The outsourcing of accounting functions is increasingly practiced by Russian entrepreneurs. This is due to a number of advantages that a business organization with outsourcing of accounting services has.
Benefits and Limitations of Outsourced Accounting
In Western practice, a scheme in which accounting functions are transferred to a third-party company is quite popular. In Russia, for the time being, they prefer to use the services of full-time accountants. Meanwhile, the interest in outsourcing services has increased significantly during the crisis period in the economy. The fact is that the main task in this period was the maximum cost optimization. And the result of outsourcing accounting is the minimization of costs for the payroll fund and the maintenance of full-time accountants. This has led to an increase in the attractiveness of outsourcing both among large holdings and small companies.
Has outsourced accounting and other advantages. This, in particular, increasing the level of quality and reliability of reporting, minimizing costs for the organizational aspects of bookkeeping. This allows the management to focus on the key aspects of business development, because he needs to exercise control over the result, not the process.
Outsourced accounting allows you to simplify the procedure for passing tax audits, tax inspectors will interact with the contractor company. Also, external accountants cannot get sick or go on maternity leave at the most inopportune moment.
However, so far the attitude to outsourcing of accounting services among Russian companies is rather wary. This is due to the need to transfer confidential data to an external company. It should be noted that outsourcing of accounting is possible only if "white" reporting is prepared.
The outsourcing model can also lead to a decrease in the efficiency of obtaining the necessary information, therefore it is not very popular in large holdings. With a significant number of transactions, such accounting can be more expensive than regular accounting.
Tasks that outsourced accounting solves
Outsourcing can include both individual accounting functions and a full range of services. Typical tasks of outsourcing accounting include:
- maintenance of accounting and tax accounting, including accounting of expenses with suppliers, debtors, accounting of wages, operations with fixed assets, etc., calculation of insurance premiums, etc.;
- preparation of payment documents;
- preparation of the necessary reporting, which is submitted to the IFTS, Pension Fund of the Russian Federation, FSS, Rosstat;
- planning and economic functions;
- representing the interests of the company during inspections, etc.
Many people believe that by outsourcing accounting, you can forget about its existence. In fact, this is not the case, since some of the processes still remain under the control of the customer company.
It is very important to prescribe as much as possible the areas of responsibility of the outsourcing company and the customer of services, as well as the ways of their interaction. A convenient way to work with outsourcing companies is to use the bank-client system. In this case, external accountants prepare payment orders, while the authority to sign documents (approve) remains with the CEO. Similarly, interaction is built with systems for sending electronic reporting.
