American workers are increasingly embracing the freelancing lifestyle at a time when increased competition around the world threatens to depress wages in the U.S.

Americans are drawn to freelancing — being an independent contractor and other types of non-full-time-with-benefits employment — and the idea of being their own boss and having more control over their work. But it is a progressively more cutthroat field where the competition lives thousands of miles away and gets paid cents on the dollar.

An estimated 57.3 million Americans freelance, according to a recent study from freelancing platform Upwork and the Freelancers Union. That figure represents more than a third of the country’s workforce — and an increase from 53 million people from just three years ago. And this number is expected to rise. By 2027, 86.5 million Americans will freelance, representing more than half of the country’s workforce.

The average income for someone who worked independently full-time in the U.S. was $65,300 in 2016, according to a June report from MBO Partners, a business services company based in Virginia. Comparatively, the estimated median household income as of 2016 was roughly $59,000, according to Census data.

But this could change if global trends related to freelancing begin to affect workers in the U.S. Globally, freelancers work for $19 an hour on average, according to a recent survey of more than 21,000 freelancers from payment services provider Payoneer, down from $21 an hour just three years ago.

​The average hourly wage for all American workers — $26.55 in September, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics — far exceeds the average for freelancers around the world. And the difference is even starker across industries: Freelancers working in IT and computer programming globally charge an average hourly rate of $21, which is just over half the average hourly wage of U.S. workers in this field ($38.90).

To illustrate the challenges freelancers in the U.S. could soon face, Payoneer CEO Scott Galit told the story of a man he heard speak at a freelancing event Payoneer sponsored in Dhaka, Bangladesh a couple years ago.

“This guy who was well-regarded in the freelancer community there got up and talked about how his breakthrough year was the year he made 100,000 taka (roughly $1,200) as a freelancer — that was the first time he started to believe he was successful,” Galit said. One taka, Bangladesh’s currency, is equal to roughly 1.2 cents in the U.S.

Today, nearly three-quarters of freelancers around the world find their work through online marketplaces. This has created economic opportunity for people in South Asia and Eastern Europe who might otherwise immigrate to another country for work. Workers in Asia, Africa, Latin America and the Middle East represented just over 60% of Payoneer’s survey respondents — only 4.1% of the freelancers who participated heralded from North America.

“It opens up white-collar professions to globalized competition in a way they didn’t face before,” said Josh Wright, chief economist at HR recruiting software provider iCIMS.

The significant growth in the freelance workforce globally contributed to the decline in average wages Payoneer uncovered, Galit said. But not all freelancers have faced the same degree of competition thus far.

Freelancers work in a split market, said Gene Zaino, president and CEO of MBO Partners. On one side, there are those who perform undifferentiated, commodity-type work for lower wages such as translating a document or creating a simple graphic, he said. The other half is composed of people with more advanced skills such as a senior computer programmer.

Freelancers who do lower-skilled tasks who would see more competition from people abroad and, presumably, lower wages. “In that world it’s a race to the bottom in terms of competitiveness,” said Zaino. “There’s a very large pool of talent willing to work like that.”

“Factory workers have learned they can’t just work with their hands if they want to make a comfortable living — they have to work with technology,” Wright said.

Building trust with clients could help, Galit said. If a freelancer has a proven track record, a client could be more inclined to return to them rather than take a chance on someone new, he added.

But the growth in the number of global freelancers is not necessarily a bad thing. Some fare better than others. Jobs in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) grew at three times the rate of other jobs between 2000 and 2010, according to the Smithsonian Science Education Center, but there weren’t enough workers to fill them all. By 2018, it is estimated that there will be 2.4 million unfilled STEM jobs.

In a recent survey from Upwork, 41% of IT managers said hiring has gotten more difficult in the past year, three times more than the number who said it got easier.

To fill the gap, employers are turning to freelance workers. Upwork reported more than half (53%) of IT managers have hired a freelancer.

Higher demand doesn’t just mean that a freelancer has a greater chance of getting hired, it also means they spend less time looking for work. A third of freelancers in the legal field spend more than 7 hours a week finding new jobs, compared with just 17% of those working in IT and programming, according to Payoneer.

Thus, a freelancer’s livelihood will remain positive so long as their skills are in need. “There’s such a scarcity of talent,” Galit said. “If anything, there will be aggressive wage inflation if you’re highly educated.”

​Originally posted on https://www.marketwatch.com/​

Have you ever realized how much of your money is utilized for business operations and the amount that go to waste? For a majority of companies dedicating time and enhanced expenses are challenges that are difficult to overcome.

No matter how much a business tries to improve productivity by implementing various methodologies, it is tough to touch the target and achieve success. The methods of outsourcing are time-tested and can cope with the challenges that might grip a business at any time.

In fact, it is similar to unlocking the tasks that you can control and send the rest to a company that has better management skills for handling them.

Hiring an expert always makes sense when it is about reducing your liabilities as far as handling non-core tasks are concerned.

If you are conversant with the benefits of increasing your assets and reducing your liabilities, you will surely consider taking the valuable advice from the experts of the outsourcing companies for skillful handling of tasks.

One of the most prominent things that the top business honchos need to understand is the significance of delegating tasks. If you are wondering how it can help increase productivity, you might end up being in the mess as a majority of people are of the opinion that people in power believe in multitasking.

