To outsource or not to outsource? That is the question………………..

We have now moved into a new era of accounting where we are offshoring more of our compliance work to international companies, as we try to move away from compliance work and more into the advisory space. This is a trend that I am seeing more and more of, and as I liaise with clients regarding outsourcing as a consultant for Walker Andersen. It seems that most of them are of the view that outsourcing is the way to go!

Although outsourcing is financially beneficial to a firm/practice, it doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s more productive. What I have noticed during my time in CA, was that businesses who chose to outsource spent more time going back and forth with the outsourcing companies with queries. When in fact, it might have been easier and more efficient for that accountant to have picked up the job and prepared the accounts themselves.

There is nothing wrong with trying to find ways to improve our businesses, however, while we may improve the quantity of work being completed, the quality of service might be questionable.

The outsourcing company that you are currently using, are being used by other CA firms who could be providing more work to the outsourcing company. This means that your work/jobs get pushed to the end of the queue if you have a smaller client base and are providing less work.

You also find that outsourcing with international companies means that there is a large language barrier and that miscommunication happens on a daily basis. What happens when these things occur?

In my experience, when jobs get put on hold because the outsourcing company is waiting on queries, this delays the job and may result in a decrease in client satisfaction.  This means that we have to deal with unhappy clients on our end asking the golden question “Where are my accounts and why have they not been done?”

This article is in no way, shape or form, written to discredit outsourcing but I do think that if you want to go down that road, that you have processes and procedures in place to ensure that work ticks over on a timely basis.  This will enable you to avoid complaints and frustrations from clients and staff who have to adapt to the new changes.

We also need to ensure that we look out for our newcomers out of University with the hope and aspiration to work within CA. We find that there is less need in the market for Graduates or Juniors because it is more cost effective for businesses who do not have the capacity to train to outsource.

This would potentially become disastrous, as it will discourage students from entering into this field of study as there are fewer job prospects when they leave University.  It will also create a greater problem for businesses, as their staff progress or leave the industry and there is no junior staff to replace them.

What are your thoughts on outsourcing? Are you for it or against it? I would love to hear your thoughts so please drop me a comment below.

If you want to get in touch with me, you can call me on 09 887 7265 or email [email protected].