How Outsourced Bookkeeping Services Can Open New Avenues for Your Accounting Firm

Outsourcing cumbersome compliance tasks is a common practice in the accounting industry today. In fact, many big and small accounting firms outsource at least a part of their compliance tasks, such as bookkeeping, to experienced offshore professionals.

Over the years, the number of accountants in the UK outsourcing their bookkeeping work has only risen. This number further saw a steep increase post the pandemic, making outsourced bookkeeping services one of the most sought-after services by accountants in 2022.

Bookkeeping is a vast industry in the UK. An IBISWorld study on the trends of bookkeeping in the UK forecasted that the industry revenue would reach £5.8 billion by 2022-23. As the industry grows rapidly and technologies and processes keep evolving, outsourcing has become crucial for accountancy firms to keep pace with the developments.

We all know the role of outsourcing in helping accountants cut operational costs and boost profits. However, there is more to outsourcing than just the cost benefit.

Let’s delve into how outsourced bookkeeping can open new avenues for accountancy firms.

Expand Your Service Portfolio

Post the pandemic, the competition in the accounting industry has only gotten worse. It isn’t just about survival anymore; accountants and accountancy practices want to thrive and build a reputation for their brand. One of the ways to do this is by expanding your service portfolio.

The accounting and audit market in the UK is currently in shambles. Amid the uncertainty that looms over accounting and audit giants, smaller accountancy practices have a tremendous opportunity to enter the market and expand their services.

However, to do this, your firm must first have enough capacity. This is where outsourced bookkeeping services are crucial.

Onboard New Clients

We know that clients prefer working with a single vendor for all their accounting needs. So, if you offer a complete gamut of accounting services, your chances of attracting new clients increase automatically.

When you outsource bookkeeping services, you transfer the time-intensive compliance tasks to third-party professionals who can handle them effectively. Meanwhile, you can add new services to your portfolio, engage your staff in client servicing, and reach out to new clients about your offerings.

Build Your Brand

Let’s go over your goals for your practice. Do you just want to sustain in the market, or do you want to build your brand? If you chose the latter, it might be the right time to do away with the time-consuming compliance tasks and outsource bookkeeping services.

We know that outsourcing helps create capacity for your firm. With the extra time and staff, you can shift focus to marketing your firm and building your brand.

Branding and marketing are tough in today’s competitive world. It requires immense strategising and sheer effort to reach your audience. The increased capacity with outsourced bookkeeping can thus come in handy here.

Borderless Business Expansion

Another important advantage of outsourced bookkeeping services is that it creates an opportunity for your firm to expand beyond boundaries. Let us explain how.

Consider you are a small or medium-sized accountancy practice serving clients in London. How would you like to grow your business to serve clients outside of London in other cities in the UK? If that sounds lucrative, but you do not currently have the staffing, operational, and financial capacity for it, outsourcing is what you need.

Adding new services, onboarding new clients, and shifting focus to marketing and brand building can collectively facilitate business expansion. This means you can quickly scale your business beyond borders and reap its benefits.

Better Work-Life Balance

Last but not least, outsourced bookkeeping is a surefire way to provide your staff with a better work-life balance. Post the pandemic, employees have become more mindful of their physical and mental health than ever. They prioritise their lives over work and readily leave jobs that do not offer them a healthy balance between the two.

Outsourcing your compliance tasks frees your internal staff and gives them a breather. Moreover, with the extra time at hand, you can provide upskilling opportunities to your staff, which can be crucial for their career growth.

For instance, if you are trying to shift focus to marketing and branding, your staff can help with it. They can also imbibe skills such as client servicing, communication, business expansion, etc. They can also enrol for training and certifications, cultivate expertise in the latest accounting and bookkeeping software, prepare for the upcoming technical changes such as MTD, and much more.

Summing Up

To summarise, outsourced bookkeeping services are crucial for growth-focused accountancy practices in 2022. As the market gets more competitive than ever, digitalisation takes over the world, and businesses prepare for the looming recession, it is wise to outsource at least a part of your accounting services, such as bookkeeping.

Outsourcing has both short-term and long-term benefits. Whatever your goals, outsourcing to a reliable global outsourcing firm like QXAS can help resolve your business challenges and accentuate your firm’s growth.

To learn more about how outsourcing can help mitigate your firm’s challenges or avail a free bookkeeping outsourcing trial with us, drop an email to [email protected] or dial +44 208-146-0808.