Overseas operations require more than just a focus on cost-cutting

On the Under the Hood podcast, accountant and Slingshot Solutions co-founder Nomeeta Mistry has stressed that offshoring is an upfront investment in a firm, not an “out of sight, out of mind, bum-on-a-seat type mentality”.

“That's the big misconception here. Gone are the days when it was a bum on the seat, cheapest person I can find, move on; we're really looking at skilled, highly talented staff that can do a lot of the technical work that just happens to be sitting in a different jurisdiction,” Mistry said in the podcast episode.

“That arbitrage is still there, [while] it's by no means what it used to be, there's just so much work now and such little flow through of talent coming through in the industry.”

The talent shortage, with an estimated 6,000 accountant shortfall by 2030, is met with retention, which Mistry said is another key challenge that firms and small accounting businesses face.

“In a tight labour market, people know that they can move on quite quickly and increase their salaries,” she said.

“If you go into offshoring with the view that it's simply a cost-cutting activity, it's probably not going to work.”

Mistry said it is crucial for firm owners to implement a business culture that encourages retention through a focus on wellbeing.

“Whilst offshoring is cheaper, I think sometimes people forget that … their staff's livelihoods [are in their hands]. So approach it like you would approach anything else fairly, with ethics, and you'll get good results out of it.”

“Pay fairly, pay above … and I know this is probably contrary to best practice advice, but if you find someone who knows your business intimately, who's dedicated to your business, who's working hard, who understands the ins and the outs, and they get another offer or they say, ‘I'm not getting paid enough, I want to leave’, it comes back to those retention levers.”

“So all of these sort of point in the same direction: you get good retention, you get engaged staff, they enjoy coming to work, they want to do a good job, and you're going to get good output … out of those team members.”

Mistry told the brand that hiring offshore and onshore has many similarities.

“What really should be happening is that you treat that offshore hiring process as if they were onshore: you do those multiple rounds of interviews, you really hire them with intention and to fill the skill gap that you're looking at filling and then integrate them into the team, train them properly, make sure you have your database of resources and training materials ready to go.”

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