The last 14 months have put new pressures on accountants, forcingthem to do more with less. As a result, accounting firms have turned tooutsource and strategic partners like Corient to ease the workloads andachieve greater growth and ensure that the quality of work is intact.Corient helped many Accounting Practices during the tough times lastyear with all the unprecedented furlough claims along with otherregular compliance work.

Practices who always believed that outsourcing would never work asthey felt that accounting work could not be performed outside of theoffice environment, were forced to work from home in March last year.They have been working remotely quite successfully and have nowrealised that outsourcing could perhaps work better for them.Accountants now feel that outsourcing and cloud technology can betterequip their practice, prepare them for future growth and bring moreflexibility to operations and organisation.

"Corient is committed to providing quality services to the SME segmentthrough accounting practices because it is still one of the most under-served sectors. We provide them with services like those delivered to largebusinesses, using the experience we have gained working with largeorganisations. Along with financial accounts and back-office services, wehave an IT arm which forms an integral part of our organisation. We canoffer end-to-end services to our clients by using all three of these pillars.

Corient has also developed several applications and platforms such asXinowa (accounting bot), BillMyTask platform for temp staffing agencies,and E2E Accounting for Micro SMEs which helps to make the entireaccounting and back-office process efficient. Our team members areregularly upskilled and during Covid times, we have launched an onlinelearning management system to ensure all team members are up to date intheir learning journey. Corient also runs a leadership development programfor tenured staff so that we have homegrown leaders. We expect Corient tobecome the go-to service provider for all of our client's needs.“, concludesPunit Jain, Director, Corient Business Solutions Ltd.

What Our Clients Say

Notes from theDirector’s desk...

CORIENT - YOUR OUTSOURCING PARTNERQUARTERLY NEWSLETTER

Notes from the Director’s desk

IN THIS ISSUE

How to scale up yourAccounting Practice in2021?

The new normal: Is yourfirm ready for businessadvisory work?

Points to consider whileshortlisting your outsourcingpartner in the new normal

Why Is having a bookkeeperreally important for smallbusinesses now?

The inside story

Latest on the block

Custom API development &integration

A success story

What our client says

June 2021

Choose the right accounting software.Cloud accounting software needs no backups, ensuresdata storage and security along with easy integration ofmultiple systems. The organisation’s targeted growth canbe made possible by using the right accounting softwarethat helps you create invoices, track expenses, performbank reconciliation, and manage taxes.

Embrace practice management software.An efficient accounting and financial managementsoftware will enable smooth operations where yourclients get quick service, miss fewer deadlines, andincreased communication with the team. Your team alsosaves considerable time in email, follow-up, customerfeedback, and service delivery. You might consider thefollowing while evaluating accounting practicemanagement software:✓ A list of your business needs✓ Understanding the bottlenecks in your current system✓ The features offered by each shortlisted solution✓ The ease of implementation and integration of theselected software. This software will help you to createeffective financial reports and organise customer datamore easily, enhancing your accounting business andpotentially leading to revenue growth.

Upgrade to provide bookkeeping services.Whether you are targeting startups or establishedbusinesses, keeping track of finances is essential formaking informed business decisions. That is whybookkeeping is one of the most widely needed services.You need a strategic plan and an up-to-date, accuratecustomer database to provide quality bookkeepingservices. Corient helps you set up the necessarytechnology for automation of services such as payroll &taxes, bank & profit- loss statement, sales & purchaseexpenses, cash flow analysis, and reports at yourfingertips.

Add value through management accountingservices.To prove quality management accounting services, yourteam must have general business knowledge & skills andunderstand how the relevant industry works. Equipyourself with all tools and technology that you will need tomanage the client’s business. Consider the latesttechnology to automate processes that have beentraditionally done manually to save time. Speeding up andoffering better operation services with improved quality isone way to add value to your client’s business.

The key to winning clients is effectivecommunication.The next step towards providing the best accountingservice is to build good partnerships with othercompanies that offer accounting and other relevantservices This will help you gain the trust of your existingclients to build a broader customer network which willindirectly bring in more clients. Hence, build a systemwhere you interact more with your clients.

