We are often asked about what the offshore staff can do. Rather than answer the query with a long list, we tend to take the opposite approach. Start with what they can’t do. They can’t do anything that requires a geographical presence. But they CAN do anything else.
This subject is often simply a mental hurdle you need to jump over. People can be resistant to change. Many times a firm will tell us why they can’t do a particular task offshore. And they are always surprised when we tell them, “Well, there are lots of firms like yours doing those tasks in the Philippines right now.”
You’d be better off making a list of the things you need doing - client meetings, scanning and other such things - anything else can be done offshore.
Accountant
Organise and lodge quarterly VAT returns
Year End Compliance for individuals, companies and entities of all types
Preparation of financial statements
Workpaper preparation
Management reporting
Cash flow forecasting and budgeting
Bookkeeping
Technical research
Payroll preparation
Invoicing and debtors followups
Contacting the taxation office/ HMRC to resolve queries
Company incorporations, tax registrations and registrations of other types
Auditing procedures of various types
Software setups and implementation
Client accounting software support and training
Admin Assistant
Update weekly newsletter and blog posts (i.e. WordPress)
Place orders for supplies and promotional products
Preparation of client letters
Scan and store receipts/invoices
Collate and manage financial statements and other critical documents
Obtain quotes from suppliers
Carrying out research on particular data, topics (e.g. for presentation purposes) and software products
Social media monitoring and updates
Calendar scheduling for meetings and travel
Basic Microsoft Office tasks (e.g. Spreadsheet creation and updating, PowerPoint presentations)
Invoice preparation and followup
Creating project plans
Preparing systems documentation and manuals
Maintaining the client database
Managing email campaigns
Accounting team support (job preparation, finalising and arranging signoff)
Travel bookings and planning
Annual return/confirmation statement filing
Dealing with UK HMRC regarding client’s company & personal taxes
Marketing Assistant
Tracking leads’ information and details
Preparing leads’ reports to track success rates
Keeping a record of conversations regarding followups with leads. Also provide reminders on when to contact leads.
Prepare proposals for potential clients
Support sales by arranging presentations, proposals, videos, brochures, banners, etc., using Adobe Suite programs and CorelDraw
Collaborate on website design, landing pages and other marketing collaterals, execute what’s been agreed and produce material
Implement, monitor and edit internet ads (e.g. LinkedIn, Facebook)
Communicate with website contractors or printing suppliers for delivering collaterals correctly and promptly
Manage email campaigns
Preparation of newsletters and email series to be sent to clients and leads
Conceptualisation and execution of company events and celebrations
Documentation of events and editing of promotional videos
Respond to client/customer enquiries effectively
IT Support
Client Remote Servers (includes Troubleshooting and Error repairs):
StorageCraft
Shadow Protect
StorageCraft Imagemanager
SBS Backups
Symantec Backup Exec
Scheduled Server Checks of Client servers
Small Business Server 2008, 2011, 2012
Terminal Servers
Exchange Server 2007, 2010
Eventlog checks for errors
Webhosting Checks of Client Servers
C-Panel checks
Website Disk checks and Management
Webmail Management
Accounts Management (suspended, over-quota)
SPAM checks, Bandwidth usage
Trend Antivirus Checks of Client servers
Virus and Spyware cleaning and management
License renewal
Update, Component and version upgrades
Trend Seat allocation and acquisition
Other Support
Auskey trouble shooting
Remote desktop support via TeamViewer
Cloudhive trouble shooting
(and many more)
Now that you have a sample list of their tasks, you can now get your mind thinking creatively about how you can move some of your tasks to an offshore team. Just start slowly and take it one task at a time. In a couple of years, you will have transferred a large part of your tasks offshore which will end up saving you a lot of time and money.
Where to From Here
You can book an appointment with our team to learn more about offshoring and be at the forefront of the accounting industry.