Finance and accounting shared services and outsourcing – only a work in progress?

Go to most shared services and outsourcing conferences, and the high level takeaway is that global finance and accounting delivery is pretty close to its zenith when it comes to efficiency and effectiveness. However, when ACCA Global, the leading accountancy training body, asked over 1600 finance professionals what the state of play actually is, the study’s conclusions actually flew in the face of many commonly held perceptions about the effectiveness of finance shared services and outsourcing solutions. Looking at companies of all sizes and in many different locations … despite the fact that respondents consider themselves experienced and their models mature, the levels of adoption of outsourcing, the penetration of processes (especially more complex processes), and the realization of objectives all indicate that shared services and outsourcing have some way to go when it comes to finance transformation. There remains significant runway for shared services and outsourcing adoption, and even more when it comes to delivering the benefits that finance professionals expect. When businesses do adopt a transformative model, ACCA’s analysis suggests shared services is the predominant strategy of choicefor most finance processes, both transactional and complex. However, there is still relatively low penetration of transactional process delivery which contradicts the common belief that there has been mass consolidation of a full range of transactional processes into shared services and outsourcing delivery. Similarly, the survey found that the hype around moving higher-complexity work to other models is not borne out by the data. This does not mean that finance leaders are not aspirational as to the business benefits they seek from transformation of the finance function through shared services and outsourcing delivery – in fact, the study says quite the opposite. The usual trifecta of reduced cost, greater finance efficiency and improved business performance are cited as key drivers for adopting alternative models, yet executives also seek to fulfill a much broader range of business goals, ranging from the traditional finance goals of improved control, more effective compliance and better data transparency to paradigm shifts in finance capability. As they gain in experience with a particular model of delivery, finance executives not only see their initial objectives as becoming even more important, but they also give more importance to other objectives that positively affect the business, not just the finance function. There is now a desire for more flexibility, more capability, more scalability, more transformation. Unsurprisingly, cost reduction becomes less of a priority. ACCA’s analysis, however, suggests these expectations are not being met and the hype cannot quite be believed. Or not yet. The granularity reveals some further insights: not surprisingly, the larger organisations are more likely to adopt more sophisticated delivery models but these do not necessarily increase effectiveness. Those opting for shared services or hybrid models also have greater aspirations as to what these models will deliver; generally they see increased effectiveness. These findings beg two key questions – firstly: do finance shared services and outsourcing leaders expect too much of their chosen delivery models? And secondly: do we really know what success is and how we measure it? For an industry that centers its measurement almost exclusively on cost cutting and SLA achievement, is it fair to say that shared services and outsourcing is not delivering on its promise? Is it possible to achieve benefits you don’t measure? [inlinead]

Finance and accounting shared services and outsourcing – only a work in progress?

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Finance and accounting shared services and outsourcing – only a work in progress?

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