There are all sorts of advantages to starting your own firm – there’s the pride of owning your own business, the ability to help people you feel are left behind by international concerns, deciding which kind of accounting work you would prefer to focus on. Of course there’s one great big obvious disadvantage – you’ve got to try to make a name for yourself while facing off against the monster firms of the accounting world. Happily, outsourcing accounting tasks can help you do just that.
Rocks in your sling
One of the ways you’re going to be able to make your small or medium-sized firm stand out is by giving more personalised attention to your clients. That can be something that’s already been built with clients you’ve worked with before that you’ve brought with you when you made the jump to your own firm.
But how do you show people out there that don’t know you that you’re the firm that’s really going to take care of their financial concerns? Outsourcing accounting will give you the time and the financial breathing room to tailor your firm to better fit your clients’ (and potential clients’) needs.
The benefits of outsourcing accounting for small and medium-sized firms
Additional services
Ideally you’re going to want your clients to keep all of their financial business under your roof. That means that you’re going to have to be able to offer the gambit of accounting services.
There’s no way that you personally are going to be able to become an expert in everything. You could hire in-house specialists, but that costs a great deal of money both to keep them on board as well as in the hiring process itself. There’s also going to be a considerable drain on your time as you search for and train new hires.
But by outsourcing accounting tasks you have immediate access to certified accountants who are fully up on just about any New Zealand or Australian accounting practice out there. No time is lost to hiring and training, and no money lost to additional overhead. Your firm gains a variety of experts practically overnight. This can keep you on par with the bigger firms.
Fast quality turnaround
By shipping your work overseas you have a team of people working on your files, returning multiple files back to you in less time than you could get the work done yourself, and at a level of quality that you’ll be proud to put your name on. Again, this will keep you neck and neck with bigger firms, equalling their turnaround at a fraction of the cost that they’re spending to bring in new hires.
Growth
The core point of outsourcing accounting is that it gives your firm the tool it needs to grow. You’ll be able to spend a lot more time being active on social media, creating and delivering seminars, doing charity work, having face-to-face meetings with clients, surveying clients about what they’d like to see improved in your firm, upgrading tech, sprucing up your office, hiring in-house help, and so on. Every improvement you make is one less area where the big guys can say they have a step up on you.
You’re not in the accounting business…
…you’re in the customer service business, you just happen to deliver accounting services. With the time afforded by outsourcing accounting tasks you’re going to be able to get onto customer complaints and suggestions at a much faster pace. The quicker you address suggestions and complaints, the more your clients are going to feel invested in your firm. This is the thing of which referrals are made.
On the other hand, we’ve all unfortunately had to deal with big corporations. Wheels turn slowly when we’ve got a complaint, if they turn at all, or our complaint doesn’t get lost as it’s kicked up the rungs of the unending corporate ladder. Outsourcing accounting allows your firm to become completely responsive to your clients’ needs.
We want to help small and medium-sized firms succeed. We provide the tools to help you achieve your goals for your own idealised accounting firm. If you have any questions at all about how we can help please don’t hesitate to get in touch with us.
