The Benefits of Outsourced Accounting
Outsourced accounting strikes some as risky – the financial equivalent of letting the valet park your car or someone else watch your kids. They don’t care the way I do. They’re too removed to spot problems. How will I know they won’t screw it up?
But traditional business models are evolving. Outsourcing is on the rise, for good reason: Qualified outsourced accounting services like Haefele Flanagan’s bring combined attention, expertise, and resources beyond what many in-house financial hires can deliver on their own. For small businesses and startups in particular, this translates to several critical advantages at a lower cost than most expect:
Top professionals for less
Through outsourced accounting, the expertise of a chief financial officer, controller, and/or accountant becomes affordable for young and small businesses via economy of scale – multiple companies sharing outsourced pros who focus on your numbers for a set number of hours or deliverables each week. In some instances, business owners who outsource accounting gain access to CFOs for less than they’d spend on a full-time staff bookkeeper – saving money, yes, but more critically, unleashing stronger financial insights than what a salaried position might afford.
Live numbers
Imagine sending your kids to school, never receiving a report card, then learning they failed the year. The entrepreneurial equivalent? Businesses that don’t track live numbers and recognize problems too late, or miss fertile opportunities for growth.
With outsourced accounting, you receive regular updates on your numbers – eliminating the risk of surprise at the end of the year.
For full service clients in particular, Haefele Flanagan provides ongoing support to ensure clients not only know their numbers, but understand what they mean, for timely tracking that’s critical to growth and planning.
An example: A company had been reporting their numbers inaccurately before turning to Haefele Flanagan for help. Within months, our steady reporting highlighted what was working for them and what wasn’t. Insights in hand, they promptly shut down one division of their business and grew the other, with immediate, positive results. Could they have reached this conclusion on their own? In time, perhaps. Haefele Flanagan’s focus on financial visibility and financial assessments accelerated a critical moment in their business timeline.
Immersion in our clients’ books lets us identify and share key performance indicators, helping you understand what’s driving profitability or what’s driving cost.
Stronger reporting
Accredited, focused finance professionals keep abreast of regulatory changes. Breathe easy knowing that specialists won’t let critical requirements fall through the cracks.
The assurance of a CPA firm
All CPAs are accountants, but not all accountants are CPAs (certified public accountants). A CPA firm has met state licensing requirements. Even more, CPA firms like Haefele Flanagan offer services non-CPA firms can’t, including tax returns and yearlong tax planning. A CPA firm is qualified to handle all of your finances under one outsourced roof, supplying you with a one-stop financial solution backed by the assurance of licensure.
Flexibility
This year, you need about ten hours of accounting each week. Next year, as you scale, you might need twenty. Outsourced accounting services can typically expand and contract as needed, freeing you from the scramble to find qualified, right-fit personnel as your needs evolve (finding talent can be particularly challenging when you only need someone part-time).
Most outsourced accounting firms are also flexible in regard to your specific needs, with work for one client looking dramatically different than the next. This is the beauty of an agile financial resource. For some clients, Haefele Flanagan is a full-service partner, handling everything from accounts payable and receivable to billing and cash management.. Others keep bill pay in house; we simply record, review, and report monthly. Still others hire an accounts payable professional but leave everything else to us. Point is, outsourced accounting gives you access to a wide variety of modular arrangements.
Free you up to do what you need to do – or what you love
If your business is in an industry other than finance, there’s a good chance accounting isn’t your specialty – or your favorite thing to do. Business owners’ valuable time is typically better spent on business development or other endeavors than it is figuring out Quickbooks.
Stability
Companies with one or two in-house accounting professionals face coverage challenges during vacations, leave, and sick time. It’s yet another hurdle that evaporates when you lean on a qualified partner. With Haefele Flanagan’s outsourced accounting services, you get the added assurance of support when needed, as well as a comprehensive, fully automated, secure software system managed by our team.