In this interview, Mark Livingston sits down with Rob Campbell.

Rob is an experienced Chartered Accountant and former Accountant and Auditor practice owner who now provides consulting services to accountants, both in Sydney and in Regional  NSW.

Rob explains the common problems that accountants face when outsourcing and how Felcorp overcame these specific issues.

Topics discussed:

1. Adhering and setting time frames

For normal transactional tax work, turnaround times are in the same region as an equivalent senior accountant internal hire. A lot of simpler jobs are completed within 24 hours and larger client groups completed within 3-5 day turnaround. Inline with the expectations of the internal practice accounting staff.

As long as the timeframes and priorities are discussed before embarking on jobs, adhering to set time frames is no more difficult than it would be with an internal hire.

3. Communication with outsourced staff

Many accountants find outsourcing a major bugbear when it comes to communication. The feedback that we hear is that the communication is responsive and not much different to an employee that is working remotely. Communication is generally quite good and is not an issue that affects the outsourcing relationship.

3. Value for money

The cost of putting on a Felcorp accountant compared to an internal salaried hire is 50% cheaper when you consider the full absorbed costing of putting on a internal hire. With recruiter fees, office space, computer devices and payroll administration for an internal hire, the actual cost is likely double what Felcorp charges once you consider these other associated costs.

Therefore the value for money is far better than internal staff member.

This is particularly highlighted when an existing salaried accountant leaves a practice. The cost and hassle of trying to then replace them becomes an incredibly expensive endeavour. Therefore the value of Felcorp really lies when you are not having to train staff, settle for less than ideal candidates and wait 2-4 months to get set up. All of this can be done much cheaper and faster when utilising Felcorp's accountants.