Attend latest webinars and networkingevents.You will find numerous webinars and events online thatwill help you upgrade your accounting and taxationregulatory compliances. Attend these webinars andwebcasts regularly to support your accounting servicesand discuss your clients’ industry issues for deepunderstanding. These online sessions help you get abetter insight into trends and alerts related to the latestcompliances in anti-bribery, corruption, and much more.

Outsourcing.Outsourcing allows you to grow your accounting serviceswithout hiring additional staff, paying for onsite workers,other facilities, and benefits. The right outsourcingprovider will enable your firm to focus on running thebusiness at its maximum potential while still providing allthe essential services to the client without any of the time-consuming duties and additional expenses. You can workon adding greater value to your firm while outsourcingaccounting services.

Client feedback.The satisfaction of clients should be a major objective forany business. Conduct regular client satisfaction surveysto understand your pros and cons as a service provider.This will enable you to continue growing and expandingby accommodating the client’s increasing business sizeand expectations. With this detailed feedback, you canadjust your services to provide more precise delivery toclients.

Ask for referrals.Finally, ask for referrals. A loyal client will be able to assistyou in growing your business with time. Look for reviewsand testimonials from your past and present clients, askfor references from your other clients, and talk personallywith these potential clients to see if they need anyassistance from you.

HOW TO SCALE UP

YOUR ACCOUNTING

PRACTICE IN 2021?

We hope this detailed guide helps you to expand your accounting services Implementing the tips mentioned above toaccess better technology, clients, and revenue could build a solid reputation for your accounting firm, provide excellentservice to your clients, and achieve your growth targets.

INTEGRITY | EXELLENCE | TEAM WORK | CONTRIBUTION

Adding advisory services to your portfolio.Most experienced accountants plan on providingadvisory services to their clients but lack the time andresources. They spend most of their time auditinginformation to assure the completeness of data.However, with progress in technology, analytical toolsenable accountants to monitor all data and drill intounusual information. This leads to more free time foraccountants to address the more advanced needs ofbusinesses.

Outsource compliance work to build clientrelationships. First and foremost, do not wear multiple hats. Delegatethe task for compliance work such as bookkeeping,financial reporting, and taxes. Find the perfectcombination of the hard-working, talented staff great atusing smart technology for getting things off your plate.

At Corient, we do just this – our staff is talented, trained,and experienced in using smart technology to do theboring compliance bits for our clients so that they canfocus on their high-value advisory services.

Identify stakeholders within yourorganisation.An excellent way to establish a business advisory firm iswith a good team of consultants. Hire the bestconsultants and advisors who have a passion for thework, a zest for excellence, and the accounting industry’sexpertise to solve business problems efficiently and setthem to work for your premium clients. We at Corientwill be able to support your team by drawing up theaccounting reports you need when you need them tohelp you on this exciting journey.

Show value to your clients.Advisory services are aimed to analyse the functioningand growth of the businesses. This extra level of comfortgives the client a chance to focus on other importantmatters – running the business. Your consultants will helpthese client businesses by focusing on customer relations,marketing strategies, and employee relations, to name afew. This approach helps you increase your client base byproviding greater value to their business and building areputation as a trusted advisor for all your clients’financial matters.

Build a cloud ecosystem.To survive and thrive in the marketplace, you must havequick access to your financial operations. Now, cloud-based technologies such as Xero provide severalaccounting services such as auditing, tracking, recording,and reporting financial data to clients. A vibrant cloudecosystem integrated with the above solutions, allows youto have up-to-date and accurate information at yourfingertips.

The way forward.When a company wants to take its business to the nextlevel, that too in the business advisory domain, manyhurdles are expected. But once your firm completes thetransition into a reliable advisory firm, you will have awider range of services to offer. Your team of consultantswill help businesses succeed in significant ways. Take astep forward and update your business operation with thelatest technology around. Reach out to Corient for moredetails.

THE NEW NORMAL: IS YOUR

FIRM READY FOR BUSINESS

ADVISORY WORK?

Most experienced accountants plan on providing advisory services totheir clients but lack the time and resources. They spend most of theirtime auditing information to assure the completeness of data. However,with progress in technology, analytical tools enable accountants to monitorall data and drill into unusual information. This leads to more free time foraccountants to address the more advanced needs of businesses.

