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Here’s How Outsourced Accounting Firms Can Help You With their Value-Added & Lucrative Outsourcing Services

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If you are an accounting practice in the UK, you should not only be focusing and providing bookkeeping and accountancy services to your clients. Business owners these days, whether small business proprietors or enterprise owners, expect more than just bookkeeping and accountancy services from their partner accounting firm. Therefore, it is absolutely crucial to take the next step and offer value-added and more lucrative services to your clients.

Some of the value-added, and at the same time, lucrative services that an accounting practice in the UK can provide to its small business clients are as follows:

Personalised Taxation Services

No one wants to pay more taxes. If there is a possibility to minimise the tax burden, then business owners would certainly want to know about it. As a reputable accounting firm, why not provide tax advice to help your clients reduce their tax liability?

Of course, the tax system is complex, but with the experience you have, you may easily understand and navigate through it. Besides, you already have the essential accounting data of your clients. Looking at this data, you can easily identify all the tax-deductible expenses and advise clients how to reduce their tax liability.

Incorporation / Company Formation Services

Many business owners do not know whether incorporation is the best way to run their business. Help such clients discover whether or not they should incorporate their business. In addition, you can also assist them with the company formation process.

Through incorporation, business owners avail not only limited liability protection, but also tax and other benefits. With the knowledge and data, you have of your clients, you can advise whether they should incorporate their business to run more efficiently.

Furthermore, if your clients are already incorporated businesses, you can help them prepare and file the necessary documents to the regulatory authority, which are mandated by law. You can also help restructure their company so that they can reap optimum tax benefits.

Company Secretarial Services

Most businesses do not have adequate resources to manage all their business administrations. Nevertheless, carrying out certain administrative activities, such as maintaining statutory records, submitting statutory returns, etc. is absolutely necessary for business owners. Failing to carry out business administration tasks can levy heavy penalties on business owners and create an unnecessary financial burden for the business.

Fortunately, as an accounting practice, you can extend a helping hand to your small business clients in this regard. Your staff may already possess the required skills to carry out the necessary administrative tasks for your clients. Offer this value-added service and yield lucrative returns.

Financial Advisory Services

Every business owner wants to grow, and the best way they can do that is managing their finances efficiently. Of course, business owners themselves do not have enough time or the knowledge to improve their financial efficacy. But your accounting practice may do have such time and knowledge.

Your accountancy firm already has the essential financial data of your clients. Just process the data using your accountancy skills and identify various tax planning opportunities as well as performance enhancement measures, which you can convey to the clients.

Financial advisory is one of the most lucrative services, and almost every business owner would want to have this value-added package. Providing advisory services will certainly benefit your accounting practice immensely.

Conclusion

Being an accounting practice, providing bookkeeping and accountancy services, is just not enough today. In order to be successful, it is essential to start focusing and providing value-added services to your clients.

Of course, you first need to free yourself or your staff from the time-consuming bookkeeping and accountancy services. Fortunately, you can do that easily by engaging a reputable accountancy outsourcing services firm in the UK, like Affinity Outsourcing.

Affinity Outsourcing is a leading provider of accountancy outsourcing services in the UK. You can outsource almost every function of your accounting practice to us, be it bookkeeping, accountancy, taxation, payroll management, or anything else. We guarantee high quality and on-time delivery always. Unlike other providers of accountancy outsourcing services in the UK, we also guarantee improved margins and growth of your practice.

Outsourcing of accounting services of your practice can be the best way to better and grow your firm. Contact us today for unparalleled accountancy outsourcing services in the UK. To get in touch, click here.

Top 3 Reasons to Consider Outsourced Bookkeeping Services in London

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Plenty of accountancy firms and practices in London and across the UK are benefiting themselves using the outsourced bookkeeping services. If you are an accountancy practice in London and don’t know how outsourced accounting and bookkeeping services can benefit your business, then are the 3 reasons why you should consider outsourcing services.

