Outsourcing Bookkeeping

Just about all thriving businesses have sound accounting systems in place. These enable you to keep track of your income and expenses and better track your productivity and profitability. It’s essential, but also costly and time-consuming to implement.

That’s why businesses, especially startups and SMEs, outsource their accounting functions, or at the very least, their bookkeeping services.

Outsourcing Bookkeeping

That’s why businesses, especially startups and SMEs, outsource their accounting functions, or at the very least, their bookkeeping services.

What Is Outsourced Bookkeeping?

Outsourced bookkeeping is the practice of hiring an external service provider to handle your bookkeeping functions.

So instead of hiring and managing an in-house bookkeeper yourself, you just pay a service fee to an agency who’ll match you with a remote talent who can handle all your bookkeeping functions.

Keep Track Of The Important Details With Bookkeeping Services

Bookkeeping is necessary to keep track of the important figures in your business.

Accurate financial records will help you make the right decisions like choosing between expanding your operations or tightening your expenditures.

The records are also handy for compliance with legal and regulatory bodies during taxation season.

Lastly, it’s a great baseline for complying with disclosure requirements for your current and future stakeholders.

Do Companies Outsource Bookkeeping?

Actually, outsourcing accounting services like bookkeeping is a common practice among Australian businesses.

And with good reason.

Why Do Businesses Outsource Bookkeeping Services Offshore?

There are many reasons why businesses outsource their bookkeeping services offshore. Let’s explore the advantages and disadvantages.

The Pros Of Outsourcing

There are many compelling advantages of outsourced bookkeeping services. Here are some pros that can benefit your business

Reduce Costs And Increase Profitability

Offshore outsourcing, especially to the Philippines, can bring you significant cost savings.

Because the exchange rate is in your favour, your monthly labour costs for bookkeepers can be as affordable as AUD 1,451.14 to AUD 2,303.41, depending on the specialization of your remote talent.

With these savings, you can put more resources towards more profitable activities like expanding your operations or widening your product line.

Get Better Reporting And Expert Advice

When you outsource, you’ll have access to the same global talents and expertise like large corporations do.

No need to train your staff (or yourself) to get better reporting and expert advice.

Free Up Time

Some business owners opt to do their own accounting to save some money. After all, hiring accounting staff is expensive.

Nothing wrong with it. But it costs you your most precious resource — your time.

Since outsourcing bookkeepers is more affordable, you’ll have more time to focus on things that will truly drive your business forward.

Improve Your Service And Efficiency

With the savings from outsourcing bookkeepers, you can allocate funds to other business activities.

For instance, you can purchase more inventory to supply a growing demand for your products.

Better yet, you hire other roles like customer service representatives, social media managers, and virtual assistants to improve

The Cons Of Outsourcing

Even with the compelling advantages, outsourcing isn’t without its challenges.
But some of these can easily be addressed if you partner with a reputable agency.

Loss Of Control

When you’re outsourcing your bookkeepers, there’s a potential loss of control because a third party handles this function for you.

You can mitigate this risk by defining your expectations and requirements early on. This way, you won’t need to put in too much supervision and control to ensure high-quality output.

Also, most reputable agencies assign a Lead Accounts Officer specifically to attend to any of your concerns, should they arise.

Risk Of Choosing The Wrong Contractor

When you outsource, there’s an inherent risk of choosing the wrong candidate – especially if you’re doing the hiring yourself.

It’s also crucial that your partner agency understands your business needs. Reputable agencies like Remote Staff will spend time determining your unique needs to ensure that your talent specifications are met.

Danger To Confidentiality And Security

Your outsourced staff might handle sensitive information about your company. Therein lies the risk of data leaks or security breaches.

Reputable agencies like Remote Staff have non-disclosure agreements to protect your interests. They also have an IT department to help you secure your data.

You’re Still Ultimately Responsible

When outsourcing staff, you’re still ultimately responsible for the results they bring.

After all, it’s your business.

You do have to be clear about what results you want and manage your expectations from the beginning.

Supervision Is Limited

How do you supervise your outsourced staff remotely? It’s not like you can walk into their cubicles like you do with your in-house staff.

The solution is to focus on your staff’s productivity rather than micromanaging their hours.

Fortunately, you don’t need to worry about your remote talents while they’re on the job. Remote Staff employs tracking software keeps tabs on idle time, websites visited, desktop screenshots, and more.

Working With Your Accountant

You might already be working with an accountant based in AU and just need extra help with your bookkeeping. Outsourcing is a great solution.

But outsourcing off job boards comes with the risk of subpar work, especially if the remote talent is not practising in AU.

Remote Staff has expert bookkeepers in the rich talent pool who have experience handling AU accounts.

In-house Vs Outsourced Bookkeeping

Are you thinking about hiring in-house versus outsourcing? Here’s a comparison between the two to help you decide.

Quality And Training For In-House Vs Outsourced Bookkeeping And Accounting

Accounting standards rapidly evolve, depending on the needs of the financial market.

For example, cryptocurrency was non-existent just a few years ago. Now, it is a legitimate mode of payment, even for buying commodities.

