Why Smart CFO’s Outsource Their Accounting Department – At Unalp CPA Group, we work with many companies that have CFO’s who have decided that outsourcing best fits their emerging business or nonprofit.
Many of these CFO’s previously struggled with an accounting staff who was not up to the task or were highly paid because they were in the job many years.
These CFO’s were bold enough to look at a new way of doing business in the finance world and not locked into a traditional way of doing business. They were able to free themselves up to be more forward-looking in the business to partner with the CEO or the Executive Director on mission-critical issues.
Hard To Hire and Retain Staff
Robert Half noted in their 4th Quarter 2017 report that the unemployment rate among accountants is under 2 percent.
It is difficult to retain and keep top talent in today’s market. If you do get someone young, it is likely they will leave as millennials are job-hopping at a faster rate than their older counterparts.
Every time someone leaves your staff, it will create chaos as the knowledge walks out the door with the person. This does not happen in an outsourced situation. The outsourced accounting firm management creates policies on how the work gets done and cross-trains within their firm. There is always backup so your work is always getting done: Payables get entered without interruption, Invoices go out on time, Closes get done according to schedule.
Offers Deep Technical Strength
Many staff do not keep up on the latest technology or the latest accounting best practices. They are busy just doing their job. Over the years, they fall behind the knowledge curve.
At Unalp CPA, we are constantly learning about best practices and the best technology. We understand how to combine both to put together an efficient and effective accounting department that is able to deliver timely results that are actionable.
We can also deliver meaningful financial reports that support active decision-making of the CFO and management of a company. In one client that outsourced the accounting to us, they had a staff that was making good money, but did not really understand GAAP accrual accounting. Every year the audit was painful for this nonprofit. There were many management comments. We came in and in the first year this nonprofit achieved a completely clean audit and was able to look at the business in a segmented manner which helped the Board gain better insight.
Accurate Financial Statements on a Timely Basis
At Unalp CPA, we are able to accelerate the close and offer accurate financial statements on a timely basis due to our knowledge of accounting best practices.
In our experience, we have seen companies that are trying to get by with bookkeepers/noncertified accountants. These bookkeepers may be great for small companies, but become overwhelmed quickly as the company grows. Usually they are not trained professionally and have their own way of doing things which may not conform to GAAP.
As an example, we took over the accounting for one company where the close took one month. The numbers were not current for their board meeting. The CFO spent the whole time just trying to correct the data. We were able to come in and close the books within 5-10 days depending on the month and the need of the management team. It literally transformed their business and fundraising.
An Easier Way to Undertake Ad Hoc Projects Within Finance
In accounting many different projects come up. These can be disruptive to a staff just trying to get the job of paying bills, producing invoices and closing the books. It seems that the accounting staff falls behind when these type of projects hit. At Unalp CPA, we have the staff and knowledge to do these without disruption. We are able to scale for you without delaying your mission-critical reporting.
More Cost Effective
We are able to offer just in time services that you need when you need them. You may only need 1 day a week of a particular position rather than a full-time person. If that is the case, you can recognize substantial savings in outsourcing.
At Unalp CPA, we have been able to save companies at least 10% over their current costs when outsourcing due to replacing inefficient technology or processes.
If you are unsure what is going on in your accounting department and just need a professional opinion, you can always bring Unalp CPA in for a Financial Diagnostic Assessment to determine how your accounting technology and practices need to change to be effective.
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