Outsourcing Financial Processes: Maximizing Efficiency

Zeszyty Naukowe - Politechnika Śląska. Organizacja i Zarządzanie, 2024

The aim of this article is to enhance the operational processes (reduce processing time, improve management) of accounting offices in the implementation of structured electronic invoices. The article analyzes the significance of these entities in the context of transitioning from traditional paper invoices to electronic invoices, and identifies the benefits, challenges and solutions associated with their involvement in this process. Design/methodology/approach: The research utilizes a methodology based on literature analysis and a questionnaire survey among enterprises providing accounting services, aiming to comprehend their perspective in the context of implementing structured electronic invoices. Findings: The outcome of the research involves the creation of three scenarios for dealing with clients of accounting offices in the implementation of structured electronic invoices. The research is based on a limited range of respondents, which may affect the overall representativeness of the results. Furthermore, rapidly evolving technologies and regulations may impact the relevancy of some findings in the future. Practical implications: The findings of this study suggest that collaboration with entities providing accounting services can significantly facilitate businesses in the process of implementing structured electronic invoices. Companies should consider the benefits of external support in order to effectively transition to new solutions. Originality/value: The article contributes to the discussion about the changing role of entities providing accounting services in the digital transformation of B2B services.

A S t r a t e g i c R e p o r t f o r To p M a n a g e m e n t B1T Banking and Information Technology N e w s t i c k e r F e a t u re d A r t i c l e s 'IT-Strategies in the Back-Office' Vo l u m e 1 , I s s u e 2 , J u n e 2 0 0 0 Contents Banking and Information Technology 5 7 7 17 29 35 35 47 48 Newsticker Featured Articles 'IT-Strategies in the Back-Office' Information Processing in Banks -Innovative Technologies and Concepts The strategy-oriented use of information technology plays a key role in mastering the structural change in the banking sector. Distributed systems, network computing, Java, Data Warehousing and XML are innovative technologies and concepts, all of which offer interesting solution approaches. [Ernst Stahl, Andreas Wimmer] The Outsourcing of IT Services in Banking:

2017

In the research context let us first look at what constitute BPO companies, their services and their current marketing practices. Each business entity consists of several departments. Each department executes a set of activities. These activities can be broadly classified as core activities and non-core activities. Core activities are those activities that create value to business entities product or service offering. Non-core activities are other essential activities but they do not add direct value to business entities customers. Examples of core functions include key operational activities such as manufacturing, quality, marketing, and product development. Examples of non-core activities include payroll, accounts, and customer service. many companies look to outsource these non-core activities and concentrate more on the core activities and add more value to their customers. This is where the BPO outsourcing companies come in, they offer outsourcing services at lower cost and som...

Resilience to dynamic business environment has become prime important in the current pandemic context. Strategies that enable organisations to become cost effective and efficient are decisive factors for survival. Emphasis given in this study for Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) sector. A significant amount to country's Gross Domestic Production is contributed by SMEs in Sri Lanka. It is vital for SMEs to withstand the short term economic downturn and be financially robust while protecting the revenues. Previous studies have found the importance of strategic vision for SMEs to enhance competitive edge over the competition. Strategic Outsourcing of Financial Accounting has specific advantages for SMEs. Financial Accounting Outsourcing and Virtual Chief Financial Officer (VCFO) services are extensively used in the international context. They are also adopted to some extent by large companies and conglomerates in Sri Lanka. Further it was evident that dynamic capabilities such as cloud accounting, advance management accounting practices, accessibility to financial information and data driven decision capabilities are hard and costly to organically build in-house. Literature evident supports that through strategic outsourcing of financial accounting function, SME's could improve their performance and become competitive by focusing on their core business. This study includes a review in to the Outsourcing of Financial Accounting as a Service and how strategic 'fit' could be achieved in application with specific focus on SME sector in Sri Lanka. The Concept of Shared Service Centers and its development to Business Process Outsourcing services and further extending to Virtual CFO services is discussed in this paper. It was evident that a practice gap exists in adopting strategically motivated financial accounting outsourcing in SMEs sector of Sri Lanka.