The truth is that as the people in the higher rank of Management grab more responsibilities, achieving productivity is possible by moving on to the surrendering mode.

A similar principle is applicable when it comes to outsourcing the basic tasks of business. When a business grows and expands its operations, the productivity may lower as you might not have the resources for handling additional tasks.

However, with outsourcing, you can shed off some of your work functions and delegate those tasks to the experts.

Getting assistance is necessary for running businesses and enhancing productivity as you cannot handle all the tasks to cope with the growing needs of your Organization.

While hiring people for in-house jobs in increased capacities require talent, it requires financial resources as well that may again create the burden on your overhead expenses.

By hiring an effective outsourcing firm, you can achieve the target of reaching higher levels of productivity with ease.

The value of time in business is more than any other aspect, and you need to handle everything within a designated time frame for increased productivity and outcome. When the basic business tasks are outsourced to the companies located offshore earning more profits come within your reach.

While the benefits of outsourcing have become a foregone conclusion, it is like recruiting a better expert in an offshore location which is cost-effective when compared with in-house recruitment that enhances the expenses of running business operations.

A majority of businesses have found it meaningful as far as recruitment of cheap labor is concerned for enhancing productivity.

The truth is that cutting down on recruitment can reduce the expenses of the business and increase the profits to a great extent.

These methodologies when applied carefully can make a business run much ahead of the expectations of the management and the only reason for this is the outsourcing of some of the simplest work functions in business.

Outsourcing your firm’s accounting has its benefits. For one, you save money as hiring a full-time, in-house accountant can be expensive. What’s more, it makes scaling up your business a lot easier!

While outsourcing accounting is growing in popularity, many business owners are still wary of this practice. Which is a good thing, because you can’t simply hire the first firm you find online or act on a recommendation! Also, you need to take the right steps from the very beginning to make your relationship with an accounting outsource partner work.

If you are ready to make the big shift to outsourcing your accounting, here are 5 tips that are sure to help.

Accounting involves various functions and you might not need to outsource all of them. A good idea is to identify your needs so you don’t end up overspending on outsourcing accounting services.

Outsourced tasks can be grouped as highly skilled, specialized, or repetitive. For example, you may want expert advice on finances each month, ongoing IT support for your accounting network, or help with payable or shipping inventory. List down your priorities and keep your budget in mind when deciding on the tasks you wish to outsource.

Look at your current accounting system closely and determine what frustrates you the most. Consider what your goals are and what you’re trying to achieve by outsourcing accounting services. Perhaps you want a better reporting system or simply want to track cash and profits effortlessly.

Oftentimes, outsourcing projects fail due to ambiguous requirements and unclear scope of work. Being clear about your expectations will keep you aligned with your company’s standing and give your outsource partner a direction in which to work. You certainly don’t want to let the outsourced team do their thing and find out that the original problem persists even after 6 months!

Once you have a clear idea of your objectives, it’s going to be easy to select an outsourcing firm that can take care of your company’s accounting needs. Note that accounting professionals have their strengths and weaknesses, and are at different levels in terms of knowledge, experience, and expertise. Furthermore, accounting firms may offer a bevy of services or specialize in fulfilling a particular role.

Remember that quality comes at a price, so even though you’re trying to cut down on costs by outsourcing services, don’t pull the strings too tight and settle for less. Look at qualified professionals and established firms as a long term investment with calculated profit!

It’s unlikely that you will, as most business owners are hesitant to outsource their accounting owing to concerns over data security. However, you only have to be as careful as you would when hiring an in-house accountant!

Prevent fraud at the outset by checking references and ensuring that the outsource providers meet basic compliance standards. Discuss what security measures are taken by them and clear all your doubts before taking a decision. Primarily, you need to know what network security they have in place, what encryption methods they use on their websites and login portals, and what measures they take to monitor location and dissemination of data.

Effective communication is vital to all business dealings, but with the goal of outsourcing being cost-cutting and improving bottom lines, it’s easy to lose focus of what’s important. Whether you talk to potential outsource partners about your company’s specific goals or discuss security issues, get your message across clearly. And always clarify whenever you’re in doubt!

Even when you zero in on a firm that’s perfect for your business, maintain healthy communication. Convey messages through established channels; this way, both parties involved know where to turn to when there’s an urgent need to clarify matters. Make sure that your company and your outsourced accounting partner are on the same page on all aspects pertaining to your business.

Hold meetings regularly and communicate relevant information on a global level. Note that cultural differences come into play here, so do your homework and adopt a proactive attitude to addressing issues.

Outsourcing accounting services is a great way for businesses to optimize operations while reducing overhead costs. If you’re looking to streamline processes, elevate your finance team, and grow your business, partnering with an outsource firm that can take care of your accounting needs is the right step forward.

That being said, you will have to put in some efforts to make outsourcing work for your business. Just keep the tips mentioned here in mind, and you’re sure to establish and maintain a fruitful relationship with your accounting partner!

Hiring an outsourced accounting firm that has been referred to you by a friend or a relative is certainly a bad idea, that is, if you don’t shop around first. Just because they’re good for someone you know, doesn’t automatically make them the best outsourced accounting provider for you!

