Choosing to maintain internal accounting staff and resources or to make the shift to outsourcing can be a difficult decision. This choice looks different for everyone, but thinking through the advantages and disadvantages of each will help you make the right call for your family or business.
Outsourcing Your Accounting and Financial Admin Functions
There are a lot of benefits to outsourcing your accounting and financial administration functions to an organization of experts. It really just depends on your individual or business-level needs — and it also comes down to choosing the right place. Here are the top pros and cons of outsourcing.
Pros
Outsourcing is a strong choice when you’re aiming for overall cost savings, scalability, tech enablement, and risk mitigation. You also have the opportunity for knowledge-sharing, as you’ll gain access to “best in class” practices learned from individuals, families, and businesses similar to yours. Other benefits of outsourcing your accounting functions include:
- No physical office needed
- Minimizing key man risk
- Removing HR burden
- Gaining access to robust software and reports
- Having the freedom to travel and/or live in multiple places
- Segregation of duties
- Ability to focus on the “highest and best use” of your time
- Flexibility and scalability (pay only for what you need)
- Increased data security and backups
- Annual audits – SOC 1
- Having access to seasoned and trained personnel
Cons
With any change comes a little discomfort and some adjustment. While there isn’t much to lose when outsourcing with the right team, there are a few things to keep in mind as you make this choice. When outsourcing, you:
- Won’t be surrounded by staff, if this is what you are used to
- Will have to share certain resources
- Won’t have autonomy on software/some processes being used
- Won’t have total control over the entire process
What some may feel are downsides, others may feel are benefits. Without full involvement in the process and software, you may feel relief from the burden of financial administration as a whole. As a result, you’re free to focus on what you do best, with access to the information and resources you need, when you need it.
Maintain or Branch Out?
The question now is: which of these options gives you the most peace of mind, not only for your daily life but for the integrity and productivity of your business or family office? Take some time to think it over. We hope this helped you feel better equipped to evaluate whether you should maintain and grow your internal staffing resources or outsource these functions.
To further explore what outsourcing may look like for you and your family or business, please reach out to us.
What would it look like to outsource your accounting?
We’ll show you.
