Outsourcing Your Accounts Functions

Under the current market trend of continual cost cutting and novelty, businesses are finding ways to successfully trim overhead expenses, boost profits and deliver superior products and services than the previous years to stay ahead of the competition. One of the successful ways businesses are achieving this is through the principle of outsourcing.

Now a days if a firm requires professionals to carry out bookkeeping or accounting tasks, that firm would generally start looking to employ somebody to fullill this need in house. However, there are many aspects that to be considered if the firm is critically assessing between hiring internally or outsource to an external accounting firm to heed to the financial needs of their business.

While employing new staff overheads are a major concern. Beyond the basic pay you also need to consider other employment costs incurred during the recruitment and training process and for staff amenities, office space etc. The list varies from company to company, but is never short in size. Here is when the idea of outsourcing pops up, which brings in all the ease and perfection at work.

In case of outsourcing an accountant firm there is reduction of all possible overhead charges. In some situations it may even negate the requirement of having a physical office. Plus, the necessity of having to manage the accounting staff can also be avoided. Bearing in mind the edge of engaging an external accountant or bookkeeper, a manager should wisely consider their services when choosing one.

Connect Accounting, based in Auckland, is one of the leading firms catering to a large number of New Zealand based businesses. Connect provides services in a wide range of accounting tasks, like, annual financials, tax returns, work papers, GST returns, Business benchmarking etc. Connect is in the outsourcing market from the last seven years and is standing tall in terms of experience, quality and commitment.

Accounting Outsourcing – Perks of Strategic Outsourcing

Accounting outsourcing is a progressive strategy being used to reduce monitoring costs and controlling the finances by accounting systems.

Most business holders understand the fact that accounting is an important aspect in any business. The accounting division controls and monitors the finances in all businesses. Most businesses which failed were due to the lack of rigorous accounting systems. Many have fallen behind the standard of accounting, presenting them with a real impression of the flow of their money. Any business will not prefer investing in large capitals that would go nowhere. The concept of accounting is to carry the movement of finances, by providing a clear image of how the capital is being handled.

Due to this importance, companies generally employ professionals who are trained to ensure that the finances are handled as required. The professionals are more like a support group who safeguard the pace of the business capital and processes. Their function doesn’t directly involve sale generation but financial monitoring. Most businesses employ a few personnels and invest noticeable amount in training, incentive plans, keeping the staff motivated, and to ensure beneficial experience and satisfaction. But accounting professionals are still humans and at some certain point in time, they might leave for growth prospects. Eventually, the company will be left with circular process of hiring and training again, and keeping this new bunch of people keen and motivated. Hence, having a full time accounting staff proves to be more expensive. Rather than becoming a support group to the company, they become a financial concern instead. Due to this primary reason, firms now prefer going for accounting outsourcing.
Accounting outsourcing is one of the leading strategies used to minimize cost in scanning finances through accounting systems. Many companies have already started with it not by considering it to be trending in market but because they find it more constructive than any other. Some benefits of accounting outsourcing are as below:

• Revised accounting systems - Connect Accounting’s outsourcing services make use of the latest accounting systems and processes as per a company’s requirements for their accounting services. These latest systems assure an accurate, efficient, and prompt data for the businesses.
• A turnover free accounting system –  Even though most organizations have their own staff of accountants and bookkeepers for the company, they are attached with systems that are not dependent on the client’s line of trade. Even if the outsourced companies have turnovers, the accounting data and process of the clients will not be affected.
• Cost effective accounting process - Companies employing accounting outsourcing can easily save large chunks of staffing and overhead charges. Instead of  employing full time staff  and constantly trying to keep them motivated, the business can just pay on as needed basis to the outsourcing company which is a fee in exchange with the services.
• An impersonal System – This means that the people working on your accounting details do not have any interest to look into the data. With Connect Accounting, New Zealand, outsourcing is purely service to the clients. The processes are completely professional and so the confidentiality and privacy of the accounting books is very high.

With so many gains, there is no more requirement for a reasons to not employing Connect’s accounting outsourcing services. The nominal cost, the accuracy, the prompt solutions, and the latest technologies are worth trying and looking into.

Outsourcing Financial Analysis

In the competitive market, everyone is in queue to achieve success. This is an outsourcing era and the one who adopts smart work rather than hard work, leads the crowd. There are many small and medium sized companies that have grown and spread their businesses by outsourcing their accounting tasks such as accounts payable, accounts receivable or general ledger accounting etc. Businesses opt outsourcing in order to develop a competitive advantage by reducing costs and increasing efficiency amongst a traditionally high cost, skill intensive set of finance activities.

 Benefits of outsourcing Financial Analysis Services
Decision Making - Outsourcing the financial analysis services, provides a management with access to a faster and more accurate interpretation of financial data. This would result in quick decision making abilities.
Better technology – Use of superior and updated technology so that the data can be used on regular basis for the advance service levels of the company.
Cost Savings - an approximate 40-60 percent savings in analyst costs.
Transparency and regulatory compliance – CFAs the world over, are turning to financial services outsourcing for achieving improved financial reporting and regulatory compliance.
Significant top-line and bottom-line impact from analytical insights into areas such as cost management, product profitability and project appraisals.
Financial Analysis Services which can be outsourced
• Financial analysis and research
• Corporate financial statements
• Analysis of financial statements- monthly, quarterly, and annual management reports
• Analysis of portfolio structures
• Industry reports (fact books and competitor analysis)
• Financial ratio analysis, break-even analysis, NPV and IRR analysis
• Budgeting & Forecasting Reports
• Financial Accounting
Outsourcing financial analysis services is a fast growing way adopted by many businesses for taking care of their financial accounting needs. It may appear risky at some point but outsourcing will  bring you success and efficient results in real time for sure.
While financial analysis outsourcing services have numerous advantages, choosing the right person  is also critical. Connect Accounting, an Auckland based accounting firm specializes in outsourcing financial analysis services to accounting firms and small businesses.

SMSFs provides greater investment flexibility

Opening up Self Managed Super Fund (SMSF) in New Zealand, offers a number of benefits including fixed costs, complete legal control and holding of your assets, investment flexibility and retirement savings. When you have a smsf, you get a complete range of investment options that you can reap on behalf of your smsf than other traditional superannuation fund. This is because the normal superannuation fund covers a lesser number of assets like cash and bonds.

It’s not just the power to invest in non-traditional assets like gold and property, but the New Zealand investors can achieve much higher returns within a SMSF. In case of smsf you are not restricted to a few asset classes, but to a wide range of investments including direct property, gold, shares and ETFs. This availability of wide range of asset classes has easily outpaced traditional superannuation funds, that too with lower volatility.

Another strong reason to consider smsf for New Zealand businesses is the Additional investment flexibility. The power it gives is like the ability to use a simple manager to outperform the stock market.

A myth associated with smsf in New Zealand is that you need $300 - $500k to legitimize your smsf, but the meaningful part is that you can save notable capital over your working years. Connect Accounting, New Zealand can act as a great support to make this happen.