From Vendor to Partner: The True Value of Outsourced Accounting Support

Outsourced accounting – what was once seen as a mere cost-cutting strategy for companies who do not have the resources to hire full-time employees or as a temporary fix for talent shortages during busy seasons, is now seen as a long-term investment that helps a company achieve their goals from a strategic standpoint.  

As outsourcing becomes a strategic choice for most companies, the relationship of clients (entities that have chosen to hire outsourced service providers for their various back-office and front-office tasks) with their vendors have now come into the limelight. The partnership between an outsourced accounting provider and a client has become more than just a transactional relationship – instead, the world has started to view it as a strategic partnership.  

At D&V Philippines, we have witnessed this shift up close. Having worked with various clients, we see how clients come to us first to simply address a challenge. Whether it be the lack of in-house capacity to handle their accounting needs or their need for assistance as they expand their operations to other localities, clients now come to us to fill a particular gap within their operations.  

However, as the partnership progresses, clients realize the full value of having a reliable outsourced accounting provider – expanding the scope of the services they outsource to us and ultimately allowing D&V Philippines to add value to their company's growth.  

 
The Outsourced Relationship Between Vendor and Client  

Addressing Operational Gaps 

As said earlier, most outsourced accounting relationships begin for practical reasons. Simply put, our clients need help, and we have the experience and proficiency in the finance and accounting industry to give them the assistance they need. Throughout the years, the most common pain point that we have heard from our clients are: 

• There is a lack of internal capacity 

• In need of additional manpower during the busy season 

• In need of compliance assistance 

• There is an expansion of service offerings  

During the initial engagement, clients who come to us with these pain points often look for finance and accounting professionals with very specific qualifications. For example, audit firms who are looking to acquire assistance for their compliance efforts often ask for talents with three or more years of external audit experience and a background in tax and financial statement preparation.  
 
At this time, having the right infrastructure and proficiency is critical. It is just not about finding just any skilled professional; it's about onboarding talent that can seamlessly integrate into existing systems and deliver with accuracy as soon as they start and have a partner that can provide high level of data security, team management, and robust and up to date infrastructure and equipment In this regard, D&V Philippines’ experience, capabilities, infrastructure, employee culture, and  commitment to continuous learning and development has been a proven asset – allowing our employees to be ready to handle the work that our clients need.  

Once we were able to meet their needs, however, something interesting began to happen: the relationship naturally started to evolve. 

Expansion of Scope and Services 

When the clients’ outsourced team began to not only consistently hit deadlines but delivered work beyond the quality that was expected of them, our clients gained the confidence to expand the scope of work. 
 
For example, for an accounting firm who initially only requested support for a few core accounting functions — such as handling their accounts payable and receivable, tax preparation and superannuation requirements — they began to ask if their outsourced team had the capacity to include broader responsibilities.  
 
Equipped with the internal trainings provided by D&V Philippines that allow our finance and accounting professionals to stay proficient in several accounting functions and accounting software that they do not normally use and provide for their clients, our team was able to take on additional tasks such as:   

• Full bookkeeping for multiple client entities 

• Financial reporting and analysis 

• Payroll and superannuation processing 

• End-of-year tax and compliance tasks 

During the time wherein a client requests for an increased scope of services, we see that is often accompanied by an increase in headcount – the number of talents they require from D&V Philippines. With the teams evolving and having to perform more complex tasks, it grows from a couple of individuals to full departments structured around key functions like tax, bookkeeping, and compliance functioning as an integral part of the client’s business operation. With the right partner, outsourced support becomes a scalable solution, aligned with the company’s growth trajectory. 

 
Read: How Offshore Accounting Benefits Accounting Firms in Australia 

 
Learning, Development and Integration 

As the scope of services we provide for our clients increases, we have noticed how one hallmark of a strong partnership is mutual investment. 
 
On our end, D&V Philippines actively recruits and trains talents that matches our clients’ needs and expectations, opening the avenue for a wider scope of services to be contracted to us.  
 
For our clients, we notice that as they actively invest in onboarding their offshore team and integrating them with their in-house team, providing their own internal training as well as company-initiated social activities for both teams to get to know one another, they begin to see the most success as this successful integration leads to better collaboration and results. 

Depending on the scope of the services our clients require from us, the timeline and design of their own onboarding programs usually vary. We have clients with one-week orientation sessions and some with full one-month training regiments that cover internal processes, technology stacks, and various workflows.  

At their request, our internal training units — D&V Philippines’ Excellence Teams — aids their training sessions, ensuring that their offshore staff are trained in line with the industry, locality, and regulatory requirements that are applicable to our clients.  

This client-led approach ensures that knowledge transfer is smooth, expectations are clear, and both teams are aligned from the beginning of the engagement. Paired with D&V Philippines' internal development programs, it creates a robust foundation for long-term efficiency and success, paving the way for a positive client experience all throughout the engagement.  

 
 
Read: Integrating Quality Assurance into your Company’s Internal Controls 

Continuous Collaboration 
 

As both D&V Philippines and our clients prioritize continuous learning and development, team collaboration and integration to be able to achieve our clients' goals, the shift from vendor to partner begins. Reliant on collaboration, regular check-ins, transparent communication, and shared problem-solving strategies begin to create a working relationship that feels less like outsourcing and more like teamwork.  
 

With our clients, we have seen this in how we have:  

• Biweekly syncs between in-house and outsourced teams 

• Shared feedback loops on deliverables and performance 

• Co-developed policies to address recurring issues or streamline tasks 

During this stage, we acknowledge and place heavy importance on proactive issue resolution. Whether it’s addressing performance concerns, clarifying deliverables, or realigning expectations on either side, responsiveness and accountability matter. The best partners don’t wait for a complaint; they address potential issues before they escalate, continuously improving processes in the background. 

Operational Success 

For D&V Philippines, we have always been committed to providing value-adding services. What do we mean by this? We believe that what makes a true partner stand out is their ability to add value beyond the task list – and we strive to do so through our service delivery processes. 

With a consistent mindset of delivery above-expectations quality finance and accounting services, we have seen benefits over time. Some of these are:  

• Faster turnaround on client-facing reports 

• More time for in-house teams to focus on business development 

• Greater confidence in scaling operations without hiring locally 

• Reduced training overhead for newly onboarded staff 

When these outcomes are consistently delivered, we see our relationship with our clients grow from reliance to innovation.  

In the end, outsourcing has truly become more than just a short-term fix for companies who are experiencing operational gaps. With the right support, it has become a long-term strategy. These strategic partnerships allow outsourced teams to become part of strategic discussions, offering outside and holistic input on how to:  

• Expand operations cost-effectively 

• Build new service verticals 

• Tap into talent markets outside their home country 

• Pursue joint ventures or localized expansions 

For D&V Philippines, this becomes our key identifier. Once our teams become part of these future-focused conversations, it is now a clear sign that the partnership has evolved from tactical to transformational. 

Read: Spearheading Change: How to Direct your Company’s Growth 

The Bottomline 

To be able to fully realize and utilize the full value of outsourced accounting support, companies and entities need to shift their perspective from outsourcing as a transaction to outsourcing as a strategic asset. When built on transparency, performance, and shared goals, outsourced support can easily become one of your key drivers towards success.  

Ready to make the shift from vendor to partner? Let’s talk about how outsourced accounting support can help you with your company's growth trajectory. 
 
Vheldan Maranan is the Vice President of Global Operations at D&V Philippines. Connect with him on LinkedIn.  

This article has been written in collaboration with Aly Tagamolila, a content and creative specialist at D&V Philippines.