Even if you do zero in on the best accounting outsourcing firm, it’s advisable to take some time out to research other firms. Compare services provided by each firm, go through client testimonials and reviews, and check the company’s track record.

While the primary motive of most companies by outsourcing accounting services is cost saving, picking a firm that provides such services for the cheapest rates might backfire. Sure, you’re looking to outsource so you don’t have to bear the costs associated with hiring a full-time employee, but bear in mind that low rates often translate to less efficiency.

Refrain from compromising on quality just to save money! Plan your budget well and stick to it so you don’t make the mistake of hiring an accounting firm that lacks the set of skills you need.

Transparent communication is the key to a healthy relationship, and a service like accounting, that needs a sort of intimacy with your business, can only work for you if there is clarity at both ends. Right from the start, be honest to your outsourced firm with regards to your needs and the current state of your books.

Be sure to disclose all relevant and necessary details to your accountant- this will help them identify problems that need fixing and come up with the right solutions for all your accounting issues. Remember that the goal of communicating well with your outsourced accounting firm is to have a clear understanding of where your company stands and what can be done for the future!

Cultural differences can lead to misunderstandings, and a huge time difference can impact relationships negatively. As such, before finalizing everything, do give a thought to where your outsourced firm is located.

Note that it might be cheaper to outsource accounting services, but hiring a firm that’s based in a different country might not be a beneficial move. Culture standards can vary significantly and your team’s learning curve can cost you valuable time and money.

Outsourcing accounting services doesn’t mean that you will have a team that is fully equipped with the knowledge and skills necessary to help you sail through all difficulties. Skilled individuals might need to undergo training for particular projects!

Moreover, if you make the wrong choice, you’re bound to face issues at later stages. For example, CPA firms have well-trained accountants and focus on audits or tax write-ups and financial advisory services. If you hire a CPA firm, your company will only benefit if the former has expertise in processing large volumes of accounting transactions in an efficient and timely manner.

It goes without saying, sending sensitive financial and tax information over e-mail carries an inherent risk. But it’s no use stressing yourself out over this- just get a secure channel to manage all your documents!

Cloud-based accounting software allows you secure and quick access to all your finance-related documents, giving you the chance to make your office paperless. Such software lets you attach scanned receipts, spreadsheets and documents to stored files easily, helping you stay organized.

Did you know that 40% of entrepreneurs spend more than 80 hours each year just managing their finances? Don’t be that entrepreneur, put your time to better use by outsourcing your accounting requirements!

With the information provided here, you now know what rookie mistakes you need to steer clear of while outsourcing. So weigh your options well and make the right choice!

Many businesses, especially in the small to mid-sized category, grapple with the question of whether they should handle their payroll processing via a software in-house, or outsource to a provider. For many, it comes down to what is most efficient and cost-practical for them.

First, it is important to understand the difference. Payroll software is a program that is often downloaded onto a computer or is accessed via a subscription to a web app, which the internal HR department or a designated member of staff uses to input data and calculate withholdings for their employees’ paychecks, as well as their company’s requirements for reporting and paying into the state or federal government. This software may have built-in features like time and attendance, and may integrate with benefits or retirement plan providers, but it often still requires an element of manual processing on the part of the employer to create accurate paychecks and calculate payments.

Payroll outsourcing is when a company hands their payroll processing off to an external provider to manage. Outsourcing often requires that a company uses software to transfer their data, such as time and attendance or make open enrollment changes, but the processing each pay period is done on the other end at the provider’s office. There is less manual work on the part of the employer as it is transferred off to the provider who can use all the data and the technology at their disposal to calculate paychecks, withholding requirements, and integrate benefits and retirement fairly efficiently and accurately.

When deciding whether to use payroll software or outsource to a provider, employers should weigh the pros and cons of both to see which is the best fit for their company and their goals.

Payroll software for businesses has come a long way in recent years with better connectivity and interaction/integration with the web and its available resources. Today’s payroll software can be programmed for each business’s needs in terms of payroll tax and withholding calculations by local, state and federal levels. HR departments no longer have to do as much manual work to calculate the appropriate withholding amounts for these various programs because the software has that capability built in. Additionally, employers can work with their benefits and retirement companies to insert calculations for withholding on those premiums, although it still requires some manual entry. With internet access, some payroll software companies allow you to download updates to the software which will update your withholding requirements and keep your system up-to-date with current compliance regulations. These automatic alerts to download updates alleviate some of the concern over withholding the correct amounts if changes are made to the federal or state tax code. Payroll software that integrates with benefit plans can help eliminate some of the manual processing required during open enrollment periods as well.

Where payroll software lacks is in 100 percent automation capability. While payroll software has come a long way, there is still manual work that must be done to customize it to a company’s needs, integrate it with benefit plans, and ensure the staff is trained and understands the importance of following through with updates and downloads. Additionally, some payroll software is limited in its ability to provide truly custom reports some employers require, or they may not integrate with benefits and retirement, so staff are manually calculating those at payroll time.

