Outsourcing is not new. It derives from the economic principle of comparative advantage. CPA Australia released several great checklists back in October 2016, with lead author by Odyssey’s David Carter. The checklists in these series allow Australian accountants looking to use or provide outsourced services to cover many of the important aspects of outsourcing. This week we look at the …
Potential risks of Outsourcing your Australian Accounting, Taxation and Bookkeeping Compliance
In the first part of this series, we discussed the benefits of outsourcing accounting, taxation and bookkeeping compliance to an offshore provider. Understanding the risks associated with the outsourcing is as important as evaluating the benefit. Outsourcing has 3 key success factors / risks: Quality, timeliness, price. Generic business risks are generally well understood and relate to a large extent …
What kind of services can accounting firms outsource?
Accounting firms normally outsource the business activities related to accounting, taxation and bookkeeping compliance. In the digital age, many firms are considering the outsourcing of other ancillary services such as marketing, sales and administration. The checklist below will help you identify which areas and which services you wish to outsource. Accounting function services Accounting compliance is the usual standard service …
Issues to consider when selecting an Outsourcing Service Provider – Part 1 of 2
Maybe the most difficult decision regarding the outsourcing is to find the right OSP. It is useful to go through the checklist of issues to consider when selecting an OSP. For this post, we will look at three themes: background, characteristics of the OSP and their staff. Background on the Outsource Service Provider Many accounting firms ignore the important background …
Issues to consider when selecting an Outsourcing Service Provider – Part 2 of 2
Following the last post (if you just landed on this article, we suggest you read the previous one first), the rest of the checklist of issues related to choosing the best possible OSP is as below. In the previous post we covered the questions to ask the OSP regarding background on the country the OSP works from, finding out more …
What to Consider when Evaluating the Service Provider’s Technology Platform
As we all know, technology is the backbone of the outsourcing practice. A reliable and secure technology platform of the OSP gives much more confidence for the accountants to outsource accounting, taxation and bookkeeping compliance. We will look into what criteria to evaluate the service providers’ technology platform. Internet speed and reliability What is the reputation of the Internet Service …
How well an OSP and a client work together on an Integrated Technology Platform
The last post presented the checklist on the quality of the OSP’s technology platform. For this time, it is about the integrity between the OSP and you, the client. Answer these questions below to assess the integrated technology platform. Internal communication How will you communicate with your outsourced staff? Will they report to one person on your team or collaboratively …
What Should Be Included in an Outsourcing Agreement – Part 1 of 2
The CPA Australia Outsourcing Guide provides a comprehensive checklist of what should be included in an outsourcing agreement. There are 15 main items that should be covered in an outsourcing agreement. This post will present the first 7 items as below Scope and performance of services Detailed description of the type and scope of outsourced services to be provided where …
What Should Be Included in an Outsourcing Agreement – Part 2 of 2
Prior to checking this post out, take a recap on the first part related to what should be included in an outsourcing agreement. This post is to present the remaining items as below. Your obligations and those of the OSP Obligations and rights of the parties to the outsourcing agreement Nature of the information to be provided by you and …
How to conduct a Post-Implementation Review
When it comes to the management and monitoring stage in the outsourcing, you should conduct a post-implementation review to assess how well the transition went. This is to measure the results of the project, identify key lessons learned and develop an action plan in accordance with the findings. The list of questions below gives you a guideline of what issues …
How to evaluate outcomes of using the Outsourcing Service Provider
Following the post-implementation review step, you should now evaluate the outcomes of the project to decide your next move in outsourcing. Whether the outsource agreement should be renewed, transferred or exited depends on how you identify the achieved outcomes. You should answer 4 questions below: What was the rate of productivity improvement? Did the transition meet expectations? Were staff time …
Issues to Consider in Backsourcing Services
Earlier in this series, we discussed the options available to the client when an outsourcing project is done. Among those, transition the service back in-house poses as a challenge due to the lack of capacity and expertise of the in-house staff who may have not performed the service for quite a bit chunk of time. You should review and follow …