You can choose your offshore accounting firm through an outsourcing platform by looking for a few characteristics.
Let’s look at some of the attributes of a good offshore accounting service provider:
1. Cost-Effective
Your offshore accounting company should have reasonable pricing — as it’s one of the major reasons for outsourcing accounting.
If your outsourcing partner costs you more than an in-house accounting team, you should reconsider hiring their service.
You can partner with a cloud outsourcing firm that is more cost-effective when compared to businesses having on-premise servers. You can also avail accounting services at a cheaper rate by offshoring to a developing country.
2. Skilled Employees
Your partner’s offshore staff defines the quality of their work.
Offshore companies with skilled and trained employees will be able to manage accounting tasks efficiently — than unskilled employees. That’s why you must ensure that the outsourced accountant can carry out accounting swiftly and with perfection.
3. Reliability
Accounting involves difficult calculations and strict deadlines. So you should be sure that your offshore accounting partner can submit work on time.
Additionally, you should be able to trust your offshore accounting firm to manage your data securely.
They should also be able to complete accounting and finance work without making any mistakes. If not, your in-house accountant may have to cross-check all the calculations — making outsourcing accounting unbeneficial.
4. Should be Client-Centric
Your accounting partner should be able to provide customized services for you.
For example, let’s say you’re based in the USA and have outsourced accounting work to a CPA in the Philippines. Your accounting partner should be aware of your country’s federal and state laws to ensure proper compliance.
By hiring a client-centric offshore accounting firm, you can get work done according to your company’s needs.
5. Good Technology and Infrastructure
Your offshore company should utilize the latest technology and infrastructure to complete accounting tasks. They should use advanced methods like cloud bookkeeping, payroll processing software, etc., as they’re more reliable.
And as computerized accounting can save time and help complete tasks without errors, you must ensure your service provider uses accounting tools like Quickbooks, Xero, Sage, etc.
Additionally, you should ensure that they have employee performance monitoring software like Time Doctor in place. This helps you get accurate data about the total hours your offshore team works.
For instance, Time Doctor can help you track the time your offshore accountant works on your tasks and projects. You’ll also be able to pay your offshore accounting firm based on the number of hours they work for you.
