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The Solvere Team has worked with over 200 businesses that use Simpro, Xero accounting software and Employment Hero payroll. As one of the leading businesses able to provide implementation and support services across these software packages, we have experienced how successful companies use a cost effective and workflow efficient mix of inhouse and outsourced staffing roles.
From experience the most effective balance of accounts outsourcing and inhouse work is to outsource the work that is well suited to trained accounting and bookkeeping specialists but maintain internally the admin and management work that is critical to the success of the business and its clients.
Recommended Inhouse Tasks
Due to their business-centric nature, the following tasks in Simpro are more suited to be handled by trained inhouse staff:
- Creating Leads, Clients & Jobs
- Estimating and sending quotes
- Scheduling jobs and allocating technicians
- Pricing
- Invoicing
- Final chasing of client’s payment
- PO generation
Recommended In House Tasks
As most financial aspects of a business require the knowledge and approval of senior staff members, the following tasks should be handled by trained inhouse staff:
Approval of Payables
The outsource team – see later in this article – can provide weekly or fortnightly recommendations based on due dates and client requirements.
Queries
There is a requirement for regular queries that may arise like the mapping of invoices that may not be in the system, bank reconciliation questions and applying of credits.
Compliance Approvals
The following tasks should be managed by either qualified outsourced or inhouse accounts staff and submitted for approval to the appropriate contact:
- BAS
- Superannuation
- TPAR
- Payroll Tax
- LSL if applicable
- Workcover Claims
- Insurance compliance
- Budgets
- Management reporting (with guidance if CFO package taken up) to Board
Recommended Outsourced Tasks
A Simpro build is unique to every individual business, but the following tasks can be confidently, and in some cases more economically, outsourced to a qualified Simpro Partner:
- Payroll
- Accounts integration management
- Syncing of simPRO and Xero
- Business Group and Cost Centre management
- Labour Cost management
- WIP Management
- BI Reporting
- Receipting of PO’s against Jobs
- Entering of job-related supplier invoices
- in simPRO mapping to work orders and POs as required
- Custom Templates
- Catalogue import management
Recommended Outsourced Tasks
Solvere’s team are well versed with the trades and have extensive experience working with Simpro and Xero on a daily basis.
Advantages of outsourcing the daily Xero tasks to a qualified team that has the experience across all platforms is that there is continuity, leaving the business to run the business smoothly without having to retrain or have any skill gaps in Xero or Simpro workflow requirements.
The following Xero tasks can be confidently outsourced:
Payroll Processing
These days payroll is a highly regulated part of running a business. Solvere recommends that payroll is outsourced to a provider who is kept up to date with all requirements to ensure your business is compliant.
The following tasks can be outsourced to a qualified payroll management supplier:
- Set up of new employees based on information provided and electronically file TFN declaration with the ATO
- Processing of weekly or fortnightly wages
- Calculating superannuation for employees and preparing payments as required
- Calculate and track accrued leave and personal carers leave or other benefits
- Providing direct deposit .aba file to upload into the business bank account
- Providing online access to employee payslips or email them to employees
- Preparation and filing of STP
- Preparation and filing of year end STP finalisation
- Reminder of notification to staff regarding Christmas and other Public Holiday closures
- Running of a BI or tailored extraction report from Simpro schedule (usually used for larger pay runs)
- Pay runs – either in Employment Hero or Xero – extracting from Simpro
- Importing into Employment Hero
Bookkeeping
Like payroll, a business’s accounts are highly scrutinised to ensure they are compliant. Therefore, it is recommended that bookkeeping tasks are outsourced to a qualified service provider who will be able to provide the following services:
- Reconciliation of bank and credit card statements (a professional provider should be able to do this daily)
- Accounts Payable:
- Entering bills as required – overheads in Xero and entry of job-related supplier invoices
- Simpro mapping to work orders and POs Preparation of due payable list Provision of bank electronic file for uploading to relevant bank
- Accounts Receivable:
- Mapping of receivable client sums
- Provision of aged receivables as required
- Comparison of Xero and Simpro receivables
- Correctly classifying all transactions to deliver consistent, accurate and timely financial reporting
- Preparation of Monthly Management Reports including:
- P&LBalance SheetAged PayablesAged Receivables
- Monthly Journals as required
- Monthly BAS preparation & lodgement
- Monthly Payroll Tax preparation & lodgement
- Quarterly labour/employee rates – completion of employee overhead for changes and entry into Simpro
- Reporting LSL as required
- Annual Workcover reporting estimates and actual
- Annual TPAR preparation
- Liaison with the company accountant
Most Payroll and Bookkeeping Service providers will offer a fixed weekly or periodical fee so you can have a clear budget for these services .
CFO Services: Forecasting & Budgets
A business may be looking to expand and require provide forecasting and budgeting assistance. This will require a Virtual CFO service from professionals who understand your Simpro build as well as your accounting software.
Our team at Solvere has been working across Xero and Simpro for many years and has developed a niche CFO Reporting service.
The service begins by building a 3 x way 52 week Cashflow Forecast that encompasses data across both Simpro and Xero. We then tailor a monthly reporting package that can include a mixture of the following reports:
- Aged receivables and Payables
- WIP movement
- Technician productivity
- Where did our money go – where did our money come from – these are balance sheet driven and in visual graph form from a forecasting software package that can be updated in real time
- Budget vs actual – this is usually included as standard in the three way forecasting
- Bank movement
The reports are brought together, distributed, and presented online as part of a regular monthly meeting for feedback and strategic planning.
How to get started with Outsourcing
A good way to get started on making your business less reliant on one staff member and more cost effective is to outsource one task at a time. Solvere can provide any or all of the suggested outsourcing tasks listed in this document and have found that clients like to try us out by engaging us for the following:
- Managed Payroll Services
- Accounts Reconciliation and BAS Lodgement
- Simpro and Xero System Reviews
If you have any questions on how outsourcing might improve your business, please don’t hesitate to contact the Solvere team here.
