Finance Outsourcing

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Offshoring accounting has evolved from a niche practice to a dominant business strategy employed by corporations of all sizes and industries.

Check out this article as we dig deeper to insights we have accumulated from years of helping Australian accounting businesses. These are keys to ensure your offshoring strategies would work to and beyond expectation.

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Offshoring Financial Roles

We can customise financial roles that are specific to your company's needs.

This includes all tax-related tasks, transactional functions as well as Accounting, Payroll, Planning and Analysis, Procurement, PO, Requisition and Refunds Processing, Cost Management.

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. Contact Offshoring Accounting Australia Sydney Suite 69 Level 14, 88 Pitt Street 2000 [phone]. Offshoring Accounting Australia offers Offshoring Accounting Offshoring Finance Offshoring CPA. Learn More About Offshoring Accounting Australia.

By offshoring accounting services to AS White Global, your offshore accounting experts are able to update you on the latest various accounting principles and complete tax regulations. 

This process will result in improved regulatory compliance as it’s more reliable for your business, as your local accounting team is able to drive their focus fully on other important tasks.

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Build up financial strategies to meet clients’ objectives based on their existing financial situation.

Degree qualified in Financial related areas, ie. Business, Commerce, Finance, Accounting

Experience in a financial planning/professional services firm highly regarded

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What companies could I use to outsource all the accounting for my small business?

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Why Banks Are Outsourcing Lending to NBFCs

A spate of bank frauds has unnerved bankers. Far better to lend to an NBFC with a decent credit rating than to take direct exposure to loans that could go bad.

Over the four-month period 23 December 2017 to 27 April 2018, the rise in total non-food credit outstanding at banks was ₹3.41 trillion. (Non-food credit is credit other than that advanced to the Food Corporation of India for their procurement operations). Of that amount, as much as ₹84,200 crore, or almost a quarter of the increase in bank non-food credit during these four months, was on account of loans to non-banking financial companies (NBFCs).

Simply put, instead of lending directly to firms or individuals, banks are outsourcing accounting in a large part of their job—a quarter of the job, to be precise—to NBFCs.

Consider the amount lent to NBFCs in perspective. During this four-month period, the housing sector (including priority sector housing) accounted for 14.5% of the total increase in non-food credit. Loans to industry accounted for 5% of this increase. Loans to agriculture were 8.4% of the increase in non-food credit. Compare that with loans to NBFCs accounting for 24.7% of the increase over the period.

Incremental loans to NBFCs accounted for around 14% of the increase in non-food credit for the year to 27 April 2018. So, the surge in advances to NBFCs has occurred in the last six months.

What has changed in the last few months in the credit markets? Market rates of interest have gone up. That means companies, including finance companies, who used to borrow from the commercial paper market have turned to banks for their funding. In fact, the amount of commercial paper outstanding as of 15 May 2018 was less than what it was on 15 October last year. So, demand for bank credit has gone up and that includes demand from NBFCs.

The other thing that has happened is a spate of bank scams and investigations, which has unnerved bankers. Far better to lend to an NBFC with a decent credit rating, reason bankers, than to take direct exposure to loans that could go bad. In any case, lending a lump sum to an NBFC is a faster way of meeting targets than lending to many dispersed borrowers.

The jump in loans to NBFCs is probably a mix of all these considerations, with the rising yield on commercial paper the main reason. But bankers caution that, if the economic recovery is not to be derailed, the enthusiasm for investigations should not become a witch-hunt.

Author: Manas Chakravarty

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Australian Accountants are Using Offshore Outsourcing

Australian Accountants are Using Offshore Outsourcing 

Australian consumers are used to the offshore call centre when dealing with telcos. But would you expect your accountant to outsource your tax return to a cheap outfit overseas?

Many accountants in Australia are shifting large proportions of their operations offshore to countries like India and the Philippines where workers can be paid as little as $5 an hour to complete time-consuming compliance work.

Many consumers are unaware of this practice as they are not told who is personally processing their tax returns or handling the back end of their financial affairs. The only disclosure comes in the fine print buried within an engagement letter. This means many consumers are paying a premium for accounting services, without knowing that the person providing the service is based somewhere such as Bangalore, earning way below the Australian minimum wage.

Amanda Newton, of Melbourne's Negotiis Business Advisors and Accountants, has witnessed many accountants boast about boosting their profit margins by engaging offshore labour. She believes the practice is widespread in Australia, yet most clients remain unaware that it is occurring. Employing eight local staff including a graduate, Negotiis Advisors doesn't use offshore staff despite the considerable cost savings on offer.

