AIR Outsourcing – The Strategic Partner for UK Accountants

Client Overview

Our client, a small but ambitious UK accounting firm, sought more than just outsourced support; they wanted a strategic partner to help them grow their business. Their primary goal was to leverage support of our qualified and experienced accountants to enable them to focus more on business development. This was the overall strategy they had to achieve growth. AIR Outsourcing stepped in to provide a comprehensive, goals-based solution resulting in:

• An understanding of which segments of businesses were most profitable, enabling marketing strategy to be more refined towards these.
• An understanding of which segments of business were least profitable, which was equally as important. Our client managed to understand which particular clients were not producing the right profit margins and even incurring losses.
• Immediate process improvement through use of free software to save the staff time on some of their administrative tasks

Our Approach: A Deep Dive into Client Aspirations

At AIR Outsourcing, we believe that true partnership goes beyond cost reduction. From the outset, we conducted an in-depth analysis of our client’s ambitions, gaining a detailed understanding of their business aspirations. We identified their primary goal: to increase the portfolio of clients they had and grow their practice achieving greater levels of profitability.

Instead of just handling outsourced tasks, the bread and butter of outsourcing, we aligned our processes to directly support this goal, creating a bespoke solution that addressed profitability from multiple angles.

How We Added Value:

1. Understanding the Client’s Goals

Our relationship began with a series of strategic conversations, where we defined the client’s key objective: to gain a clearer view of profitability across all client engagements. With this in mind, we tailored our services to not only complete accounting tasks but also to deliver insights that would enhance their decision-making and business planning.

2. Data-Driven Profitability Analysis

Every month, we provided detailed reports on the key metrics we tracked. These included:

   – Time spent on each task outsourced to us.

   – A percentage breakdown of time allocated to each task relative to total time.

   – The actual cost allocated to each job, based on time spent as a proportion of the client’s total payment to us.

By analysing this data, we built a profitability analysis for each job. This allowed the client to see which engagements were the most profitable and identify areas that needed improvement.

3. Problem-Solving & Process Improvement

In instances where the time taken on a job didn’t achieve the desired profit margins, we conducted deeper investigations. We explored potential process inefficiencies, such as:

   – Were the client’s internal processes optimized, e.g., were they using cloud software with automated bookkeeping?

   – Was too much time being spent on tasks by the internal team, such as their bookkeeper?

   – Was the fee being charged to their clients adequate for the amount of work involved?

This enabled the client to make informed decisions about workflow adjustments, fee structures, and resource allocation.

4. Sector-Based Insights

To further refine profitability analysis, we segmented the clients we worked on into different sectors. This gave our client valuable insights into which industries yielded the highest profit margins. Armed with this data, they were able to focus their marketing efforts on sectors that offered the most growth potential, enhancing their long-term profitability.

Results and Impact:

Through our tailored, data-driven approach, the client gained a far clearer understanding of their profitability on each job. This was beyond their initial expectations of what they thought they were utilising us for. They now had:

– A transparent breakdown of the time and cost associated with each task.

– Insights into which sectors were most profitable, allowing them to target marketing efforts more effectively.

– Enhanced process efficiency through our strategic analysis of internal and external workflows.

With AIR Outsourcing as their partner, the client not only optimised their profitability but also gained a strategic edge in growing their business.

Why AIR Outsourcing is the Perfect Partner for UK Accountants:

At AIR Outsourcing, we are not just service providers; we are strategic partners. We go beyond outsourcing tasks to deliver insights that help our clients achieve their broader business goals. Our unique, goals-based approach means we take the time to understand what truly matters to our clients and provide the tools, data, and analysis needed to help them thrive.

If you’re looking for an outsourcing partner who can deliver more than cost savings, and can strategically assist you in achieving your business goals, AIR Outsourcing is the partner you need.

Get in Touch

Contact us today to learn how we can help your accounting practice reach new heights of profitability.