How to maintain an own Accounting department for your business in a cost-effective way
Cost Effectiveness of Virtual Accountants in Sri Lanka
Businesses always have this question in mind: “Do we need to hire an In-house Accountant or outsource?”
Hiring an experienced Accountant will definitely support business owners to build a solid accounting platform to their business, which will help business owners to scale the business without any back-end difficulties.
However, to acquire such an experienced accountant at an affordable rate is a key challenge faced by the business owners, and retention is another challenge.
Junior Accountants might be inexperienced, but they are easily affordable by any business because of their minimum cost. With the right training and supervision, it can be ensured that they perform the duties on time and accurately.
Virtual Accountants are the cost-effective way to overcome business owners’ challenges. Where junior accountants will be handling the routine accounting activities, Virtual Accountants will be responsible for setting up proper controls in place and monitoring, ensuring the accuracy of the book, providing necessary guidance, supporting & training the junior accountant, reporting on time and supporting organizational growth.
This concept will cut down the cost of an Accountant, and Business owners’ dependency on accountants in a traditional way of accounting.
“Many business owners and CEOs rely largely on in-house bookkeeping and accounting in order to obtain the financial statements for each month simply because this is something they have been used to doing for many years. With the rapid advancements in technology in the recent past, the traditional accounting methods may not be the best option when it comes to managing the finances of your company.”
A checklist that you have to follow before making a decision about hiring your accounting team:
- The Evaluation of Skills, Experience and Qualifications
Always make sure to look into the experience and track records of in-house accountants before hiring them. This sort of screening is an essential feature; otherwise, you could end up with a self-taught employee.
Virtual Accountants, on the other hand, offer a better level of expertise and Virtual Accountants are often experts who go through training in technology and accounting. Regardless of whether you opt for in-house Accountants or Virtual Accountants, all you need to make sure is that employees are trained on an ongoing basis so you can ensure accurate financials delivered on time.
- Efficiency in the Internal Control Systems and Practices
Good internal controls will ensure that the information flow is precise, timely and perfectly classified. When your company has only one or two employees who handle your books, then there is a higher risk of fraud, inefficient internal controls and less accuracy. Independent Virtual Accountants eliminate any such risks because there is a separation of duties and stringent steps are taken when delivering financial statements.
- Accuracy and Relevancy of Financial Reporting
For every business, the financial reporting process looks different based on various factors. Your in-house bookkeepers and accountants should have the perfect training and skills in order to provide quality and accurate reporting. However, they would sometimes also have other responsibilities such as Banking, Payroll, Follow up collections, & payments, and this can take time away from their accounting duties. If this happens, financial reporting can get pushed aside and it can impact key business decisions.
With Virtual Accountant services, inaccurate financial reporting can be eliminated because you get to choose what exactly your business requires. It can promote the effectiveness of existing employees and produce accurate and timely financial reporting.
Things to consider before choosing Virtual Accountants in Sri Lanka
- Dedicated team members
- Strict guidelines to ensure that there is no risk of fraud
- Continual training of staff members