The Emerging Trend Of F&A OutsourcingOutsourcing finance functions is not something that is new. Functions like auditing, tax and payroll are outsourced from long. But it is in the recent few years that finance and accounting outsourcing or F&A outsourcing has caught up with many. Businesses today want solution providers to offer them comprehensive and not just transactional service. And this is why the whole finance function as a whole is being outsourced. Talking of the F&A business process, there are several things that come within the perimeters of this process. These include managing accounts payable and receivable, order management, treasury functions, payroll management financial reporting and internal audit services. Tax consulting and tracking are also included in this process. In other words, the F&A business process include almost everything that your finance function would include. Considering the present pace at which the finance and accounting function is being outsourced, it is expected to be one of the most widely outsourced functions in the near future. Such fast paced growth of F&A outsourcing is likely to make it one of the most important segments of business process outsourcing (BPO). The emerging importance of F&A often makes one ponder as to what is the real reason behind the same. There are quite a lot of factors that drive companies to outsource F&A. cost savings is one of the most important consideration that makes a company look for a solution provider. Access to better technology and system formed another very important reason. Buyers of this outsourcing process have also claimed to enjoy high service levels. Now that the importance of outsourcing F&A has been fairly well realized, there are quite a few popular functions that are mostly being outsourced. Out of all functions tax consulting and payroll are the most widely outsourced functions. The reason for the same is the complex nature of these jobs. Travel expense reimbursement and risk management are other areas that companies would consider outsourcing. However, despite all this, there are few functions that companies would not want to outsource. These include financial management activities such as operating budgets capital investments, cash management, investor relations and performance analysis. General accounting that includes general ledger, statutory accounting, fixed asset accounting, etc is another area that companies would not want to outsource. The success of outsourcing F&A is clearly evident from the fact that nearly all financial executives seem to be satisfied with it. The advantage of taking specialized services at cost effective rates makes this outsourcing function highly coveted. Considering all this, it wouldn't be wrong to say that F&A outsourcing is going to witness an all time high in the near future. It is strongly recommended that you try this at least once and reap its benefits. |