Are you tired of drowning in a sea of financial paperwork while struggling to keep your business afloat in a turbulent economy? It’s time to outsource your accounting services and let the experts guide you toward a prosperous future. Discover the essential guide to outsourced accounting services and advance your business.
Outsourced accounting services look to be the future of business accounting in the US. In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, followed by severe recessionary spells that only worsened as time went on, the remote work model proved itself to be the way things will be a few decades ahead. As a result, outsourcing has quickly become one of the fastest-growing industries in the world, and outsourced accounting especially has seen massive leaps in popularity and growth in the last five years, with even stronger growth anticipated by 2030, as per a forecast by Grand View Research.
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The 2023 Economy
The global economy is not in good shape, and the World Economic Forum admitted as much in its Global Recession Economic Outlook Report earlier this year, with 63% of economists expecting a recession in 2023. Moreover, the same report affirms the business community’s response to a recession, with an 86% chance of operational costs being cut and a 78% chance of mass layoffs. Already, we see these predictions coming true, with many Silicon Valley giants cutting their staff down drastically. Forbes went as far as to create a real-time tracker of all major layoffs in the country, and the picture it paints is not pretty. Tens of thousands of employees have to be laid off if businesses are to weather this recessionary spell, and even the most profitable of tech giants like Meta are not safe from this economy.
Why is Outsourcing Necessary for Thriving in the 2023 Economy?
These mass layoffs are happening for a reason, and the only reason businesses can afford to lose so much labor is because of a better alternative appearing on the scene: outsourcing.
The accounting function is thus the first area that businesses outsource, alongside IT. Entrepreneurs have begun to realize that they simply do not need to bear the cost of an expensive expert accountant in the office; all the accounting work is handled digitally anyway, even in small-town mom-and-pop stores, so what difference does it make whether the accountant is in the US or not?
With this idea in mind, more and more businesses have begun shifting to outsourced accounting services for their accounting needs, and businesses that are not keeping up with the trend will ultimately end up left behind, paying exorbitant costs for accounting while everyone else is saving big and easily weathering the recession.
Does Outsourced Accounting Really Work?
This is another question posed by skeptics of outsourcing, and it is a valid objection to raise. Outsourcing is not without its risks, and there are absolutely a non-insignificant number of outsourcing services that will take your money and butcher your existing business processes. Your financial data may be in jeopardy if you trust the wrong people.
However, this is not an issue purely with outsourcing. There are good and bad professionals, and the entrepreneur is responsible for picking the best person for the job. Therefore, entrepreneurs must do their due diligence in researching outsourced accounting services thoroughly before leveraging their services.
With that said, we at Expertise Accelerated understand, as outsourced accounting service providers, that most entrepreneurs are not familiar enough with outsourcing and are confused about where to start looking. Let’s take it step-by-step and have our experts guide you on leveraging outsourced accounting services!
1- Take Stock of Your Situation
Before you begin looking for outsourced accounting services on Google, the first matter of concern is figuring out what you want from them. Accounting is not simply bookkeeping, nor is it universal for every business. The accounting needs of an E-commerce business and a CPG industry business vary greatly, and some firms only provide certain accounting services, such as outsourced accounts payable and receivable, so you have to know what you need to buy before you start looking for places to buy from.
The best way to do this is by talking to your existing accountant and getting the full picture of your business’ accounting needs. If you handle the accounting yourself, you know very well what the workload is like and what services your business’ workflow demands of the accounting function. Map out these needs of the business, and then prepare your budget. Before looking for sellers, you need to decide how much you will invest in this proposition. Of course, these things change once you have reached the negotiation phase with an outsourced accounting service, but having a rough estimate in mind is good for narrowing down a list of prospective firms.
2- Start the Search
With all the pre-planning done, it’s time for some old-fashioned research. The best way to get started on this is by asking around in your own business community about outsourced accounting services. Who better to get some prospective candidates from than people with similar business models to you?
Going further, look online and note down a list of firms that appear to be legitimate. You must ensure that these outsourced accounting firms are exactly who they say they are, so calling or emailing them or even visiting their office is absolutely necessary to obtain proof of legitimacy. Asking for business registration certificates and other verified documents is enough to know you aren’t being bamboozled.
At the end of this research phase, you should end up with a list of outsourced accounting services that can fulfill your accounting needs and fall within your budget. Now, it’s time for the meetings.
3- Making the Decision
After shortlisting outsourced accounting services for your business, it’s time to start meeting the upper management and listening to what they can offer you. It’s best to give every candidate a chance to speak their piece before ultimately choosing one. At this point, the question of which outsourced accounting service to choose falls entirely on the entrepreneurs. The due diligence has been done, and now all that’s left is to choose who you think is the best fit for the job. Expertise Accelerated publication “5 Questions to Ask Accounting Firms! Before Hiring Them” should provide a good beginning to get the ball rolling!
Expertise Accelerated as your Outsourced Accounting Solution
With all that said, entrepreneurs looking for outsourced accounting solutions need not even have to follow this brief guide but instead become part of the Expertise Accelerated family! EA CEO Mr. Haroon Jafree (CPA) is a well-known accounting professional in the US accounting sphere, and his previous success stories, such as Sabra Humus and Saffron Road, speak for themselves.
Haroon understands the plight of small businesses very well, and he also understands the shortcomings of traditional outsourcing. Expertise Accelerated offers entrepreneurs accounting staff augmentation services, a more refined and palatable alternative to traditional outsourcing. The staff augmentation outsourcing model entails onboarding your outsourced accounting professionals directly into your core team. Instead of a nameless, faceless accounting professional doing your accounting under a traditional outsourcing firm, EA builds connections between US and offshore professionals and establishes long-term professional accounting collaborations worldwide.
When searching for outsourced accounting services, entrepreneurs would be remiss if they did not at least avail of a free consultation with Mr. Haroon. Surely, Mr. Haroon and Expertise Accelerated will solve all your accounting woes amid this volatile economic landscape!