Written by: Todd Ellis, CPA, MST, CGMA
In today’s rapidly changing business landscape, sourcing the right accounting team is a crucial decision faced by business owners, CEOs, and executive teams. Traditional hiring processes can feel like navigating a maze, especially when looking for high-caliber accounting professionals. However, turning to virtual accounting teams, such as those offered by Walter Shuffain, can provide businesses with a seamless, cost-effective, high-quality solution. Let’s dive into why.
The Hidden Costs of Traditional Hiring
Hiring an accountant might seem like a straightforward task. However, you’re navigating murky waters without deep insights into accounting. It’s not just about posting a job ad and waiting for CVs to pour in. It’s about knowing where to source these candidates, understanding the complexities of the role, and ensuring you find someone who aligns with your company’s ethos and goals.
The current market has made it challenging to find any qualified accounting staff, and those staff of high caliber have been extremely difficult to find and retain. Beyond just the monetary costs, the time and resources invested in the hiring process can be significant. And if, after all that effort, the chosen candidate doesn’t fit in and leaves within a few months? It’s not just a financial loss but a blow to the team’s morale and productivity.
Shifting the Risk of Hiring
This is where the beauty of outsourcing to a virtual accounting team comes into play. By opting for services from professionals, you essentially shift the risk of hiring from your company to them. Instead of bearing the brunt of hiring decisions, it’s now their responsibility to support and provide you with a competent team. Instead of going through the cumbersome recruitment process yourself, you have a team of experts doing it for you. They bear the risk and ensure continuity, allowing you to focus on core business activities.
The Assurance of a Tailored, Consistent Team
Recent reports have highlighted an alarming trend: the widening shortage of accountants negatively impacts financial statements. Many companies are receiving feedback from audits that their internal controls are adversely affected due to the scarcity of available accountants. This emerging situation further underscores the significance and reliability of virtual accounting. Such teams ensure consistency over time, becoming intricately intertwined with your operations, ensuring your financial tasks resonate with precision and expertise. Essentially, they’re not just an outsourced entity—they become an integral part of your team.
Flexibility and Cost Efficiency
Often, a business needs various accounting services, from basic bookkeeping to high-level financial analysis. Hiring individually for these roles could mean bringing three or more new salaries onto your payroll. However, a virtual accounting team allows businesses to combine these skills in a consolidated, cost-efficient package. It’s about hiring for results, not just roles.
Passionate Professionals at Your Service
Another challenge in private industry is the risk of hiring individuals who view their role as just another job—something they do for the paycheck while chasing their passions elsewhere. Such an approach can lead to lackluster results and subpar performance. With a dedicated service team, you tap into individuals for whom this is their chosen career. You get a higher quality output from a higher quality, more motivated person, ensuring the very essence of the service is driven by passion and expertise.
Enhanced Financial Decisions and Output
With all these factors in play, the result is superior output quality. Business leaders can make more informed, strategic decisions by managing their finances with a dedicated, passionate team. It’s not just about crunching numbers; it’s about understanding the story they tell and using that for business growth.
Final Thoughts
In the dynamic world of business, adaptability is key. While traditional hiring has its merits, for many businesses, the future lies in leveraging external expertise. As a business owner, when you blend your expertise with the accessibility of a service like Walter Shuffain, you address the human experience of your internal teams and offer actionable, efficient financial solutions.
Remember, every challenge you face as a business owner is an opportunity in disguise. And with the right partners by your side, you’re not just navigating these challenges but turning them into stepping stones for success.