You Get More Time to Build Your Business

We are Affinity Outsourcing, one of the leading outsourced accountancy service providers in London, and for years we have come across many different clients with different levels of complexity in their financials. As the accountancy practice grows, eventually they all realize that they are spending too much time on bookkeeping.

With time, most businesses realise that bookkeeping is a stressful and time-consuming task that drains their energy. That loss of energy leaves them unable to focus on crucial aspects such as business development and strategic planning.

When you find a professional outsourced bookkeeping services provider, you not only address the first challenge but also receive remarkable support in tackling the second. When you outsource to a bookkeeping services company like Affinity Outsourcing, you get access to highly skilled and certified resources having extensive experience and their management structure.

Reduce Risk

Different countries have different tax systems, but all of them are hard to understand and comply with. Businesses need to obey many rules and regulations, and also need to keep themselves updated with the changing one. All this stress and worrying associated rules and regulations can effectively downgrade your efficiency. When you outsource to professionals, you gain peace of mind.

From preparing to submitting the tax filings, bookkeeping professionals know all the rules and will make sure your business remains in compliance with all those tax rules. Additionally, they will also they’ll also apprise you of new rules.

Another way in which an outsourced bookkeeping services provider reduces risk is through the segregation of duties. Outsourced bookkeeping service providers have a well-defined process, along with professional eyes to help prevent mistakes and guard against fraud.

Prepare for Business Growth

When you are a start-up or a small business, you have limited clients and limited things to handle; thus, it becomes easy for you to record your revenue and expenses in a simple spreadsheet. However, maintain your financial transactions using a spreadsheet can create problems when your business starts to grow. Because of this, things start to get complicated, and you cannot afford to lose new clients or important vendors because of bookkeeping hiccups. So, it is advisable for you to look for an outsourced bookkeeping service provider at the earliest to keep your business growing.  While all your books are managed by the service provider, you will have a much smoother path to grow, especially at tax time.

There are plenty of accountancy firms and practices in London, and they all their own challenges. But they can all benefit from the expertise, processes and systems that come with outsourced bookkeeping services provided by the company such as Affinity Outsourcing.

To learn more about outsourced bookkeeping services and how it can help your practice grow, please schedule a free consultation with one of our experts at https://affinityoutsourcing.net.

Tips to Find the Best Outsourced Accountancy Services in London

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As the number of outsourced accountancy services providers in London has increased drastically, it has become quite complicated for accountancy practices to find cost-effective and professional outsourced accountancy services for them. It has become a hectic job for London based accountancy practices to sort through many choices available and find the best team of accountants and bookkeepers to take their company to the next level.

Due to heavy competition, Outsourced Accountancy Services in London offers much more than just maintaining a general ledger and data entry. With options ranging from full-charge bookkeepers, tax accountants, payroll experts, and accounting software specialists, there are seemingly countless details for you to take into consideration before you contract an outsourced accounting firm in the UK.

Amid so many options, how can you be sure that you are selecting the right outsourced accounting services? Here’s a small list of few important characteristics of trustworthiness, competence and reliability that you must look for in an outsourced accounting services provider, and they are:

They Understand the Technology: Every industry has witnessed the digital revolution, and accounting and bookkeeping are no exception. In the 21st century, the cloud-based accounting and bookkeeping software are evolving rapidly with new features and integration with third-party apps every day. Therefore, better look for an outsourced accountancy firm that is having teams of certified accountants and bookkeepers who are trained in modern-day software such as QuickBooks, Xero, and Sage to name a few. Along with the accounting and bookkeeping software, they should also be well-versed in other communication and reporting software for easy sharing of ideas and project updates.

Must be Locally Based: You need to find a locally-based outsourced accountancy services provider like Affinity Outsourcing so that you can visit them whenever you wish to discuss your requirements in person. Moreover, working with a local outsourced accountancy firm will save you from all the headaches that can be caused due to differences in the tax laws and legislations. You can easily find bookkeepers and accountants that are trained in UK bookkeeping procedures and tax regulations.

They Understand Your Business: Many accountancy firms in London today are in search of accounting consultants who can help them with so much more than just so-called “number crunching.”

