What will clients think if you outsource accounting work to India

09 January 2019

For many of us (including accountants), worry and stress rule the day. According to research by Psychology Today, most of us worry too much about what other people think. Consequently, it stops us from doing things because we’re scared of how it will look.

According to the study, these fears are misguided. We think people  would be far more successful if they did things that make them happy instead of others. This is not to suggest that you should ignore people (especially your clients) and push forward like you don’t care.

In this blog, we will discuss what your clients might think if you outsourced accounting and bookkeeping work to an offshore team in India, and how you can manage them without losing their confidence.

Firstly, understand what’s at stake here:

1. It’s your accounting practice and you will run it in a way that you feel best. You probably started your practice because you wanted to be your own boss, and if you feel that having an offshore team will help you focus on more challenging jobs then go for it. Your clients should help guide your decisions not make them.
2. Attract the clients you actually want. Frankly, if a client doesn’t like that you outsource accounting and bookkeeping, it’s their problem really. They can choose to continue with you and see how outsourcing frees your time to provide insight and analysis beyond basic compliance.  You need to help them understand that you have made a carefully analysed choice that is best for business growth. If they still can’t fit into your style of doing things, are they even the type of client you want to have?
3. Most people actually don’t care. In general, as long as there are no major changes people are OK with things the way they are. If your clients continue to get their work on time with fewer errors and at the same rate you are charging now, do you really think they will suddenly decide to take all their work someplace else? In business, customers don’t stop using your service unless you give them a reason to. It also helps to have a clear line of communication. Be open about how the work is getting done and assure them that nothing will change in terms of quality and delivery times.

How to get your clients to embrace outsourcing?

Be confident

The first thing you need to do before you even speak to your clients is to be content and justified with your decision to outsource your accounting work. Be confident in the reasoning of your decision to outsource accounting and bookkeeping work to India.

Good business sense

Maybe you decided to outsource accounting work because you want to scale your teams without having to recruit, or you want to free up your time to focus on higher value jobs. Regardless of the reason, its important to communicate to clients that you’re taking steps to ensure the future of your practice.

Being business owners themselves, many of your clients should understand that your decision just makes good business sense.

Conclusion:

To put all this into perspective QXAS has over 290 accountancy practices that outsource their compliance work to us. Never have they ever mentioned that they lost their clients because they decided to offshore compliance work to us. If your clients are happy with your work and you continue to provide high-quality services, there really isn’t any reason for them to stop doing business with you.

Of course, there are other aspects to consider when outsourcing to India such as how to get your staff to embrace outsourcing, knowing when is the right time to outsource, and selecting an outsourcing partner. However, as mentioned earlier you need to be confident in your business decision to outsource. If it makes sense to you that’s really all that matters.

Vishal Kurani

Bringing forth rich marketing experience in the accounting industry, Vishal blends his wealth of knowledge and creativity to educate accountants about the pressing industry issues. He is passionate about marketing and helps accountants scale their practice through his detailed write-ups.

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