This article ”Outsourcing your accounting” is taken from our quarterly overview of Canadian news, a newsletter published by the Canadian member firms of Moore Stephens North America. These articles are part of our mission to become the partner of choice for your success by keeping you up to date.
Whether in show business, recording, television or film, surrounding yourself with a good administrative team is far from a luxury. Among the many key roles is that of production accountant. By coordinating your budgets, grants, financing, team payroll and contingencies, your production accountant is central to the success and profitability of your projects.
Outsource your accounting
While finding a good production accountant has always been an important mission, organizations today must try to find one. At a time when resources are scarce and difficult to access, a simple and effective solution is to outsource this role. However, some organizations are still reluctant to outsource this type of responsibility and mandate, and are more comfortable having someone on their team. What about yours?
To help you make the right decision for your projects and your business, here are four important reasons why outsourcing your production accounting may be a good option.
1. Benefit from an expert who knows the industry inside out
One of the advantages of entrusting your project accounting to an external production accountant is the opportunity to benefit from a wealth of experience! External production accountants have the opportunity to work on many different types of productions: shows, records, films, television programs, documentaries, etc. In addition, they have also worked on productions of various sizes, co-productions, international projects and more. In short, they’ve seen it all!
This diversified experience enables your external accountant to assist you in a range of tasks such as :
- Participation in production budget preparation;
- Take charge of financing requests with the financial institution, provide the required reports (cashflow, monthly follow-up reports, disbursement requests) and make the necessary follow-ups;
- Monitor production cost budgets;
- Ensures payment and calculation of various payroll and union rebates;
- Provide relevant management information for executive decision-making;
- Prepare final cost reports, labor reports and eligible costs in support of tax credit applications;
- Prepare grant applications and final reports;
- Develop various personalized follow-up tools to respond to numerous internal requests;
2. Manage and optimize fluctuations in your production volumes
By using an external production accountant only when you need one, you can optimize the management of your expenses and generate attractive savings. Indeed, it’s rarely necessary to have a full-time resource when you’re not in production. Working with a partner who can adjust to these fluctuating times and is available when you need them takes a lot of financial pressure off you. The external production accountant will also treat your information with the utmost confidentiality. If you have any concerns, or if certain information is extremely sensitive, you can also ask to sign a confidentiality agreement for added security.
3. Benefit from a global view of your business
Since some of your accounting and financial needs are already handled by external experts, such as auditing your financial statements, tax compliance and optimization mandates, etc., adding production accounting to these many services only enables the team in charge of your business to better support and advise you in the financial management of your company.
In this way, all aspects of your production will be considered, at every level. This validation will take place throughout the entire process, from handling your cost reports and applying for tax credits, to following up with the tax authorities. Knowing that all these aspects of your projects are in safe hands, you can concentrate on your production and its smooth running.
4. Benefit from a team that keeps abreast of best practices
During less busy periods, external production accountants are called upon to collaborate on mandates from other companies operating in a variety of industries. By having access to other accounting practices, external experts keep up to date, stay informed and maintain broad skills that help them in all their mandates. They are also subject to annual training hours to keep up to date with any changes that may be added to the various agreements. With all this training, they’re always on the lookout for new tax credits and subsidies that could benefit you.
Economically, logistically and qualitatively advantageous, outsourcing your production accounting is definitely a solution to consider when your financial performance is at the heart of your strategy, or when hiring and training represent major challenges.
If you’re thinking of outsourcing your accounting, don’t hesitate to contact our expert.
