Unveiling the Truth: Dispelling Common Myths Surrounding Audit Support Services

Auditing is one of the oldest yet most lucrative professions in the world. But with the onset of other rewarding careers and the massive advancements in technology, the auditing profession has slowly been losing ground. Several accountants and practices, in fact, now view it as a highly tedious and unprofitable task and therefore refrain from offering audit services.

We agree, audit is indeed a cumbersome task. It, in fact, requires a great deal of precision, efficiency, and responsibility on the part of an auditor to vouch for the authenticity, quality, and relevance of a client’s financial statements based on real evidence. However, the task itself is not as unlucrative as many accountants deem it. In fact, audit services have great potential to turn around the face of an accounting practice when done right.

Often, accounting practices do not possess the bandwidth, resources, and technology required to offer audit services to clients. This is where outsourcing comes into the picture. Outsourcing audit support services is an excellent way for practices to widen their service galore and provide an all-round service package to new as well as existing clients.

However, several misconceptions surrounding audit support and preparation services prevent practices from walking the outsourcing path. In this article, we shall address and debunk some of the most common myths about audit support services.

Myth 1: Audit support services are unworthy and unnecessary

Many accounting practices look at accounting audit support as an unworthy and unnecessary investment. On one hand, as the accounting industry already struggles with not-so-positive notions about outsourcing, audit support is more prominently considered worthless.

Busted:

Outsourcing is one of the most profitable means for any business to scale quickly without incurring unreasonable operational costs. When you outsource your internal audit services, you pass on the tedious work to certified audit professionals and thus relieve your internal team of unwarranted stress. This can save you a significant amount of time and energy that would otherwise be wasted on the cumbersome auditing functions. This, in turn, helps increase your firm’s bandwidth and frees up your auditors, who can then focus on more critical and value-adding tasks.

Short-term benefits:

• Saves your team’s valuable time and energy
• Improves your firm’s service bandwidth
• Helps focus on other value-addition-based tasks

Long-term benefits:

• Higher client retention rate
• Helps sustain the ever-growing competition
• Improves profits

Myth 2: Outsourcing audit support is unreasonably expensive

One of the most common misconceptions harboured by accounting practices is that outsourcing audit support services can cost them a fortune as it is unreasonably expensive.

Busted:

Outsourcing is the most cost-effective solution for businesses to grow their services and client base while keeping the costs incurred in check, and audit support services are no exception. Outsourcing makes trained and knowledgeable auditors available for clients for different tenures, based on the latter’s needs. These professionals work remotely and are managed entirely by the outsourcing firm. This means practices do not have to worry about the resources’ compliance and administrative expenses, as opposed to the case of having an in-house team. Thus, outsourcing audit support and preparation services can be an extremely cost-effective method for accounting practices to grow and scale.

Short-term benefits:

• Trained auditors to work on specialised projects
• Freedom from unreasonable overhead costs
• Significant cost savings

Long-term benefits:

• Dedicated team of experts working as an extension of your team
• Greater profits and scalability

Myth 3: Outsourcing audit services can put your data at risk

When it comes to data security, accountants and practices are highly skeptical. After all, they deal with a lot of sensitive financial data of clients that can be misused if exposed to security threats.

Busted:

Data security is understandably a concern for accountancy practices. This is one of the reasons accountants should conduct thorough research before choosing the right firm for outsourcing. A top-tier firm offering audit support services UK understands the data security concerns of audits and keeps the issue at the fore of their services. Such companies comply with all the necessary data security standards, such as ISO 27701 and GDPR, which speak for their expertise. Thus, outsourcing with a certified and data security compliant firm can make audit support services seamless for accountancy practices.

Short-term benefits:

• Complete privacy, accountability, and credibility of client data
• Secure networks for end-to-end data protection

Long-term benefits:

• Error-free audit support customised to client needs
• Absolute client satisfaction and retention

Myth 4: With outsourced audit support services, practices can lose control

Many accountants look at outsourcing as a compromise. There is a common belief that outsourcing leads to a loss of control and that accountants no longer have a say in how accounting firms carry out their tasks. Talk about audit services and practices are even more cynical, believing that the outsourced auditors will do the task their independent way.

Busted:

It is important to understand that you do not lose control of any processes when you outsource your audit services. In fact, top firms offering audit support services UK let you interview and select the candidate you would like to work with. Moreover, these professionals work based on your requirements, be it in terms of timing, software, or how an audit is carried out. Additionally, outsourcing firms make it a point to regularly provide reports and timesheets to the practice so that the latter is well informed about their workflow.

Short-term benefits:

• Allows for selection of the candidate or team you want to work with
• Regular reporting and control of outsourced audit tasks

Long-term benefits:

• A well-established audit process driven by experts
• Complete control of financial spends and profits
• Huge savings and better scalability

Thus, audit support services have tremendous potential to drive cost savings for a practice and bring about growth.

Dedicated audit support services with QXAS

QXAS is a top-tier outsourcing firm offering customised audit support services UK. A division of QX Global Group, one of West India’s fastest growing accounting outsourcing firms, QXAS is equipped with a team of dedicated accountants and unmatched expertise that can make audit a highly profitable job for accountants and practices.

Why choose QXAS?

– 12+ years of experience in accounting outsourcing and audit support services

– Highly qualified auditors with a seamless understanding of the UK market

– India’s first GDPR and ISO 27701 compliant accounting outsourcing company

– Fully compliant with ISO 27001 for information security and ISO 9001 for quality

– ACCA-approved Gold Employer

To learn more about our services, drop us an email at [email protected], call +44 208 146 0808 or log on to Outsourced Accounting, Bookkeeping, and Payroll Services | QXAS UK (qxaccounting.com).