In today's business landscape, there is demand for rapid access to financial data so business leaders can make informed decisions to maintain a competitive edge. However, the shortage of qualified accounting and finance professionals poses a significant challenge to reach this goal and can leave a business’ financial functions lagging. Utilizing an outsourced approach can provide an effective solution to this common challenge. This approach enhances bookkeeping, improves financial reporting, modernizes operations, facilitates access to top-tier talent, and minimizes the impact of staff turnover.  

Identifying the path to financial maturity

To embark on the journey to financial maturity, businesses must first identify areas for improvement in their accounting and finance functions. Many organizations struggle with this initial step, but it is important for them to know that they are not alone and can harness the power of an outsourced approach. Outsourcing facilitates connections with experienced professionals who intimately understand a broad range of industries, operations, and technologies. This can expedite the timeline to achieve financial maturity and bring about significant enhancements in several key areas: 

• People: By outsourcing finance and accounting functions, a company can support existing staff with unclear roles and responsibilities with personnel that are highly skilled, forward thinking, and technology driven. 
• Processes: An experienced service provider can streamline an organization's processes, shifting them from predominantly manual and time consuming to highly automated. 
• Governance: Outsourcing a company’s finance function can enrich its governance practices from informal and ineffective to having well-defined, integrated policies and procedures. 
• Technology: An outsourced finance team can drive technological advancements, enabling organizations to progress from a lack of integrated systems to adopting common platforms, integration, and automation that streamline processes and create an effective work environment. 
• Reporting: Outsourcing finance contributes to improved reporting, moving from limited, scarcely-used data to having timely, clean, accessible, and analyzable data, ultimately incorporating predictive analytics for data-driven insights and decision making. 

Utilizing outsourced resources to elevate financial operations

Recruiting and retaining top-tier accounting talent has become a grueling task, especially for mid-market organizations. This persistent challenge forces businesses to explore alternative solutions. Among these, outsourcing has become a top choice. Outsourcing providers bring together highly skilled teams with extensive industry knowledge, offering business leaders access to the caliber of talent they seek without the time and resource-intensive hiring process. As these outsourced professionals advance in their careers, they actively engage in training and mentoring the next generation, ensuring a continuous cycle of talent development. This commitment guarantees that there is always a team member at the forefront of their respective field, armed with the latest industry knowledge, and dedicated to upholding the highest standards of excellence for the businesses they serve.  

When working with an outsourced finance provider, businesses not only bridge existing gaps but also gain the flexibility to scale the services they receive to meet evolving needs, mitigating the impact of staff turnover and ensuring uninterrupted operations. Outsourcing partners can recommend optimized staffing models, reducing costs by deploying resources where they yield the greatest value. Utilizing outsourced professionals also provides internal staff with an opportunity to upskill and continue their professional development.  
 
The tailored solutions offered by outsourced finance teams can effectively address staffing gaps by providing access to skilled professionals at the appropriate experience levels. A skilled outsourced team also creates the potential to elevate an organization's finance function to a state of excellence within months, empowering its leadership to make more informed business decisions driven by real-time data.  

Citrin Cooperman’s Business Process Outsourcing Practice is well-equipped to help your business’ accounting function achieve greater efficiency. To learn more about the benefits of outsourcing your finance team, please contact Michael Zyborowicz at mzyborowicz@citrincooperman.com or Kieran Higgins at khiggins@citrincooperman.com and access Citrin Cooperman’s Complete Guide to Outsourcing Finance.