Why should small and medium firms in UK outsource accounting data to India
A lot of industries outsource data entry jobs to India. But outsourcing of accounting data entry work... that too from small and medium companies in UK? Not many instances of this, are there? Have you wondered why?
India is the hot bed for English-speaking hard-working talented people. Accounts is a pivotal function in enterprise functioning. Ordinarily, submitting a critical function to the best people only makes the most sense... but when it comes to accounting data entry, there are issues of sensitivity.
Now in any company, as far as accounting goes, there are some routine tasks like data entry and some non-routine tasks like data analysis and preparation of variance reports.
In most companies... and for an example, look at yours... the number of people hired to do the routine tasks often exceeds those on critical tasks. Moreover, the lack of distinction between individual roles towards each of the tasks makes the whole team far les productive than it can be.
So is the solution outsourcing? Well, some obvious benefits are cost savings, better turnaround time (due to the 5 hour time difference) and reduced workload on the accounting & HR departments.
Intangibly speaking, companies outsourcing these functions do not have to worry about retrenchment in bad times... or about work continuity in case of high employee turnover.
Furthermore, when UK firms outsource data entry of accounting activity to India, better quality of accounting output can be expected due to well defined process & SLAs and better quality control on accounting data that form part of the offshoring contract.
And as a client, if you insist the data be stored on your server, and all passwords be shared strictly on a need to know basis, integrity and confidentiality will be non-issues.
You could also insist that quality control be built into the offshoring process at both ends of the passage, with audits. Outsourcing would not mean losing control over the process or the data... Conversely, it would mean better control by way of well defined service agreements.
Actually, outsourcing the accounting data entry work is about a new way of thinking that transforms the way accounting is done at the back-office. Confidentiality levels of the accounts data are the same as they would be if the accounting data entry were done in house. And in India, the experience and qualifications of the personnel entrusted with the task would be equal to or better than their British counterparts.
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