As someone who runs a one-person accountancy practice, you’re probably used to doing everything yourself. Being in control lets you bring your unique touch and high standards to every service you render.
As your practice grows, you might struggle to handle the higher volume of work. At that point, why not outsource some of it to an external accounting company? Entrusting someone else with your valuable client work might seem daunting.
But if you choose the right outsourcing partner, it’s one of the best ways to expand your business reach and save your own time.
In this blog piece, we discuss why outsourcing accounting and bookkeeping services makes sense as a sole practitioner and how you could prepare for it.
Benefits of outsourcing accounting services as a sole practitioner
1. Expertise at your fingertips
When you choose a top-rated accounting outsourcing company, you work with someone who has spent years honing their skills and efficiency. They’ve handled all kinds of clients and know the latest laws and regulations back and forth.
That means they will fulfil your tasks quickly and accurately and have ideas for how your clients can cut costs or introduce time-saving measures.
2. More time, more value
As you grow your sole practitioner business, certain accounting services may no longer be the best use of your time. While bookkeeping, filing taxes and managing payroll are essential, they don’t necessarily need your specific input.
When outsourcing accounting services, you can save your practice hundreds of hours a year that can now be devoted to client prospecting, client relationship management, advisory accounting services, upskilling, or simply more rest for yourself.
3. Cut costs, not corners
Sure, when you outsource to someone, you need to pay them, which is an extra cost. However, think about if you were to hire an in-house accountant. You’d have to pay them a regular salary and benefits, which would be a pretty hefty expense.
An outsourced accountant bills you only for the work done and nothing else. Or think about doing it all yourself. You can, certainly, but you may find it overwhelming to take on so many responsibilities.
Especially as a sole practitioner, your time is probably best spent on services involving the high-value strategic insight that only you can bring — and for which you can charge a higher fee.
By outsourcing accounting services, you can eliminate the time and effort you put in doing client bookkeeping or payroll for example.
4. Hassle-free human resources
An accounting outsourcing company is only involved with you to the extent of their service. They’ll not have any stake in your business decisions or access to any data that you don’t share.
This helps keep things professional and avoids the potential conflicts that can arise from in-house employees having more of a say or from the need to balance work relations with social relations when interacting with an employee daily.
On the plus side, outsourced accountants can offer an outsider’s perspective and help you see things you might otherwise miss.
5. Flexibility to flourish
When your practice scales, you can outsource more work to your external partner. When you’re cutting back for a while, you can modify the contract or even pause it for as long as needed.
Stellaripe, for instance, offers outsourcing accounting services under three types of engagement models so the clients can get the most out of their investment. Everything is scalable and flexible when you outsource, unlike an in-house hiring situation which is more rigid, irrespective of how your practice is doing.
6. Robust accounting tech
As you’ll already know, accounting software can be expensive. While you probably already use some as a sole accounting practitioner, getting the latest specialised tool for each separate service (payroll, tax returns, bookkeeping, etc.) is likely not financially feasible.
Instead, you can work with an outsourced accountant who specialises in that specific service and will thus already have the latest tech installed.
They’ll execute the service and send the deliverables in a format that integrates with your tech. They can also guide you through using the specialised software so that you can choose to install it later if it makes sense for your practice.
7. Improved data security
Outsourced accountants stay current on the latest data protection standards and security measures to ensure the safety of client data. You and your business clients will benefit from those safety measures, too, no matter what functions you outsource.
Ready your systems and processes for outsourcing accounting services
Working with an outsourced accountant isn’t just about emailing them a task and leaving them to it. You must ensure your systems are integrated with theirs and agree on business processes, timelines, and communication.
Are there specific tools you use for client account management or time tracking? How often do you expect updates? Have a straightforward onboarding process in place so that the outsourced partner knows exactly what you expect of them, and you can clarify any questions up front.
Set up your accounting software for success
In today’s tech-first world, your accountancy practice is only as good as the software you use to run it. As you prepare to work with an outsourcing partner, it might be a good time to upgrade to the latest accounting software.
Not only will it make it easier to manage the tasks you outsource, but it will also come equipped with the latest accounting formats and relevant legal standards. That’s an investment worth making when outsourcing accounting services.
Final words
The bigger your accounting practice grows, the more you’ll need to invest in its long-term viability, and the easiest way to do so is by asking for help when you need it. There are so many advantages of outsourcing accounting services!
By having a trusted outsourcing partner by your side, you can hand over certain functions to them and know that it’ll get done accurately and on time, leaving you free to focus on other parts of your practice.
Of course, be sure to do your research on different service providers and pick the one who resonates most with your goals. Make the right choice now, and you’ll have a reliable partner for the long term.
You can always outsource your workload to Stellaripe’s capable team without burning a hole in your pocket or compromising quality. Book a free consultation to understand why outsourcing to us could be the step to take for effective practice growth.