INTEGRITY | EXELLENCE | TEAM WORK | CONTRIBUTION

POINTS TO CONSIDER WHILE

SHORTLISTING YOUR

OUTSOURCING PARTNER

IN THE NEW NORMAL

Are they reliable?Outsourcing is a long-term relationship and trust andcommunication are the first set of building blocks.

How many years they have been in thebusiness.The longer they have been in business, the higher thetrust factor, and they will honour the commitments theymake.

Who are their existing clients? Does the company have a diverse set of clients in termsof numbers and experience?

References. Are their clients ready to provide references orrecommend them?

How do they communicate? Does the company proactively reach out aboutimprovement initiatives, cost reduction ideas, internalcontrols, and mistakes made?. The communicationstructure/ governance structure can play an importantrole in making an outsourcing company a strategicpartner for your business.

Team expertise.If you are going to outsource accounting work, check ifthe management team has Chartered Accountants andhas rich experience working with large accounting firmssuch as the Big4. If you plan to outsource managementaccounting, check whether the management team hasmanagement accountants who can work with you inmanaging your business.

Work culture.As Peter Drucker points out, 'Culture eats strategy forbreakfast. Get culture right first, success will follow. It isimportant to assess if your outsourcing partner has theright culture that fits into your company’s culture.

Right resources.Does the outsourcing partner have internal educationprograms to create a strong talent pool? How do theycope with the latest changes in the tax regulation andother compliance issues? What innovation in theirtraining has helped their support staff members toovercome the pandemic? What training methodologyhave they adopted to continuously train their internalstaff on the latest software?

Certifications.Assess if the outsourcing company has the rightcertifications such as Xero Champion, QuickBooksCertified, and Sage Membership. If the partner iscertified, this will certainly help in ensuring yourprocesses are managed efficiently.

Data security.Data security is of utmost importance and manycompanies do not have the right data security policycheck. Check if the outsourcing company has the rightdata security policy including data security certificationssuch as ISO 27001, etc.

Technology expertise.While it is important to have the right talent andcertification for managing your accounting processes, itis also important to have an outsourcing partner whocan develop applications or technology to makeprocesses seamless and efficient. Check if youroutsourcing partner has the right kind of technologicalexpertise to support your team members.

Flexibility.Check if your outsourcing partner is flexible in theirapproach. Usually, outsourcing contracts are in place forseveral years. Over time, a situation may arise thatnecessitates renegotiation of the contract. The partnermust be flexible enough to understand your concernsand adapt accordingly.

Outsourcing has emerged as the game-changer for Practices/ Businesses inthe new normal. When you are looking for Outsourcing as an option, hereare some of the factors you should consider before selecting your outsourcing partner:

INTEGRITY | EXELLENCE | TEAM WORK | CONTRIBUTION

THE INSIDE STORY

LATEST ON THE BLOCK

Custom API development & integrationWe can implement or connect internal and external API services for mobile, PC/desktop, platform, or web apps. Use

or share data with third parties around the world in real-time.

✔ Custom API solutions ✔ API development platform ✔ Custom API integration

✔ Implementing API services ✔ API testing automation ✔ API library development

✔ Google API development

✔ Like any other organisation, it was a real test forCorient on both fronts – meeting clients’ expectationsand keeping our valuable team members safe. Themanagement and IT teams played a significant role increating the infrastructure for work from home, startingwith training all team members on using MS Teams,Zoom, Slack, and various other online portals, to buildinga robust environment keeping data security intact.

✔ Corient helped accounting practices with the Furloughscheme, working late hours to ensure employeesreceived their payments and employers received CJRSgrants, on time

✔ During the lockdown, Corient started working with 15new accounting practices helping them to streamlinetheir workflow and achieve their future goals.

Xinowa

Business owners need to keep themselves ahead interms of financial information so that they can makethe right decisions for their business. However, they

are always on the go and when they requestinformation from their bookkeepers or accountants

there is often a time lag. Even if business owners havetheir own logins into cloud ppplications, they may shy

away from checking the financial informationthemselves by logging into the system. Xinowa

supports business owners with information at theirfingertips in less than 10 seconds.

BillMyTask

BillMyTask helps you manage your staff payroll,client invoicing, and back office seamlessly and

efficiently. BillMyTask automatically calculates theamount payable to employees based on their shifts,

overtime, and rates applicable and generates apayment report whether on contract, payroll, or foran umbrella company. You can schedule shifts, get

confirmations and send reminders and notifications.Your employees can enter time on the mobile app,get immediate approval and ensure it gets sent to

back-office instantaneously.