Payroll outsourcing differs from payroll software in that it takes nearly all of the work of processing payroll out of the hands of a company’s internal HR department and puts that responsibility on the company they’ve chosen to partner with. The in-house HR staff will still need to work very closely with their provider, and likely there will be some time clock software and additional integration so the provider can collect all the data they need, but for the most part, a lot of the manual work and monitoring is done on the provider’s end. This is a huge benefit to HR departments or small businesses where people wear many hats because it takes a lot of the day-to-day processing off their plate so they can focus more on recruitment, retention, education or other ways to improve their businesses. Additionally, an outsourced provider will always have the latest and most accurate information for correct withholdings, as well as calculating a business’s responsibilities when it comes to health care law compliance, worker’s compensation, overtime law compliance and more. Providers also bring with them a wealth of knowledge and experience, which they can tap into to customize reports or answer tough questions for an employer.

The biggest drawback to payroll outsourcing is when companies do not have the budget to hire an external company, or do not want to prioritize the funds for the service for one reason or another. Most companies who choose to outsource find the benefits far outweigh the costs, but many companies are happy with how their process works and are comfortable handling their processing on their own.

There are pros and cons to payroll software and payroll outsourcing and both provide a completely different experience for the user. Each business is going to have a different set of needs and goals, capabilities, and budget, so it is imperative they do their research and homework to find which method for payroll processing is right for them.

Many CPA`s think they can manage their own bookkeeping and do the journal entries themselves, but too often, a lot of them end up failing and ruin their business because they didn’t hire the right professional for it.

They also end up wasting a lot of time when they could be working on growing the business itself. Never forget the old cliché that says "time equals money".

You could spend the time getting more investors into your business or making new clients while improving the business's products or services.

​​Certified Public Accountants often think bookkeeping as a routine work and doesn’t require much experience, at least not as much as some specialized financial analyzing and structuring.

In order to have the proper financial structuring and analysis for your business you are going to need a professional educated financial accountant who has went through college and understands more than just basic bookkeeping.

Any bookkeeper can follow specific set of procedures or task related to the day to day financial management of a company or a business. Maybe some software knowledge may be needed and little but of training may be required, but generally a bookkeeper doesn’t require formal education, or a certificate.

On the other hand, becoming an accountant and handling complicated financial issues for the business requires formal education and understanding of complex business transactions and financial issues.

As you know, it isn't cheap hiring an experienced accountant who will handle your business's higher level financial structuring and analysis.

Becoming an accountant requires a four-year college degree in business administration or accounting, not to mention the training they have to go through. It is a tough process that needs talent and patience.

This process is what distinguishes a bookkeeper from an accountant and it is what makes every business in need of an accountant.

Accounting is truly the cornerstone of every business, it doesn’t matter if you sell carpets or manufacture robots or even own a plumbing business or you an accounting firm yourself.

​Bookkeeping will always have a place in your business and will be important for the survival of your business. Accounting services are a necessity and can save you a ton of money if they are done right.

If done efficiently, bookkeeping will save you a fortune and allow you to make better financial decisions by using the proper financial analysis you have and using the information provided by the accounting process such as assessment of the business's solvency and productivity.

Bookkeeping will always be the heart of any organization, if it isn't done properly, a company's funds will be managed poorly and you will end up with a bleeding business that you don’t know it's ins and outs.

While you can get all the services you can hope for if working with a good outsourcing partner, there are a lot of other benefits you will be getting by outsourcing.  Here are some:

To conclude, outsourcing have become necessary.

It makes you able to cut costs while getting the same level of quality. If you want to stay ahead of your competition you are going to have to use different methods for doing things such as partnering up with an outsourcing firm that will be able to help you and give you advice when needed.

Accurate and precise data entry work is perhaps one of the most important things that any business could carry out. It's one of the most important aspects of any institution/organization.

No matter what business or what your company sells, there is always a necessity to save the data in some form of documents, databases and records.

Handling data and feeding it into a system might sound like an easy job, but it isn't. Data entry requires a skilled workforce with good knowledge and experience of using computers. 

​But also quick at entering the information precisely and organized. It's a very unique skill, whoever works in data entry understands that one tiny mistake could cost the company a fortune.

An example of how important accurate data entry is: do you recall the flash crash on wall street that took place in 2010? 

Well rumor says that it was caused because of a trader entering billion instead of million. A trillion-dollar market crashed because of a simple data entry mistake!

Having neatly, up-to-date organized data on the business's system affects the worker's efficiency positively. The availability of data for your employees is crucial for the growth of the business and increasing the employee's productivity.

Considering how tedious the job is, a lot of organizations around the world have started outsourcing their data entry jobs to India and other countries to ensure accurate data entry by professionals that have experience in data entry instead of hiring rookies locally.

There are a lot of defining reasons to why you should outsource your data entry jobs.

Ranging from availability, speed, accuracy, precision, quickness. The reasons to outsource are not subtle anymore. it's not something only a small business would do, as a matter of fact huge corporations have been outsourced their data entry jobs to India for more than a decade now.

Here are some of the benefits you gain by outsourcing data entry jobs.

• Increased focus on core processes. Outsourcing jobs like data entry which requires skill but still is considered as routine, will give you a lot of time to focus on other aspects of your business. It will save resources and allow you to invest it in developing your company's strategy and be up to date.
• Data security. Our company number one priority is security, you can sleep knowing that your data is in right hands. We take security very seriously knowing that leaks of data are very deciding between competitors.
• Skilled workforce. Our staff has very good experience entering data. They will provide the highest quality service possible, very up to date data entry that will be available in your systems in no time for your workforce to use.
• Lower cost. Of course, outsourcing will cost way less money than hiring locally, it will give you access to international talented workforce for a way lower cost due to lower cost of living in countries like India.
  
