15

Aug 2019

smsf-outsourcing

Accounting firms: How to effectively Outsource your SMSF work

By: Odyssey Outsourcing
Tags: ad-hoc model, capacity, gig economy, SMSF outsourcing

Need to know the who, what, when, where and why of outsourcing your compliance work.

But first, here’s the maths behind the argument that full time SMSF compliance workers don’t work, either locally or foreign hired.

Australian accounting firm owners know that tax returns arrive in individual jobs, and at the same time the resources needed to be hired to complete those jobs come in blocks of jobs.  It’s the old square peg in the round whole issue. And most of us conquered this somewhere in our early year.

So why are accounting firm owners still struggling with an old employment business model. Well, they frequently use the argument that a full time SMSF resource can complete 100 jobs per year, and that hiring a full time resource gives the accounting firm owner a warm and fuzzy feeling that they have capacity for 100 jobs a year.

There are several inherent problems with this thinking.

Firstly, it’s last century. There is a change in the business models, and there are a lot more freelancers in the world. These freelancers happily quote on a job by job basis. They’re competing in your space, and don’t have the fixed and other overheads that you are trying to squeeze into your margin.

Ad-hoc resources seem to be winning in most areas. There is argument that AirBnb, AirTasker, Uber and all the other temporary rental models make more sense than ownership. Rent what you want, when you want it, for a fraction of the cost of ownership.

So leave the risk that skilled staff will disappear (and take your IP, training, and clients) to someone else.

Secondly, hiring by staff means you will always have capacity issues. There is no nirvana. You either have a stressed out staff member trying to complete 120 jobs in the time usually required for 100 jobs, or you have a stressed out business owner trying to find 100 jobs for an employee who only has 50 or 60 jobs.

Thirdly, hiring a staff member means you are still thinking sequentially, or horizontally. Your clients want work returned in an timely manner, after they lodge it. Accountants have traditionally finessed this by scheduling clients when they want the work. It’s an inefficient model. At worst case, you already know that poor Mr Smith’s SMSF is the last one on the list. Come back in a year Mr Smith! It doesn’t make sense. And Mr Smith can research the internet as well as you can. He’ll be looking for a good turnaround time!

Instead, work with a company that has significant capacity, like Odyssey, to complete dozens of SMSF’s daily. Send over 100 jobs, they should be back in under 2 weeks (allowing for queries!).

Lastly, there is significant changes expected as the software houses fire up their AI, and automation in bank feeds etc. The reality is that the SMSF area is constantly changing, and a risk avoidance strategy is to ensure you aren’t left with an employee that isn’t skilled for the current market. You either try to continually train and upskill the employee, or accept that the employment business model is coming under pressure from new business models.

If you want to chat about how Odyssey can assist with your SMSF compliance then please drop us a line.

Share this article