The decision to shift to an outsourced accounting model is a big one. Before you engage an outsourcing firm, consider these top five factors to find the outsourcing partner that is right for you.

As part of your evaluation process, ask yourself the following five questions:

1. Do they have the industry expertise for the services they are offering and can they help me make process improvements to my current practices?

2. Will they make the necessary investment to understand my business context and not just force me to use processes that don’t work for my business? 

3. Will I have access to the leadership and a dedicated team that will help me run my business more effectively?

4. Do they have a demonstrated track record of successful relationships with their clients?

5. Do they have the necessary infrastructure and processes in place to ensure that the solution and communication is effective?.

Outsourcing is a combination of people, process and technology, and without the right mix the partnership is destined for failure. To help you evaluate your outsourcing partner, consider the following five fundamental requirements.

It all starts with the people - an outsourcer provides a depth of expertise that is not always possible to have access to when building your own internal team. Your requirements may not be for a full-time resource, or you may need access to skilled people for short periods of time. Or you may want high-level advisory that would be expensive to add to your internal team. By specialising in the services they provide, an outsourcing partner gives you access to a shared services model that allows you to get the right mix of skills and experience you need matched with the size of your business. The ideal outsourcing partner will be a seamless extension of your own team that can scale up and down with your changing business needs. You should have a dedicated team that you get to know and they get to know you and the team should be confident enough to make suggestions for process improvements and not just muscle through by adding more people.

You want an outsourcing partner that has created a methodology that leverages best practices and can still deliver a unique solution to meet the specific needs of your business. The delivery methodology and infrastructure is the key to ensuring a successful relationship, particularly when the outsourcer uses an offshore team. Outsourcing is not about finding the cheapest way to do something; it is about partnering with an expert team using established processes with cloud-based technology to deliver an effective, efficient and value-added solution. The methodology should include a detailed work plan that helps them get to know and understand your business, supported by documented processes and checklists to ensure deadlines are met. And although the outsourcing partner will bring expertise and best practice, they need to spend the time understanding the complexities of your business so they can deliver an effective solution.

An outsourcing partner is only as good as the service levels they deliver. They not only need the right people with the right processes, but they also need the commitment to your business to provide what you need when you need it. If the outsourcing partner does not have the resources needed to scale with your business or the backup and redundancy of skills on their team, then the first time you need to rely on increased support the delivery model will crumble under the pressure. Make sure they have the depth of skill and experience that your business may need. You don’t want your outsourcing partner holding you back from growing your business.

The pace of business is fast, and the promise of cloud-based technology providing real-time information is now. But the ability of the outsourcer to provide real-time information is constrained by the resources it has available. There are only so many hours in a day, so if you are relying on a “single-shingle” bookkeeper to deliver you real-time information, you will be let down. They can’t serve all of their clients at the same time, and without the backup resources and virtual capabilities of a shared services model, they can only provide catch up. Businesses operating without real-time information are driving the car by looking in the rearview mirror. An outsourcing partner that combines expertise with bench strength will help you look through your windscreen and pursue opportunities for continuous improvement.

Running your own business is hard, and resources are limited. By partnering with the right outsourcing partner, you can leverage their expertise to help you win. When your passion for your business is matched with an outsourcing partner’s passion for helping small business, you will benefit from working together as a team. An added bonus for any outsourcing partnership is when both businesses work together to create a win-win. For example - outsourcing allows you to get a cost-effective solution that meets the needs of your business, and the outsourcing partner wins when they make the delivery model more efficient. By bringing this win-win approach, your businesses will celebrate the fruits of success.