So you’re looking to expand your accounting firm’s list of core services by tapping into the payroll market. The big problem though is that you and your team (or just you yourself if you’re a one-accountant show) haven’t worked payrolls since your training days, so you’re feeling a little rusty. Not to worry, accounting outsourcing helps you buff up your firm’s weak points.
Selling your payroll services
You haven’t been doing much or any payroll work at all up to this point, so how do you convince clients to get in on your new venture? You can use the following benefits to get the ball rolling.
Save time
Business owners don’t have your expertise. They will not get through their bookkeeping, accounts receivable, and now payroll in nearly as timely a fashion as you can manage.
This isn’t only about the time saved from their having to run the numbers. It’s also about turnaround – the sooner they have the numbers back, the sooner they get a big picture view of where their business stands in terms of its finances.
You also enjoy a speed boost via your accounting outsourcing team. All you (or a designated employee) have to do is make sure your clients have sent in all the pertinent information. You then alert your overseas team member that the file is ready to be worked. You give it an once-over once it’s done, and ship it back to your client. That’s it.
Both you and your client get big chunks of time freed up by not having to punch in the details yourself. All that time can be refocused on where you think it would best serve to grow your business.
Save costs
This benefit might confuse your clients at first (especially very small business owners) – how can hiring an outside person save money instead of them doing their payroll on their own?
We mentioned the time saved above – all of that time can go into marketing, improving workflows, doing philanthropy work, you name it, all of which will help grow their profits. The work they’re not doing while they’re working on their payroll equals lost revenue.
The same goes for your own firm. You could be crunching the numbers yourself, or you can utilise accounting outsourcing team members to work the details while you have more face-time with clients, spend more time boosting your social media presence, etc.
Another cost savings comes in the form of penalties. If your client is less than stellar with their accounting they could be paying hundreds, or potentially thousands, of dollars each year in penalties. Business owners may not be aware that while the Australian government tries to be fair with Failure to Lodge warnings, once those penalties do apply they can grow at an exponential rate on a monthly basis. This can prove to be the death-knell for businesses.
Accounting outsourcing saves stress
Lots of people simply don’t like accounting. Others at least get stressed out over it, either because of the math itself or because of the time it sucks up. By offering your payroll services you’re offering business owners the chance to enjoy the adventure of owning their own business instead of dreading it.
Another issue to point out to your clients is that payroll legislation and practices change, and if they don’t keep abreast of those changes their business can end up suffering for it.
As for your firm, you may find yourself in the happy position of having boatloads of new work coming in once you expand your menu of services. Just like with your clients, this should be a happy thing for you. By using accounting outsourcing services you pull in all of the benefits minus the bulk of the extra associated work.
Offer your clients the ability to expand
Our goal here at BOSS is to help as many businesses as possible to expand. We think the best way we can lend this aid is by offering easy-to-use accounting outsourcing resources.
This is the essence of what your accounting firm has to offer your clients – ease and the ability to expand. You make it easier for them to focus on other important areas of their business, you make it easy for them to avoid costly penalties, you make it easy for them to get a clear picture of their finances, and you offer an easy way to relieve them of the stress associated with working their books.
