Why now is the right time to outsource your accountancy services

Ask any accountant working in a UK practice about the key challenges they are currently facing and you will undoubtedly tick off a few of the following:

• Cost of living increases
• Pressure on fees
• Increased client expectations
• Resilience
• Scalability
• Managing people expectations
• Regulation and changing trends

If you ask the same accountants why they haven’t considered outsourcing services as a solution to these challenges, you will probably hear the following:

• Outsourcing doesn’t support our business objectives.
• We’ll lose control of our work.
• Data security is compromised.
• Staff morale is adversely affected.
• Outsourcing is expensive; only large businesses can afford it.
• Clients won’t like it.
• Time zone, language and cultural differences are barriers.
• Outsource providers can’t keep up with technological changes and industry trends.

If you are thinking about outsourcing services, Initor Global can help you make the first step on your journey and overcome these perceptions.

Outsourcing can help your practice grow and increase profit margins

Typically, the cost of outsourcing work is 50% less than a UK resource, securing immediate reductions in your cost base. As volumes of work increase, unit costs reduce. With the additional capacity outsourcing work brings to your practice, you will be able to focus more on your core business objectives, whether that involves increasing your client base or offering a wider range of higher margin services to your clients. You will find that outsourcing recurring tasks such as bookkeeping, payroll, accounts preparation and tax services frees up time to help clients and offer high-margin advisory services when your clients need them most.

Outsource providers work in the cloud or through secure access to your practice servers. Most accountants secure immediate efficiencies and cost reductions through improved workflows and better document management.

Outsourcing provides flexible resources

Outsourcing will make your practice more flexible and agile, and able to adapt to emerging issues such as regulatory changes, recruitment and retention pressures, backlogs of work, or a peak in demand for services.

Outsourcing work can help accountants manage high workloads when resources are most scarce, for instance during the peak periods of work between November and January, when demand for personal tax services is highest. You will also be able to agree variations in contract terms enabling your practice to increase capacity when it’s most needed and to fill short-term resource gaps.

Communication with clients and client service

Outsource providers understand the professional reputation of accountants is based on a track record of delivering quality work on time, which meets professional standards. Many accountants prefer to retain responsibility for client communications and outsource mainly recurring tasks. Other accountants are comfortable with outsource providers using template email communications with clients to progress work and can track the quality of such communications through their customer relationship management (CRM) system. Any issues arising can be quickly resolved through escalation to a named individual in the outsource team who will manage your engagement.

Some UK accountants are concerned that time zone differences when outsourcing work offshore causes difficulties in progressing work with clients. Most outsource providers work to UK time zones and are flexible enough to gain the advantage of overlapping work hours. Time zone differences mean work is completed offshore outside of UK working hours creating a longer cycle of productivity and increasing efficiency.

More often than not, members of your outsource team will have trained as accountants and worked in the UK. They are comfortable contacting clients directly to progress work. They will also have experts on hand to advise our people on UK culture such as public holidays, political and popular culture, and may even have a UK headquarters with customer experience professionals available as necessary.

Managing people expectations

A common misconception among accountants considering outsourcing is their people won’t like it and will feel their careers are threatened. However, in most cases, outsourcing allows accountants to look carefully at the career paths of individuals, ensuring they shift focus away from recurring tasks and are able to develop the wider skills needed to meet the needs of clients.

An outsourced solution can be used flexibly to help smooth any workforce changes and ensure a practice is resilient to any employment pressures. It can also benefit morale by contracting out recurring tasks and support the professional development of accountants and other professionals. With outsourced services, accountants at all levels are empowered to focus on the key objectives of the business.

Data integrity and security

Most accountants feel nervous about transferring responsibility for services and data to an outside provider. They also feel nervous about any increased risk of the loss of intellectual property (IP). Reputable outsource providers ensure data security by using secure online accounting software available with state-of-the-art systems and other physical safeguards to prevent the loss or misuse of data. Most are GDPR compliant and ISO 27001 accredited, and use cloud-based solutions to ensure data cannot be downloaded, mitigating the risk of data loss or IP theft.

About Initor Global

Accountants are increasingly using outsourced services to do more than reduce costs. Initor Global customers use outsourced services to add value, improve service quality, increase business flexibility and deliver growth. Any accountant looking to grow should review how outsourcing can help them scale.

Initor Global delivers quality services, sustainable growth and increased profitability to accountants across the UK. With a remote workforce of over 150 qualified professionals and other experts providing the services your practice needs, Initor Global uses the most secure technology to help you:

• Reduce business risk
• Reduce operating costs
• Increase efficiency and profit margins
• Improve client satisfaction
• Drive up quality standards

Services include:

• Digital bookkeeping
• Year-end accounts
• Company tax
• Payroll
• Personal tax
• VAT
• Secretarial services

To arrange an informal discussion and a free, no-obligation trial, contact Initor Global:

• hello@initor-global.co.uk
• www.initor-global.co.uk
• 0203 519 2121

Robert Grant FCCA is Head of Customer Experience – UK & Ireland, Initor-Global.