Finance and accounting outsourcing (F&A O) has been around for quite some time now. A number of businesses have long reaped the benefits of outsourced finance and accounting services. If you are among businesses who are thinking about joining the F&A O wagon, you are in luck. Here is a comprehensive guide on how you can start finance and accounting (F&A) outsourcing.
Before looking for an F&A outsourcing partner, it is important to identify your needs and what particular services you are looking for. The output of your strategic and needs assessment will determine the criteria by which you will evaluate and choose your outsourcing partner.
Talk to the members of your finance and accounting team to learn how outsourcing can best help them in your F&A processes and also discuss with other executives and partners how introducing outsourcing to your business will affect processes outside the F&A department. This will help you get a wider picture of why you should outsource and how outsourcing will impact your business.
While there are a number of outsourcing firms ready to assist you with your needs, you must refer to the outcome of your strategic and needs assessment in choosing your partner. It is important that your outsourcing partner can adapt to your business process with minimal interference and help you identify both your short-term and long-term needs.
Choosing your partner is the biggest decision you will make in this process. Do not hesitate to ask other business executives about their outsourcing experience and how they choose their outsourcing partner.
Once you have chosen an outsourcing partner, you have to discuss your needs, expectations, and other business specifics that are vital to the outsourcing process and service delivery requirements. This includes, but is not limited to, deadlines, templates, software requirements, and communication lines.
In this stage, you should also set up at least a video meeting with the people who will handle your accounts to provide an opportunity where you can answer any question that they may have with regard to your processes and/or F&A requirements.
Like any business relationship, the first few days of your engagement will be a period of adjustments and improvement. Be open with your outsourcing partner and identify which areas of your engagement can still be improved.
Do not hesitate to point out these areas of improvement and make adjustments to your SLA if necessary. Remember that building a good working relationship requires effort from both sides.
Starting your finance and accounting outsourcing journey, with the right information and the right partner, can be one of the best business decisions you can make. However, if you are still looking for the right finance and accounting outsourcing services partner, you may want to check out D&V Philippines’ services.
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