Uploaded November 30, 2016
“CPA firms are required to work really hard to build and maintain a well-managed internal accounting team which is equipped with expertise and experienced enough to implement accounting and bookkeeping best practices, for the firm as well as for those clients to the CPA firm also. But it is time that CPA firms can get away from building an accounting and bookkeeping team, and instead can focus on growing their business.
Ever evolving accounting and bookkeeping industry has grown competitive like never before for CPA firms. In order to keep pace with competition, while managing client demands at reasonable rates and regulatory compliances of IRS; they are also required to be flexible in their work schedules.
CPA firms are expected to deliver results for some of the enlisted tasks:
- Auditing, accounting, and tax services to clients
- Support clients by setting up process for compliance and controls
- Implement cost-cutting methodologies to stay competitive in the accounting profession
- Meeting expectations of existing as well as prospect investors, shareholders, lenders, regulatory agencies as they all rely on the financial statements prepared and provided by a CPA firms.
- Thriving and surviving own business as a CPA firm, and increase the ROI
If this was not enough; the AICPA, state societies of CPAs, state boards of accountancy and various other regulatory agencies including GAO, DOL and so on, defined ethical rules and regulations for practicing CPA firms. These ethical rules include responsibilities, public interest, integrity, objectivity and independence and due care.
It should not come as a surprise that CPAs get over worked with routine tasks including bookkeeping, payroll accounting, and filing tax returns, which are time consuming and not at all profitable and productive.
So in such a scenario, should CPAs outsource accounting and bookkeeping services, in order to manage everything effectively and efficiently? – YES, CPA firms should outsource accounting and bookkeeping.
Bookkeeping is a time consuming task, and though simple but not that rewarding, it needs outstanding expertise and experience to be done appropriately. This makes it more than important that CPA firms should take assistance from a reliable accounting and bookkeeping outsource service provider. Their onboard best accounting and bookkeeping professionals, understand the importance of paying due attention to details. Outsourcing bookkeeping services ultimately empowers CPAs to invest their time and efforts more efficiently and focus on various other activities such as investments, wealth planning, financial disclosures, tax planning, canvasing for themselves and many more.
Let’s check out on some more benefits of outsourcing bookkeeping services for CPAs:
- Initial capital investment for infrastructure, staff expenses and a lot more is not required to be done by CPA firms.
- This gives you the levy as a CPA firm to take up clients who manage their accounting and bookkeeping with help of software, which you do not use – but outsourcing service providers do. Yes, outsource service providers; are capable of working on various software including various versions of QuickBooks, XERO, MYOB, Quicken, Peachtree, SAGE Accounting, IRIS, LaCerte, etc. Partnering with them, invariably will allow you to take up accounting and bookkeeping projects from clients, which earlier was a challenge for your CPA firm.
- The accuracy and efficiency of accounting and bookkeeping tasks increases drastically and reduces the chances of errors, as these outsourced service providers sign a service level agreement or contract, with multi layered quality process, as one of the major components to it.
- Skilled and experienced accountants are at work for bookkeeping tasks of your clients on behalf of your CPA firm.
- The fact that these outsourced accounting and bookkeeping service providers located in India work across time zones, the faster turnaround time works to your advantage.
- Outsourcing these activities help you save anything from 35% to 50% of the overall cost, if compared to hiring in-house accountants and bookkeepers. So then why not go for outsourcing so that these savings can be further utilized by the CPA firm to keep their prices competitive.
In this era where several CPA firms have happily and conveniently adopted to outsourcing, and sending across their high volume, low-skilled work to India, there still exist CPA firms who are skeptical about outsourcing with a notion that they might lose control over confidentiality of data, and several other apprehensions.”