Offshore, or outsourced, accounting is one of the most popular functions for businesses to outsource. With a total market size of $10bn and more than 70% of financial services executives looking to outsource accounting roles, it is only going to get more popular for businesses of all sizes and industries. The aim of this article is to help first time outsourcers or those new to outsourced accounting understand the mechanics and details of this strategy for increased productivity and efficiency.
So what roles can you fill offshore?
Generally, when Connext fills accounting roles, we are filling at five different levels:
- AP/AR Person or Accounting Associate
- New CPAs
- Junior CPAs
- Senior CPAs
- Controller or CFO level
Each of these roles come with varying degrees of experience but typically anyone at the CPA level can perform most accounting tasks with supervision on client specific processes. At the controller level, candidates are expected to perform unsupervised accountant work as well as manage a team of accountants.
What types of accounting tasks should offshore employees perform?
Well, it really depends on your specific organization and processes. Accountants traditionally are well educated, smart, and have great attention to detail, thus are very trainable on your specific tasks and processes. Some example tasks being performed by members of our team are:
- Cash Flow
- Bank Reconciliation
- Revenue Reporting
- AP/AR
- Financial Analysis
- Balance Sheet
- Payroll Reporting
- And more!
What type of experiences do these candidates have?
The experience level certainly differs with the candidate levels but there are certain things to consider when looking at Philippines based accountant versus a United States based accounting. Almost all accounting candidates have some number of years’ experience in an accounting field, but it is important to understand their experience and how it compares to local employees.
First, the big 4 use affiliate firms with different names. Here is the list. An employee’s resume for example, may say they worked at SGV, which is the E&Y affiliate.
- SGV & Co. (SyCip Gorres Velayo & Co.) (affiliate of Ernst & Young)
- Manabat Delgado Amper & Co. (formerly C.L. Manabat & Co.) (affiliate of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu (DTT))
- Isla Lipana & Co. (formerly Joaquin Cunanan & Co.) (affiliate of PricewaterhouseCoopers)
- Manabat Sanagustin & Co. (formerly Laya Mananghaya & Co.) (affiliate of KPMG)
- BDO Alba Romeo & Co. (Philippine Member Firm of BDO International)
Second, the Bachelor’s of Accountancy is required to become CPA eligible. It’s common to see a 4 year degree for Bachelors of Science in Accounting Tech and then a fifth year for the accountancy degree.
What type of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software do offshore employees typically have experience in?
ERP software is typically very client specific, thus making it hard find candidates with experience working in Canopy, Quickbooks, or any other ERP software. When we advise clients, we encourage looking for candidates who are smart, detail oriented, and eager to do a good job rather than those who may have specific software experience but lack some of the aforementioned skills. Why? It is much easier to train someone to work in a specific ERP software than it is to train intelligence, determination, or attention to detail.
So how do I get started?
You first must decide how you want to outsource your accounting work. You can engage with a traditional outsourcing vendor and have the accounting done offshore without having any control or visibility of the process. Out of sight, out of mind. Or you can work through a business process outsourcing vendor, like Connext, that custom builds a remote accounting team that is 100% dedicated to you and your team. This method is a bit more work but is generally more cost effective and gives you more visibility and control.
Offshoring your accounting function can be an excellent way to reduce cost structure and improve productivity. It is also a great way to source high level accounting talent in a very challenging labor market. If you have any questions about outsourcing accounting, please contact one of our strategic consultants for more information. You can also compare prices and experience for different accountant levels with our Build Your Team tool.
Offshore Accounting teams at Connext provide remote day-to-day accounting support as effectively as in-house Accounting departments.
Start building a scalable support team of Finance and Accounting experts. Build your Offshore Accounting Team with Connext Global Solutions today.
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