Although we tell you that the pandemic has created a significant shift toward offshore staffing, they are still biased and unsure about offshore staffing when we talk to accounting firms! Many firms have expanded their horizon now and have started looking at offshore staffing from a different standpoint. However, still, many of the firms have several concerns which like
· What would my staff think? Is this going to replace my existing team?
· What would my clients think?
· What about data security?
· How is the quality of the staff? How can I gauge?
Let me shed some light on these concerns. When People hear about “OFFSHORING,” they often think that we may be replacing the in-house staff. In fact, building an offshore team is to help your onshore team. Building Offshore Team means
- More Time – for managers/seniors to save from being overworked and work-life balance
- More Time – for managers/seniors to focus on high-value client-facing advisory work
“After leveraging offshore staffing with Entigrity, our VCFO and senior accounting team are now more focused on client strategies, planning, review, analysis and involved in advisory for better decision making and growth for our client businesses not just bookkeeping task. And today, we see our firm business more scalable than before.”
Adam Hale, CPA, COO Summit CPA – 45 People Virtual Accounting firm
This is a story of a CPA firm that has built a solid team of 10+ offshore employees, thereby Freed up their A team for more high-value client-facing work.
“Our client’s onshore hiring has increased on an average by 11% post adaption to offshore staffing, and that too in the year of pandemic, this was 14% in 2019”
Shawn Parikh,
Chairman Entigrity Offshore Staffing
In the aftermath of this pandemic, remote working is no longer seen as just a norm in accounting firms but has become necessary, or for sure it’s flexible for every firm.
If you are working remotely, whether working, from ‘Boston or Bangalore,’ ‘Miami or Mumbai,’ ‘New York or New Delhi,’ it is all the same, as long as your staff has the suitable skill set, attitude, and speaks the same language. Many firms have even gone a step ahead and started building their offshore teams and have leveraged the “Global Talent Pool.”
Accounting firms today are more open to hiring offshore staff especially post COVID; they don’t have any reservations telling their clients that they are leveraging the global workforce. The most client wants wonderful service, great experience, and services at a fair price. And it’s accountant’s mindset more than their client’s mindset. However, it would help if you were careful in selecting your offshore staffing partner.
Data Security and Quality of staff is a top concern of 90% of accounting firms. The answer to this is to work with the right and credible offshoring partner. While you are choosing your offshoring partner, make sure you do your due diligence in advance.
- Check their client reference and testimonials that they have on their website and social media.
- Check Online Review
- Check their IT Policy, Internal Data Security and Confidentiality Policy, and Compliance.
- Check their Agreements before sign up, and do they have relevant clauses.
- Check their Cyber Security and E & O Insurance and Certifications
If required, you can also insist on having a virtual tour of their office.
Offshore staffing is being seen as a long-term opportunity for expansion, and firms have been grabbing it with both hands lately. It’s safe to say that firms that have invested in offshore staffing have stayed immune to the slowdown caused by the pandemic.
So to conclude, there has been a significant shift towards offshore hiring by accounting firms. However, there are still many CPAs and Accountants out there who are still resisting this change. The best step forward would be to explore the suitability of offshore hiring for your firm.
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Since the pandemic, over 250+ accounting firms have partnered with Entigrity to meet their staffing needs and build their offshore team. Every month, about 30 new accounting firms select Entigrity and take a step forward in building their offshore team.
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Tags: Advisory, Firm Management, Staffing
