Question 1

What is outsourced bookkeeping?

Accepted Answer

Instead of hiring your own bookkeeper and incurring recruiting, training and management costs, The Finance Department provides you with a team of professionals who manage your bookkeeping, accounting and financial reporting. By employing The Finance Department, you hire a service that does not take vacation, call in sick or quit without notice.

Question 2

Where is it outsourced to?

Accepted Answer

We have a remote team located in New York State. We are available to help you 9:00am–5:30pm EST Monday through Thursday and 9:00am–5:00pm EST on Fridays.  Additional hours of service are available upon request.

Question 3

How much will it cost?

Accepted Answer

Our service is completely customized to each client. We evaluate your bookkeeping and accounting requirements, current staff, volume of transactions and your budget to develop a solution that works best for you. We offer two fee structures: a flat monthly fee for recurring services or an hourly rate for services that change in volume or season.

Our fee costs about the same as compensating your own bookkeeper, without all of the hidden costs of employee turnover & replacement, training, sick time and management oversight. You also save on expenses for equipment, software services, office space, and other staff support.

Don’t forget about how our services can protect you from the consequences of sloppy and inaccurate books and records. What is the value of your credibility? How does it translate into your annual audit fees?  These items are often overlooked and cost companies significant amounts of money each year.

Question 4

We already have a bookkeeper and a year-end accountant. Why should I switch?

Accepted Answer

With our service, you get a team of accounting professionals—expertise not normally available to small- and medium-sized businesses. We offer high quality and accurate accounting and bookkeeping remotely. By outsourcing, you no longer have the headache and cost of employee training, supervision and turnover. Spend your time growing and managing your business, not your bookkeeper.

Question 5

How secure is it?

Accepted Answer

We maintain the highest security standards on all of our internal systems. We protect your business’ data using multi-factor authentication, encryption and constant activity monitoring to detect suspicious activity. Our team is continuously trained on how to identify and address the latest security threats and phishing scams that target small- and medium-sized businesses. Our top priority is keeping your financial information safe so that you can focus on running your business.

Question 6

How does outsourcing bookkeeping work?

Accepted Answer

We’ll work together to set up access to your accounts for our team members. Most banks and online services allow you to add users with limited access permissions to your account. This keeps you in full control of your accounts while granting us the necessary access to manage your books.

Question 7

Is there specific software we have to use?

Accepted Answer

The choice of software is up to you. Our team has experience working across many different systems with our clients. You can either remain on your existing accounting system or we can help you convert to a new service. We will help you select the system best-suited for your business and then set up your application, train your staff and convert your data to make the new system implementation a straightforward and easy event.

FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions