As outsourcing gains momentum in Australian accounting firms, there still continues to be a dearth of independent research on the use and success of outsourcing. Of particular concern is the scarcity of research into human resource issues through outsourcing. This is compounded by the complexity of the different models of outsourcing domestically and offshore, along with different ownership models adopted …
Offshore labour firms are not your friends
As the Philippines market matures, we’re seeing that the offshore labour model continues to challenge Australian accountants in terms of actual productivity benefits. The dominant offshore model is still the offshore outsourcing model, where the risk and responsibility is fully transferred to an overseas provider. But at the moment, we’re seeing massive competition amongst the offshore labour providers, and the …
Offshore labour hire does it tough
It’s fast becoming more competitive in the Philippines, and we’ve heard that as the market matures there are more risks that staff are jumping from one provider to another. Perhaps a sign that the market is starting to see unsustainable growth is a recent comment from an Australian accountant who mentioned it now takes 3 months for a “Labour hire” …
The full Monty… When others do your compliance work
So, you are considering outsourcing, and you don’t know your responsibilities. The common recommendation is that the consent is sought in the Engagement letters. So who is interested in what you put in you engagement letters, and what do you really need to put in them anyway… Who is interested in what you put into your engagement letters: TPB: Letters …
Offshoring versus Outsourcing? Why the confusion remains
Our CEO was visiting a client in Canberra the other day, and discussion invariably ended up mentioning the aggressive pursuit by offshore labour providers in the Philippines. The question then had to be asked: why are some firms considering the Philippines labour hire solutions, while other firms are knocking them back and working with Outsourcing offerings. The response was: Offshoring …
TPB rattles Outsourcing and Offshoring Users. Draft practice note released
A few days ago the Tax Practitioners Board (TPB) released draft Practice Note TPB(PN) D38/2017 to provide practical guidance and assistance to registered tax practitioners in understanding their obligations under the Code of Professional Conduct in relation to the use of outsourcing and offshoring. It should be noted that this is a draft practice note, and submissions and comments are invited …
Why Value Based billing isn’t dominating in Australian Accounting Compliance
For anyone who has been in the Australian accounting compliance arena for any length of time, the argument for “Value Based Billing” (VBB) is an ongoing Holy Grail. For some who have eliminated timesheets and moved to Value based billing the proof seems to be there, but for the majority of accountants we don’t see a stampeded to VBB. Somewhere …
How Australian accounting firm owners can semi-retire with lower risk…
I received a message from an Australian accountant the other day. The message went something like this: Hi David, Just some feedback from my Partner in business (an old school hardworking now moving to retiring not the easiest lady to impress). You made it easy the questions that came back were of calibre and clearly indicated that you had certainly …
Why bringing your outsourced work back inhouse often isn’t seamless…
An ex client of Odyssey reached out to me last week, and wrote the following: Dear David, It has been some time since I have made contact. I was wondering if we could touch base. We used Odyssey for the majority for SMSF clients in the 2016 year, approximately 40-50 funds. Most of these were handled by our senior accountant …
The Future of the “Per Seat” Resource Model
I was talking to a Philippines BPO provider the other day who has been operating in this space for more than three years. They offer full time employees to Australian accountants on a per seat fee basis and he had some interesting comments about the resources. In the financial planning area they were making good money. They were doing okay …