The outsourced accounting services provider that you hire in London must have a basic understanding of the operational side of today’s accountancy firms. When you hire the right outsourced accounting firm in London, you’re also getting the knowledge, insight, and experience of all the business owners who came before you, with a financial controller who will act as a trusted advisor to help you grow your business.

Outsourced Accountancy Services should include offering customized reports to your needs along with overseeing the monthly closing of your books.

Finding the Best Outsourced Accountancy Services in London

Now, as you have gone through the complete blog, you have some points in your mind to look for in an Outsourced Accountancy Services in London. To find the right one, you can take the help of other accountancy practices in London who are already benefiting from outsourced accounting services. Search them on Google and LinkedIn, and read testimonials.

For highly professional, cost effective and accurate accounting and bookkeeping services in London and across the UK, you can trust us. We are Affinity Outsourcing, a London-based outsourced accounting firm having teams of highly skilled and certified accountants and bookkeepers. We offer affordable outsourced accounting and bookkeeping services to accountancy practices of every size – from start-ups to medium sized.

To learn more about our outsourced accountancy services and different packages, please visit our website at https://affinityoutsourcing.net or schedule a free consultation by giving us a call at 0203-848-4450.

Why Consider Affinity Outsourcing for Outsourced Bookkeeping Services in London?

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Over the years, Affinity Outsourcing has steadily earned its place as one of the most preferred destinations for outsourced bookkeeping services in London and across the UK. For years, we have been on the side of small and medium-sized accountancy practices in London by offering highly accurate and affordable bookkeeping and accounting services. At Affinity Outsourcing, we have employed a significant number of skilled personnel and world-class talent for offering outsourced bookkeeping and accounting services that stand second to none in the industry.

Why is it that plenty of accounting firms in London choose to work with Affinity Outsourcing when it comes to outsourced bookkeeping and accounting services? Here are a few compelling reasons:

  1. A Pool to Highly Talented Professionals

As mentioned before, Affinity Outsourcing has a significant number of skilled and certified personnel in accounting and bookkeeping related courses. By having a team of highly skilled and certified, Affinity Outsourcing offers high-quality work to their clients. In addition to receiving formal training related to financial and accounting practices, these professionals are also fluent in English, which makes it much easier for them to communicate with their clients and understand and cater to their specific needs.

  1. Niche Knowledge and Expertise

The laws regulating certain financial concerns, such as accounting and filing taxes, vary from one country to another country, and it depends on many factors, such as the nature of the business.

As Affinity Outsourcing is a London-based accounting outsourcing firm, it specializes in handling the accounts and books of clients based in London and across the United Kingdom. We have years of experience when it comes to working with UK-based clients in different key cities.

  1. Efficiency and flexibility

A good accounting outsourcing firm should be transparent and efficient throughout the years, not just when it comes to handling the client’s financial details during the tax seasons. We offer our clients highly flexible and highly specialized bookkeeping services that cater to the current needs of their business. Affinity Outsourcing is committed to providing agile, scalable options to small and medium-sized accountancy practices in London.

  1. Familiarity with Accounting Systems

Affinity Outsourcing is a London based accounting outsourcing firm; hence, we are well-versed all the past and latest accounting and bookkeeping laws set forward by the UK tax system.

To gain a competitive edge, we have made it a point to educate and train our staff to use various accounting software and tools that are widely used by the accounting firms across the United Kingdom. This way, we can easily adjust to the systems and software used by our clients without any drop in the quality of service we provide.

If you are an accountancy practice in London looking for quality outsourced bookkeeping services in London, then contact Affinity Outsourcing at https://affinityoutsourcing.net. Contact us for a free demo and consultation, so that we can help you understand the advantages of outsourced bookkeeping services and how it can help your practice grow.

To schedule a free consultation over the phone, please call us at outsourced bookkeeping services 0203-848-4450 (London).

