The Growth Secret: How Outsourced Accounting Gives You a CFO, Controller, and Bookkeeper in One

What services are actually included in an outsourced financial solution?

Has your business hit a growth ceiling? Maybe you sense that you could be seeing more growth, but you just can’t get the financial picture to come into focus. As a result, you’re forced to rely on gut feelings to make critical business decisions, which can be a dangerous game in an ever-changing business environment.
Outsourced Accounting (OA) can help you get the accurate, reliable, and timely financial reporting you need to run your business. But before you dive in, you need questions answered—What is Outsourced Accounting? How much does it cost? How do you get the greatest benefit from an Outsourced Accounting team? And a lot more. So let’s dig in!

Outsourced Accounting Frequently Asked Questions

First things first: What is Outsourced Accounting?

OA involves hiring an outside accounting team that doesn’t physically sit at your office location every day—although they very well might (and should!) meet with you onsite from time to time.
Clients who work with Copeland Buhl’s OA team get personal attention from an accounting professional at each of three different levels:

• CFO — Oversees strategy and acts as a business coach, guiding the business owner through business decisions.
• Controller — Your main point of contact and the primary individual responsible for delivering accurate, reliable, and timely financial statements.
• Staff — Manages day-to-day transactions.

All of our OA team members have extensive experience working with a wide range of organizations. So, when you hire our OA team, you can rest assured that no matter what your situation, we’ve likely seen it before. We’ve helped businesses untangle years of messy data, implement high-level financial strategy, and turn confusing spreadsheets into clear, actionable growth plans.

How much does it cost to outsource accounting?

Your investment is tailored to the level of support your business requires. An OA team typically starts at $2,500 per month. Businesses with more complex needs—such as those requiring regular guidance from a Controller or CFO— will see a higher investment. One of the greatest advantages of outsourcing is flexibility: you choose the support that fits your current stage, and because you aren’t locked into a rigid contract, your scope can evolve as your business grows.

How does the cost of outsourcing compare to hiring in-house?

You can outsource all of your accounting and finance functions for a fraction of the cost of an in-house department. Staffing even a small accounting department can easily cost $200,000+ in salary and benefits alone—plus recruiting, onboarding, and training expenses. By comparison, a $60,000-a-year investment in outsourced accounting could give you access to an accounting team equipped to handle everything from the day-to-day financial transactions to strategic advisory. And rather than a fixed set of skills, the services are flexible and can scale along with the evolution of your business.

What are outsourced accounting services?

OA services are custom-tailored to fit your needs. When we first meet with an OA client, we take the time to get to know your business. We review an extensive checklist of possible services—everything from bank account reconciliations to accounts payable and payroll processing to full monthly preparation of your financial statements to more strategic functions such as setting revenue targets and measuring budget-to-actual results. We build in a 90-day reassessment to review and finetune the scope of services, making sure your fee is aligned with the level of service we provide.

Many clients take advantage of the opportunity to meet monthly with their OA team to walk through the prior month’s financial reports and look at the trends and insights behind those numbers. Taking time each month to slow down and truly see the financial picture is a powerful exercise that can turn a company from one that is busy but losing money into one that’s seeing consistent profitability and growth.

When is the right time to consider outsourced accounting?

Whenever you’re feeling stuck! Maybe your growth has stalled out, in part due to a lack of high-quality financial reporting or the inordinate amount of time you have to spend on accounting and administrative tasks. Perhaps your business has reached a level of complexity that has outgrown the skills of your existing accounting team members. Or maybe you’ve been doing DIY accounting, which is taking too much of the time you could be spending seeing clients or patients. You might even be looking for a sounding board—someone who has extensive experience with many other types of businesses and can help guide your business to the next level.

Are there other terms used for Outsourced Accounting?

You’ve probably seen a lot of other terms that refer to different aspects of OA. For example:

• • Virtual Bookkeeping and Cloud Accounting refer to routine daily financial tracking.
  • Fractional CFO or Virtual CFO services focus on executive-level strategic advisory.
    Finance and Accounting Outsourcing, or sometimes Business Process Outsourcing (BPO), are often used by large enterprises to describe moving entire departments to external providers.

Ultimately, all these terms refer to the practice of hiring a third party to manage financial operations.

Are there certain types of businesses or industries that tend to outsource accounting?

Just about any business with ongoing, recurring accounting needs could benefit from outsourced accounting. The clients that benefit the most from Copeland Buhl’s concierge-style approach to OA range across many industries, from multi-location franchises to professional services firms, dental practices, trade groups and other nonprofits.

How can I get the greatest benefit from working with an outsourced accounting team?

The clients that get the greatest return on their OA investment are those who appoint a key employee to be our point of contact. Ideally, this is a person who knows the inner workings of the business well and is comfortable with cloud-based accounting systems such as QuickBooks Online and BILL.com. We will work closely together to set up processes to provide accurate and timely financial information. Open, consistent communication is one of the most important keys to success in an outsourced relationship. Close collaboration between you (the business owner), your key employee, and your Copeland Buhl OA team allows us to deliver the valuable insights you need to take your business to new heights.

Copeland Buhl’s Outsourced Accounting—We’re Here to Help You Grow

If you’re ready to reach the next level of growth, Copeland Buhl’s Outsourced Accounting services can help you get there. Contact us today so we can talk about your needs and how we can help you get your financial picture into focus.