How Staff Augmentation Can Keep You Operating Efficiently When Faced with Unexpected Staffing Issues

It’s no secret that solid financial information is critical to long-term success and growth. But what happens when an unexpected staffing issue brings your financial operations to a grinding halt? Whether staffing is short due to an unexpected change, experience is limited, or you’ve had a spike in business – an outsourcing firm can help eliminate disruptions and keep your operations running efficiently, even during times of uncertainty.

What is Staff Augmentation?

Staff augmentation is the process of working with an outside resource to help with a particular task. You essentially create your dream team through trusted advisors, consultants, and resources on loan when and where you need them . An organization may consider staff augmentation when their accounting staff doesn’t have the experience needed in a particular situation, staff resigns or goes on leave, or they don’t need someone full-time.

Organizations outsource roles, tasks, and special projects at all levels from transactional to C-suite. Some common outsourcing services include:

• transaction-based accounting services (accounts payable, accounts receivable, payroll)
• controller level services
• CFO services
• cloud-based accounting technology advice
• month-end and year-end reconciliation

No matter what stage of business you are in, an experienced outsourcing firm can offer a variety of options to support your organization’s specific needs.

Types of Staff Augmentation

Fractional

When you hire a fractional professional, this individual works with your team on a part-time, retainer, or contract basis. Typically, they will work with you a couple of days a week or month depending on your needs. Fractional professionals provide the same services that a full-time, permanent employee would. But with this option, you get the insight and expertise of a seasoned employee without the costs of hiring someone full-time.

Fractional staff augmentation may be a good fit for your organization if you:

• Aren’t ready to fill a full-time, permanent position (which can be costly)
• Require immediate deep market expertise or specialized knowledge
• Need temporary assistance with a specific challenge, project, or goal (ex. developing a cashflow forecast or preparing an exit strategy)

What does this look like in action?
A fractional CFO might help your organization with monthly reporting and analysis, creating dashboards, setting and reporting key performance indicators, investor relations, cash flow projections, overseeing the accounting department, and income tax and payroll filings.

Interim

Although there are some similarities, interim-based professionals are not the same as fractional. Unlike a fractional individual, an interim professional works with your team on a full-time (or close to full-time) schedule for a definitive period of time. Depending on your needs, this might be three months or a year – but they will not be a long-term employee.

Interim staff augmentation may be a good fit for your organization if you:

• Need to fill the gap between permanent hires
• Can’t afford to wait to fill a position (this can take 6-12 months or more)
• Want the deep expertise of a seasoned individual temporarily
• What does this look like in action?
  An interim CFO performs all the duties of a traditional, full-time CFO. However, they’re only hired to fill a gap when needed.

Signs Your Organization Needs Support

Business owners and senior leaders are faced with a multitude of complex issues that need attention. If not addressed, they can quickly halt or completely derail your financial operations.

Here are the most common challenges we see organizations face today:

• A lack of specialized accounting knowledge and experience (beyond the day-to-day)
• Disparate financial systems and technology that reduce productivity
• Missing opportunities to take a more strategic approach to financial operations
• Not gathering or using data to make strong financial decisions

If your organization is facing any of these challenges, you’re not alone. According to McKinsey, the most efficient finance departments are doing more with less. These teams are reducing absolute costs and shifting their focus towards value-added activities that achieve higher levels of effectiveness.

We see many organizations struggle with these problems, but acknowledging your organization’s needs, with its biggest challenges in mind, is a great first step. And an outsourcing firm like Eide Bailly can help. The vision and guidance an outsourcing firm with specialized accounting knowledge can bring makes the difference between slowing and growing for your organization.

Why Staff Augmentation is a Good Business Strategy

While companies will continue to invest more in developing in-house capabilities, research also shows that a majority of companies will continue to outsource tasks far into the future. Outsourcing has been normalized for companies of all sizes and is set to remain a smart and strategic business option.

Outsourcing talent is critical to growth and long-term success and the benefits are endless. Here are some of the key benefits and impacts:

• Access to experienced resources with the skills you need to save time and money, for a monthly service fee
• Hands-on knowledge without going through the hiring, onboarding, and training process
• Access to a larger talent pool of resources that know your industry and understand your needs
• Flexibility and remote services
• Increased ability to better meet customer needs, as employees are freed from more minimal or unrelated tasks
• Leveraging the best tools and technology to increase productivity and create greater efficiencies
• A strategic, future-focused approach to plan for long-term projects and get them done faster

“Having Eide Bailly’s accountants help with specific tasks has made it much easier for us to have the right person in the right position doing the right thing rather than trying to have all the knowledge and skill concentrated in one person who then tries to do too much.”

- Leo Etcheto | CEO, Nutriom

Partner with an Outsourcing Firm Who Understands Your Needs

Staffing is a key factor when it comes to unresolved accounting records. And this happens at all levels of the organization, from bookkeeping to the CFO. An unexpected loss of key financial personnel can impact productivity and most importantly, your bottom line. Don’t let unexpected staffing issues bring your financial operations to a halt.

Today, many organizations are turning to local or international outsourcing as a way to gain the accounting knowledge they need, without having to bear the burden of hiring someone full-time. An experienced outsourcing firm can offer real-world advice (because they’ve been there) and help you see how up-to-date financials combined with cloud-based accounting technology, will help your financial team move forward with confidence.

When you partner with a firm for outsourcing consulting services, you’ll have access to many financial services including:

• CFO consulting services
• Outsourced CFO services
• CFO accounting
• Controller level services
• Monthly benchmarking & financial modeling
• Key performance indicator scorecard
• Oversight of your day-to-day financials
• Business and strategic planning
• Transaction-based accounting services (accounts payable, accounts receivable, payroll)
• Cloud-based accounting technology advice (NetSuite, Salesforce, Microsoft)
• Month-end and year-end reconciliation

Eide Bailly’s experienced outsourcing professionals can help you fill the gap and keep your operations running efficiently. From transactional to C-suite, our outsourcing team has the expertise to propel your organization forward on a path to success.