What is outsourcing?

Outsourcing can be defined as “the strategic use of outside resources to perform activities traditionally handled by internal staff and resources”.

What is Insourcing?

Insourcing arises when a company sees the need for professional financial management and control, but do not want to add to headcount, and certainly do not need a full time finance person.

Instead of “contracting out” to an accounting firm, you can insource the appropriate financial skillset who will be part of your team.

A specialist outside company can provide this and will back up the in-sourced resource with a team at its own base and necessary methodologies, systems and experience to give a growing company all the benefits and value of strong and flexible financial management – working from company premises, with colleagues, but without the cost and employment obligations of hiring yet another staff member.

Why should I outsource my finance function?

 • Reduce And Control Operating Costs
 • Improve Company Focus
 • Gain Access To World-Class Capabilities
 • Free Internal Resources For Other Purposes
 • A Function Is Time-Consuming To Manage Or Is Out Of Control
 • Insufficient Resources Are Available Internally

 In the early days, cost or headcount reduction were the most common reasons to outsource. In today's world the drivers are often more strategic, and focus on carrying out core value-adding activities in-house where an organisation can best utilise its core competencies.

Why should I use you instead of my accountant?

What accountants do, they do well. We work alongside your accountants, as you will still need them for your tax and audit requirements. But where traditional accountants focus on data processing, we provide commercial, day-to-day financial management that focuses on utilising, rather than generating, data.

My company is small, can you still help me?

e-FM prides itself on flexibility. Although we have a list of services, we rarely find a business that needs a straightforward, off the shelf solution. Because of this flexibility, we can help any businesses, from the smallest to largest.

Will I still have control of my finances?

Yes. Depending on the role you hire us for, our job is to capture, analyse and present conclusions from financial data, maintain statutory financial obligations and when required offer advice on financial matters. We will be equivalent to an internal finance team, without the headache, cost and paperwork of employment.

Why do I need to keep an accurate set of accounts?

 • Legal requirements - both Companies House and HMRC require you to keep books for statutory and tax reasons
 • VAT/PAYE - records need to be kept for inspection
 • Finance - if you require loans or finance the lender will ask to see accurate accounts
 • Control of your business - if you do not keep accurate books, it is impossible to know who you have to pay and when, if anybody owes you money, if your business is growing, or even if it is making money!