• Improve productivity and business result. We will ensure your work force has way less work load to focus on core jobs. It will enhance your workforce and increase their productivity
• Quick turnaround time. We are competent enough to provide a service where we don’t minimize quality but still deliver it fast enough.
• Smart partnership. Competent service providers will have the flexibility to adjust themselves, scale and customize our service and tailor it to your needs. We will be able to maintain a sustainable relationship while growing our company's together.

Why go through all the confusion of hiring an entire department that will cost you a lot of money when you can simply outsource the work for lower cost and to higher skill, more experienced people.

You have the chance to save all these resources, reduce your administrative load and increase top line development and growth for your company, why wait?

Perhaps you might be concerned about the safety of sending your data across the globe and how risky it might look.

But don’t you worry, you will have access to latest technologies that ensure the safety of your data. We take privacy very seriously. This is one of the most important yet most strategic decisions your company could make. It will increase your company's flexibility and minimize costs.

You will never have to worry about a communication gap. We will always be available at any time to contact us, there will be no cultural gap. We can ensure you that our relationship will be hassle free.

Conclusively, outsourcing data entry is definitely a right step that a lot of companies have been doing for the past decade. This decision will give you huge competitive advantage.

More than 80 percent of the company's' that outsourced their work had met very satisfactory results.

The author John L. Smith has written a book about the entrepreneur of America, Steve Wynn, in which Steven has said

“Human Resources aren’t a thing we do. It’s the thing that runs our business.”

Well, he’s right. The foundation of your business is dependent on human resources, and such resource comes in your company for the first time as an individual candidate who might shape your business strategies and industry ideas in the coming future.

Eligible candidates come for recruitment in the firm; the procedure is same since ages that depend entirely upon the thought process of the recruiter.

Recruiter identifies the capacities, dedication towards the work, soft skills, management, etc. in the candidate. That is the procedure we all know, but with changing time, the recruitment process is also changing its structure.

The new methods introduced are not fully dependent on just the mind or skills of the recruiter; data analytics and big data have started playing a significant role in recruitment process already.

With massive data aggregated from multiple sources like social media channels, candidates leave their digital thought prints over there. And with the required ability to transform all that information into intelligence using prevailing algorithms, recruiters now have the chance to depend more on facts than on some of the framed initial intuitions before they put forward job offers.

The new sector of talent analytics, also known as people analytics is now playing a big role in the hiring practices including planning interview questions, recruitment marketing, filtering prospective candidates, identifying outliers, and determining who to hold on to and who to promote in the recruitment structure.

What Steven has said is right, many companies frequently repeat his lines that people are most valuable assets of their organizations but this statement only falls right when the specific decision makes an impact on the specific performance of the company.

Otherwise, the employees will come on time at the office and leave on time as well and there is a chance that the performance will remain stable but not be increasing, that’s a sure thing.

The company must invest in analytics-driven tools and systems for talent acquisition process just as companies would in marketing or product development. This new method is showing positive results, and many companies are following it.

For example, Josh Bersein writes in an article on Forbes.com of how a client enhanced sales performance by $4 million in just six months merely by applying a new candidate screening procedure based on insights fetched from data the company always had readily available.

Likewise, Xerox actually reduced attrition rate at its call centers by more than 20% by utilizing different Big Data tools in hiring for its 48,000+ department.

Josh Bersein writes that

“If we can apply science to improving the selection, management, and alignment of people, the returns can be tremendous.”

So it’s clear. By using Big Data, recruiters can alter their image from “reactive,” responding to the “just-in-time” talent needs of the business, to a “proactive” business partner that has the forethought to make superior and swifter hiring process.

Several specific applications and advantages of data ​analysis that recruiter can use to improve their processes, some of which are listed here:

Data accessible from a company’s internal systems and external sources like demographic data, public transportation, compensation surveys, and social media will reveal patterns which will facilitate an organization verify wherever to hire from and at what cost.

Online job listing sites consume data as much as possible that can give insights into what is likely to expect the best qualitative and quantitative response.

A recruiter can extract data of similar job sites and apply analytics or work with one to settle on the likelihood of being able to fill a detailed position in a chosen location all based on the past and historical data patterns. Moreover, information like what day of the week to post definite job types or precise factors that persuade potential candidates to act in response to a job ad can be used to better capitalize on recruitment marketing resources.

The ability to trace new hires across the employee life-cycle helps you discover what makes an efficient applier — and a foul one. This suggests wanting on the far side however quickly somebody was employed and if it had been at rock bottom worth potential.

Recruiters who are specialists and data-driven always dig deep into metrics such as:

• Qualified applicants-per-requisition which indicates whether your sourcing practices are producing those efficient employees
• Involuntary turnover or resignations for less than 3 months of overall service
• New hire performance by lead source
• Top talent characteristics

The Talent Board’s 2015 American Candidate proficiency study report take up and convey that: Organizations are better able to deliver higher quality talent, improve recruitment efficiencies and align more closely with business objectives when the candidate comes first.

