Accounting Outsourcing - Salary Predictions Among Others Are Abound For 2015?

Robert Half has researched a subject you should be planning for. That being staff. In particular retention, remuneration and acquisition of new staff.

“Over nine out of ten (94%) CFOs in Australia and 78% in new Zealand say it is challenging to source quality candidates." Robert Half’s research indicates certain positions are harder to fill than others.

The three most difficult roles to fill being: 

• Accounting (cited by 37% of CFOs in NZ)
• Business / Financial Analysis (24%)
• Financial Manager / Controller (26%)

Finance and Accounting salary trends for 2014 New Zealand: 

• 60% increasing salaries
• 36% freezing salaries
• 4% cutting salaries

Are you planning to increase your fees or are you even able to? If not how will you offset the rise in salaries due to a tighter job market? Connect accounting outsourcing can be a key player in helping you resource your practice adequately.

Additionally at Connect Accounting Outsourcing we have done our own research and come out like Russell Crowe on our wacky predictions for 2015.

1. Offshore: As oil prices continue to slide we predict that Russia will fall into bankruptcy and be purchased by the Ukraine in a fire sale!

2. At home: …or away, our beloved prime minister of not so long ago comes clean on what we already suspected and finally goes for that sex change to become a woman!

3. The Globe: The tech gadget for 2014 was apparently the selfie stick. This year we are predicting all white men can have rhythm and this device will take off! Phonotonic see here...

4. Real Estate: Auckland house prices will continue to rise and one lucky Auckland home owner sells his Otara four bedroom house and buys Ashburton.

5. A Hollywood Movie Beckons: Dot Com clones himself in an effort to confuse Hollywood and gets the recipe wrong, managing only to produce multiple miniature versions of himself. Austin Powers launches a class action suit against Dot Com for piracy.

6. Politics: John Key is finally taken to task in a high court dispute involving Alzheimers NZ after firstly agreeing to become their patron and then clean forgetting about having that conversation.

Perhaps you have your own predictions. Are you planning to increase your fees or are you even able to? If not, how will you offset the rise in salaries due to a tighter job market? Connect can be a key player in helping you resource your practice adequately.

If you want to know more either contact myself or call Greg at Connect Accounting on 0800 RESOURCE (0800 737 687).

New Zealand’s Accounting Practice Is Wiser Than Ever Before

It is traditionally said that accountants know the cost of everything but the value of nothing. Accountants are always assumed to be focussed on money matters. Not all are aware of the research and methods carried out by the experts in the accounting field. Accountants in New Zealand have made a significant progress both economically and socially by embracing the latest business trends and technologies.

The major technological chunk explored is the communication services. Being on the internet or the cloud these services have a number of clients from the accounting industry. The task force, business heads and other experts have been able to collaborate better for a visible economic progress. With services like that of cloud the management system has widely improved to a standard not reached ever before.

Accounting outsourcing, though has been present in the New Zealand market for quite a while also faced a significant boost. Earlier most business heads prefered accounting to stay in-house. But the same people gradually realized that the outsourcing could bring in more profit than the cost they will have to pay for outsourcing. Seeing the presence of this business practice and the adjoining benefits, people have turned smarter and wiser for choosing a suitable team for outsourcing.

When choosing their potential partners for outsourcing, accounting practices ow look for more significant aspects like qualification, their needs, services offered, the related costs etc. They know that cheap is not always better outsourcing of accounting tasks could save reasonably more than the costs it involves.

Connect Accounting is a New Zealand based accounting outsourcing services provider. Connect has a proven record of seven years in outsourcing Auckland accounting services. Working under the operating doctrine - “By Chartered Accountants, for Chartered Accountants”, Connect offers a wide range of services including annual financials, tax returns, GST returns, work papers, business benchmarking and many more. Connect keeps up with the technology and works with all major accounting software including MYOB AO, APS, XERO, Solution 6, Bank Link, HandiSoft, BGL, DeskTop Super, Super Fund Live, Class Super, Quick books etc.

Handling Classified Data On The Cloud Is Easier Than You Think

Data privacy is an absolute need of the accounting practices as the data they deal with is very much discreet. A few papers do get here and there and it’s difficult to ensure safety of sensitive documents among huge piles. These misplaced documents, if go into wrong hands, the data leak commends to consequences that can have a potential impact on the future of one or many businesses in the market. Many companies have reinforced access policies and permissions as per professional ranks, but at the end of the day protection of physical data is not a childs play.