Need Help? Why Outsourced Accountancy Services Could Be Better for Business Than Hiring to Fill the Position

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You are working extremely hard for the success of your business, and have put your heart and soul to achieve your business objectives. Yet, you know it very well that very few small accountancy practices in London and across the United Kingdom make a profit in their first several years of operation. To overcome this jinx, you have to stay competitive with your prices while offering the best services, and that’s only possible by hiring the best and brightest.

Before you fill out that job posting, you’ll want to consider outsourced accountancy services instead. No matter what industry you’re in, outsourcing is a much smarter, better way to do business. Here are solid reasons to find out why.

Outsourced Accountancy Services Saves Money

Did you know that the average salary of an accountant in the UK is £62,042 a year? Just imagine, you are a start-up or a medium-sized accountancy practice, and you have to hire multiple people. Would it be in your budget or not? You are already pinching every penny you can, the added expense of onboarding isn’t something you can afford.

Moreover, finding an experienced and reliable resource for the openings may take few weeks or sometimes months. So, you’re losing more money than just onboarding costs.

On the other hand, when you consider accountancy outsourcing services, you bypass all of that. You don’t have to pay any onboarding fees. No desks to purchase or training material to pore over. All you get is a highly trained accountant at an affordable price. Additionally, you’ll also save money on additional expenses like health insurance or paid time off, which means even more savings.

You’ll Only Pay for What You Need When You Need It

When you hire full-time resources, you have to pay them at the end of every month. During the tax season, you have quite a good flow of work, and paying in-house resources won’t be a problem. But, after the tax season (for the rest of the year), you may find it worrying.

However, when you opt for outsourced accountancy services, you only have to pay for the services that you hire. You don’t have to pay a resource for the whole year. Also, you will have the flexibility of adding and removing the resources as and when required, which means, during the tax season, you can consider hiring more resources and after the tax season, you can continue with the required resources only.

In essence, that means you’re paying employees even though you don’t need them. Outsourcing allows you to be far more selective. You can choose exactly the services you want and use them for however long you want.

No Time to Focus on Business Expansion

You are great at using Excel, but that doesn’t mean that you keep yourself occupied in managing your client’s books and accounts, and spare not time to focus on core business activities. Also, the tax system is constantly revised with new laws and legislations, and keeping up with those need adequate time and effort. If you are managing your client’s accounts on your own, then you have to learn a lot of new things; therefore, you will not have adequate time to focus on some really important aspects.

When you take the help of accountancy outsourcing services, you will have adequate time to search for new business prospects and expand your business to a whole new level. Moreover, you will also receive some expert assistance on your finances and how to achieve financial objectives.

Final Thoughts on Outsourced Accountancy Services

Any way you look at it, outsourced accountancy services just makes sense.

Whether you’re looking to save money, invest more time into your business, or you’re flat-out clueless about certain tasks, accountancy outsourcing services is the perfect solution for small to medium-sized accounting firms across the United Kingdom looking to stay competitive.

Want to learn more? Then get in touch today and let’s talk about how accountancy outsourcing services can benefit your company. For a free demo and consultation, please contact Affinity Outsourcing at https://affinityoutsourcing.net or call us at 0203-848-4450.

Advantages of Outsourced Bookkeeping Services for Accountancy Practices in London

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Duet to the globalization, the accountancy sector has become more competitive than ever for accounting firms in London. To serve the fierce competition and to grow their practice, accounting firms do not only have to deliver premium quality services constantly at affordable rates, but they also have to be more flexible in their work schedules.

It is no wonder why many accounting practices across the UK get exhausted, considering that they are bogged down with petty tasks, such as bookkeeping, taxation, and payroll accounting, which are time-consuming and not exactly profitable.

Usually, an accounting firm in London has to take care of a lot of things for its clients, some of them are:

  • Managing the financial books of the clients accurately
  • Managing of the payroll accounting every month on behalf of clients
  • Helping clients stay in compliance
  • Taking care of clients’ personal and corporate tax matters
  • Advising on financial and business growth matters

Keeping themselves over-occupied with the above-mentioned tasks, it becomes impossible for accountancy practices to think about business expansion and growth. If you are a proprietor of an accounting firm, facing such issues, then like others, you should definitely consider outsourcing for accounting practices.