While candidate expertise has been a hot topic for many years, several organizations still struggle to boost this necessary a part of the hiring method. There square measure variety of areas recruiters, and therefore the talent acquisition team got to work on, but how do you know which one your company is guilty of?

Analytics bring the factors that impact candidate expertise to the forefront, and a hands intelligence answer will assist you quickly live the effectiveness of every. Whether or not it’s time since initial contact, the time between stages, enquirer name, etc., you’ll be able to tell what’s increasing or decreasing the probability of a candidate retreating his or her application — and build ways to minimize the chances of losing sturdy candidates.

Traditional recruiting strategies create it arduous to inform whether or not you’ll hit your diversity targets or guarantee equity throughout the technique. Rather than the estimate, use analytics to unendingly monitor your hiring funnel for necessary demographic ratios like gender, ethnicity, and veteran standing. This permits you to raised track diversity and implements the proper evidence-based programs to extend diversity throughout your pipeline.

Recruiting may be a fine balance: over-hiring will produce an unnecessary cost burden, whereas under-hiring will scale back the productivity. So as to remain on the right track, recruiters would like fact-based hiring plans that are incessantly updated to mirror the foremost current state of the corporate. Data-driven men coming up with, worn out collaboration with Talent Acquisition and Finance, allows enlisting to form a lot of correct hiring plans, ones that use forecasts supported historical rates for factors like employee turnover, internal movement between departments, and hiring success.

In addition, this sort of coming up with, which contains knowledge from men analytics, provides a full image on spending. You’ll know instantly if you’re overspending on recruiting — or not outlay as effectively as you will — because you'll simply compare the overall costs of activities like internal, agency, and RPO recruiting.

People analytics faces some challenges before its widespread adoption. These problems are chiefly people and skills-related considering that data analytics needs competence in multiple disciplines: data analysis, statistics, visualization and problem-solving. Most hr professionals presently lack these skills, and finding such people and obtaining them to work on hr data becomes imperative.
Companies should also keep in mind that they can't rely on data analytics alone for the recruitment method. Recruiters still remain vital to the process: data analytics will only perform as a tool that can help improve the success rate.

It’s not all ‘Moneyball’ and to hope that data scientists alone can solve talent challenges is naïve. Data-based insights can solely act as indicators by themselves. Domain specialists like hiring managers, hr professionals, and recruiters concerned must be able to identify the problem and raise the proper queries before applying analytics. If you are longing for job postings data to power your HR analysis, some tools provide clean and ready-to-use job feeds extracted directly from specified company websites.

If you’re just beginning your data-driven journey, you will be using spreadsheets and generating reports from numerous systems to search out the data you would like to strengthen your recruiting method. This journey in the future can be an extended, complicated and tedious method but will still allow you to take advantage of the ability of analytics.

However, if you wish to build a sophisticated analytics performance platform for better enlisting of essential possessions, think about investment in new technology which will build it quicker and easier to reach out the vital data requirements you need.

Cloud-based hr analytics solutions offer the whole end-to-end view needed to not solely monitor your entire recruiting pipeline (and determine any bottlenecks), however also pull all the historical information on top-performing employees into a single place, enabling you to hire better and quicker, and also get ahead of business demand.

Whatever technique you utilize, keep in mind that analytics isn't a “one-and-done” method. For recruitment to achieve success, you must endlessly seek for ways that to boost hiring. Analytics empowers you to assertively double down on your strong points and eliminate the areas where you are weaker thus you will be able to meet up every talent need of your organization further.

Live chats on company's website increase conversion rates by a lot. A study that has been conducted by the American marketing association found out that customers who use the live chat are 3 x more likely to make a purchase, therefore adding live chat on your company's website would lead to a conversions rate of 20%.

You might be wondering how does a live chat enhance sales? Well chatting with customers before sales is very important.

If your customers find a live chat popping up when they open your website they get a very good first impression about your company. They know that you value their time.

More than 70 percent of online shopper would like to contact a real person before making a purchase. More than half state that lack of contact and interaction from the company's side has drove them away from making a purchase.

Live chat support will be beneficial in many ways. It saves time and funds while increasing your customers will to make business with your company.

It makes them feel like they trust the product or the service more because there is someone they can reach out to on the spot without having to call a phone or send an email.

It changes the visitor’s perception and gives the website additional credibility while providing peace of mind all his questions. Potential customers like to see that there are people who will answer all their questions and worries.

Some companies might offer discounts and promo codes for customers who log in or sign up to use the live chat right away.

This makes the customer excited to make a purchase and use the benefits he just acquired effortlessly.

Fact is, if someone claims a coupon to your business they are way more likely to make a purchase.

Additionally, by driving people to use your live chat because of coupons and such things, you are going to be getting more feedback about your website and your product, allowing you to improve it and work more on it and get an idea of what the customer needs and what makes them happy, willing to make a purchase.

Live chat options need to pop up at exactly the right time. This can mean the world when it comes to conversion. The time at which the chat pops up can make a sale or drive the customer away.

So, its' important to place the live chat at the right place in the right time. If you put it too early you are wasting the chat's potential because the customer barely read anything about the product or service you provide. You put it too late you might lose a customer that had too many unanswered questions and didn't find an answer for them.

