Accounting Shared Service Centre – A Cost Saving Solution

With the world becoming increasingly smaller due to technological advances, it seems very apt that this has also enabled businesses to streamline processes and reduce on many functions. When it used to be so that multinationals had replicas of each department in each business unit around the world, the fact is that the current world of business can no longer support such practices. One way to go around this conundrum is by organising a shared service centre within the same global corporation. The concept is startlingly simple and it is of course up to the organisation how they want to go about implementing such a function.

A shared service centre means that there is a more centralised and streamlined method of operating different functions. One such function would be finance and accounting which has traditionally been deemed as an important aspect of business operations. It certainly remains so – however, businesses can now enjoy the benefit of setting up a shared service centre for its accounting services. There might be some background work involved in the actual setting up of the shared services centre. The beauty of it is that this function can also utilise the services of outsourced accounting providers. This will ensure for tried-and-tested measures that at the same time are tweaked to ensure higher streamlining within each individual organisation. It has been shown that implementing these processes usually help in also reducing economies of scale. The cost saving benefits of these measures are numerous with an added benefit of actually ensuring that businesses are now more focused on business operations and processes rather than worrying about number crunching tasks.

A shared service centre is the result of the business management process which takes into consideration which aspect of each function shares a common link. Thus, these processes will then become part of the streamlined function. Most of the time, accounting services which are included would be financial reporting, budgeting, administrative processes, compliance and to a lesser degree taxation. However, not everyone is equipped to handle this business management process and this can lead to significant amount of time wastage where nothing gets done in the end. In order to make this attempt successful, businesses need to be sure of where they stand and how they want to fully utilise the shared service centre. If businesses are unable to streamline these processes themselves, they should then think about utilising outsourced accounting services to help them in their endeavour.

Typically, finance and accounting service providers will already have been experts in setting up shared service centres. Thus, the overall process will be smoother. Additionally, they would be able to aid in the transition period as well. Outsourced accounting services normally includes coming up with a master plan on how to optimise current workforce and guide the business operations into more concentrated and streamlined efforts. The basis of setting up streamlined processes is that the accounting services provider will be able to aid in the endeavour wholly dependent on the needs of the client. As such, it is highly important that anyone undertaking this process should be fully aware of the direction of the organisation. The problem with many streamlining projects failing to take off is the fact that there has been no proper direction towards the implementation of the process. Of course, accounting services experts will be more than happy to guide the business towards the whole process. They will also be able to give significant ideas that will enable this aspect of business management to run smoothly.

Find out is Accounting Services a Cost or an Opportunity here

 At the end of the day, shared service centres are good ways for organisations to reduce overheads / tax, economies of scale and produce leaner and more effective business operations. As the world grows smaller and ways of communication increases, it is imperative that businesses know how to utilise these new advancements to the benefit of their operations. Outsourced accounting providers are a good bet towards utilising such information for the betterment of their organisation.