Outsourcing Your Finance Function – Taking the Financial Stresses Away!

Working life in business is tough enough without the hassle of dealing with the burden of financial administration issues like payroll, credit control, compliance, book keeping, debtors, VAT and other such time consuming areas. Wouldnt it be great if someone could take the administrative pain away and allow you to focus on what you are good at – being an entrepreneur and growing your business. Avid Partners have the experience to help make your working life easier and more profitable. We act as an outsourced financial controller for your business and by taking on your finance function we can maximise efficiencies and make your business more streamlined.

What areas can be outsourced effectively?

When we discuss outsourcing the finance function we are talking about areas that generally don’t add perceived growth potential to your business a conventional sense and thus take up too much time and effort in remaining compliant. Specific areas that we work with clients include:

• Payroll Services
• Book Keeping
• Financial Control Services
• VAT Services
• Cash Flow Management
• Creditor & Debtor Controls
• Accounts Payable & Receivable
• Financial Compliance
• Financial Planning & Budgeting
• Company Secretarial Services
• Management Accounts
• Secondment & Interim Accounts Staff

You may not need support in all of these areas all the time but there are undoubtedly areas that are usurping your time causing you unnecessary stress and limiting the growth potential of the business. We can look after all of the above or any number of individual services you would prefer not to deal with in a day to day capacity. We can manage them on your behalf and take away the hassle of dealing with non core areas of the business.

What problem areas do businesses experience that would require help with the above?

Many companies simply are not set up to cope with the time and in house expertise required to effectively deal with the volume of financial administration that they encounter in their day to day business. Some of the most common issues we encounter with clients include:

• Lack of resources to recruit full time staff to the function
• Lack of technical expertise in-house to manage the finance function properly
• Because of the time urgency of transactions missing fillings and incurring penalties is not uncommon
• Staff overburdened dedicating time to non core functions that can be outsourced
• Many businesses are not from a finance background and lack the capacity and interest to manage the function.

There are many reasons why businesses struggle maintain the finance function in-house and many more as to why its not being managed effectively. Many business owners are not aware that any alternatives exist. They think that if they don’t take it on personally nobody else will. This is what makes the struggle all the more unnecessary. Stick to what the business is best at and work with experts in the finance field to handle the rest!

What are the benefits to your company in outsourcing your finance function?

There are a range of benefits in outsourcing all or part of your finance function to an experienced third party partner. Some of the more tangible benefits include:

1. Improve profitability and money savings
2. Increased efficiency
3. Improved cash flow management
4. Delivers a higher quality service than non-qualified staff
5. Frees up time to allow business owners to focus on growing their business
6. No need for permanent costly staff to run the finance function in-house
7. No holiday, maternity leave or sickness issues to deal with as is the case with full time staff
8. You get the experience of a financial controller without the full cost
9. Staff and resources can be deployed to core added value functions of the business
10. Ensuring effective systems and controls are in place to protect your business
11. Outsourcing gets compliance issues right from the start (no unnecessary penalties)
12. Receive improved management information and proactive advice on non performing areas
13. No need for recruiting or managing accounting staff
14. Outsourcing creates a variable cost not a fixed one (much better for cash flow and profitability)
15. Reduced IT and software costs

The model of choosing accounting outsourcing is becoming more and more an effective tool for business owners as a way to streamline operations and minimise costs. It will always cost less to delegate the function to a third party that to do it all in-house. Keeping the function in-house is now seen as an unnecessary luxury that companies can ill afford and is an unnecessary cost. It will suit business owners who cant afford or don’t want to hire a full time financial controller but still want all of the financial issues dealt with in a timely manner. Many business owners from a non-financial background don’t want, or enjoy, the process of managing the financial function. Why endure the struggle and hassle if you don’t have to? Find the best outsource partner whom you can trust and get back to what you are good at. I’m sure you didn’t start the business up in order to manage the financial administration function!

What types of companies should consider outsourcing their finance function?

There are a range of company types that should consider outsourcing their finance function. Some examples include:

• Owner/manager businesses with high staff and transaction levels (e.g. supermarkets, bars, restaurants)
• Recruitment companies who deal in temporary placements and large amounts of staff
• Companies that deal in outsourcing of staff (outbound or inbound)
• Franchisees that have a number of locations
• Hospitality businesses (diverse range of skills required)
• Companies that use larger numbers of temporary staff on a regular basis (e.g. events, festivals, etc)
• Businesses that have high fixed costs of operations and need to streamline their administrative costs
• Businesses in high growth stages of their cycle where staffing costs are escalating
• Companies that have high focus on a small number of core activities and don’t want to redeploy staff from their goals

Companies that are forward thinking, profitable, scalable and who may not be financially minded enough to know that they may be missing out on potential savings and reduced hardships. This is where the benefits of financial outsourcing comes into play.

Case Study – Outsourcing Your Finance Function in Practice!

A business came to us with issues regarding their finance function. Too much of their time was being taken up with administrative duties which had become hugely time consuming and stressful for the business owners. The problem areas were quickly identified as cash flow, payroll, credit control, debtors listings and temp staff management. We took control over the finance function on behalf of the client and in the two months since we have been engaged we have achieved:

• Significant cash savings through greater efficiencies
• Increased cash flow and greater profitability in key areas
• Significant time savings for the management staff allowing them to focus on business sales
• Significant improvement in accounts receivable resulting in a cash injection to the business
• The business now has a financial controller function at a fraction of the hiring cost
• Staff and resources have been able to be redeployed in their core functions away from administration
• New structures and systems put in place to ensure best practices in the future.

The business is now is a significantly better position as a result of outsourcing the finance function to an expert in the field and are reaping the rewards, both financial and resources, from having Avid Partners take ownership of the finance function on their behalf.

Contact Avid Partners – Financial Outsourcing Department Today to See How We Can Help!

Avid Partners can help you grow your business by offering a range of services in outsourcing your finance function. Contact Avid Partners today to see how we can assist your business through our marketing services. You can phone us on 0818 303087, email us at advice@avidpartners.ie or alternatively you can fill out the form below.

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