Considering Outsourced Bookkeeping Services is the Best Option to Set Your Accountancy Practice Free!

Bookkeeping is a time-consuming task and not much lucrative. Of course, it is simple, but bookkeeping demands a high degree of attention and needs to be done accurately. Thus, if you are taking the help of outsourced bookkeeping services to take care of your clients’ books, then you can save a whole lot of time and invest that time in creating strategies for business expansion.

Professional outsourced bookkeeping services allow accountancy practices in London to use their time more efficiently to concentrate on their value-added services, such as audit, tax planning, and financial advisory services.

Advantages of Outsourced Bookkeeping Services:

  • Highly qualified and experienced bookkeepers to take care of tedious bookkeeping tasks
  • Highly accurate bookkeeping work in the desired format
  • Quick turnaround time
  • Eradicate overheads of additional staff, workstations, and extra workspace
  • Engage the services whenever the need arises
  • Give you more time, so that you can focus more on the value-added services of your accounting practice

There are plenty of accountancy practices in London that are already benefiting themselves by using outsourced bookkeeping services. If you haven’t considered outsourced bookkeeping services for your accounting practice in London or across the UK, then it is still not too late! Get in touch with Affinity Outsourcing – a reliable provider of outsourcing for accounting practices in London, for top-quality outsourced bookkeeping services.

Want to learn more about how we can set your accountancy free while improve your margins at the same time? Contact us https://affinityoutsourcing.net/contact/.

Benefits of Outsourced Accountancy Services for Small Businesses in London

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Irrelevant to size and domain, accurate accounting services are vital for the success of any business. Being an accountancy practice in London, if you are unable to find an experienced accountant to manage your clients’ accounts, then there is an option of outsourced accountancy services. Plenty of accounting firms (from sole practitioner accountants to established practices) have benefited themselves by using outsourced accountancy services from companies like Affinity Outsourcing. If you are still scared of trying outsourced accounting services, then here are some top benefits to motive you to go for Outsourced Accountancy Services for your business in 2020, and they are:

  1. Frees You Up for Other Important Business Works: When you forward your accounting tasks to outsourced accounting firms like Affinity Outsourcing, you make yourself available for other important business tasks. You will have an ample amount of time to think about business and business growth. Moreover, offloading yourself will offer you extra time, which you can spend with your family and friends.
  1. No Need to Worry About Accuracy: Accounting outsourcing firms in London like Affinity Outsourcing have teams of highly qualified and experienced accountants to finish the job in the most professional and accurate manner. By partnering up with an outsourced accounting firm, you can feel confident that only the most qualified individuals are handling your finances in an unbiased and objective manner.
  1. Easily Meeting Compliance Requirements: Accounting experts at outsourced accounting firms are well-versed with the existing and the latest regulatory requirements. They always stay abreast about trends in the accounting industry to offer the most up-to-date accounting services. You can gain peace of mind by knowing that your clients’ accounts are managed following the latest tax compliance.
  1. Outsourced Accounting Service are Competitively Priced: Competitive pricing is one of the most common reasons that attract businesses towards outsourced accounting services. By outsourcing your accounting tasks, you can save a lot of money that would have to spend on payroll, training, and infrastructure. All this money can be utilized in expanding your business.
  1. No need to struggle to meet deadline: When you are accountable to meet your client’s deadline and are beneath immense pressure, Affinity Outsourcing can help you to meet those deadlines and will relieve you from day to day pressure of work. You can feel safe in knowledge that we are here to help you.

If you are overwhelmed by the benefits of outsourced accountancy services, and if you are anxious to know more about Outsourced Accountancy Services works, then please Affinity Outsourcing at https://affinityoutsourcing.net.

We are offering a free trial to every business that wants to explore and experience the potential of outsourced accounting services. To talk to our business consultant, you can also call us at 0203-848-4450 (London) or send us queries/contact details at info@affinityoutsourcing.net.