Maybe find the common most used words and improve their lingo and pitch. besides analyzing data will give you the ability to discover patterns and what customers usually find trouble with.

Live chat is one of the best marketing research tools. They offer the customer a golden chance for direct feedback. A known strategy is to present survey questions at the end of the live chat. It may be at the begging, depending on your business and product.

Not to mention that live chat will make the customer not feel embarrassed or shy about saying their honest opinion or feedback on the product. It isn't like telephone where they can get interrupted or maybe not feel like doing it. this grants the business a valuable insight and if those insights keep reoccurring then you act on fixing them,

Upselling products in live chats requires a highly trained and experienced representative. They must regularly analyze the trends such as, what items are usually bought together? When the customers start asking questions about the quality of the product, this is where the representative strikes. mentioning similar products or they can mention discounts, bundles and promos that might help the customer save money.

After you have an idea of what the most frequent questions is and an idea of what answers to these questions are better. Don’t make an FAQ section with the most asked questions. Studies showed that those questions will still come up in the live chat.

Use typing indicators. Use a script that will be able to follow the customer and recognize certain patterns of conversation. When that happens, the script will provide the appropriate solution for the question or the problem the customer may be having.

This will impress the customer as he will get an answer to their problem right away as the script is instant, increasing customers satisfaction rate and making them willing to make a purchase.

Some customers may have complicated questions or inquiries. Something that a representative might not be able to answer because they aren't equipped to. In cases like this, representative should have the ability to redirect the customer to a specialist that will be able to chat with the customer.

This increases sales because they will never feel like the company doesn't have an answer or is stalling them. also unlike on phone this will be instant. The company will always be ready to provide answers and convenience for the customer increasing sales conversions.

If you would like to implement live chat on your website please contact Outsourcing Insight and we will be more than glad to help you and provide experienced representatives who are able to use all the live chat's features to boost your sales.

Here is the definition of follow up

“A continuation or repetition of something that has already been started or done”

You might think making a sale makes your customer your customer forever.​

Not so fast, in today's competitive market you could lose your customer's in a second if they found out there is another company that provides a better product or a cheaper service. So how would you win over your customer's loyalty? 

How to make sure that when they stepped in that door, its guaranteed they are going to step in again and make more business with you? Well a customer appreciates when he is being taken care of.

Taking care of your customers doesn’t only mean providing a better service or developing your product. Taking care of your customers is mainly in the follow up process after sales. It demonstrates your commitment and dedication to please your customers.

Following up with your customers is the most crucial and important part of your marketing strategies. It insures the happiness and satisfaction of your customer and makes sure the is willing to do business with your company again, or even spread the word about it. 

Word of Mouth marketing is very important in today's economy, People trust their friends and family more than they trust advertisements and billboards. If one customer is satisfied then you are getting more customers because of being referred to them by already satisfied customers.

Don’t follow up with your customer once and that’s it. You have to got to make them feel special. A regular follow up will make your customers feel important and give them the chance to engage and give you honest feedback about your product. It's also a great way to ask them what they might want next, or what they expect. It gives your business more ideas and chances to develop and grow.

It doesn’t have to be a customer! Even a potential customer. Let's say after a marketing campaign a specific amount of people called to ask about your product. Don’t just answer their questions and forget about them, no.

Make sure to give them a follow up call to ensure them that you care about their business and opinion.

Following up with your customers may include a lot of things such as:

• Contacting the customer after the sale to make sure they are happy with it.
• Providing convenient features for your customers such as warranties, maintenance and refunds.
• Creating opportunities for following up with customers such as sales alerts.
• Telling your customers about promotions or any sales opportunities.
• Checking up on new installations.
• Selling gift cards.
• Send periodical updates to advertise your company's products.
• Offering new product demonstrations that may be interesting to your customer.
• Drawing the customer's attention to related products to the ones they bought.
• Offer rewards to customers referrals.
• Start a royalty club with discounts to members
• Sending birthday cards to your customers.

All these things are done by having a good customer service team. But customer service doesn’t only take care of your follow up after sales process. They do more things such as:

• Letting your customers know the goods they have been waiting for has arrived.
• Providing updates on delivery or arrangements for any sales.
• Referring customers to your online service.
• Taking in complaints and answering any questions regarding the product.
• Letting your customers know about any promotions or sales.

But of course, having a customer service department isn't free. Remember the quote that says you got to spend money to make money. Well in order to get super customer satisfaction you have to have qualified agents working for you in an equipped call center waiting to take calls or call customers to ensure their satisfaction. It isn't an easy thing to setup. It's definitely very costly and expensive and will take a lot of time to be ready.

Also, your staff has to be professional and understand that there is a difference between customer follow up and customer annoyance. Too much of everything is bad. Your staff has to understand that spamming customers will not attract business but will drive customers away and make you end up in the spam folder in their email inbox.

If you don’t have the funds or the ability to setup a ​dedicated call center to customer follow up and customer service, don’t worry we at Outsourcing Insight will help you and provide you with the service you need. We are fully equipped with a staff of professionals who know and understand how to deal with customers and satisfy them.