2009

2000

Int rodu ct ion 1.1 Services 1.1.1 Views on services 1.1.2 Types of services 2 Example applicat ion s 3 2.1 Video over IP: content-based billing for streaming video 2.1.1 Roles 2.1.2 Design of the accounting, charging and billing service 2.1.3 Charging scheme 2.1.4 Issues that arise from this example 3 Roles and relat ion s betw een roles 3.1 User 3.2 Front-end service provider 3.3 Back-end service provider 3.4 Application 3.5 Authentication and authorisation server 3.6 External FinEx system 4 Req uired f un ctio nality 4.1 Functional model 4.1.1 Accounting 4.1.2 Accounting data acquisition 4.1.3 Charging 4.1.4 Pricing 4.1.5 Billing 4.1.6 Payment 4.1.7 Information provisioning 4.2 Policies 5 Relat ion w ith aut ho risatio n and auth entication 5.1 Authentication and authorization requirements for accounting 5.2 Accounting information as input for authorisation 6 Int er-dom ain acco unting issues 6.1 Distribution of functionality over domains

2011

This study aims to identify the factors that affect Iranian manufacturing SMEs' decision to outsource accounting functions (activities) using a transaction cost economics (TCE) perspective. Based on a questionnaire survey data of 658 Iranian manufacturing SMEs, this study found support for three TCE predictions, that is, asset specificity, frequency and trust in accountant, which are significantly associated with the accounting function outsourcing intensity. The other two predictors that were examined, that is, behavioral uncertainty and environmental uncertainty, were not significantly associated with accounting function outsourcing intensity. Therefore, we provide a specific, theoretically and empirically grounded prediction of how TCE attributes influences outsourcing of accounting functions with implications for theory and practice.

2016

This paper on "Improving the Quality of Financial Statements through Timely Clearing of Good Receipt Invoice Receipt (GRIR)" reviews a typical GRIR clearing process and attempts to identify the root causes for pending GRIR lines with the objective of improving the timeliness and accuracy of the information provided through the financial statements. The GRIR clearing process of a reputed company operated in Sri Lanka was studied to identify the root causes for pending GRIR lines. When a company raises a purchase order, the supplier delivers the goods and issues an invoice for payment. In the normal course of business, the goods receipts and the quantity invoiced for a purchase order often differ and this ultimately will result in artificial debit or credit balances in the books of accounts. Pending GRIR lines for a longer period of time results in overstated/understated expenses or liabilities and that adversely affects the quality of the information provided through the financial statements. Therefore, it is recommended to clear the GRIR account at regular intervals and especially at the end of every fiscal year in order to preserve the timeliness and accuracy of the financial information. Anyway, when it comes to practice, to reconcile the GRIR account manually and follow up the deviations will become more tedious task. This becomes more difficult for the companies which are handling high volumes of purchases or engaged in purchasing from foreign countries. Clearing GRIR, which is categorized as a non-value adding activity, involves a huge cost and thus to identify the causes for pending GRIR lines will be important. Though the causes may differ from organization to organization, this study identifies the common causes along with their potential impact and the solutions.

How IoT Will Influence Accounting and Billing Systems It be believed that IoT can remodel the accounting and billing industry. Since it connects all devices on a global scale, the data harvested by each connected device can be translated into stellar strategies. IoT can be used with suitable accounting software to automate the process of accounting and billing to improve its overall productivity. Thus, IoT has the potential to enhance the accounting system in many ways. These are many online accounting packages and tools that focus on small and medium businesses, and now it's no longer just clouds with Internet things taking over. ➢ Banks and salaries provided data directly into the system, ➢ Sales representatives create invoices directly from their iPhones ➢ Invoices are entered directly from iPhones by people who buy goods ➢ Like Xero, the calculations are surprisingly accurate without any input from the accountant ➢ SMEs are now asking for advice that not only sets the time of commitment but also helps them shape their business for the future. ➢ Accountants and service providers in all professions need to find new ways to be part of the new service-driven world. Internet of Things, known as Internet of Things (IoT), is a network of physical devices, vehicles, home appliances and other components embedded with electronic devices, computers, sensors, engines and communication that enable these devices to communicate and share data that is uniquely defined by a computer capable of on the interaction within the current infrastructure of the Internet.