As accountants continue to leave the profession, and college graduates continue not to choose accounting as a career, CPA firms are grappling with dire staffing circumstances, exacerbated by the demands of tax season. With no end to the problem in sight, tax season has become for many, a vicious cycle of huge workloads, employee burnout, and client dissatisfaction.
Fortunately, a solution in the form of offshore tax preparation has brought welcome relief to thousands of struggling accountants across the country.
The process simply involves an accounting firm outsourcing some, or all of their accounting functions to a third party based in another country, enabling them to better manage their workloads, and shift their focus to other advisory roles that are likely to be more profitable. During tax season, outsourcing tax preparation and filing can bring blessed relief to overworked accountants at risk of burnout.
But, as helpful as offshore tax preparation may be for accounting professionals, there are some things to keep in mind:
Take the time to thoroughly research your chosen firm
It’s important to know exactly what country the offshoring firm are operating out of, and that the people you will be working with, are qualified and trained in tax regulations for the U.S. as well as having a sound understanding of international compliance.
Check their credentials
It’s very important to check the credentials of any offshoring firm you plan to work with, and verify all of the references they provide you with. Doing so will help give you confidence in their services.
Put appropriate security measures in place
Whenever offshore companies are involved, it’s important to ensure that you, and they, have implemented all of the necessary security measures to keep sensitive data protected at all times. This can be done through secure methods of communication and the use of platforms for sharing files, as well as implementing multi-factor authentication and installing intrusion detection firewalls. Security reviews should be carried out periodically, too, and any identifiable potential risks, addressed immediately.
Maintain regular communication
The best way of ensuring that all work is carried out in accordance with required standards, and that issues or potential problems are addressed swiftly and appropriately, is to keep lines of communication with the offshoring partner open, and communicate with them regularly.
Where possible, visits should be organized to the offshoring team, so that a face-to-face relationship can be established and relationships and trust between teams, can be strengthened. If this isn’t possible, virtual meetings should be scheduled on a regular basis.
Make sure contracts are clear and detailed
All contracts between your accounting firm and the offshoring team, should contain clear outlines with respect to the work that is to be carried out, costings, and any other important details. With everything set out clearly in a defined contract, there should be no room for misunderstandings, confusion, or disagreements.
As well as offshore accounting and tax preparation, CPA firms can also avail of offshore bookkeeping services, which will help them alleviate their workload even further, and pour even more of their energies and abilities into providing their clients with high value services.
