When it comes to payroll, over 60% of UK companies outsource it, taking advantage of more affordable services. Has your business considered payroll outsourcing as well? If you aren't already outsourcing this critical business activity, keep reading to learn more about the advantages of doing so and how to choose the right financial partner for your outsourced payroll function.

Collaborating with an external financial partner can make it easier for SMEs to fully operate at scale without committing significant resources, in addition to optimising their time to market and letting them focus on the main objectives of a business.

Most businesses struggle with long cycle times and high-cost invoice processing, and in the case of SMEs, process efficiency can be critical to keeping up with growth. However, misconceptions about accounting automation processes often hold business leaders back.

In a nutshell, financial forecasting is the process of estimating and projecting your company's future performance and trends. Financial forecasting is an important activity, whether you utilise it as part of a business plan or as a regular tool for your strategic planning.

Making a company more efficient should be a goal for every business owner. Business efficiency refers to the fundamental reduction of wasted resources used to produce output, whether the latter be physical products or services. As a result, efficiency determines how effectively a business converts inputs such as capital, labour, and materials into outputs like revenue, goods, and services.

Running a start-up, small- or a medium-sized business is a lot of hard work. You are bound to be caught up in a multitude of business processes which can make it tough to focus on the core vision of your company. A key mistake most entrepreneurs make is not asking for help on time. Delegating certain jobs offer key advantages to you and your growing team.

An effective way to focus on growing your software/technology business is to turn over your company’s finance functions to a trusted outsourcing partner at a reduced cost. A virtual finance department might be the most important step you take in cutting down costs in your business. Outsourced finance departments can supply companies with a higher quality and quantity of work at less of the cost.

Many business owners I talk to don't have a problem growing their business, they have a problem managing that growth. Often when a business grows rapidly without being prepared it can lead to strains on the owner’s time, stretched resources, unhappy and disengaged employees and pressure on the finances of the business.

No doubt that as a small business owner you will want to know the headline figures but you may also have to do the bulk of the bookkeeping to keep costs down. “How hard can bookkeeping be? I’ll just do it myself.” This isn't an unusual thought for some small business owners but the reality can be quite different.

“Virtual bookkeeping services are scary. They will not work.” It’s a common misconception of those who have not tried yet the various online accounting services. But as soon as they’ve signed up for a virtual small business accounting service, they soon realise the benefits of it.