Decoding Outsourced Accounting Services: A Key to Your Financial Success

The accounting industry is one of the oldest financial industries in the world. It has grown tremendously over the years, surviving various challenges such as talent shortage, technological advancements, and most recently, the global coronavirus pandemic.

Accounting firms offer a variety of services. Among them, several services such as tax preparation, bookkeeping, and payroll are purely compliance related. Along with these, accounting firms also offer high-margin value-added services such as business advisory and financial planning, which can improve credibility, facilitate client retention, and help firms take the jump from being a pure-play accounting firm to a trusted advisor to clients.

However, offering such a bouquet of services is not an easy task by any stretch of imagination. Some firms struggle to battle the challenges in their way, while others seamlessly provide their services. What’s the difference? While there may be many, one of the critical differences is outsourced accounting services. Although accounting outsourcing has been a rising trend in the global market, some accounting firms out there turn up their nose when they hear the word ‘outsourcing’.

But it is imperative that you look at outsourced accounting solutions from a ‘business growth’ perspective and not just a ‘money saving’ perspective to do away with your outsourcing prejudices.

So, before we talk about why outsourced accounting services are a trend to look out for, let’s take a closer look at what outsourcing is from the accounting perspective.

What is outsourcing for accounting firms?

The basic idea behind outsourcing is to send tasks to an external resource (not on your business’s payroll), whether onshore or offshore, who can affordably perform them. The premise is that your business will cut down on operational costs, allowing you to grow your revenue and ensure that you can boost profits.

Now, let’s see what CPAs are signing up for when choosing remote staffing or outsourcing. Accounting outsourcing companies will help your firm build capacity by accessing offshore accounting professionals. These accountants are skilled in US accounting standards and even tax legislation to manage tax, accounting, and bookkeeping tasks efficiently. These accountants work remotely from their delivery centers and collaborate with your firm through a highly secure client portal to ensure comprehensive data security and effective collaboration.

These outsourced accountants work like an extension of your internal team and smoothly integrate with your internal processes, so your team can scale with zero fuss. You get the benefit of everything that the outsourced accounting services provider brings to the table.

How does accounting business process outsourcing work?

Recruitment and training of accountants

Accounting outsourcing companies specialize in employing knowledgeable and skilled accountants with varied amounts of experience and deploy them to work with clients based on the latter’s needs. The accountants are exclusively trained on global accounting standards so that they can seamlessly take over diverse accounting jobs. These professionals are often located remotely, working from popular outsourcing prone regions such as India, where labor is relatively cheaper and overall work expertise is superior.

Partnering with CPAs

Once its team of professional accountants has been set up, outsourced accounting firms partner with CPAs to offer them a range of financial and accounting services, based on the latter’s needs. Plausibly, CPAs get the advantage of expert and trained staff at reasonable labor costs by partnering with these firms.

Outsourcing and project management

A top-tier accounting company helps your firm not only set up a virtual staff but also manage it and optimize its potential on your firm’s behalf. This staff works seamlessly on your software and at your convenience so that you do not have to deal with a staffing crisis at any point. Moreover, outsourcing firms also offer dedicated all-round support and points of contact so that all your queries and answered and resolved in no time.

Cost savings for CPAs

With the proven expertise of professional and expert staff and round-the-clock support, CPAs can rest assured of handing over their workload in capable hands. With no additional costs of recruitment and training, office expenses, and more, CPAs can enjoy year-on-year savings by outsourcing accounting and bookkeeping services, thus boosting their profits in the long run.

Can CPAs choose their resource from the outsourced accounting firms?

One of the most common misconceptions harbored by CPAs is that they would lose control once they partner with an outsourcing firm. For instance, many CPAs believe that they would have no say in selecting the candidate(s) that would work with them and therefore do not trust the outsourcing process completely. However, we would like to iterate that this is not true.

The remote staffing or outsourcing process includes the outsourced accounting services company sending a collection of accountant resumes your firm’s way. You can interview the candidates, and only after you are sure about their qualifications do you pick them and sign the outsourcing contract.