Finance and Accounting Outsourcing services have been consistently growing from the time when it first began in the early 1990s. In the initial days the companies that outsourced this type of work were mainly from the USA.

When more companies around the globe began to realize the service advantages of outsourcing, work started flowing even from other parts of the world.

With both technology and communication becoming cheaper, a number of mid-sized companies now find it fairly easy to have the advantages of lower costs and better services by outsourcing accounting operations.

With enforcement of strict financial laws globally, it has become critical to manage your spending carefully to meet financial goals of your company throughout the year.

A knowledgeable outsourced accountant can help you to attain these goals in a smooth way as well as in lesser time. He can help you to take life changing decisions for your business success.   

Explore professionals online or take a reference from your network for choosing a quality service provider. Once you have the complete list of service providers in your hands, you should assess each one based on the advantages they are offering through their services and ask them questions in each of the following categories:

​Immediate response

​The bookkeeper should respond you timely. He should be able to understand the key aspects of accounting in the verbal communication as well as on the mail too. A slow response rate can create crisis in many situations.

​A good communicator

​Communication is the key to successful accounting. His communication skills will create a huge impact for you and your company.

​Many companies are not flexible enough when they manage an outsourced provider and deal with them more strictly than their in-house resources are managed.

​Being Professional

​Many companies are not flexible enough when they manage an outsourced provider and deal with them more strictly than their in-house resources are managed.

So the accountant should be highly professional. He must be open to his past projects and references which can give insights about his professional qualities.

​Being Competitive

​The service provider should become a competitor in his market. He should be aware of the news trends, technology or news related to finance connected to your industry. At the end of the day, he is going to play a vital role in the financial success of your company.

• ​Being Certified Bookkeeper
  

​He should have a certificate from the relevant institute. He should have complete information and field knowledge; ultimately he will not only provide you his services but also give you expert consultation in your business.

​Regular updates

​The service provider should immediately inform and update you about micro and macro expenses about the firm. This will help you to put forward your financial plans while taking any big decision for your firm.

​Multi tasked

​The service provider should be committed to do multi-tasking if required. There is no use of outsourcing if he can’t spend extra time in multitasking of your accounting projects. He should be ready to put extra efforts for your company account when needed.

​Excellence in work

​It is one of the most important aspects while hiring an outsourced services provider. He should be able to deliver work on time and should be hard working to offer the best work.

​Culture compatibility

​It is quite an important aspect while outsourcing a service provider that he or she should be able to understand you and your employees well. He should be able to manage everything smoothly without disturbing your in-house work set-up.

​Good technology and latest software's

​The accountant should use best accounting software solutions like Quickbooks to offer you the finest and secure work outputs. 

He should provide you complete tracking, invoicing, expense monitoring and online billing solutions.

They should not be using outdated software tools; if they are using them it is not safe for you and your firm when he will be sharing financial information on the e-mail attachments. He should offer you a paperless reporting experience.

• Steady Track Record

Does the outsourced service provider have a good and proven industry track record?

Checking the number of years of business operation and number of clients the service provider is serving are important. You are much safer when you are dealing with an experienced service provider. If the service provider has lesser experience you need to check its work quality and management of its current clients.

• Service Qualities

Importance of delivering consistent service qualities

The consistency in delivering quality work is more significant than type of work or pricing offered to the service provider. The service provider should be clear that his main objective is your business success and not just dealing out with transactions on a lesser cost.

The service provider should have proficiency in setting-up and managing work processes in order to create better work value that can offer you a competitive advantage on others. There should be no post engagement problems. There should be steadfastness and reliance in his working style. The work commitment should be long term for both the parties.

• Domain Knowledge and Expertise

Checking what type of expertise does your outsourced service provider have is important?

Advanced knowledge and expertise of accounting should be a necessity. A service provider that does not have a related background in the industry may be short of the abilities to fully be on familiar terms with the problem surrounding the client company work. Asking for references is suggested for checking these capabilities. Hearing from current clients in this subject will offer additional insights to this checking process.

​Overall Costing

What are the hourly rates? or What is the cost of outsourcing accounting services?

Costing is one of the key factors in selecting a professional accounting service provider. A service provider with a lower cost does not essentially translate into the finest option. A safer way would be to have additional checks on the quality parameters like a paid pilot project or a sample service output can be a better option. Cost is a key factor to think about in an outsourcing association. However, as we discussed above it alone cannot be viable to continued success of an outsourcing relation in the long run.

• Keep up to SLAs

Why keeping up with Service Level Agreements is a necessity?

While there are many service firms, only some really understand the complete requirements of the clients they are dealing with and offering effective services accordingly. Sometimes the disagreements between the provider firm and the client arise for the reason that there is a misunderstanding in the necessities of the signed business contract. So, it is highly advisable for clients to pick a service firm who will work well with them, be aware of the functioning of the client company, and offer the precise services to keep up with the Service Level Agreement (SLA).

• Work Scalability

Why checking service level scalability is important in the early stages of contract?

• ​Operations that need close interface with your clients
• Operations that need close interface with higher management
• Operations that need presence in site

Finding the right outsourced accounting partner is extremely important. Attention to the above points will make sure that your partner relationship accomplishes the business goals that are expected. As at the end of the day, he is a partner, who can support you on a long term basis and can be a part of your successful business venture.