And This is How You Can Find the Best Outsourced Bookkeeping Services Provider in London

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Now, as you have decided to outsource your bookkeeping, and offload yourself so that you can focus on your core business activities. The question arises, how will you find a reliable outsourced accountancy firm in London? As it is all about your company’s growth and your clients’ sensitive financial information, you have to find an outsourcing partner who is trustworthy, experienced, and always keeps you updated about every in and out.

If you are confused and don’t know what to look for in a long-term outsourcing partner, then here are some tips to help you. The tips mentioned below will help you find the best outsourced bookkeeping partner, and they are:

Experience of the Company: You would never prefer to work with an inexperienced service provider; hence, find an outsourced bookkeeping service provider that has adequate knowledge and experience to save you time and money by helping you to stay on top of your finances. An experienced outsourcing partner will be able to customize their services, especially for all kinds of bookkeeping work you are doing for your clients. Being experienced, they can also offer you valuable insight as a business consultant—having seen firsthand what works and what doesn’t.

Technology Used by the Company: The world of bookkeeping is vast and has evolved a lot (technically as well) in recent years. With the introduction of new technologies and software, the bookkeepers can easily streamline their work, and keep track of what is done and what’s pending. When looking for an outsourced bookkeeping services provider, you have to make sure that you to be a partner is also technically up-to-date and is comfortable with the software that you suggest. Also, they should be enthusiastic and open to new technologies as they continue to develop.

Data Safety Measures in the Company: Before you partner with any outsourcing company, make sure they have adequate data safety measures in place. Using cloud-based storage is safer than before; hence, make sure your bookkeeping services provider is using reliable cloud-based storage solutions to protect the data shared by you so that your information is safe and easily recovered.

Time and Money Saving: Cost-effectiveness is one of the main reasons behind outsourcing. When you partner with an outsourced booking services provider, you don’t need to hire a full-time employee. You can get the professional bookkeeping services at almost half price from your outsourcing partner. However, you need to make sure that the bookkeeping services provider will be able to adjust to the level of bookkeeping service that is appropriate as per your country’s tax legislation.

Outsourced Bookkeeping Services in London

If you are a London based accounting firm, and looking for professional outsourced bookkeeping services, then help is just a call away (0203-848-4450). We are Affinity Outsourcing, a reputable outsourced bookkeeping services provider. To take a test run of our outsourced bookkeeping services, we offer you a free, no-obligation proposal. We are happy to walk you through our outsourced bookkeeping services and explain the savings, peace-of-mind, and greater financial control you can achieve.

To schedule a free consultation, please contact us at https://bit.ly/2slpoYZ or email us at info@affinityoutsourcing.net.

How Outsourced Accounting Services Work with Affinity Outsourcing: Explained in 5 Simple Steps

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Being an accounting firm in London, did you ever thought of offloading yourself with the help of outsourced accounting services? If yes, then Affinity Outsourcing is always there for you. But, if you are new and don’t know much about the flow of outsourced accountancy services, then here we are about to explain you how the outsourced accounting services work.

At Affinity Outsourcing, we tailor each engagement to our clients’ needs, but our process can typically be explained in five basic steps. Here’s a brief explanation of how the process of outsourcing would work:

Step 1: You Contact us with your Requirement

Whether you are an established accounting firm or a sole practitioner, gaining better financial insight is the key to making informed and productive business decisions. If you are spending your time trying to gather and organize your financial data rather than using that information to drive business growth, then it is recommended to ask for expert help. Being an experienced and established outsourced accountancy firm in London, we can assist you with a wide variety of financial needs. When you contact us and share your financial concerns, we summarize a plan that fits your requirements and budget.

Step 2: Customized Service Based on Requirements and Budget

When you contact us, we can figure out what you need and what will help you the most. Once you share us requirements, we thoughtfully work on it to come up with some truly practical solutions that offer you a free time and boost your growth. We will set up an accounting system based on the unique requirements and other needs of your business. We have flexible packages to ideally match your business requirements and budget. However, you don’t find a relevant package, then we have the option of customized services.

