We are convinced that hiring a good virtual accountant is the best decision for a fast-growing business. And if you are about to research, and look for a virtual accounting service that can help you save time and money, you need to consider some criteria to find the best one. The following factors will aid you before making your choice.
The process of selecting and evaluating good virtual accountants
A service process, more or less, partly reflects its quality, and so is the virtual accounting service. You can rely on the below assessment to confirm if your virtual accountant is the right one.
Call virtual accounting services to get to know them
Since you’ll never meet your virtual accountant in person, a face-to-face phone call will be crucial to getting to know him better. If your virtual accountant is based overseas, you can probably only reach him via email.
However, a professional virtual accountant will always ensure to answer your questions in the most dedicated way.
If you want to talk directly with your overseas virtual accountant, the virtual accountant might spend some time outside office hours to discuss with you due to time zone difference.
Direct contact with a virtual accounting service
A professional virtual accounting service will offer a face-to-face meeting with its client before officially partnering. Their goal is to understand the client’s needs and expectations. After this meeting, the service provider will send the client a detailed scope of work to present to them what they can provide.
If that client decides to go ahead with that provider, they will arrange a few more meetings to set up the process, and work procedures, so that everything fits the client’s business as best as possible.
Virtual accountants are available to contact clients according to the client’s time zone
Email is the best evidence providing a written record of conversations between clients and virtual accountants. In addition, working by email also lets both customers and accountants manage their time better, and the virtual accountant can pay more attention to what he’s doing.
However, in urgent cases, the virtual accountant can still support clients via Instant Message, if two sides have gone back-and-forth via email a few times, but the client still has questions.
Some other evaluation factors
Once you’ve spoken directly with your potential virtual accountant, and decided to go ahead with him, the next step is to make sure you have his commitment to your company’s financial data. It requires the virtual accountant to sign and perform some legal documents, including:
The Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA) before you show the virtual account any financial documents.
The virtual accountant will prepare a Client Procedures Manual (CPM), outlining duties and timelines to complete the work.
He needs to sign a Service Level Agreement (SLA) that backs up the CPM with a legally binding document, ensuring he will deliver the services he promises.
The accounting service will carry Professional Liability (E&O) commitment, and employee dishonesty insurance to protect your business from theft and loss.
Seeking an excellent virtual accountant is somehow challenging, as accounting and finance duties are sensitive, impacting a company’s business confidentiality. However, if you can find a reliable virtual accounting service, you will benefit from what they provide.
At Innovature BPO, we are committed to providing the most dedicated virtual accountants, with the best quality to meet all clients’ needs and requirements. Our virtual accountants are all professionals with years of working in different industries.
