The next question, what are these segments – the standard functions that can be outsourced. Pick up your accounting books. The fundamentals will start coming out of the type of transactions you know of. See how those transactions can be structured and grouped, and in that lies your answer. After all accounting is accounting 🙂

See the list below :

Finance and accounting processes :

  • Procure to Pay
  • Order to Cash
  • Reconciliations
  • Record to Report
    • General Accounting
    • Fixed Assets
    • Financial Planning and Analysis
    • Budgeting & Forecasting
    • Regulatory reporting & compliance
  • Treasury & Risk Management
  • Taxation
  • Management Reporting and Analysis
  • Hire to retire
  • Analytics
  • Statutory Accounting
  • Audits

Related processes :

  • Form entry
  • Function re-engineering and transformation
  • Project transitioning
  • Setting up of a Shared Service / back office unit
  • Application consulting
  • Process improvements
  • Risk and compliance

This is not an exhaustive list. This can be as wide as your imagination.

If you are already a part of the back office / outsourcing / shared service world, you may have the knowledge of a lot of this, but it is always good to run with a few introductions.

As you expand each of these broad classifications, you will see how this finance and accounting world unfolds. Watch out for the next post.