The Advantages of Outsourcing Bookkeeping for Small Business Owners

The Advantages of Outsourcing Bookkeeping for Small Business Owners

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The advent of the Internet era has changed the way in which businesses are conducted. The Internet has enabled our Businesses to run smoothly and become more profitable by enhancing relationship management and real-time connectivity.

Bookkeeping is a critical business piece for all small to mid-sized businesses & companies. Outsourcing this activity can be a big reliever and facilitate seamless operations for businesses:

Primary advantages of outsourcing Bookkeeping Operations to Mynd:

·         Expertise at a Lower Cost: Outsourcing offers companies a good way to have full-time expert devoted to managing your books without requiring paying them a full-time salary. This helps companies not just to save money but also enhance their efficiency levels by leaps and bounds.

·         Money Savings: Outsourcing bookkeeping operations can help with enormous money savings as compared to sustaining a full time In-House Accounting team. Opportunity and Lost Productivity Costs are negligible while outsourcing your business functions as compared to hiring a third party vendor.

·         Time Savings.  Outsourcing bookkeeping processes helps free the management’s valuable time which could be utilized in organizational development & strategic activities.  Administering your Backend office functions is a potential time waster and adversely affects company growth and progress.

·         Higher Resource Allocation & Focussed Staff. When a backend task like Bookkeeping is restricted to In-house, usually one resource is allocated and hence the process can be prone to errors. However, usually an outsourcing company allocates a team of resources to one particular task and thereby the chances of errors substantially decrease. This also drives more focussed staff and dedicated resources.

·         Ease and Scalability. Growth in business or cut backs all are accountable when it comes to outsourcing. Outsourcing offers the option of flexibility and scalability which can help companies adapt as per changing time & business requirements.

·         Access to Top of the line Technology and Systems.  Bookkeeping outsourcing enables companies to access the latest state-of-the-art technology and tools through their vendors, without having to bother paying for dynamic technology up gradations. It is challenging for small business owners to afford these rapid changes in technology and also be informed about any upcoming revisions in regulations and laws.

Reduction in rate of Admin Charges on PF/EDLI contributions

We are forwarding herewith copies of two Notifications bearing  No. S.O.323(E) dated 2nd February, 2015 and 324 (E) dated  2nd February, 2015 issued by Government of India, Ministry of Labour and Employment New Delhi.

Note:  The above mentioned two notifications relate to un- exempted establishments i.e. establishment to which EPF Scheme , 1952 applies. These notifications do not apply to exempted/relaxed establishments which are required to pay inspection charges in place of administrative charges. Similarly notification relating to payment of administrative charges on EDLI contribution apply to only such establishment which report compliance of EDLI , Scheme, 1956 to RPFC concerned. In other words the said notification does not apply to those who subscribe to group insurance policy obtained from an approved insurer.

The following table shows the changes brought about through these notifications:

A. Notifications bearing  No. S.O.323 (E) dated 2nd February, 2015, effective from 1st January 2015
Sr. No	Existing Provisions	Revised Provision	Impact
(i)	The rate of administrative charges payable under para 38 of the EPF Scheme,1952 at present is @1.10% of the pay (basic wages, dearness allowance, retaining allowance, if any, and cash value of food concessions admissible thereon	This rate has now been reduced to 0.85% of the pay (basic wages, dearness allowance, retaining allowance, if any, and cash value of food concessions admissible thereon)	Thus , as a result of the issue of present notification, the liability of an employer towards payment of such administrative charges shall stand reduced  except in cases of smaller establishments who were required to pay the administrative charges @ 1.10% of pay of the members employed by them amounting to rupees less than Rs. 75/-  per month in case of non-functioning establishment  having no contributing member and Rs. 500/- per month per establishment for other establishments.
(ii)	No minimum amount was prescribed for payment of such charges	A minimum sum of Rs. 75/-  per month for every non-functional establishment having no contributory member and Rs. 500/- per month per establishment  for other establishments.
B. Notifications bearing  No. S.O. 324 (E) dated  2nd February, 2015 ,effective from 1st January 2015
Sr. No	Existing Provisions	Revised Provision	Impact
(I)	The rate of payment of administrative charges  on EDLI contribution was prescribed @ 0.01%  of aggregate of the basic wages , dearness allowance(including cash value of food concession ) and retaining allowance  if any payable by the employer in relation to his employees	This rate remains the same	The liability of the employer towards payment of such charges has now gone up in cases of establishments who were paying such charges amounting to less than Rs. 25 per month in case of non-functional establishments having no contributory members and less than Rs. 200 per month per establishment in case of other establishments.
(ii)	The minimum amount payable towards such charges was fixed earlier as Rs.2/- per month vide  notification No . S.O 237 dated 11th Jan 1989	This minimum amount has now  been enhanced to Rs 25 per month for every non-functional establishment having no contributory member and Rs. 200 per month per establishment for other establishments

Mynd Solutions Pvt. Ltd. Official Blog: Statutory Compliance Update: Mandatory filing of R...

Mynd Solutions Pvt. Ltd. Official Blog: Statutory Compliance Update: Mandatory filing of R...: Please find enclosed herewith copy of circular dated  February 25, 2015 from Employees' Provident Fund Organisation with regard...

