By Kelly Kavanaugh
To navigate the pandemic, businesses have had to adapt to survive. From remote work to cost-cutting measures, shifts from traditional approaches were essential to maintaining revenue streams.
As we move forward, it’s likely remote work will remain part of many business models. Thus, now is a good time to consider how hiring external resources, for various job functions, can support your remote work model. Whether you need payroll, billing, banking or other web-based financial management software support, your accounting needs are well-suited for permanent outsourcing.
Access to specialized experience
Hiring a professional with specialized industry experience to support your accounting function can be costly, but many organizations need a resource with that deep knowledge. That’s where an outsourced accounting professional can come in.
An experienced outsourced resource, from a reputable professional services firm, can also access support in tax, HR, valuation, payroll, wealth management and more. These additional professionals can step in to help you understand local, state and federal regulations and stay compliant with ever-changing accounting and tax laws.
Rather than hiring someone for each function, you will have immediate access to the right people, with the right skills, who use industry knowledge and processes to produce timely financial information. The result? You will have information to help you make better business decisions, and operate your business, in a way that can increase your credibility with your board and with lenders and investors.
“We outsourced our accounting, and financial process, allowing us to quickly ramp up operations with access to topnotch thought leadership in systems and financial policies. Essentially, we always had someone on call to provide oversight our board relied on.”
– Carrie Zeisse, CEO, Tampa Bay Thrives
Opportunity to adjust how you spend time and money
Adapting to the current economic climate is key for a growing, expanding or even contracting business. As your business changes, so must your balance sheet. Outsourcing can turn a fixed cost into a variable cost, as you scale to your business needs. An outsourced team can potentially reduce the hidden costs that come with having people on your payroll, like severance, turnover, healthcare, training and rent. Replacing a full-time CFO with a an outsourced professional, or team, who supports your accounting function could help you realize a savings of up to 50%.
More importantly, this frees up time for your management team to focus on core competencies, and growth opportunities, without worrying about turnover and the quality of financial information received. A skilled outsourced professional also assists in the analysis, planning and strategic growth of the business to become a key advisor to your leadership team.
“We looked for a financial management resource to keep our finances organized, produce easy-to-analyze reports and provide advice on strategies for planning — and we achieved these goals while having an overall cost savings for our organization. This extra oversight has helped us stay financially strong through the economic strain of 2020.”
– Bob Rohrlack, DBA, CCE, President & CEO, Tampa Bay Chamber
To achieve, and sustain, success amid uncertainty key decision-makers must address issues quickly. By outsourcing you can leverage the knowledge, and resources, you need to make those critical decisions in a cost-effective manner.
Kelly Kavanaugh is a Biz Ops professional. She works with not-for-profit entities and manages the Tampa Biz Ops practice. Contact Kavanaugh at Kelly.Kavanaugh@CLAconnect.com or 813-384-2715. The information contained herein is general in nature and is not intended, and should not be construed, as legal, accounting, investment or tax advice, or opinion, provided by CliftonLarsonAllen LLP (CliftonLarsonAllen) to the reader. For more information, visit CLAconnect.com.