So, it is not as simple as getting in touch with the best outsourced accounting services provider, evaluating the cost savings and signing the SLA.  It is a far more strategic exercise than some might believe it to be.

Benefits of outsourced accounting services

There are plenty of benefits of outsourcing your accounting needs. To understand them, it is essential to think beyond the fundamental cost-benefit analysis.

1. Reduced operational expenses

So, you can’t look away from this primary benefit, can you? Companies outsource to achieve significant cost savings, and this reason remains true for accounting firms as well. With the right accounting outsourcing companies, you can save up to 50% on your accounting and bookkeeping costs. This is a significant benefit that will allow you to improve your earnings while retaining the same number of tasks. In a tough economy, a percentage of this savings can be passed on to your clients, who will be more than happy to save money. Over time, this can boost your client retention rates.

2. Capacity building and scalability

What is that one challenge that can impede an accounting firm’s growth? Scaling the firm is de rigueur for any business but more so for accounting firms who have to keep up with demanding client needs. But the challenge is that they need to do so while keeping their costs in check.

This is where accounting business process outsourcing comes in to help save the day. Your firm can add to its team strength without worrying about increasing the employee costs. Also, you can reduce the team strength during the lean season, if any. Of course, as an accounting firm, you aim to ensure there isn’t a poor season at all.

3. Staff Retention

This is one of the strategic benefits of outsourcing accounting and bookkeeping services. We know the accounting industry is battling a talent shortage. Add staff attrition to the mix, and you’ve got a significant problem on your hands. This often leads accountants to severe burnout and no work-life balance.

Not many experts will tell you that one of the critical answers to why you should outsource your accounting is ensuring that your in-house staff is satisfied with the work environment. This means they don’t think about leaving because outsourcing has their back when they are overwhelmed with work.

4. Alignment with a growth mindset

Accounting firms and CPAs need a growth mindset, which is bolstered by adequate support. For instance, suppose you want to focus on value-added engagement with your clients. In this case, you need to know that your ‘bread and butter’ services are managed with due efficacy by outsourced accounting firms. What’s more, you need to future-proof your firm against the challenges you will supposedly encounter.

To do this, nothing beats exploring and optimizing new revenue streams. This is one of the benefits of outsourcing accounting and bookkeeping services that is seldom talked about. Your commoditized services are taken care of by the outsourcing services provider, while your in-house staff takes care of the new and highly specialized revenue streams.

Conclusion

Remote staffing or outsourcing is a strategic growth initiative and not just a money-saving solution for your accounting firm. Don’t limit your perspective or get trapped in an outdated understanding of outsourced accounting solutions.

The need of the hour for your firm is to build resilience and new efficiencies without increasing the bottom line. This can be easily achieved when you partner with the best outsourced accounting services firm that can help you firm scale effectively and yield the desired ROI-driven transformation.

Top-tier outsourced accounting services with QXAS

QXAS is a pioneer in accounting outsourcing with operations in several countries of the world, including the USA. An enterprise of QX Ltd, one of West India’s fastest growing outsourcing firms, QXAS has made a mark for itself as a one-stop destination for comprehensive accounting and bookkeeping needs. Our team of 1000+ accountants is highly skilled and experienced in end-to-end accounting functions and can work seamlessly based on the diverse needs of CPA firms. With QXAS, CPAs can effectively scale their business and drive quick growth and profits.

Our expertise can be summed up in the following highlights.

• First SOC 2 Type II compliant accounts outsourcing company in India
• Affiliated with prestigious accountancy organizations like ICAEW and ACCA
• Fully compliant with ISO 27001 for information security and ISO 9001 for quality
• Highly efficient, resolute, and experienced accountants
• An enterprise of QX Ltd, a highly trusted and successful outsourcing company

To learn more about our services, drop us an email on [email protected], call +1 862 946 6565 or log on to Outsourced Accounting, Bookkeeping, and Payroll Services | QXAS USA (qxaccounting.com).