Business Confidence and real value from their Accounting firm. 
 
The Alcore SmartOutsourcing Service for SMEs includes Accounts Payable, Accounts Receivable, Bank Reconciliation, Management Reporting, Bookkeeping, Treasury Management and Reporting. We can also provide Business Intelligence services to analyse existing data held in numerous sources, pull it together and provide valuable insight for any business.
 
We provide our clients with proven savings, confidence, security and local customer service.
 
With our combined experience in Accounting, Business Intelligence and Consulting, we believe that our process driven approach eliminates the ‘unknowns’ and offers firms access to a highly effective resource in the changing and challenging marketplace of Accounting.
 
If you are interested in growing your Firm and maximising fee recovery, please contact us on 0131 240 1278 to arrange a no obligation visit or visit our website www.alcoreglobalsolutions.com to find out more. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Tags: