There's a management theorist called Hopwood who came up with a handy little Matrix. Not going to try and replicate it here so I'll just explain it.
The two axis are Importance and Complexity
Low Importance, low comlexity : Automate
Low Importance, High complexity : Outsource
High Importance Low complexity : Automate or Outsource
High Importance, High Complexity : Key systems. Do not automate or outsource
Now to any rational person accounting systems fall into the category of Highly complex, highly important... I guess those making the decisions though are just so far removed from their training that they've forgotten the basics!... Or just plain chosen to forget for personal gain.
When in India one of their banks outsourced development work (I think that it was to the Phillipines) there was national outrage and a banking strike.... I guess that at least they read their accountancy theorists.
-- Edited by Shamus on Friday 13th of July 2012 07:06:33 PM
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Shaun
Responses are not meant as a substitute for professional advice. Answers are intended as outline only the advice of a qualified professional with access to all relevant information should be sought before acting on any response given.
Vital Link Outsourcing is a leading provider of UK Accounting & Financial Services. We exclusively work with small and mid-sized accounting firms and other businesses, for handling their various bookkeeping and accounting tasks.
Our accounting team comprises of a Project Manager who is a Chartered Accountant and semi-qualified accountants proficient in handling complete book-keeping till the finalization of accounts in compliance with UK GAAP.
Vital Link is successfully serving a large base of clientele in UK providing them services with the best quality and within stipulated deadlines.
Vital Link offers a complete range of Bookkeeping Services from preparation of basic accounts to meeting all regulatory, VAT, PAYEE and other statutory compliances.
Am I paranoid or am I really being followed from Industry to Industry by Indian outsourcing companies?
Really don't see any point in outsourcing bookkeeping and accounts work as surely getting from the plastic bag full of receipts with the client debugging every second receipt to a finished set of books necessitates actually being in the same room as the client.
To outsource typing the stuff in still means that you need to get undertstandable documentation to India which lets be honest really isn't worth the effort after you've done all of the real work yourself.
I know that some practices do outsource (mostly) successfully. But feel that must be for a very specific type of mid range client.
The ONLY reason for outsourcing is cost reduction and I'm not seeing that we could benefit from cost reduction with the amount of work that we would need to do to get the documentation in a fit transmittable state.
Seems as though what one saves on bookkeeping time just gets shunted back to scanning and mailing time.
And of course, besides that, if our clients knew that we were outsourcing their work they would just go to a different bookkeeper ot accountant who didn't outsource.
Conversely of course I'm sure that this would work for some franchise bookkeepers who concentrate of sales rather than personal service so if they took on minimum wage schoold leavers to scan documents off all day then having this sort of service could work for them.
Of course, that approach is at odds to how most of the site members here work where it is very much all about personal service to the client.
All I can say is that no wonder we have such awful unemployment statistics in the UK when we even offshore things that we are good at.
Those who offshore their work should hang their heads in shame...
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Shaun
Responses are not meant as a substitute for professional advice. Answers are intended as outline only the advice of a qualified professional with access to all relevant information should be sought before acting on any response given.
Can never see the benefit if outsourcing. As you say most of the carrier bags full of receipts need vetting first, and then there is the scanning.
I could probably make my life easier, if I showed less attention to what I was inputting, and just entered what I saw, without regard to its relavence to the accounts. How would the semi qualified ACCA in Pune know that the faded receipt from Woodbridge Motors was a petrol receipt, and that Rizla is not a petroleum product?
It would be interesting to see what is produced from the prime records to the final accounts though
with my bankers hat on I've seen people earn some substantial bonus payments on the back of cost reduction by offshoring.
The real issue is that managers have a short term view because they know they can go like Locusts from one company to another outsourcing the IT function before moving on to destroy the next company.
By the time that anyone realises that short term savings are actually costing the company more in the long term the manager will have their bonus and have no link to the company that is now strugling due to their actions.
There was talk a while back of making managers responsible for their actions even once they had left a company... I think that would be a good move for the country as managers would start looking past their bonus to the possibility of having to repay it once they were found out.
However, as things stand. Whilst managers are not held responsible for their actions in prior employments we are going to keep seeing this sort of non joined up thinking.
Shaun.
P.S. How can India refer to Pune as the Oxford of India? That's giving Pune credence by association but I cannot imagine anyone in the UK getting a job because they went to University in Pune whereas someone could get a job in India because they went to Oxford (or Cambridge, or Harvard, or M.I.T).
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Shaun
Responses are not meant as a substitute for professional advice. Answers are intended as outline only the advice of a qualified professional with access to all relevant information should be sought before acting on any response given.
What would be the phrase for the reverse of advertising as I think that the poster has it covered in this thread! lol
Actually, on that matter. The replies in this thread are nothing personal. The issue is with the combination of poor UK management (in all senses of that phrase!) combined with the entire offshoring industry and nothing to do with this poster per se.
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Shaun
Responses are not meant as a substitute for professional advice. Answers are intended as outline only the advice of a qualified professional with access to all relevant information should be sought before acting on any response given.