Quarterly Update

How Corient helped Accounting Firms during the Covid-19 lockdown

Onkho is practice management with fullyintegrated email. CRM, workflow, email, and

documents all integrated, in one place and sharedacross the whole team.

New Accounting applications/ Add-ons for Accounting Firms:

Xavier is a clever toolkit for Xero AccountingProfessionals to get a deeper understanding

of their clients via data clean-up tools andflexible reporting.

✔ While Corient has successfully provided bookkeeping, VAT and year-end accounts services, the payroll team played anoutstanding role in meeting tight deadlines.

Onkho Xavier Analytics

INTEGRITY | EXELLENCE | TEAM WORK | CONTRIBUTION

✔ Automated contact updating from Xero to various CRM’S✔ Automated contact updating from various CRM’s✔ Posting automated sales/purchase invoices fromeCommerce such as Shopify, Woo Commerce, and otherbilling systems.✔ Support for downloading files in bulk from Xero files.✔ MS Excel application to Xero automations.✔ MS Access application to Xero automations.✔ Creating custom branded P&L & BS statements

How Corient helped an accounting firm to reduce year-end completion time from 7+ months to 3+ months.

Accountant background:Our client is based in South East of England with clients ranging from sole traders to limited companies. Their goal was tocomplete accounts preparation within 3 months for the last few years but they were unable to achieve it due to the followingchallenges:✔ The quality of bookkeeping was poor.✔ Several follow-ups were required with clients to get the required information.✔ The accountant was finding it hard to recruit well-trained staff who could complete jobs on their own✔ Due to the delays and above quality issues, the accounting firm was unable to achieve its goal.

Due to challenges in hiring the right kind of staff, the accounting firm approached Corient to assist with the completion ofyear-end accounts. Corient, at the time of onboarding the accountant, understood the goals and agreed to develop a planwhich will help the accountant to achieve the goal. We deployed the following solution:✔ Develop a client tracker with historical data of filing, in-house bookkeeping, and outsourced bookkeeping.✔ Wherever bookkeeping was being done by the accountant (our client), month-end/quarter-end checklists were put in place toensure immediate rectification of errors.✔ Where the accountant’s clients were doing their own bookkeeping or had outsourced, guidance notes were prepared andshared so that accurate bookkeeping would be done and the right checks put in place.✔ The Circle of Influence concept was used to identify levels of targets.✔ Corient deployed a team of dedicated qualified accountants from its large pool who are trained on UK GAAP and HMRCregulations.✔ Corient further developed a decision-making matrix in terms of prepayments, accruals, materiality levels, VAT, etc along withstandard operating processes and checklist so as to ensure decisions are uniform across all clients and the minimum time isspent on discussing routine queries.✔ Corient also set up a governance team to review the progress on a weekly and monthly basis✔ Corient deployed its best practices along with a quality assurance process to ensure accounts are produced accurately andconsistently.

Based on the above, the accountant in partnership with Corient was able to achieve completing accounts from 243 days to 97days

"I was looking for a service provider who could take on the book-keeping work on Xero software which was taking quite a lot of my time. The senior member from Corient visited the office, understood all my requirements, and came back with a detailed proposal that covered all my concerns and deliverables. Corient has been consistently providing a veryhigh standard of work within agreed time scales. I now feel far more confident that I can increase my business with Corientas my outsourcing partner. “Tony JAccountant in Watford

A SUCCESS STORY

WHAT OUR CLIENT SAYS

These days, no application can afford to be an island.For any app to reach its full potential, it needs to beable to integrate effortlessly with internal and externalsystems alike, leveraging as much data andfunctionality as possible. To ensure customers areable to use their different systems easily, we helpcustomers with different APIs which can be integratedwith Xero.

What can you do with our XeroAPI integration services?

Some of the APIs we havedeveloped:

CONTACT

+44 24 7610 3333 info@corientbs.co.ukwww.corientbs.co.uk

The Techno Centre, Puma Way, Coventry, CV1 2TT, United Kingdom

Corient is the trading name of Corient Business Solutions Limited, Registered in England, Company Number: 07880941