6 Benefits of Outsourced Accounting Services

 
Every growing company needs someone capable of managing its books, preparing financial statements, and facilitating payments.
 
In the early stages of the business lifecycle, accounting tasks typically fall to the business owner—the person most involved with the daily operations. But as the company scales, that burden eventually becomes too big and time-consuming.
 
At this crossroads, a business owner has one of two pathways forward: Hire an in-house accounting professional or partner with outsourced accounting services for the job. And, in the modern business climate, increasingly more businesses opt for the latter route—outsourced accounting services.
 
Here are six reasons why.
 

#1 Professional Accounting

 
By hiring a professional accountant, you enlist the services of a person whose sole task is to keep and interpret financial records. They can assist with all manner of accounting tasks, including:
 

• Ensuring financial document accuracy and compliance
• Preparing and maintaining financial reports
• Preparing tax returns
• Ensuring that taxes are paid properly and promptly
• Evaluating financial operations to highlight business strengths and weaknesses
• Recommending solutions to increase business efficiency
• Providing guidance on revenue-driving, profit maximization, and cost reduction

 
When outsourcing, you can ensure that you only partner with accounting professionals who have the experience, required certifications (e.g., CPA), soft skills, and technical skills necessary to thrive in the role.
 

#2 Reduced Out-of-Pocket Costs

 
As a general rule, contracting is cheaper than hiring internally.
 
Hiring a new team member is rarely a quick, easy, or cheap process. According to the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), the average cost per new hire is approximately $4,700. And that does not account for the soft costs, such as the time departmental leaders or managers must invest to support HR throughout hiring.
 
For starters, you need to post the job, screen applications, and interview promising candidates. The right person for the job has to have the requisite experience and skills—and be a cultural fit.
 
Then, once you find and hire that person, there is still onboarding and training to consider.
 
Although salary is the primary expense, it is not the only one. You must also cover:
 

• Payroll taxes
• Employee benefits
• Recruiter salary or employee referral bonus
• Office space
• Equipment
• Software

 
Even then, if the new hire performs poorly or turns out to be a bad fit, you will wind up back at square one.
 
With an outsourced accountant, many of these costs and considerations are mitigated—if not entirely eliminated—out of the gate. You receive instant access to an accounting expert aligned with your needs but at a fraction of the cost.
 

#3 Fractional Services

 
With outsourced accounting services, you only pay for what you need.
 
For example, if you require a single accountant to perform 10 hours of bookkeeping, that is an option. Or, if you need an entire accounting department that scales with your company, that, too, is a possibility.
 
With fractional accounting, you enjoy the freedom and flexibility to build out a team according to your ever-shifting business demands. And can do so much faster than would otherwise be possible with an internal process.
 
Simply convey your needs and budget to your outsourced accounting partner, and they will build a team that aligns with your current situation.
 

#4 Extra Time to Focus on Value-Add Activities

 
Employees wearing multiple hats is a normal part of early-stage startup life. But, at a certain point, this juggling act is no longer the best use of a person’s time and expertise.
 
For a company to mature, it needs to become more efficient. Achieving that is practically impossible without specialization.
 
For instance, if the company’s CEO spends ten hours a week on bookkeeping, payroll, invoicing, and budgeting, that is effectively a week per month devoted to accounting activities.
 
As the face of the company, this is likely not the optimal use of their time—not if their primary directive is to spur growth, especially if another professional could handle those tasks more efficiently.
 
By outsourcing these accounting duties, you free up your existing team to focus on value-add tasks. This makes them more productive in the role they were actually hired for, while also reducing stress or frustration caused by accounting concerns that were likely too big for them to handle in the first place.
 

#5 Fewer Errors and Mistakes

 
Managing tax and industry reporting compliance is not easy. Number crunching and manual data entry are prone to errors and mistakes. It is all so incredibly complicated. And to make matters worse, the rules and regulations are subject to constant change.
 
Failure to comply can have serious ramifications for your company. And an auditor or IRS agent will not care if a mistake made by an accountant was the result of negligence, incompetence, or willful malice.
 
By hiring outsourced accounting services, you partner with a team entirely dependent on their accounting skills, seeing as that is how they make their money. As such, they are careful about who they hire and have a deep enough stable to pair you with the right specialist for your job.
 
Ideally, your outsourced accountant will have experience in your industry or with the specific regulatory requirements such that they can provide assistance with:
 

• Tax codes
• Governmental contract compliance
• Industry standards
• GAAP accounting compliance
• Financial reporting requirements

#6 Professional Insights

 
A high-quality outsourced accountant will not simply ensure that your general ledger is in order, payments are received and made, and transactions are coded properly. Top candidates will go beyond budgets and financial data, pushing into the realm of business strategy.
 
For example, if you were paired with a best-in-class financial controller, you would have access to qualified accounting professionals capable of:
 

• Preparing financial statement
• Performing forecasting
• Integrating accounting systems
• Managing and training accounting staff (whether in-house or external)
• Providing general accounting support

And most importantly, thanks to their intimate familiarity with the business, a high-level accountant can provide an unbiased opinion business leaders require to make wise decisions.
 
As Entrepreneur notes:
 
“Accountants are so valuable because of their objective stance. They don’t have the same bias as friends or family, and they are not intertwined with your company the way employees are. Moreover, they have a stake in the health of your company so they have a strong motivation to see you succeed.”
 

CFO Hub—Outsourced Accounting Services

 
In the current business landscape, outsourcing accounting services just makes sense. That’s why more businesses than ever are turning to CFO Hub for that long-term, strategic accounting support.
 
Whether you need access to an accountant, an entire department, a controller, or even a fractional CFO, we can design a team that scales with your business and its needs.
 
If you want to discover more about CFO Hub’s outsourced accounting services, contact us today.