You’ll suffer from burn out if you don’t delegate or outsource
When a company is in start-up mode, it’s often all hands to the pump, certainly in the early days. However, trying to do everything yourself in the longer term is unsustainable. Whilst it’s important in your business for the main parties to understand how all the different finance functions work, you don’t have to oversee them all yourself.
You’ll have more time to do the things where you shine
Which is why you set up the business in the first place. The things that don’t come naturally (such as finance) will take longer to get your head around, you’ll find the work less interesting and it limits the amount of time you have to spend on your strengths. Even if you have the latest software for your finance department, it may quickly become a compromise and become outdated; outsourcing could minimise this risk.
Your business needs you to be strategic
You need to keep on top of things and give strategic direction, not be continually distracted by minor financial issues that could be dealt with by outsourcing some of the more routine finance functions, such as accounting outsourcing.
Your staff will be happier
Outsourcing the things your small staff team struggle with – the menial tasks that could easily be done elsewhere by outsourcing – will mean a happier workforce. Staff prefer to be left on to get on with the specialist job that they have been trained to do, rather than mind-numbingly monotonous tasks that suck the life out of them. ‘Whilst manual double-entry bookkeeping has been practised for centuries, this does not rule out being open to adaptability.’ (1.8.3 The Finance Function: A Framework for Analysis ICAEW 2011)
Your staff will have time to produce meaningful financial reports that could future proof the business
If you have outsourced some of the finance functions, your staff will have time to gain an overview of the business finances more closely and make recommendations. A good finance team is at the heart of any business; don’t let yours be bogged down with time-consuming activities that could easily be outsourced. As early as 1998, in a report by KPMG, it suggests that responsibilities for finance could move outside the department with transactional processing being outsourced, while decision support is integrated into the business.
Your customers will love you
Accurate purchase orders, timely invoicing and the resultant smooth running of the finance operation through bespoke outsourcing will release your staff to do things that computers cannot – be the friendly, unharassed voice on the end of the phone, having the time to deal with queries pleasantly face to face and generally giving a good impression of your new slick finance operation in particular, and the business in general.