Considering smarter options to ensure data security, some accounting businesses stumbled upon the cloud based services. Cloud brings with it many other great features like massive storage space, flexible management structures  for improving efficiencies as well as granting global accessing power with an internet connection. In the cloud, users are defined under access privileges and perform operations as per the permissions granted to them. So the restrictions can be set, according to data as well as with respect to the operational requirements of a user.

The features like file sharing or data transfer online also excludes the use of a middleman ( and a prospect data leak ) to transmit the data from one location to another. Hence it has widely made the outsourcing services reliable as the data is directly sent to the recipient over the cloud and no third person will even be aware of the data transmission. And the confidentiality is fully safeguarded.

Observing the safety of data on the cloud, many accounting practices are increasingly shifting their base to internet. Keeping their data digital they are able to communicate and collaborate better with their teams, in-house or offshore. Further in case of outsourcing no actual transfer of data is required to the outsourcing firm. They can just be given access to the required data on the cloud, and they can work on it without having to download data to their systems. So technically the data is like viewable and not downloadable.

Connect Accounting, New Zealand is an Auckland Accounting outsourcing services provider. Accounting NZ practices for the past seven years, Connect has build its reputation for quickest and best results in New Zealand. Connect Offers a wide range of services including annual financials, tax returns, GST returns, business benchmarking and many more.

Demand And Benefits Of Finance And Accounting Outsourcing In New Zealand

The growing demand for elate business growth and efficiencies has concerned many business heads in New Zealand to look up for new and innovative ways for increasing profit levels and lowering expenses. Also, many struggling businesses were looking for a ray of hope to come out the loops and reach stability. Even the local accountants showed little interest in the core accountancy tasks and were relieved by the concept of outsourcing as it opened the doors of managerial and advisory jobs for them.

Driving productivity is an immense concern for all business heads. Finance and outsourcing relieves the key managers and business heads to work on and improve the business processes, improve control and development graphs and of course reducing costs. The current finance and accounting services are a result of constant demand of simplifying and standardizing the financial and accounting tasks. It is by all means an effective management tool.

The benefits of finance and accounting outsourcing is totally dependant on the business using them. Some use the accounting outsourcing services for a single task, like account payable. Some use it for more tasks and as per the current trend companies outsource their entire accounting operations to a remote firm. Its like the more you sow the more you reap. Exploiting the outsourcing services to the full, can make you achieve all the possible perks.

    Below are some of the benefits of Finance and Accounting outsourcing.

• Money- Money is the motive of every business. Earning, saving or investing, a business runs on the wheels of money. Outsourcing helps you to save more, the detailed reports by the outsourcing firm can help decide for wiser and long term investments. and obviously there are reduced expenses.

• Focus- Focus is essential for all endeavours. With accounting outsourcing you can get rid of all distractions and focus on what is more significant exercises.  It literally gets hard for the businesses to focus on all types of tasks while facing the tough market competence. In such cases the finance and accounting services can be made use of by focusing on the core business functions.

• Expertise- With outsourcing, you get the power to choose an expert from anywhere you wish to. This too without the hassle of training, maintenance, grievances etc. The experts you hire also are cost effective as they deliver more work at lesser cost, compared to a local accountant.

Connect Accounting is one such firm, offering you a wide range of accounting outsourcing services to choose from. Connect Accounting is an Auckland Accounting outsourcing firm catering to the accounting needs of kiwi accountants from the last seven years.

XERO Features

Xero offers a comprehensive feature set well beyond that of many cloud-based accounting systems. Here are some of Xero’s key features :

• Dashboard – An overview of accounts and upcoming accounts payable and receivable. Extremely well-organized; easy to take in the important information at a glance.
• Estimates – Xero does not have a dedicated quotes/estimates feature, though it is on the list of high priorities for development, so it’s likely we’ll be seeing it sometime in 2014.

