7 Effective Ways To Onboard Your Outsourced Bookkeeping Team Remotely

by asavari | Oct 26, 2020 | BOOKKEEPING

7 Effective Ways To Onboard Your Outsourced Bookkeeping Team Remotely

Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, many businesses had already recognised the benefits of outsourcing their bookkeeping function.

Now that the pandemic has necessitated remote working everywhere, it is all the more important to select a competent outsourced bookkeeping team that can complete your books of accounts accurately, on time and without constant supervision.

At the same time, it is essential to create a smooth work environment for the remote outsourced booking team and give them access to everything they need, together with complete and relevant information to do the job.

If you have appointed an outsourced bookkeeping team or are planning to do so, here are seven best practices to onboard them effectively:

1. Educate them about your business

Your new team needs to know about your company and particularly any rules and regulations in detail, even more than a regular employee would. Guide them through everything they need to know before they take over your business accounts.

You can schedule a Zoom call where you present your screen and take them through training materials, or you can share explanatory videos with them and then schedule a call for questions. Make sure you also guide them through how to use any tools (e.g. project management or communication software) relevant to your business.

2. Be clear about your expectations

Every outsourced team has different ways of working, and you must find a balance with them by making clear any expectations or requirements you have.

For instance, if you expect them to dial into the company-wide weekly catch-up, let them know in advance so that they can work it into their schedule.

It would help if you also shared expectations about the frequency at which you need the accounts to be updated and any formatting requirements you have.

3. Schedule regular reviews

It is always a good idea to keep your accounts updated in real-time rather than waiting until the end of the quarter. To help your outsourced team do this, have regular reviews where they bring you to speed on what they are doing and can raise any questions they may have.

This is also an excellent opportunity to get to know them better and to ask them if they have any recommendations on how accounting procedures at your company can be improved.

4. Keep communication channels open

Communication is critical to efficient remote work – even one misinterpretation can have costly consequences. There are many legal requirements including tax returns, payroll, annual accounts and VAT returns which need a skilful hand.

Therefore, reach out to the team whenever you need updates on a particular tax law or additional understanding on the paperwork they have submitted to the HMRC. At the same time, ensure that you are not micro-managing them with unnecessary calls or messages.

Also, please encourage your outsourced bookkeeping team to get in touch with you whenever they need to, whether it is to clarify a point in a previous conversation or to request extra sets of records, and to promptly respond to your queries.

Since you have hired them based on their merit, you must trust them with your books of accounts and enable them to do their job in peace.

5. Agree on a procedures document

Your outsourced bookkeeping team may be used to slightly different ways of working than the rest of your organisation. To avoid any confusion, take the time out beforehand to agree on a set of procedures that both of you will follow.

This could include office timings, available time slots for calls, any particular formatting for your books of accounts, any relevant deadlines, what to do in case of emergency requirements and so on.

This way, the team knows what to do at every step and can operate more efficiently on their own without bothering you or your team for every little thing.

6. Set up a virtual shared workspace

Instead of relying on emails to share documents and communications, use a smart virtual workspace that lets you collaborate effectively. Tools like Slack and Trello are easy to use and make collaborations much more manageable.

You can also opt for something more comprehensive, like Amazon Workspace, if that suits your business better. But please make sure that the team is comfortable using the tool you have deployed across the company.

In case they are not, consider having a training session with them first or taking their suggestions on other tools to use.

7. Introduce them to your in-house employees

All too often, outsourced teams tend to stay disconnected from the in-house office team. Make an effort to introduce both the teams to each other and to involve the outsourced team in informal catch-ups and social activities.

Given that everyone is working from home nowadays, physical distance should no longer be a factor in workplace camaraderie. By treating your outsourced bookkeeping team as you do your in-house team, you foster loyalty and thus motivate them to be even more productive.

Summing it up

Onboarding plays an integral role in boosting employee satisfaction and productivity. In outsourcing, it is even more critical as your in-house team and outsourced bookkeeping team don’t enjoy the privilege of physical acclimatisation.

You will want your outsourced bookkeeper to help you reap the maximum benefits of a transparent and reliable accounting function. In that case, you must educate them on the company’s ethos, vision and expectations.

If you are looking for an outsourced bookkeeping team that can help you thrive remotely, contact us! Our online bookkeeping services are compliant and will enable you to get on with what you love doing, i.e., growing your business.

Why You Should Move Your Bookkeeping Onto The Cloud

by asavari | Oct 9, 2020 | CLOUD

Why You Should Move Your Bookkeeping Onto The Cloud

The COVID-19 pandemic has propelled a rapid shift into a digital-only mode for companies of all sizes and in all lines of business. Moreover, meeting tight deadlines and providing high-quality services are more important than ever to build trust in these uncertain times.

