As a business owner, you know how important it is to keep the numbers in order, your cash flow well managed, and your compliance obligations met. If there is a substantial volume of work coming in, in addition to the difficulties Australian businesses are currently facing when hiring staff, getting all of your financial administrative tasks completed on time can become very demanding, very quickly.
Many Australian businesses are outsourcing their financial departments instead of hiring accountants and bookkeepers in-house. Smaller businesses do not usually have the financial resources, nor the capacity, to justify employing full-time accounting and finance staff members.
Over the recent years, we have identified a common practice for many businesses (whether big or small) to outsource their finance function for the extra help they need in order to create capacity, boost productivity, and make greater advances towards their growth objectives.
Some owners consider hiring what is often referred to as a virtual CFO (Chief Financial Officer), others engage an outsourced business bookkeeper or full-service accounting function. Whatever it is you’re looking for, outsourcing can give you additional benefits to ensure your company continues to generate profit.
Here are 4 reasons why you should consider outsourcing your finance function.
Save on costs
Hiring an outsourced finance team (or even a virtual CFO) is more cost-effective than recruiting a full-time employee. It will save you money on many costs associated with hiring an employee such as recruitment, office space, equipment, salary packages and superannuation, employee benefits, tax, annual leave, etc.
It is evident that finding good talent to fill positions has become challenging in recent years. Looking for the right person or persons who can meet all the requirements could potentially take much of your business time, resources, and focus. Following months of interviews and job ads, you may still end up with nothing in the talent pool, or underqualified candidates demanding higher salaries to offset the rising cost of living in Australia.
With an outsourced finance and accounting team, you can be assured of getting the right people who could perform the right job, at the right investment, without the added investment of recruitment and ongoing overheads.
It’s a cost-effective solution and a sensible risk management strategy for managing resource cost inflation.
Keep your accounting function always on
There is key person risk with an in-house accountant, as there is with any employee in a specialised area of your business. Should your in-house employee take annual leave, sick leave, or any sudden personal leave, there is a risk of unorganised books, your Xero file getting out of control, no one to process staff payroll, you may have unpaid bills and everything starts to pile up. Essentially, your finance function pauses for a period of time.
With an outsourced finance team, you can rest assured knowing that your accounting function is always on, your books are consistently well-managed, and your obligations are settled efficiently and on time. You no longer have to worry about risks like employees falling ill right before big deadlines.
Get access to a full team of specialists
Accountants have different levels of expertise in various functions. It’s hard to find just one accountant who can deal with all the problems or concerns you may have for your specific circumstances. An accounting firm with outsourced financial and bookkeeping services has more experienced staff than you can afford to keep on your internal payroll. By outsourcing, you can gain access to a team of specialists managing specific financial situations in your business involving accounting, taxation, and regulations.
When you tally the costs of internal resources vs outsourced resources, you’ll find outsourcing is a cost-effective solution for your business, giving you better services and more value from your investment.
Get your finance function under control faster
When you recruit new employees for your in-house accounting team, you need time to train them. If you’re working with an outsourced accounting team, you can take control of your finance function faster and easier, saving you time and effort.
An external team can document the required processes, identify gaps, and help you optimise and improve your processes so lag and lead times can be reduced.
You can also get support with migrating to a cloud-based accounting system such as Xero so your data can be stored securely, and accessed and managed remotely.
Wrapping it up
The everyday running of the business has its challenges. With the growing pressures to produce quality products and services, meet growing customer demands, increase sales, maintain a healthy cash flow, and recruit and retain top talent, it’s easy for the financial function of a business to become its own beast to battle.
Outsourcing your finance department may help you grow your business. Investing in these services allows you to reduce your overhead costs, enabling you to redirect those costs into more profitable channels.
One of the best benefits of outsourcing your finance function is the time and peace of mind it will give you as a business owner. You can focus on different areas of your business while knowing that you’re getting your numbers properly managed, and your compliance requirements are all met on time.
Overall, outsourcing your finance function is a cost-effective solution and a great way to ensure your business achieves its financial goals.
Interested in engaging an outsourced finance team? Our external financial control support team is here to assist. We grow with your business, scale your outsourced finance team as you need it, and recruit specialists to handle the increased volume as your business grows.
Email us at admin@elementsag.com.au or give us a call at 07 3878 9181 and let’s discuss how we can help.
