Key Questions for Manufacturers Considering Outsourced Accounting Solutions

Over the last year, manufacturers across the country have been stretched to their limit. Whether it’s stay-at-home orders, supply chain breakdowns, staff safety concerns, or cash flow issues, the pandemic has dealt the industry a series of demanding and continuous challenges. These hard times have forced many business owners to take a hard look at their financials and the staff managing them.

COVID has pulled the rug out from big and small manufacturing businesses, exposing how essential accurate and timely finances are to run and keep the business afloat. If you’ve questioned whether your company’s accounting and financial information is providing you with the level of depth to make the very best decisions in the last year, you’re not alone.

It’s often difficult to hire and retain reliable personnel to fill bookkeeping, accounting, and financial advisory roles. Good, competent people with an understanding of the manufacturing industry’s ins and outs often require a hefty salary and can be tough to keep. With so many screaming needs filling the to-do lists of business owners, the financial department can often be overlooked or (in some cases) intentionally ignored.

But there is hope! Challenge drives innovation and business owners are beginning to think differently about what they need from their financial department. As COVID has forced all of us to approach work differently, the standard full-time staff model is being re-engineered to meet each individual business’s needs. In the past, a company would hire one person to manage a variety of functions, many of which they may not be equipped to handle whether due to lack of time or expertise. The pandemic has helped to expose that this model might not be best for everyone.

Often the unmet needs of a business vary in function and length. Whether it’s the day-to-day accounts payable and accounts receivable work essential to keeping the lights on, or higher-level services, such as forecasting and decision-making support that are mission critical to growing the business, companies have a variety of needs when it comes to financial support. One-way manufacturers and business owners are meeting their changing needs is through outsourcing.

Outsourcing a business’ accounting and finance functions is increasing in popularity in the manufacturing and distribution world. It’s an effective way to receive experienced, trustworthy and tailored financial support at a manageable cost. But how do you know if it could be right for your business?

Here are some questions to ask yourself when considering outsourcing your accounting and financial functions:

• Is my financial reporting timely and consistent?
• Is my financial information accurate and reliable?
• Is my accounting staff constantly scrambling to clean up the books for year-end reporting?
• Does the information I’m provided support high-level strategic planning or financial decision-making?
• Can we improve our budgeting and projections capabilities?
• Is my accounting team doing the job they were hired to do?
  • Is my CFO or controller spending time bookkeeping instead of supporting decision making?
  • Are my accountant(s) struggling to generating high-level management reports needed to manage the business?
• Are my bank accounts reconciled timely and are there proper controls over cash?
• Is there a need for cash flow analysis or projections beyond what I am currently receiving?
• Are there pain-points or inefficiencies in my financial workflows/processes?
• Are my vendors getting paid late?
• Do my systems and personnel provide the KPIs need to manage the business?
• Is the business constantly behind on billing for services?
• Is my accounting staff having difficulty filing and paying appropriate taxes (sales, use, payroll, or income)?

If you answered yes to any of the above, it may be worth taking a deeper look at whether outsourcing could be beneficial to your business.

Maner Costerisan’s outsourced accounting team is here to fill-in the gaps to support your key initiatives and help you grow. Our outsourced team provides a one-stop-shop for companies with a range of accounting and financial management needs. From CFO-level solutions to part-time bookkeeping needs, Maner Costerisan can eliminate headaches and pain-points in the financial sector of the business, while providing critical information on a timely basis to help leaders make decisions.