"Offshoring is a short-term race and undermines the overall sustainability of our economy," Newton says. "The lifeblood of a public practice is a client base of employed individuals and profitable businesses. Many of our clients own and operate small businesses. Providing local employment opportunities is core to community participation and building a stronger local economy. If we are taking away from the economy by taking away local jobs, surely we are working against ourselves too?"

Lee Court of BOSS (Back Office Shared Services) believes using offshore accountancy staff is a legal way for accountancy firms to dramatically boost their profit margins. With both top-tier accounting companies and sole practitioners using BOSS to access overseas staff, Court contends that the demand has been high since BOSS began trading in 2004.

"There is consistent interest in using offshoring as a way of gaining many benefits, including freeing up time, reducing costs and accessing another pool of staff without being limited by the Australian labour market constraints," Court says.

While there are obvious cost savings on offer when significantly reducing the hourly rate paid to an accountant, offshoring also allows accountancy firms to avoid paying superannuation, annual leave, maternity leave and workers' compensation.

Many question the quality of work produced by offshore accountants who aren't native English speakers, yet Court contends the standard is high. "Our staff are typically CA [chartered accountant] qualified or studying to be so and follow the CA code of conduct. Our staff are reference-checked in the same way any scrupulous chartered practice in Australia would vet their staff," Court says.

Lack of transparency is a concern for consumers, with sensitive personal and financial information being entrusted to an unknown overseas entity, often without their knowledge. The BOSS website recommends accountants keep this information "low key" by simply including a statement in an engagement letter (to fulfil legal requirements) but it could be argued true transparency should involve a conversation with a client.

CPA Australia advises that all its members and those of Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand and Institute of Public Accountants need to abide by the rules and procedures outlined by the Accounting Professional and Ethical Standards Board. This includes ensuring outsourced service providers meet certain professional standards and have adequate security measures in place to safeguard data. Furthermore, the standards board stipulates that clients must know the geographical location of outsourced staff and the extent of their involvement in delivering professional services.

Ultimately, hiring staff located overseas is legal so consumers need to make an informed choice when choosing an accountant to manage their financial and taxation affairs. Instead of skimming over (or not even reading) the fine print, concerned consumers should take the time to read all documents carefully to see if offshore staff are used by their chosen accountant. Alternatively, having a good, old-fashioned conversation with your accountant is a good way to gauge if they are using offshore staff.

While many Australian accountants continue to resist the trend, many more are taking advantage of the immediate cost savings available. Whether this is a sustainable approach to doing business is yet to be seen, as are the potentially detrimental long-term impacts on their brand, business and the local economy.

Author: Jo Stewart

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Outsourcing in UK Dominated by Financial Services

Financial services companies accounted for more than half of UK outsourcing contracts in the first quarter of 2018, according to new research.

Outsourcing contracts worth £718 million were signed in the UK between January and March, with financial services and retail businesses the most active buyers, according to the Arvato UK Outsourcing Index.

The research, compiled by business outsourcing partner Arvato and industry analyst NelsonHall, found that deals worth £363 million were signed in the financial services sector during Q1 2018.

The main focus on spending was business process outsourcing, including customer service agreements and payment processing, along with IT contracts, particularly cloud computing.

The research found that spend on finance outsourcing deals between January and March fell 75% compared to the same period in 2017, which was a particularly strong year for outsourcing.

Debra Maxwell, CEO of CRM solutions for UK & Ireland at Arvato, said: “Following a strong year for UK outsourcing in 2017, we’ve seen a more subdued market in the first quarter.”

The unsettling impact of the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation and the ongoing Brexit negotiations were a factor, but Maxwell added: “Our findings show there remains strong appetite from businesses to work with outsourcing partners to bring in external expertise for key operational areas such as customer services, and to invest in maintaining a robust IT infrastructure.”

The private sector dominated the UK outsourcing market in Q1 as businesses accounted for 90% (£645 million) of the total value of contracts signed.

Author: John Maslen

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AS White Joins Asset Finance Broker Conference

AS White Global is on to the next event at the Asset Finance Broker Conference which is taking place on 24th August to 25th August 2017 at Palazzo Versace, Gold Coast.

The conference will discuss how brokers can successfully build their brand and gain competitive advantage while increasing their reach among Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs).

Brokers, financiers, and other industry service providers will get together in a dynamic, engaging forum to confront advancements and challenges in the asset finance industry in this year’s theme, Unity is Strength – signalling an important step forward in bringing together two of Australia’s largest Asset Finance broker groups; CFG and PCG (previously PFLG).

We are looking forward to attending the conference as one of the sponsors to meet brokers and collaborate on how finance offshoring can drive finance strategies to its potential.