In this context, moving the bookkeeping function onto the cloud is a cost-effective, time-saving and future-ready move for companies to make. Here are some reasons why cloud-based bookkeeping is not just a nice-to-have for your small business, but a must:

1. COST BENEFITS

Cost-saving is a priority for small and medium businesses in particular, and moving the bookkeeping function to the cloud can help your company better manage cash flow.

For example, instead of paying a substantial one-off fee, you can spread the cost of the bookkeeping software by paying monthly.

On the cloud, everything is paperless, and the software streamlines all the accounting processes without human intervention needed, which also leads to significant time savings.

2. SCALABILITY

Cloud technology comes with the significant advantage of scalability. If a small business starts growing rapidly, or if one company acquires or merges with another, cloud services can be scaled up as needed.

With infinite storage available on the cloud, there are no limits to the number of functions, departments, accounts or business acquisitions that your company can add. For the same reason, the costs of scaling up are negligible.

3. ACCURACY AND TIME SAVINGS

Manual bookkeeping is highly prone to error, as accountants are likely to miss out or incorrectly read a few entries while analysing hundreds of them at a time. Spreadsheets rely on correct formulas which can easily become corrupted giving incorrect data and go undetected for months – if ever.

By contrast, cloud accounting software can quickly scan as many receipts and statements as needed and do the necessary calculations in a fraction of the time.

Automation also reduces errors, especially with built-in checks to ensure that nothing is missed out or wrongly entered. Using a cloud bookkeeping software, you can generate invoices and set reminders to avoid manually tracking debtors.

4. Real-time information on your fingertips

Cloud-based bookkeeping services come with tools that allow you to stay up-to-date with real-time information, which can be accessed from anywhere in the world and on any android or Apple device.

For instance, some services can automatically compile all bills and financial statements under one hub, pull critical data from each of them and publish the data securely on the cloud.

That allows you to reconcile the company accounts daily and close all the books within a day or so of the month’s end, thus saving time and resources.

Moreover, automated bank feeds, available for most UK banks, enable you to track the business’ balance sheet in real-time. You can view various reports to get an up-to-date snap of your company’s finances.

5. Outsourced talent acquisition

While the pandemic has made remote work a necessity, it makes sense in normal times as well. Moving bookkeeping to the cloud allows your small business to maintain an outsourced bookkeeping team that can log in from anywhere – irrespective of their geographies.

An experienced bookkeeper would not only ensure accurate, quality work and give you peace of mind but also save costs on in-house staffing and infrastructure.

6. Disaster recovery

Sadly, your business is under constant threat of data loss or cyber attack. A recent cybersecurity report showed that the UK incurs about £190,000 worth of cybercrime losses daily.

Moreover, in an on-premise setting, threats like vandalism or natural disasters could lead to hardware damage or data being compromised. Data protection in such an unfortunate setting can be time-consuming, resource-intensive and inefficient for your business.

Unlike traditional disaster management, cloud disaster recovery solutions are simple to initiate by the cloud provider. And apart from the automated data backups, most cloud providers retain backed-up copies of client data for a while, which is useful in case auto-backups don’t happen.

7. INTEGRATION

Cloud-based bookkeeping allows for secure integrations with other applications and software that your small business may be using, such as HR and payroll tools, CRM systems, loyalty management programmes, and email marketing platforms.

For instance, if you combine your bookkeeping software with HR and payroll apps, you can also automatically generate payslips and other HMRC documents. That helps to streamline overall business operations and work smoothly and efficiently.

8. BUSINESS GROWTH

When bookkeeping is moved to the cloud, your small business no longer has to worry about mundane tasks such as entering costs into Excel sheets. This frees you up to focus on critical tasks such as building client relations or charting the strategic growth of your company.

Moreover, cloud services can be equipped to collect and compile data about your financial history, which can give you essential insights into what the company is doing with its money and how finances can be managed more efficiently. Our bookkeepers in Edinburgh know this very well!

Summing it up

Migrating your existing bookkeeping system is an easy process depending on which cloud software you choose. We recommend Xero to our clients as it is an excellent platform to automate daily business tasks and get an updated overview of financials, on-the-go.

The best part is that Xero integrates with many small business CRMs, productivity apps and customer service platforms. If you are interested in moving your bookkeeping on Xero, we can do it for you for free.

Complete the contact form, and we will get back to you for an initial, no-obligation chat.