You can give your accounting only to reliable hands, and there is no need to explain this axiom to the business owner. There are several options for accounting services, and in recent years, outsourcing of accounting, that is, the transfer of accounting functions to an external contractor, claims to be called the most optimal of them. There are a lot of contractors providing third-party accounting services, and choosing the best of the available offers, it is worth understanding what you need to pay attention to when comparing the conditions of outsourcer firms.
1. Reputation of the company in the accounting market
The market for outsourcing accounting services has been actively developing for many years and the main players in it are already known. These are grateful reviews on the pages of outsourcer sites, recommendations from your friends, and customer opinions on forums or social networks, as well as ratings and other sources of information.
Almost everyone needs accounting services, but if they are of poor quality, they can be not only unprofitable but even disastrous for your business. The long-term good reputation of the company in the market is one of the main criteria for its effectiveness. An outsourcer that doesn’t have high internal standards for the provision of accounting services simply can’t withstand brand competition.
2. Opportunity to read the contract for the provision of accounting services
Ask for reading the draft contract of the company for the provision of accounting services. A good performer will scrupulously prescribe in it not only his duties and terms of payment but also the obligations of the customer in the document flow.
One of the main advantages of outsourcing bookkeeping can be called a guaranteed liability for damage caused to the customer by poor-quality accounting services. If fines and penalties are caused by outdated or incorrect fulfillment of your obligations under settlements with the budget, then a reliable outsourcer undertakes to compensate them. Make sure there is such a clause in the draft contract.
3. Free express audit of your accounting
Ask if the outsourcing company you have chosen can conduct a preliminary review of your financial statements. Such an express audit is in the interests of the accounting services provider itself. This is necessary in order to assess the scope of work and accounting areas that may need to be restored. Restoration of accounting is the correction of errors in accounting and tax reporting and bringing it to the requirements of the law. Only irresponsible performers can guarantee you correct accounting at minimum rates without knowing the real situation.
4. Guaranteed confidentiality
Accounting is an ins and outs of the business, and it is natural that you will be interested in guaranteeing the confidentiality of the information you provide. Such a condition must be necessarily spelled out in the contract for the provision of accounting services. The Contractor must ensure that your data, both in electronic and paper format, will be kept unchanged, and only those persons to whom you have entrusted it can gain access to them.
5. Flexible pricing system for accounting services
You should always clearly understand what kind of accounting services and how much you pay. A good company will offer you different rates depending on a number of factors: taxation system, number of employees, the intensity of business operations, reporting, and the need to maintain primary documentation. This is especially important if your activity is seasonal or uneven, which means that paying for accounting services at a constant cost throughout the year will be unprofitable for you.
You can also outsource a certain section of your accounting or a specified number of transactions, and if necessary, at any time receive additional accounting services. If you want to limit yourself to outsourcing only the submission and verification of reports, you should be given this opportunity. So, in terms of pricing, an outsourcer interested in you as a client will always be able to offer the most suitable option.
6. Personnel of the accounting service provider
It is worth trusting a company that can keep accounting in different sectors of the economy, which has not only an extensive but also a highly specialized professional staff. They will not be confused by your desire to participate in public procurement, tenders, your conduct of foreign economic transactions, the definition of tax risks in contracts, etc. The interchangeability of employees is also important. If one specialist started your accounting, then the service should be organized in such a way that you will not notice him or her going on vacation or sick days, because there is always an employee who will replace them.
A reliable provider of accounting services can confirm that its employees constantly improve their skills, study at courses and seminars, and have access to an up-to-date legal base. By the way, with internal accounting, the owner of the business has to bear such expenses. In addition, by choosing outsourcing accounting, you will not be engaged in the daily control of a specialist, as is often the case with a full-time employee. As a customer, you are dealing with a company, not with a particular professional, with whom a relationship may or may not develop.
7. Representing the interests of the customer in the tax authorities
A good outsourcer will not leave you alone when interacting with supervisory authorities. The accounting service provider, who has many years of experience, knows how to respond to requests from the Tax Service and extra-budgetary funds, undergo cameral, field, and cross audits, and represent the interests of the customer not only in the tax authorities but also in the courts.
In the “piggy bank” of a reliable company there will be won tax disputes and serious amounts of client money that they managed to defend, returned from the VAT budget. It’s no secret that dealing with “tax authorities” has its own regional specifics, so it makes sense to choose a federal company with an extensive partner network or branches. You can also hire an outsourced accountant for a rental property to help you manage your mortgages.
8. Access to your bookkeeping from anywhere
The use of modern computer technologies in the provision of accounting services is not just a condition of convenience for the client, but a requirement of the law. Already, there are types of tax reporting that are accepted only through electronic communication channels. The vector of interaction with regulatory authorities is aimed at transferring payments and reporting online, as this significantly reduces labor costs for the administration of taxes and contributions.
A modern businessman is mobile and can conduct business from any place where there is the Internet. So a significant factor that speaks in favor of a particular accounting services provider will be providing access to your personal online account. An outsourcer that keeps up with the times has its own serious software running in the so-called “cloud” format.
The functionality of the outsourced accounting service should be such that you can track the execution of accounting services at any time convenient for you, leave questions and receive answers to them, and have free access to all your documents and reports. In case of termination of the contract with the outsourcer, unimpeded uploading of your Infobase should be guaranteed.
