Running a business is non-stop, but you don’t have to do it all yourself. In fact, outsourcing accounting and your finance department could actually prove more effective. Here’s why.
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With Hutcheon Mearns’ outsourced finance service, you can leverage the expertise of the firm’s established accounting team and ensure your books are in tip-top shape for one monthly fee.
Danielle Murray, senior finance manager in the Hutcheon Mearns outsourced finance team, said: “We can accommodate all the roles and responsibilities of a finance team under one roof.
“So, rather than having to employ several people performing all the relevant finance functions, we’re able to do all this within our team for a fixed monthly retainer.
“We can do everything from day-to-day bookkeeping to cash flow forecasting, managements accounting, VAT returns, annual statutory submissions and more. We have a great variety of skills and experience within the team.”
Tapping into finance expertise
Hutcheon Mearns, a professional services firm, launched its outsourced finance service last year. Headed up by Scott Garden, it currently consists of four qualified accountants and two experienced assistant accountants, offering a wide range of skills and experience that allow them to tackle all the demands of a finance department.
Danielle explained: “Every day and every client is different. A lot of my role is adapting to what the client is currently doing and seeing how we can develop their set-up to make things easier and more streamlined. Basically, we want to get to the end goal of producing timely, relevant financial reporting to help them in their day-to-day business decision making.
“With some clients, there’s reason and logic behind why they do things the way they are, so it’s just getting to know that.
“If we need any specialised skills, there are other departments within Hutcheon Mearns who can support us, rather than having to go to someone external.”
The benefits of outsourced finance and accounting
There are many different benefits that come with outsourcing finance and accounting work to Hutcheon Mearns. This includes:
1. One monthly fee
Instead of having to employ various people to create a finance team and the costs that can come with that, you’ll just have one monthly retainer fee to pay.
2. Holiday cover guaranteed
If you currently have a very small finance team, holidays and other absences can hold up work. There is always someone on the Hutcheon Mearns outsourced finance team to cover holidays.
3. More time for other business areas
With all your accounting taken care of, you can focus instead on running and building your business. Hutcheon Mearns can provide you with tailored financial reporting to help you make good business decisions.
4. Help finding the right software
Hutcheon Mearns can help you get the most from accounting software, taking care of the heavy lifting for you.
5. Tap into expertise
The outsourced finance team are experienced accountants and finance managers, and you’ll benefit from all their shared skills and knowledge. They can also tap into the wider Hutcheon Mearns team in more specialist cases.
Outsourced accountants for start-ups
For start-ups, the outsourced finance team can also help you set up your accounting system correctly right from the get-go.
Danielle said: “Outsourcing your finance department is ideal for a start-up. We’re all from different backgrounds and have significant experience in the use of different software packages, so although we normally recommend Xero for smaller clients, we are adept at using a range of finance systems including SAP, Microsoft Business Central and Sage.
“We can offer demonstrations on how finance or accounting software works, or we can help integrate start-ups into a system like Xero and get it working for them.
“There are a huge amount of bolt-on applications for Xero so we can point them in the direction of apps that can help with things like expenses, timesheet entry and profitability –getting all those things set up at the outset can help reduce internal administrative time and manual data entry.
“It can be overwhelming starting a new business and going into a new system like Xero, but we can help.”
Find out more about working with Hutcheon Mearns
The Hutcheon Mearns outsourced finance team currently has clients in both Aberdeen and Tayside and is well placed to expand throughout Scotland and the UK. The team is also always on the lookout for exceptional talent, so if you’d like to join a company where you’ll be appreciated, please reach out.
Visit Hutcheon Mearns’ website to find out more about outsourcing accounting for your business.