So your accounting staff and bookkeepers need to keep up with the latest updates for International Financial Reporting Standards.

For in-house staff, you need to upskill your manpower with regular training.

Outsourced bookkeepers typically do not require additional training, as they are already experts in their field. While you have the option to offer such, it’s neither mandatory nor necessary.

But just in case your bookkeeping needs have changed and your current virtual staff can no longer meet them, you can request another bookkeeper who can.

Internal Controls For In-house Vs Outsourced Bookkeeping And Accounting

Internal controls are crucial for protecting and securing financial data.

The advantage of in-house bookkeeping is that you have more control over their physical access to data sources.

Examples are internal controls for accessing physical receipts, inventory, equipment, and more.

But since most accounting files are digital these days, in-house bookkeepers and outsourced bookkeepers share the same files and security protocols.

So other than their physical access, you essentially have the same security setup for both in-house and outsourced bookkeepers.

Financial Reporting Process Done In-house Vs. Outsourced

Since most data today is digital, there’s not much difference between financial reporting processes done in-house versus outsourced.

Both methods use the client’s preferred accounting software to produce output like tax returns and financial reports.

Difference In Costs Among Accounting, In-House, And Outsourced Bookkeeping

On average, an in-house bookkeeping staff in Australia charges around AUD 100 to AUD 150 per hour. Some charge even higher, depending on their specialization.

The rates are quite fair because of the data processing involved and the expertise that bookkeepers have.

But you can get equally capable bookkeepers when you outsource to the Philippines.

With Remote Staff, service rates range between AUD 1,451.14 to AUD 2,303.41. You can definitely incur savings that you can allocate to other business activities.

Which Bookkeeping And Accounting Service Should Your Business Choose?

You can avail of bookkeeping services alongside other accounting services as well. So, which ones should you choose? It would depend on your business needs.

It can be assistance for different aspects of your business. For example, let’s say the number of accounts receivable is piling up as your company grows.

Why not get a bookkeeper that specialises in accounts receivable management?

Similarly, if you don’t have a functioning accounting system in place, you can hire a whole accounting department.

Services

We listed some of the available accounting services you can benefit from.

Bookkeeping

With the sheer number of transactions incurred, most businesses need a bookkeeper to record, organise, and maintain financial transactions such as sales, purchases, acquisitions, and more.

Management of Accounts

Some clients may require an account manager or two due to the growing size of their accounts. You can hire accounting staff to manage your key accounts for you.

Payroll Processing

The timely release of payroll is crucial for any business. Outsourcing accounting staff can take care of this for you too.

Data Entry

You can also hire accounting staff for data entry tasks, especially if it includes sensitive or hard-to-understand financial data.

Accounts Payable

Avoid penalties due to late payments for any outstanding obligations.

An accounts payable officer can schedule your payments to avoid default and even get term discounts for early payments (if your cash flow permits).

Accounts Receivable

The timely collection of accounts receivable is essential for healthy cash flow. Hire accounting staff to manage your receivables, do invoicing, andassist with collections.

Compliance

Depending on the industry, some businesses have to meet certain financial targets to comply with regulatory bodies.

You can also outsource the services of accounting staff to monitor your compliance requirements.

Financial Statements And Reporting

Preparing financial statements can be complicated for a non-accounting professional. You can hire expert accounting staff to handle their preparation in accordance with the latest accounting standards.

Expert Financial Resource Management

Most businesses have limited resources for their business activities.

Outsourcing accounting staff can give you access expert financial resource management to efficiently designate the funds based on your current business goals.

Australian Taxation

Paying the right taxes is quite complicated when you don’t know how to compute for them to begin with.

You can outsource to accounting professionals to prepare your taxation documents for you.

Self-managed Super Funds

Do you have a large amount of extra funds you want to invest?

You can outsource to accountants with expertise in investing to make the most out of your self-managed super funds.

General Ledger

Maintaining a general ledger is quite time-consuming, especially if you are scaling your business.

Your outsourced bookkeepers can update your general ledgers to produce trial balances for the preparation of financial reports.

Monitoring And Processing

Do you need to monitor some processes in your business?

Outsourcing your accounting can provide management advisory services such as monitoring and processing some of your business activities — so that you’ll know if they’re profitable or not.

Financial Budgeting

What’s your expected financial budget and forecasts from year-to-year?

Your expert accounting staff can propose budgets that you can follow based on your goals within a specific timeline.

BAS Requirements

Are you registered for the Goods and Services Tax (GST)? Through this, you need to lodge a business activity statement (BAS) as the basis for your taxes.

Your outsourced accounting staff can prepare your BAS requirements for you.

Other Miscellaneous Tasks

As long as it’s related to your business finances, you can outsource accounting staff for other miscellaneous tasks as well.

What Are The Costs Associated With Outsourcing Bookkeeping Services?

When you hire via Remote Staff, the average service fee of full-time bookkeepers ranges from AUD 1,451.14 to AUD 2,303.41.

This includes the base salary, government benefits, access to tracking software, and payroll processing for your staff.

Other than that, there’s no additional cost for equipment and training. But you can provide these to remote bookkeepers if you wish to.

Looking For A Bookkeeper With Quality Service?

