Fundamentally remote teams work off documents while in-house teams have the benefit of local and client knowledge. For most remote teams (including ours) English is also a second language. That means a few tweaks are in order for smooth sailing
Job prep – Ensure there is an adequate job brief sheet (or equivalent) especially first year. Other than that 15-45 minutes prep to ensure all key information is available.
Queries – job turn-around depends on how quickly you respond and can get the information back from clients. Communication is key – don’t use kiwi sayings, keep it simple, polite, and clear and you’ll have a happy team
Reviews – profit or loss on a job is often right here. Incentivise reviewers on output not perfectionism at your expense. 30-45 minutes reviews should be the norm, not 1-2 hours. We have a training module on this to help.
Reviewers need to adopt a mindset of being there to add value. They’ve been elevated from accounts processors to reviewers to take their remote team under their wing and lift them up, bring them up to their level by following good process and our system for quality control. Instead of getting angry or frustrated when something is not right – help them out and teach. That investment in time is leveraged over an entire team if you follow our proven system.
If you are keen to use outsourcing as a structural part of your business so you can grow. If you wish to focus your recruitment and in-house team on up-skilling, soft skills and value add, with compliance support. If either of the above applies, you are the kind of firm we are looking for. We honour your trust and commitment by matching you in both.
(1) If you suffer from perfectionism AND charge low average fees - it won’t work out for you or us. Not because we can’t reach your standard, but because the standard you demand is not cost effective. We have too many excellent happy clients to divert resources to firms that won’t listen, don’t pay a fair market fee, and then demand perfection. The same attributes are also reasons for high staff turn-over.
(2) If you are looking for a solution that just takes all your work and does it without you having to do hardly anything other than review it at the end. If you are not willing to commit to the process or follow the system for doing it well. If either or both of those things apply THEN outsourcing with us (or anyone else) is not for you. Like any change, success is a result of investment and commitment. We might be the best investment you ever made, but you will not know until you make the commitment to match ours.
While we prefer clients to provide their remote team with steady work over the course of a year, we do have a limited ability to look after seasonal clients. We have a number of these and look at new ones on a case by case basis.
Not ideal. But we have helped many accounting firms over the years get back on top, or small fledgling firms get started, many of whom have gone on to grow and now support full time remote teams. We will look at casual or one-off high volume needs on a case by case basis. Our preference is for firms that want to grow, see us as a viable platform to do that, and can keep their remote team busy all year (or at least for 10 months).
While we definitely specialise in higher volume workflows, we also cater to small sole practitioners starting out. Obviously there are economies and efficiencies of scale, and from $500k your client fee upwards we can justify providing a permanent, dedicated and exclusive remote team, and that is where we excel. There is no upper limit and we have several clients well into 7 figures of workflow with us.
Our normal entry level is an undertaking of at least $100k - $120k in client fee outsourced over a fiscal year. This is enough to support a small remote team that does your work with a consistent team leader and small support team behind them to avoid unnecessary changes in personnel.
Below the minimum standard entry level is what we call a “casual client” with no commitment, and we will look at on a case by case basis. Criteria will include time of year/how busy we are, what your needs and intentions are, the scope of work, and the potential to grow with us going forward. Requirements are an acceptance that without a dedicated team, work is done as we can fit it in around other clients who have made the commitment. We have many happy small casual clients, but you must be willing to invest more time and energy into solving problems without the resources of a dedicated team.
Connects’ stringent security protocols offer you peace of mind that your client’s information is secure. All your data will remain on your systems, and our staff can only access logins to client information from Connect-secured premises. We operate full antivirus software, and all our staff sign strict confidentiality agreements. We also have a physical security presence at premises both here and in India.
The 1200+ strong offshore team that provides our services includes more than 800 qualified accountants who have a thorough working knowledge of New Zealand’s financial reporting and tax compliance requirements, as well as commonly used software platforms such as Xero, MYOB, APS etc. They work only for us, are well-rewarded, and operate like a seamless extension of your practice.
The team members who work on your accounting tasks will generally have a higher level of qualification than staff in most in-house compliance teams in New Zealand. Their qualifications and experience put them at ‘senior accountant’ level.
Connect’s thorough quality controls ensure consistent, high-quality outputs. Everything is double-checked before it reaches you. Nevertheless, you still need to review the work before final sign off as it is your firms name on the accounts. We aim to get it right at first draft, if we don’t there is no added costs no matter how many times it takes to get it right. Take the opportunity to ensure all reviewers know their role is to add value to the job. Last thing you need is reviewers sitting on the judgement throne as “the great auditor of the last 35 cents and spelling police” which sabotages in-house work as well as outsourced work. A reviewer’s job is to make it profitable while keeping risk low and maintain your standards within client expectations.
Connect operates a modern office in India and is proud of its work standards and training. Staff turnover is low because working conditions are excellent, there are valuable career advancement opportunities, and we pay above award wages.
We know that each accounting firm has slightly different processes and protocols that make up their unique culture. Connect has worked with hundreds of NZ accounting firms, so we’re very experienced in adapting to different cultures.
Here at Connect we are staunch supporters of New Zealand employment and New Zealand employees. Outsourcing isn’t about replacing or firing your existing staff; it’s about elevating and giving your staff the space to focus on the real needs of both your clients and your business. The extra time that outsourcing will give your staff can be channelled into more high-end revenue-generating analysis and advisory work.
Freedom from the ongoing pressure of compliance work will also allow you to spend more time on upskilling and extended training of your team members, and provide them with opportunity to reflect upon their own personal growth within your business.
Industry experts agree that the outsourcing model is the future of accounting services. Your business is built on the relationship you have with your clients, and outsourcing your compliance tasks won’t change this relationship. Connect’s services free you up to focus on helping your clients to build their business, and most firms we work with tell us their clients are much happier as a result. It’s about providing an end product at the most affordable price and with the greatest value to the customers’ ongoing needs.
All our offshore account managers and staff can speak and read English, it is a prerequisite of hiring.
Call us today, and you could a dedicated team of qualified accountants doing your work within 3 days with zero up front fees!
Nobody else can match that and quickly reach, then maintain the standards you expect.
How quickly and how well it goes will depend more on you, because we've done this hundreds of times, and are here to help to you get it right.
We offer a full on-boarding experience from pilot to fully operational to benchmarking and KPI's.
We offer you the only cloud based workflow management system in the business designed specifically for NZ accounting firms outsourcing with us. For FREE!
Our online portal allows you to load up an entire years work, see where jobs are at, how many, at what stages they are at, and for how long. A complete workflow management tool!
We offer full support (not a meaningless promise) that starts with your own team leader being responsive to your needs, then extends to our local specialists, through to our own management.
We've got your back from day to day issues to trouble shooting, process improvements, to coaching and strategy to use us best to grow your business. Nobody matches the resources we've committed to helping NZ accounting firms succeed at outsourcing. Not even close.
We can’t make you succeed, but we can provide the resource, the tools, and the support to enable you to create extra-ordinary success, and have done so for many before you. Why not join them?