Here at Bluebird Partners, we’re all about helping you find what works for your business, we do this by offering a range of outsourced accounting services and back office support. Most of the time, that looks like helping you find support for your bookkeeping and admin tasks. We recognize, though, that this isn’t the right fit for everyone.
So we come back to our primary mission: finding what works. Wondering if outsourced accounting services are right for your business?
What we cover
Pros of outsourced accounting
Let’s take a look at what we consider the pros of outsourced accounting services, by going into a little more detail you can see if you think this might be something that elevates your business.
Greater expertise
Sending your accounting work to an outsourced accounting firm means letting the professionals handle the work. This can be a huge benefit for businesses that need to expand their accounting department, but can’t afford a CPA’s hourly rate. With outsourced accounting services, you get the best of both worlds: an expert team without the expense of an added employee.
This expertise comes with another bonus: greater peace of mind. As your business grows, you may face unusual tax or accounting scenarios. The financial or legal risk of DIY’ing these situations is usually not worth the money saved. With an expert outsourced accounting services team handling your accounting, you have access to help for your day-to-day and unusual scenarios.
Reduced cost
Outsourced accounting services are fractional especially compared to hiring an in-house person or a team of people to manage this for you. This means that the outside company has the large expenses, so that you don’t have to. The costs we are referring to here are things like high-level software solutions, CFO-level expertise, accounting talent. This means that all of their clients get to share the benefits of these resources while also sharing the cost. Each company benefits, for a fraction of the cost they would have if they paid for each of these resources individually.
Lower fraud risk
Fraud is always a risk in any business with employees. We hate to say it, but it’s especially present in family-based businesses where the accountant or bookkeeper is related to other owners or employees in the business. Outsourced accounting services and outsourcing your bookkeeping to a third party reduces much of the motive and opportunity to ‘cook the books.’
Cons of outsourced accounting services
Outsourcing isn’t right for every business. Some businesses simply don’t need it. Others may try sending their bookkeeping to an outside company that isn’t a good match, leading to an unpleasant experience. If you’re considering using outsourced accounting services, make sure the company you choose to work with is a good match for your company all around: ethics, software integrations, and overall atmosphere. It is such a personal and sensitive part of your business, it is the heart of everything you do. Just like choosing a business partner or a life partner, as they will have such a huge influence on an important area of what you do it needs to be right. The truth is, if the outsourced accounting firm is not a great match, then look for someone else. Do not just ‘settle’ for anyone.
Possibility of miscommunication
Outsourced accounting services usually means that there isn’t as much day-to-day oversight of the accounting work – or at least, it’s not happening in your office. Instead, you might have weekly or monthly check-ins with any deliverables. For some, this is a dream. For others, this may mean misunderstandings, unwanted work, or tasks not done as requested.
From our experience this is usually due to miscommunication and missing information. Due to the lighter oversight, it can take longer to catch mistakes, which leads to compounding issues and more time fixing the errors.
To avoid this, as it is easy to avoid, you have to make sure you express exactly what you need and be very clear about any deadlines or specific ways you like things to be done. It is a clear reason why having the right outsourced accounting firm working with you should be your top priority.
Less control
This is another oversight issue. You may have a standard operating procedure you would follow with internal bookkeeping, but an outsourced firm may have a different way of doing it. This may be difficult for some very particular people; outsourced accounting services may not be a good option for business owners who like to keep a close eye on their processes. However to get around this, you can request with your accounting firm to have more regular check-ins, or even request specific reporting. So you feel more comfortable with the process and what is being worked on.
Technology mismatch
This is something that needs to be discussed before work begins. Do the business and the outsourced accounting services company have compatible software? If there are files that can’t be shared or read, accounting software that isn’t integrated with sales software, or other problems, outsourcing may be a waste of time and money. If you use a niche software for your specific industry, you may want to be sure your outsourced accounting help can accommodate your needs.
Outsourced accounting services pros and cons are great to look into, as the simple fact might be that outsourcing is not the right fit for you, or it might be exactly what you have been looking for. Many of the obstacles to outsourcing can be overcome by ensuring that the two companies are a good fit for each other, that communication is easy and clear, and that you are comfortable.
Ready to see if we’re a good fit for you? Contact Bluebird Partners for a free consultation today. We offer outsourced bookkeeping services. We mainly work on bookkeeping services in california and across the USA.
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Get in touch if you have any questions, concerns or queries. We are happy to help with a free consultation.
FAQ’s
Outsourced acounting is when a company hires an external accounting firm to handle its financial tasks, such as bookkeeping, payroll, tax perperation, and financial reporting. This is done instead of hiring an in-house accounting team.
To decide if outsourcing accounting is right for your business, you should weigh the pros and cons. Consider factors such as cost, time savings, focus on core business functions, access to trained professionals, reduced control communication issues, and security concerns. You should also evaluate the specific needs of your business and determine if outsourcing accounting would be a good fit.
