Grow your business: Outsourcing may be the answer

Feb. 20, 2019

This paid piece is sponsored by Eide Bailly LLP.

You, business owner, you’ve made it! Your dream has finally become a reality. You’re your own boss, you have people on your payroll, and you’re ready to make a difference.

You begin to work toward growth goals, but you find yourself frustrated. Your sales are up, but your cash is down. You try and review your balance sheet, but you can’t make sense of all the details. You may have an idea of how to exit, but you’re not sure how to build a legacy that will last.

That’s where Eide Bailly’s Business Outsourcing and Strategy practice comes in. The BOS services are dedicated to helping small to midsized businesses by addressing the financial demands of growing companies. Eide Bailly assists these companies by providing a full suite of accounting services, including bookkeeping through CFO services – at the level that works for our clients. BOS team members also provide support and overall financial guidance for businesses. All of this is done in a real-time, cloud-based environment.

“We want to add value by providing an easy and user-friendly way for businesses to have accounting and financial guidance advice and services at every stage of their business,” said Jenni Huotari, Eide Bailly CPA and director of Business Outsourcing and Strategy.

The BOS service was initially bred out of need. While Eide Bailly has always offered some form of accounting services, the work often was done as cleanup and write-up work – after the fact. The BOS service line took this past model and streamlined the process with cloud-based accounting software that often syncs with other technology used by the business and offers real-time information.

“Traditional financial statements help you see past performance,” Huotari said. “However, you want your eyes on the road ahead, not the rear-view mirror. Our services provide insight and foresight into your business and help you plan for the future, which allows you to avoid sharp turns and potholes along the way.”

Our BOS services are often bundled with other offerings at Eide Bailly, including tax consulting and preparation, human resources consulting and technology. For clients, this means a consistent monthly fee billed to them for all the services provided.

Sweet success

A nonprofit client was looking for timely financial information that its internally prepared monthly financials failed to provide. The client engaged our BOS team, who now sends the organization a weekly cash flow projection that lays out upcoming expenditures and incoming funds. The BOS team meets weekly with the organization’s staff and frees up their time, so the nonprofit can do what was originally intended – to get out of the office, secure new donations and fulfill its mission.

What started out as questions on sales tax and a new software that might sync with QuickBooks ended with a very satisfied client. After two meetings, our BOS staff discovered the company had not reconciled its bank account in QuickBooks – ever. The owners started the business six years ago, but were too busy taking care of the day-to-day details of running their business and were handling their accounting after hours at home, late into the night. Our BOS department took over the company’s sales tax reporting, accounts payable and bank reconciliations. The owners are now free to focus on what they do best – growing their business.

The “why”

Why would a top 25 CPA firm in the U.S. invest in a service like BOS? The “why” is simple: Eide Bailly wants to see clients succeed. “To us, success is allowing you to make informed business decisions based on up-to-date, accurate financial data you understand,” Huotari said.

After all, numbers can be tricky – and we’re accountants. But the story those numbers tell is essential to any business’ success. Plus, the BOS team knows the love of numbers isn’t the reason most business owners get out of bed in the morning. The BOS offerings help owners instead focus on what they do best and understand the numbers along the way.

The ideal client

How do you know if you could benefit from BOS services? Here are a few points to keep in mind:

  • Small, yet growing, businesses looking to take it to the next level are a good fit, especially those looking for quality financial information and advisory services.
  • Mature businesses could use this service if they are looking for higher-level advisory services or experiencing turnover in their financial roles.
  • Anyone who values receiving quality financial information in a timely manner could benefit as well.

Industries in which the BOS service team has seen significant value applied include the medical professional – dentists, chiropractors, etc. – distribution and restaurant industries, to name a few.

The power of outsourcing

Now the question you’re probably thinking is: “Can’t I hire someone in-house to do this?” The answer is yes. However, outsourcing financial tasks can solve problems that arise before you have the budget to hire a full-time CFO or controller. You don’t have to pay insurance or other benefits on outsourced staff, so you can just sit back and enjoy the benefit of a high-level financial professional with years of experience.

For Eide Bailly’s BOS professionals, it’s all about understanding your goals and helping your business grow. Many business owners see Eide Bailly’s BOS professionals as members of their team and talk to them like they’re on their payroll. And that’s just the way we want it.

“We want to understand our clients and their needs, even those they haven’t expressed yet,” Huotari said. “By continually improving how we perform and deliver value, we can help you focus on what you do best: running and growing your business.”

To learn more about Eide Bailly’s Business Outsourcing and Strategy practice, contact Kristen Boyle at [email protected] or 605-977-2739. Or click here to learn more.

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Grow your business: Outsourcing may be the answer

Your sales are up, but your cash is down. You try to review your balance sheet, but you can’t make sense of all the details. Sound familiar? This is a way to use high-level financial expertise without the cost of full-time staff.

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