• Invoicing – Invoices can be saved as drafts, submitted for approval, or immediately approved and sent. You can either print or e-mail invoices, and it’s easy to see what’s been sent and when. Automatic invoicing is also supported, if you have customers who you bill monthly or weekly, and you can send either activity statements or outstanding statements to all customers with the click of a button. For invoice design, you can either upload your logo to Xero’s template or custom design your own using a docx file. You can also include direct payment options for Paypal, Authorize.Net, DPS, GoCardless, Stripe, eWAY, or any other payment processor of your choice, allowing your buyer to pay immediately by clicking the link on the invoice.

• Bank Reconciliation – Xero offers live bank feeds; alternately, you can import statements manually (ofx, qif, or csv format). The automatic matching feature is on the whole very good, though I’d have liked to see a way to accept automatically matched transactions all in one go, rather than clicking the “OK” button for each of them individually. You can leave notes on transactions, create new entries, assign categories, and split entries to reflect situations such as partial invoice payments. Xero’s automatic categorization is a great time saver, and it’s easy to set bank rules for how routine transactions should be handled. There’s also a quick cash coding section with some convenient keyboard shortcuts for coding transactions which haven’t previously been entered into Xero.

• Accounts Payable – Suppliers can send invoices directly into your Xero accounts payable section, which offers an interactive timeline with a batch payment option. You can also create purchase orders, copy their contents to bills, and set automatic payments for recurring bills. Xero supports check printing with a variety of customization options.

• Reporting – Xero offers over 40 reports, from basic profit/loss and aged payables/receivables to movements in equity and foreign currency gains and losses. You can also create a budget and compare it with your actual spending and income. For the organizations using Xero for payroll, there are additional 16 payroll-related reports available. All reports can be saved as an Excel file, pdf, or exported to Google Docs.

• Expense Reports – A well-executed time saver. Employees can enter their expense reports and receipts into the system. You can then review and approve employee expenses and receipts. It’s easy to see when there are new reports awaiting your approval. Unfortunately, there is no integration with payroll. You will need to enter reimbursements manually if you plan to add them to paychecks.

• Inventory – Xero currently has little in the way of inventory management. You can create stock items, view quantities in stock, and see sales by item in Reports. However, manual journal entries must be created if you want to track inventory as an asset. According to Xero, we should see improved functionality sometime in 2014.

• Tracking – Xero allows you to create up to two tracking categories by which to sort income and expenditures. You can use this for basic job costing or to track sales by employee, location, or whatever other criteria you choose.

• Contacts – Xero offers an option for group invoicing; you can also view each client’s transaction history and analyze your client list by spending and payments. You can assign one primary and up to four secondary contacts per company, and you can configure default communications settings to cc e-mails to whichever contacts you wish. Contact entries are automatically created each time you enter a new name on an invoice; you can also import your existing client list.

• Sales Tax – Xero has excellent sales tax support. You can set taxes for as many different areas as you like (including combined taxes such as a city and state tax, compound taxes are fully supported). You can also assign a default tax rate to each customer.

• Tax Forms and Support – Xero’s 1099 Report provides you with all the information you need to fill out 1099 forms. The software also offers automatic depreciation tracking for fixed assets; enter the initial purchase and depreciation rate and the software will do the rest.

• Multi-Currency – If you do business internationally, multi-currency support will be a crucial feature. Exchange rates are updated every hour; you can invoice and set reports in any currency. Xero supports bank accounts in multiple currencies, though you cannot print checks or submit expense claims in any currency other than your base currency.

• Online File Storage – Xero offers online file storage, allowing you to import receipts, invoices, and other documents. Files can be scanned and uploaded or simply e-mailed to your Xero inbox. You can also use a webcam to photograph the files, which will then appear in your account. Files can be attached to transactions, journal entries, or accounts for paperless record keeping. Note: unattached files in your Xero inbox are visible to all users. If there are documents you wish to keep private, attach them to the appropriate entry immediately after uploading them.

• Payroll – Xero now provides payroll for US-based businesses, including direct deposit and the option to eFile and ePay taxes. This is a new feature which is not yet available in all states; read the latest information on its availability here. A light version of Payroll, for one employee only, is included in the Standard Plan.

• Employee Payroll Portal and Time Tracking – Employees on payroll can use their own logins to access a portal through which they can complete timesheets, view paystubs, and see accumulated sick and vacation time. They can also submit requests for time off and completed timesheets for approval. E-mails from Xero will alert the employee and supervisor as to the status of such requests. The time tracking function is limited. You can enter a total number of hours, but no start and end times. However, you can use the Tracking feature to assign hours to different projects or locations. Employees can also create timesheet templates to cut down on data entry if they work a consistent schedule.

• Import/Export Capabilities – Xero allows you to import and export information freely, primarily in csv format. Xero also makes it easy to switch from QuickBooks, using QuickBooks 2007 or later, just upload your QuickBooks file. Xero will handle the conversion.

Xero Review

Headquartered in New Zealand, Xero is a cloud-based accounting solution tailored to the needs of small to mid-size businesses. Its features include account management, billing, invoices, expense reporting, and payroll. Xero also integrates with over 200 other applications which facilitate nearly all aspects of business operation, including inventory management, CRM, and POS.

Ease of Use:

Xero’s interface is clean, well-organized, and easy to navigate.

• Setup - When you first sign up for an account, you’ll be prompted to set up your company through a series of fairly self-explanatory screens, each with its own easily accessible help section. There are also a series of “Getting Started” videos which, while some are slightly out of date, provide good, concise advice as to setting up your business with Xero. You have the option to save and quit at any point during setup.
• Organization – Once set up, navigating is a pleasure. The dashboard offers a quick overview of accounts, and it is easy to see items that need attention (overdue bills, for instance) at a glance. In addition to the dashboard, there are tabs for Accounts, Payroll, Reports, Adviser, Contacts, and Settings. Each provides access to a variety of drop-down options, and they’re organized pretty intuitively. Usually, things are found on the first place you thought to look.
• Instructions and Guidance – Xero provides a “Getting Started” text box at the top of some pages which provides handy tips; it’s easily hidden once you’ve mastered the content. How much you need to read instructions in order to use the software will likely depend upon your accounting knowledge and the complexity of the tasks you are attempting.
• Problems – Xero is very clean software. There are a few minor annoyances, as follows:
  • Lack of Time Tracking for Contractors – I am very glad to see a time-sheet function for employees under Xero’s new payroll function … but a bit surprised that the software doesn’t provide time-sheets for 1099 contractors.
  • Poor Inventory Support – While Xero says you can use add-ons for inventory, a quick glance at their forums gives you the impression, most of these don’t work well. Xero plans to offer improved inventory management this year; whether that will solve the problem remains to be seen.
  • CSV Imports – In the banking reconciliation, duplicate detection does not function across formats, so if you import a csv and later import a qif with overlapping dates, you will end up with duplicate entries. Also, depending on your bank, you may need to make significant adjustments to csv files before they will import correctly (Xero can’t import a bank statement csv with separate debit and credit columns).
  • Lack of Automated Features – Xero does not offer automated invoice reminders, overdue notices, or receipts upon payment. While it’s a minor point, it seems an odd omission for software which has such a great feature selection.

Benchmarking: 5 reasons why your business should do it

Do you know how your business is performing when stacked up against competitors? Where you could improve, what you are doing well and what you could do to steer your ship in the right direction?
The good news is, there’s no need for guesswork. Benchmarking can answer these questions for you.
Here are our top five reasons why your business must benchmark:

1. Benchmarking allows you to dive in deep to find out why top performers in your industry are so successful. You’ll be able to analyse the key behaviours and ingredients for success, so that you can emulate them.
2. Benchmarking enables you to identify the strengths and weaknesses in your own business. Without this insight, you could be travelling blind and making business decisions without the right information.
3. Benchmarking provides objectivity, so that you can take an objective view of your business. It’s difficult to do this otherwise – you may be just too close and emotionally invested in your business so making it difficult to stand back and be unbiased. The most successful businesses take off the rose-tinted spectacles and make realistic assessments about their performance.
4. Benchmarking empowers you to understand personnel productivity in detail, and subsequently, set reasonable expectations for staff productivity. There’s no benefit in setting expectations that simply can’t be met by humans. Likewise, it’s foolish to set expectations that are too low to drive real value in your business. Comparing your staff productivity to more successful players will help you identify your productivity gaps.
5. Benchmarking can also help you assess performance in the area of finance. A wide range of expenditure questions can be answered to help you make strong conclusions – on anything from average industry salaries, to the cost of office supplies.

Like any management activity that’s worth doing, benchmarking takes a little effort. But outside help is available. If done right, benchmarking holds the key to future prosperity, for you and your business.