The COVID-19 has not only accelerated the adoption of accounting technology across the globe it has also further reiterated the benefits of outsourced bookkeeping and accounting services. With every aspect of business forced to go remote during the pandemic, remote accounting services have become a norm now.
Outsourced bookkeeping and accounting services that were robust pillars for emerging businesses are now being actively leveraged by small, medium and large businesses alike. If you are a business that is considering partnering with remote accounting service providers but is finding it defaults to make the right choice, then this blog is for you.
Choose The Right Remote Accounting Firm:
Outsourcing bookkeeping and accounting services to a remote accounting firm can help businesses improve their financial performance. It provides flexibility and improves employee productivity while saving time and cutting down costs.
Even better, outsourcing provides a competitive edge for business by strengthening the account ting department. However, all these benefits are only possible only in case of a business chooses the right remote accounting firm as their partner and when this doesn’t happen a business will have to cop serious blows in terms of money and time.
As an accounting firm that has been on both sides of the line, we feel we are well equipped to help a business choose the right accounting partner for their business. So in this blog here we headline four key areas that you must carefully explore while choosing the outsourced accounting services for your business. So read on:
Four key questions you should ask a remote accounting firm before you hire them:
1. Experience of the accounting team: Experience tends to be the primary aspect in choosing an accounting firm for obvious reasons. However, most businesses can do better by going granular about the experience of the team that is being assigned in the particular industry of the business. Most accounting firms follow a cookie-cutter approach with limited resources who handle multiple projects and this may not translate to the performance you are aiming for. One must carefully pick the right team with relevant experience in the specific branch of accounting.
For example, as a remote accounting firm, Back Office Accountants offer Accounts Payable as one of our services. However, we particularly specialize in Accounts Payable Services for Restaurant and Accounts Payable Services for Real Estate Industry. Comparison of the services providers become extremely easy when a business is looking specifically for remote accounting firms with niche specialisations.
2. Accounting services & expertise: Unless you are plugging a gap in your accounting process and need only one particular accounting service, it is always a good measure to look out for accounting firms with expertise in multiple areas. Accounting for the most part is interdependent and has many moving parts and in all its probability you will need a comprehensive accounting service provider to cut down the cost and time. For example, if a business is facing issues with optimizing working capital, both Accounts Receivable and Accounts Payable had to be fine tunes and a remote accounting firm must specialize in both the services for better working capital optimization. As a business you are better placed with remote accounting firms that offer comprehensive accounting services – like us at Back Office Accountants.
3. Technology stack of the accounting firm: Accounting technology is the key enabler of high-performance accounting teams in these times of remote accounting. The rise of cloud accounting software and tools has enabled accounting teams to go above and beyond manual capabilities. In most cases, these tools are far from affordable for the accounting department of a business and then there come the associated costs of maintenance and training personnel.
So if you are looking for an expert remote accounting firm, you must ensure to be benefited by the right technology stack for their outsourced accounting services. Even better if one can discuss the technology to measure how to open a remote accounting firm in adopting new technologies.
4. Security: Technology can be a double-edged sword and the accounting firm must have the right security measures in place to fully leverage the benefits of technology-driven accounting services. Given most firms adopt remote and hybrid work policies one must focus both on in-house physical security and cyber security standards adopted by the accounting firm you wish to partner with.
Enquire and ask questions about the security standards adopted by the remote accounting firm to safeguard their data and systems. While you are at it focus on key aspect of security which include – multi-factor authentications, regular security updates and patching, dark web monitoring, remote device management and security, firewalls, web getaway security, data backups, advanced endpoint protection.
Summing it up – Experience, expertise, technology and security are key aspects that every business must look into thoroughly when picking a remote accounting firm for their business. If you are a business that is looking for a remote accounting firm that ticks all the right boxes then you can cut short your journey and contact Back Office Accountants here: https://www.backofficeaccountants.com/
