The benefits of outsourcing don’t just extend to overall costs and time saved. This tool has the ability to shift your accounting firm’s culture, both at a senior level and within the team. Outsourcing doesn’t just change which tasks are done when, it can change what a firm looks like day-to-day, leaving room for more lucrative opportunities and better flexibility to mitigate burnout. 

Jump to:

• Senior staff complete work they’re trained for
• Business advisory services at the forefront
• The landscape of busy season changes
• Recruitment tensions ease
• Work/life balance becomes a priority

How outsourcing does this begins with integrating a partner with your existing team, providing relief for bottlenecks, and improving capacity across the firm. It has the ability to improve your team’s career pathways, do the work that automation cannot, and help you scale without neglecting your existing clients. We’re here to show you six ways that outsourcing can change your firm’s culture and set your firm up for future success:

1. Senior staff complete work they’re trained for

Senior staff are well-versed within the industry and are able to jump in when things heat up for the rest of the team. This can lead to their skills becoming stagnant, especially if growth is a goal for the firm. If your firm is looking to expand their portfolio to include business advisory services, for example, senior staff need to be available to lead the way. Outsourcing compliance based tasks is a great jumping off point so that junior staff aren’t overwhelmed and those in higher positions can focus on higher-income tasks. 

The firm’s culture moves along with this shift. Having senior staff available to mentor, review work, delegate, and provide advice is paramount. A firm can only run smoothly with leadership that has the capacity to be able to actually lead. To ensure satisfaction across the team, outsourcing can provide a welcome break for all team members to settle into their skillset without worrying about bottlenecks.

2. Business advisory services at the forefront

Most firms within Australia are looking to integrate business advisory services as a premiere offering within their portfolio. To be able to do this successfully, a firm needs to have the capacity to be able to train their team, connect with their clients, and execute these services at the highest-quality level. Some ways outsourcing can assist are:

• Outsource bookkeeping, payroll management, end-of-year tax returns to ensure that those tasks are taken care of leaving more capacity to train junior staff who are looking to level up in their career
• Outsourcing can give you the room to assess how to implement business advisory services and who you want to offer them to. It has the ability to create true capacity for internal growth
• Outsourcing allows you to schedule in time to meet with clients both virtually or in-person to dive deeper about what is working and what could improve within their business. Those conversations can’t happen with an already stretched team
• Outsourcing compliance work enables faster delivery on timelines which in turn strengthens client relationships, making approaching those clients with business advisory a much simpler task.

3. The landscape of busy season changes

Every accountant knows how taxing the busy season can be. Work/life balance falls by the wayside, the team is working overtime and potentially beyond capacity, small mistakes can pop up, and clients become more demanding than other times throughout the year. When engaging with an outsourced partner it can be an adjustment for the team once they alleviate the busy work.

Changing the day-to-day operations doesn’t just mean things aren’t busy anymore. Outsourcing helps with the workload, allowing the team to gain more time to manage other tasks while improving capacity across the board. Some team members could level up their career by providing data analysis for their clients, financial and investment advice, or working to onboard new clients.

4. Recruitment tensions ease

Recruiting and training new staff is an arduous, expensive task especially within the current landscape of the Australian accounting industry. Outsourcing eases those tensions by picking up the work of a new recruit leaving a firm to focus their energy elsewhere. Some ways this works in action are:

• Instead of searching for specific skills when hiring a new staff member for a specific task (like a business activity statement processor or bookkeeper), outsource those tasks first
• When looking within the firm, you can prioritise existing team members who are especially skilled in client management relationships, business advisory services, or expand the search to hire those with more experience
• Meet with each team member to assess where they see themselves within the firm in the next five years, how they want to upskill, and offer training days to improve their career pathway
• Use the capacity gained to improve the overall culture within your firm. Spend time investing in the morale of your team by encouraging after-work activities, team-bonding days, and networking opportunities.

5. Work/life balance becomes a priority

Working long hours, high-stress client interactions, and mistakes can create a culture within the team that can be stifling. When a team is functioning on high-alert during busy periods, the culture will be the first to suffer. High staff turnover within a firm is another issue that can arise, but outsourcing can help.

Team members will feel less pressure to use their annual leave during quieter periods only due to tasks being managed by an outsourced partner. Anticipatory stress is reduced, leaving a team that is ‘ready to handle Monday’ with a rested attitude. The ability for senior staff to delegate tasks becomes more manageable with their time being freed up to do so. The firm’s culture becomes one of mutual support, incentive to work as a team, and improving expectations around each staff member’s understanding of the scope of their role.

The overall goal is to foster a firm culture that is both collaborative and under control. Collaborate both in-house and with the outsourced partner of your choice, and work together to retain a sense of control of the tasks your firm is trained to handle.