How It Works
- CFO
- Controller
- Accounting Manager
- Senior Accountant
- Staff Accountant
- Accounting Clerk/Bookkeeper
- Setting up or revamping the Chart of Accounts
- Establishing best-practice-based processes
- Converting to new ledger systems
- Integrating the accounting functions of acquired companies
- & more...
Communication
Good communication channels and practices are the core of a successful outsourcing relationship. ProAccounting understands this and employs a number of proven strategies to optimize communication between ProAccounting staff and the client. These include:
- The Basics: All ProAccounting staff are trained and measured on such fundamentals as agenda-based meetings, goal setting, project planning, progress reporting, and more.
- Phone, Email, and Chat: All three are used extensively in client engagements to facilitate information flow and quickly remove bottlenecks inhibiting productivity.
- Standing Meetings via Webinar: Especially in the beginning of a client relationship, ProAccounting staff and the client meet regularly to review work, answer questions, resolve issues, and set direction for future efforts.
- Document Sharing: Using software-based services, such as WebEx or Unyte, ProAccounting staff and the client can share documents allowing both parties to see real-time changes, paging, highlights, and other document interactions.
ProAccounting strives in all situations to over-communicate making sure that it is performing the necessary tasks and exceeding client expectations.
Team Structure
Every ProAccounting staff member reports to an experienced Engagement Manager who has supervisory duties in two areas:
- Client satisfaction and first-tier escalation
- Staff member management, mentoring, and performance reviews
Engagement Managers are senior finance and accounting professionals with backgrounds in client and staff management. In addition to the Engagement Manager, staff members also have access to a vast pool of knowledge within the ProAccounting offices. If a staff member needs a specific expertise, it is highly likely that multiple ProAccounting colleagues can provide assistance. This gives the client access to a larger pool of talent than available with a local hire.
Data Flow & Systems
By definition, finance and accounting are data-intensive activities requiring data to move between client, client vendors and partners, and ProAccounting staff simply and easily. To facilitate data flow, ProAccounting utilizes industry-standard technologies typically already in use within the client operations. These include email, Web, file transfer protocol (FTP), client portal, electronic signature, and scanners.
To extract data or process transactions, ProAccounting needs access to client systems via the Web, virtual private network (VPN), or remote desktop access — each of which are simple and easy to setup. Alternatively, we can host your accounting systems on a secure server for remote access by ProAccounting staff and the client.