BOSS Asks if Working With an Outsourcing Provider That Trains Their Staff Actually Benefits Clients?

Lee Court, from accounting outsourcing firm BOSS says, “There’s nothing abnormal about accounting firms thinking they can easily train their outsourced accountants themselves. They keep their in-house staff trained. Why would training offshore staff be any different? However, training overseas staff is something that requires a little more consideration in order to get the most out of your outsourcing experience.”

Accounting firms often encounter a variety of difficulties when it comes to training staff who are outsourced offshore:

Time Zone Variations: Organising training sessions across various time zones makes it challenging to schedule live interactions, frequently necessitating asynchronous approaches that might be less engaging.

Cultural and Communication Obstacles: Variations in language, workplace culture, and modes of communication can result in misinterpretations. For instance, subtleties in the English language or standards of professional conduct might not convey properly, which could affect the effectiveness of training.

Adjusting to Constant Changes: Accounting regulations, software solutions, and client demands change rapidly. International staff might find it challenging to keep up without ongoing, easily accessible training.

Insufficient Contextual Awareness: Staff from abroad might lack familiarity with local Australian laws, such as taxation regulations (for instance, ATO guidelines), or client-specific practices, necessitating comprehensive training to fill this void.

Accounting firms frequently tackle these issues by implementing customised e-learning platforms, conducting frequent virtual check-ins, and providing localised training materials, yet the challenges necessitate continuous effort for effective management.

All BOSS accountants are continually trained on Australian tax and law to keep them up to date on all of the taxation changes.

Court says “Our clients put the BOSS Tax Training Program™ amongst the top of their priorities when they sought out our services. And a lot of clients that tried other outsourcing services before us found the task of doing the training themselves was just too overwhelming.”

The benefits of having BOSS outsourcing also doing all of the training are as follows:

• All BOSS staff go through a one month induction program on Australian issues, six months on-the-job training and ongoing twice-monthly tax & regulatory issue training sessions with BOSS. It removes the headaches of training overseas staff.
• BOSS staff receive weekly Tax News updates from CCH. They have access online to the full CCH tax library which includes the Master Tax Guide, as well as having access to the ATO portal.
• All BOSS accountants have free access to the Managing Director Kiran Kumar, who brings in more than a decade of Australian expertise to BOSS and is a member of the Institute of Public Accountants, Australia.
• BOSS outsourced staff are also trained on the accounting software clients use in their own office.

About BOSS, BACK OFFICE SHARED SERVICES PTY LTD

BOSS (Back Office Shared Services Pty Ltd) was founded in 2004 to provide skilled accountants and bookkeepers on a full-time, part-time and casual basis to commercial enterprises, accounting and financial services firms in Australia.

BOSS India is a subsidiary of BOSS Australia and runs just like an ultra-modern paperless Australian public practice because the Director and Accountancy Practice Principal, Peter Vickers, has been operating his own successful Australian public practice for over twenty years.