Many #associations and #nonprofits are making conscious decisions to outsource the accounting function rather than maintaining an internal accounting team. Here are seven reasons to consider outsourcing.
1) Your dedicated outsourced accounting team will be led by CPAs and will include your virtual chief financial officer (CFO), your virtual controller, and data analysts who specialize in accounts payable, accounts receivable, expense tracking and expense coding.
2) Unlike in-house teams where being overstaffed or understaffed is not uncommon, your outsourced accounting team is scalable. We can deploy the correct mix of resources to fit your needs. In addition to the right mix of resources, you’ll never have to worry about staffing for vacations, sick leave, or recruiting when a key employee leaves the firm.
3) As an experienced provider to associations and not-for-profits, our team has deep experience with audits and 990 preparation. As such, our outsourced accounting team knows how to prepare financial statements and supporting schedules that are integral to your annual audit.
4) As a part of our ramp up process, we will review and enhance workflows. These enhancements will ease the processes of time entry, expense coding, accounts payable, and accounts receivable.
5) Many small accounting departments are not staffed to allow separation of duties. This lack of controls can allow misappropriation of funds or fraud. Our outsourced accounting model includes electronic approvals for disbursements (with client sign-off). Because our team completes bank reconciliations, we can provide separation of duties.
6) Whether you serve economically disadvantaged returning citizens or members of a professional association, allowing your team to focus on serving your constituents while we focus on the specifics of running the “back office”. Our model can include handling month-end close, payables, receivables, expense tracking and coding, bank reconciliations, financial statements, and board reporting. We focus on these task freeing up your team to focus on impacts, outcomes, and ROI.
7) It’s difficult to get through a week without hearing about a data breach or a ransomware attack. While Boeing and Target have the resources and the staff to address cybersecurity issues, mid-sized associations and not-for-profits are typically more vulnerable and less prepared. Moving important data and systems to the cloud is a great way of introducing additional security. Two-factor authentication is another way of adding enhanced security to key systems.
The Accidental Treasurer 