Step 3. Establish a Flexible Work Module that Fits Your Budget and Needs

Like other outsourced accounting service providers across the UK, we do not bind our clients in a contract system. We have flexible hiring modules to meet the unique requirements of our clients. We charge our clients a flat monthly rate based on transaction volume, how the work will be performed, and other factors.

Our outsourced accounting services are cost effective, and it can be tailored to fit your budget and requirements every month. For sure, you will be amazed at how much our services can save you in terms of money and time, not to mention the peace of mind.

Step 4. We Assign a dedicated Team to You

We always strive to the most trusted partner, and not just an ordinary outsourced accountancy firm in London. When you partner with us, we will assign a team of experienced bookkeepers, accountants and a project manager to dedicatedly work with you. These highly skilled resources have the experience of working with businesses like yours and can deliver much needed insight into your financial data. Your dedicated account manager will provide oversight and ensure timeliness and accuracy.

Step 5: Establish a Secure Medium for Sharing Financial Details

For us, data provided by our clients are highly precious and sensitive; therefore, we establish a highly secure way to share financial information to exchange the financial details. All client data is stored on our secure servers in the UK, with access in our delivery center via a ‘dumb’ terminal.

Planning for Accountancy Outsourcing Services in London? Don’t forget to Ask These 4 Security Questions

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Being an accounting practice in London, you want your clients’ accounts to be managed professionally and accurately. For that, you need to hire an in-house accountant or even a part-time bookkeeper to complete the work on time and to maintain the reputation of your firm. But always hiring a full-time accountant is not an economical solution, when you have the option of accountancy outsourcing services in the United Kingdom. Outsourced accounting services offered by companies like Affinity Outsourcing is an ideal solution for accounting practices in London.

As you are sending a great deal of sensitive financial details to a third party, here are some truly important security questions to ask and they are;

  1. Type of Physical Security Used at the Place of Business: Before you think about the security of the electronic data, make sure the places where servers and other financial records are stored are properly secured. Also make sure you have every information about the type of access employees have to record area or databases – figure out whether the server room is secured, and if secured, then what types of security measures are in place. If you are partnering with a remote staffing company, ask them what steps are in place to monitor the location and dissemination of data. Make sure virtual employees are logged into secured servers that don’t allow for transfers of information to local computers or local printing.
  1. Encryption Methods Used on Their Website and Login Portals: The most common encryption method uses an SSL Certification for 128-bit or 256-bit encryption for sending files to the website. This type of encryption prevents the information from being recovered in plain text by any hackers sniffing packets, preventing them from decoding the details sent to the accounting firm. If your outsourced accounting company is sharing and receiving the client’s data via cloud storage or file room, then make sure to find out what security features are in place to protect access by third parties.
  1. What About the Older File You’ve Finished Working With: Once the allocated tasks are finished, try to find out what your outsourced accounting partner is doing with those older files and data. Is it storing it somewhere for a specific period of time? Are they destroying/deleting the data after giving you the copies of finished tasks? Or Are they still saving it? Make sure to know, in writing, what also happens to your files if you choose to end your relationship with your bookkeeping service.
  1. Safety Measures in Case of Data Breach: Data breaches are quite common these days; therefore, find out exactly what policies the company has put in place to lower the level of damage, compensate the affected, and recover the breached data. What alert system is kept in place? When will you be updated about the data breach? So, to overcome all these questions, make sure the company you hire has a solid emergency action plan in place before an emergency occurs.

Partnering with an outsourced accounting services provider can be frightening if you are not aware of data security and technology related to it. Therefore, before you choose an outsourced accounting and bookkeeping firm, you get answers to all the questions listed above.

If you are an accounting practice in London, and considering using outsourced accounting services for your bookkeeping, then we can help you weigh your options and needs. We have plenty of flexible hiring modules with proper security standards in place. For a free consultation and quote, please contact us at https://affinityoutsourcing.net.