Are you looking to outsource your bookkeeper? There are many ways to do this online. But there can be a lot of trial and error involved to find the best match for you. Working with reputable agencies like Remote Staff helps ensure quality service for your business – while greatly shortening your learning curve and reducing costs.

Why Remote Staff?

Here’s why Remote Staff is the best partner for your business once you’re ready to outsource your bookkeeping functions.

Manage Seasonal Needs

Hiring during peak bookkeeping season is challenging because you need additional to start as soon as possible – and that’s if you can manage to find them in time.

Remote Staff has a roster of highly-qualified bookkeepers who are ready to work at any time without too much training needed.

And as your business expands further, you can retain these remote talents to handle the increased workload.

Quality & Certainty Delivered

Remote Staff has an extensive pre-qualifying process to ensure that we present only the most competent staff for your accounting needs.

We also include a personality assessment test to ensure compatibility in terms of values so that your remote bookkeepers will work with you in the long term.

Abundance Of Experience

With over 15 years of experience, Remote Staff has the experience and expertise to match you with the best Filipino bookkeepers for your business.

Tangible Value

Not only do we have competitive service rates. Our services also cover the bulk of the recruitment process, productivity monitoring, payroll, and more.

You get so much more tangible value for the price you pay.

Secure Data Storage And Privacy

Bookkeepers handle sensitive data over the course of their job. A security breach would could easily compromise your operations.

Worry not. Remote Staff has data storage and privacy agreements in place to secure your proprietary information.

We also have a dedicated IT team to provide additional assistance for protecting your data.

We Are The Market Leader In Outsourcing

Remote Staff has helped thousands of Australian start-ups and SMEs take their businesses to new heights.

As the market leader in outsourcing, we’ll provide you with world-class service from the hiring process until well into your day-to-day operations with your remote bookkeeper.

Next Steps

Ready to hire your bookkeeper? The next step is to “Request a Callback” with us through the link found in the upper right corner of our website.

And then we can get started with helping you grow your business faster and in a more sustainable way.

Request a callback today!

Frequently Asked Questions

Got questions before outsourcing your bookkeeper? We’ve answered some of the most frequently asked questions for you.

Why Do I Need A Bookkeeper?

So do you need a bookkeeper? The answer would depend on your current business needs.

For example, if you’re doing your bookkeeping yourself, you may want to outsource a bookkeeper to free up some of your time.

For a small business, outsourced bookkeeping services are more cost-effective rather than hiring in-house staff.

If you have an accounting department already, you may need extra help for specific accounts. An expert Filipino bookkeeper might thus be a great addition to your team.

Request a callback so that we can help you assess what kind of services you might need.

Do You Provide A Free Trial Before Getting Started?

Remote Staff values our subcontractors’ time and talents, so we don’t provide free trials. However, all of them do go through a rigorous pre-screening process so that only the best make it into our talent pool.

But should you wish to replace your existing bookkeeper due to a new set of qualifications, we can source other candidates for you.

Do I Need To Outsource My Entire Accounting Work Or Just A Few Tasks?

Depending on your business needs, you can hire bookkeepers and accounting staff for specific tasks. For example, you can hire someone for the sole purpose of handling key client accounts.

If you don’t have an accounting system in place, you can hire as many accounting staff as needed.

What Are Software Capabilities?

When you outsource through Remote Staff, you have access to advanced time-tracking software to monitor your staff’s productivity with.

This can provide you with a report of their daily productivity complete with desktop screenshots, app usage, idle time, and more.

What Are The Unique Benefits Of Hiring With Remote Staff?

Remote Staff is one of the biggest agencies in the Philippines with over 15 years of experience in outsourcing bookkeepers for AU SME’s.

You can enjoy a lot of unique benefits when you work with us.

First, we’ll take care of all the legwork involved in the recruitment process. All you have to do is interview candidates from a shortlist we’ll draw up for you and then select the best one.

Next, you have access to an advanced tracking software that can monitor your remote staff’s productivity.

Lastly, we also handle your payroll functions. So no need to worry about converting AUD and sending it to the Philippines.

What Is Part Of The Package?

Hiring via Remote Staff covers the recruitment process, productivity monitoring, and payroll for your bookkeepers.

Who Exactly Is Working On Your Accounts?

When you outsource your bookkeepers via Remote Staff, you will have your pick during the interview and selection process.

And you’ll have as much direct contact with your chosen remote talent during your working relationship.

What Is An Offshore Accounting Service?

This refers to outsourcing your accounting and financial tasks to an external provider in a foreign country.

Usually, this results in significant savings because of the inherent purchasing power of the AUD, especially versus the Philippine peso.

Why Outsource Accounting?

Businesses outsource their accounting functions to gain access to expert financial services at a fraction of the cost.

Also, you can outsource only part of your accounting needs. (Although some companies outsource their whole accounting department as well.)

Ready to hire your topnotch bookkeeper?

REQUEST A CALLBACK WITH REMOTE STAFF TODAY!

Ready to hire your topnotch bookkeeper?

REQUEST A CALLBACK WITH REMOTE STAFF TODAY!

Outsourcing Bookkeeping