The Complete Guide to Outsourced Finance and Accounting Services

You’ll have the ability to add supplemental services as the needs of your business change. You might also see outsourced accounting referred to using terms including Client Accounting Services (CAS) or fractional accounting. For the most part, these services are identical to outsourced accounting services, although it’s important to bear in mind that different providers will offer varying services. Virtual, outsourced, and online are often used interchangeably when referring to bookkeeping and accounting. However, a virtual bookkeeper or virtual accountant can sometimes refer to accountants or CPAs who work out of their homes and contract out their services individually. In contrast, outsourced bookkeeping and accounting nearly always refers to accountants with an accounting firm who handle your books from their own office.

Virtual accounting FAQ

Our skilled professionals specialize in ecommerce, professional unearned revenue: explanation reporting classification services, software and tech-based businesses. We grasp these industries’ unique financial needs and intricacies, along with the necessary tools for success. If errors in your books keep appearing, that means the person taking care of your books is not doing the right job. By outsourcing these services, you can take advantage of the multiple layers of review built into your provider’s processes, which allows them to detect most errors on time. And even if any error creeps up, you won’t be the one that has to deal with it.

Bookkeeper.com manages your accounts using QuickBooks Online (or QuickBooks Desktop, if you prefer). Plus, not every online bookkeeping service works with both accrual-basis and cash-basis accounting—but Bookkeeper.com does. Hiring an accountant can be a daunting task for several small businesses and startups. No matter the size of your company, you want the best set of hands to handle your financial records.

Which types of outsourced accounting services are available?

Staying up to date with the latest software and accounting function tools available in the market will ensure you keep up with the times so your company can thrive. These figures should serve as a rough guideline to estimate the range of your budget for outsourced finance services. Therefore, outsourcing cuts much of the cost that comes with having an in-house team but still allows you to work with the best professionals in the F&A industry. Earlier in the article, we discussed different ways to outsource bookkeeping. Here’s a more detailed overview of the 2 main ways outsourced bookkeeping works.

Merritt Bookkeeping: Best overall

Yes, virtual and outsourced bookkeeping is just as legitimate as in-house bookkeeping and accounting. However, as with any in-person accounting professionals you’d trust with your financial data, you should always verify a bookkeeping firm’s credentials before committing to a monthly plan. With outsourced accounting services, you’ll have meticulous eyes that can process financial data while ruling out fraud simultaneously.

1. Many businesses work with an outsourced CFO on a short-term project basis, although longer-term, ongoing advisory relationships are also common.
2. Additionally, when you outsource bookkeeping, you lose the ability to walk over to your bookkeeper’s desk and ask them a quick question.
3. Whereas outsourced bookkeeping and outsourced controller work largely follow a predefined framework, an outsourced CFO relationship can be anything you want it to be.
4. However, provided your outsourced bookkeeping partner embraces cloud-based accounting software, you’ll have access to your books 24/7.
5. You can hire local bookkeepers or a bookkeeping team located near your company.

When you outsource bookkeeping and accounting services to a professional, that responsibility is lifted off your shoulders so you can focus on core business activities that give you what is the income summary account a competitive advantage. Your accounting team can provide you with important insights into your finances and help your company grow by assisting you as you make critical decisions. It’s important to ensure the firm is reputable, with excellent cybersecurity measures in place.

Be it startups, small to medium-sized businesses, or non-profit organizations, outsourcing offers major advantages. You can also mitigate this concern by assessing the security period costs measures of your potential provider. For example, Remote’s payroll services are protected by the latest ISO-standard security protections, with a 24/7 on-call security team.