DISCOVERY CALL
DISCOVERY CALL

Case Study 2

Northern Beaches Accounting Firm

Northern Beaches Accounting Firm partners with CountHQ to increase capacity in their Tax, Bookkeeping and SMSF divisions.

AT A GLANCE

Outcomes

Our client achieved cost reductions of over 40%

Onboarding complete after 2 weeks

Scalability achieved across multiple divisions

THE CLIENT

Our client is a member firm of a National Accounting Group with 3 Partners, and 24 team members in Australia

THE SOLUTION

  • 2 Managed Full-Time Tax Resources
  • Managed Review Process
  • 1 Managed Full-Time Bookkeeping & BAS Resource
  • 195 SMSF's, completed on an ad-hoc basis

SYSTEMS

  • Karbon
  • Xero Tax
  • SmartWorkpapers (Business Fitness)
  • HowNow
  • Class Super

THE JOURNEY

Our client was struggling to find capacity due to a tightening of the employment market.
We were able to build an implement a cross-divisional support solution, within 4 weeks of meeting.
We fit in with their existing workflow to ensure continuity of their internal processes across Bookkeeping / BAS, Tax and SMSF.
As our client faced staff turnover on-shore, they gradually scaled the CountHQ offering across all divisions.
We’ve recently collaborated on Bookkeeping Projects for some of their clients who required Accounts Function support.

Previous Outsourcing Experiencs (Prior to CountHQ)

  • Had used an Offshore Staffing provider to engage 2 offshore bookkeepers
We see CountHQ as an extension of our team. They’re an important part of our capacity planning
Partner

The Detail is in the Process

TAX

  • Jobs are handed over via an email, with a link to the Client File in Karbon, and a link to HowNow for relevant source information Job
  • The Team issues 1st stage queries; segregated into Accountant (confirmation queries) and Client Queries
  • Once resolved, a set of Final Workpapers forms part of a Review Pack and is sent for internal
  • Final Workpapers are sent to the relevant Job Manager identified by our client
  • Weekly workflow calls between Job Managers and the CountHQ team plans capacity, and discussed opportunities to streamline the process

SMSF

  • Our client outsources the Administration and Tax Return Preparation process for 195 SMSF's
  • A job is handed over changing the status in a Custom Dashboard we developed, with a link to relevant client source information in HowNow
  • The team then processes the Fund in Class Super (note we also use BGL), and issues 1st stage queries (missing client information), before sharing our custom hyperlinked Workpapers for Final Review
  • We commit to 0 technical knockbacks in SMSF, and turnaround times within 6 business days (client info reliant). We achieved this in the 2022 FY

BOOKKEEPING/BAS

  • The Team handles a portfolio of approximately 45 clients
  • This includes a portfolio of 'live' clients, in which Accounts Payable and Payroll are regular tasks
  • Monthly Reconciliations, and Quarterly BAS' complete the body of work
  • Karbon is used to Manage Workflow and collaborate with our Clients' Australian team. With visibility over client emails the team is able to action work items without prompt
  • Microsoft Teams is used for general workflow discussions, via a Bookkeeping Channel, which the relevant Team Leader, and Resource have access to
We found ourselves in a spot of bother capacity wise, specifically in Tax and SMSF.
After completing some Trial Jobs to define processes, we asked CountHQ to propose an overall solution aimed increasing our capacity based on the talent we already have in Australia.
The cross-divisional approach was the best way for us to leverage the capacity we did have onshore.
Partner