Statutory Compliance Update: Mandatory filing of Return in Form 5 A

Please find enclosed herewith copy of circular dated  February 25, 2015 from Employees' Provident Fund Organisation with regards to mandatory filing of  return in form 5 A by the Employers of the establishment covered under the Employees' Provident Funds & Miscellaneous Provisions Act, 1952.
 The Employees' Provident Fund Organisation has instructed all the employers to file a return online stating ownership in Form 5A showing the particulars of all the branches and departments owners, occupiers, directors, partners, manager or any other person or persons who have the ultimate control over the affairs of such factory or establishment.
 Note :  The deadline for  filing of return in Form 5 A is fixed as 31^st March , 2015.  Failure to make compliance would attract 'penalty' as stipulated by section 14 of the Employees' Provident Funds & MiscellaneousProvisions Act

Increase in LWF Contribution in the state of Tamil Nadu

The Government of Tamil Nadu has made changes and increased the Labour Welfare Fund (LWF) contribution as per the following details:
 

• Employee Contribution: Rs. 10 per annum

• Employer Contribution:  Rs. 20 per annum

This increase in  LWF contribution is effective from January 2015.
 *** All employers are requested to ensure compliance in LWF deduction from their employees’ salary as per the new rate from January 2015 onwards.

Compliance Adminstration Services

Statutory compliance administration is very crucial today, because the tax and finance world is changing at a rapid pace. Government is continually changing the laws and creating new rules very frequently. Hence, staying updated on constantly changing tax laws and regulations, meeting strict government deadlines, and avoiding costly fines and penalties can be an administrative burden for a company of any size. 

Statutory Compliance Management by Mynd Solutions

Mynd has a strong partner network to ensure that global statutory compliance services are provided in line with the local rules and regulations. We specialize in statutory compliance management and help our clients in complying with the local laws and procedures and maintain regular compliance to prevent any non-compliance issues thereby streamlining business processes that adds up tangible and intangible financial benefits for our clients. Mynd provided a single point of contact for India compliances and also for global compliances.

To ensure that the local requirements are fully compliant, Mynd provides the following:

Mynd Prepares and submits monthly/quarterly/yearly payroll related documents to various government authorities under the required name as per local laws. Wherever applicable, Mynd handles monthly / quarterly / yearly tax computations and prepares relevant statutory reports. Wherever it's applicable, an ESS (Employee Self Service) panel is provided for employee’s tax declaration purpose. Mynd Prepares and communicates year end submission guidelines document after confirmation with Client.

Mynd’s retirement benefits platform provides a one stop solution to our clients, whether they are with the Government run RPFC or they have their own trust. The entire process runs on a PF platform which brings transparency and accountability to the entire process. Mynd helps companies address the need to mitigate pension expense volatility and enhance investment performance by utilizing sophisticated asset allocation, hedging, risk management strategies and every other compliance management aspects. We utilize a strategic approach to help clients manage all aspects of their employee’s retrials benefits.

The spectrum of Compliance Management Services we offer includes:

• Provision of tangible and in-tangible benefits by setting up an in-house Fund to Client’s organization and its employees
• Drafting of trust deed and rules including all legal activities in this regard
• Handling complex activities related to obtaining approvals from Income Tax Department, Provident Fund Office and any other department
• Day to day administration services for Fund including accounting, legal and transaction
• Processing Services with latest automation techniques
• Transparent and IT enabled Help Desk Services for Members

Trends in Finance & Accounting Outsourcing Services

A Brief Introduction to Finance & Accounting Outsourcing Services

The current era of commercialization and globalization are witnessing the adoption of outsourcing as an integral fragment of the core business strategies. With numerous companies getting on the outsource mode, the market is exhibiting a lot of growth in this sector.

Latest market studies point out that a huge chunk of existing outsourcing industry clients plan on growing their investment pooled into outsourcing. Lately, process outsourcing for finance & accounting is steadily growing and majority of the firms are undertaking the same.

Accounting Outsourcing is basically subcontracting some/all accounting operations and processes to an external vendor. The outsourced functions include Purchase to Pay, Fixed Asset Management, Order to Cash, Employee Reimbursements, GL Accounting etc.

Current F & A Outsourcing trends

• Management of Transactional services is the largest opportunity in the F&A BPO space, whereas payables are amongst the highest outsourced function in F&A.
• Earlier companies used to only outsource certain parts of their accounting processes such as AP/AR and some reconciliation processes. In the current scenario however, companies are sub-contracting the full gamut of activities involved in their financial processes. A probable reason for the same is that companies have understood the significance of being at the centre of strategic activities rather than transactional.
• Service providers are in the process of improving skills and polishing capabilities in process execution and their clients are accordingly trying to achieve the best from that.
• Stringent federal regulations in the European &US markets are driving corporates to adopt outsourcing in order to save their time, efforts and cost.
• SMB’s offer a plethora of business opportunities for Financial Outsourcing domain.
• Some recent market statistics have also revealed that companies these days are primarily adopting finance and Accounting Outsourcing  to save their expenditure, as well as to migrate the F&A function from being a cost exhaustive support function to a dynamic core business function.