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5 Tips when Sourcing Excellent Accountancy Services

Effectively sourcing Professional Services and particularly Accountancy, requires vast purchasing expertise. Through our sister company, supply.ie, we are lucky enough to have some of Ireland’s friendliest Accountants on-board. So when we asked them for advice they would give to clients when sourcing Accountancy/ Professional Services, this was the response;

  1. Check and make sure the Accountant is registered and fully qualified via the CPA, ACCA or ACA

  2. Ensure you have a dedicated contact person and if you are not happy with the service, an appropriate complaints procedure should exist.

  3. When you get a quote, ensure it includes a breakdown i.e. does it include Bookkeeping, VAT returns, Payroll, Tax Returns and Financial Accounts or does the price only cover one particular aspect of the accounts such as the VAT returns.

  4. Identify (and negotiate) the payments terms as quickly as possible.

  5. Check to see when was the practise established. Take note of their Profile and existing clients

Finally, as when sourcing all service providers and suppliers, ensure your tender/request responses seek expertise, integrity and honesty. Or, have you any other considerations to add to this list when sourcing Accountancy services?

Sourcing Facilities Management (FM) Considerations

According to the International Facility Management Association (IFMA), facility management is “a profession that encompasses multiple disciplines to ensure functionality of the built environment by integrating people, place, processes and technology.”

This mainly encompasses providing services related to Security, Emergency Response, Project Management, Health & Safety, Cleaning, Landscaping, Fire safety, Maintenance systems, Help desk, Asset management, Waste management, Reception, Car Parking, Pest control, Property Management and even Business continuity planning (to name a few). As with all purchasing, the success of a FM engagement depends largely on effective procurement planning and management which affects the outsourcing decisions, service bundling and the type of relationship required.

 

Therefore, the FM considerations to consider are;

  1. To outsource or not? DIY, direct employment or outsource? Surprisingly some buyers do not give this point sufficient attention. It is vital to analyse your requirements fully before deciding to outsource or not.
  2. Service bundling: Single services or bundled? Due to the myriad of FM services outlined above, it is imperative to decide whether some/all can be bundled. This undoubtedly will affect the number of FM service providers, contracts, relationships etc.
  3. Location: Single location or multi-site? If this is single-site, there is very little to consider with this point. However, if you have multiple sites do you require multiple providers? Would local, regional or national suppliers provide the optimum service?
  4. Type of relationship: Management or Partnering? This decision will be facilitated by firstly accounting for the previous considerations. Thereafter, your resources and expertise will dictate whether you manage this FM provider or collaborate fully with a strategic partner.

 

It is understandable that there is a strong correlation between each of these considerations while varying external elements affect these also e.g. the number of available service providers, the range of services available and the size/scale of these service providers. Finally, as when sourcing all vendors, ensure your tender/request responses seek expertise, experience , integrity and honesty. Have you any other considerations to add to this list when sourcing Facility Management services?

Le Chéile Procurement Does your Credit Union want to make significant savings to your running costs?

With so much additional cost involved in running your Credit Union in current times, would it not be a major benefit to have specialist external support in managing cost while maintaining service delivery to your members? In most cases it simply is not viable to employ a full time procurement specialist, yet never has such a focused approach to cost management been more necessary and more needed.

 

The good news is that your Credit Union can either, as part of a localised group, or on a stand alone basis, tap in to the vast experience in procurement which is available exclusively through Le Chéile Procurement.

 

What is Le Chéile Procurement??

Le Chéile Procurement represents the coming together of two market leading firms to provide a vital service for Credit Unions in Ireland;

  1. Arvo is an Enterprise Ireland backed firm of specialist procurement professionals and has already proven credentials in making significant savings for a myriad of organisations, including Credit Unions.
  2. Le Chéile Group has been working exclusively in the Credit Union sector for nearly a decade and has pioneered many services within the sector including Insurances, Investments and Debit Cards.

Procurement represents Le Chéile’s newest service to the sector which responds to the seemingly endless drain on Credit Union resources arising from running costs, compliance costs, utilities etc.

 

How does it work?

  1. We examine Credit Unions for savings potential, benchmarking operational effectiveness within the League of Credit Unions
  2. We have a database of 12,000 Irish suppliers to expertly source great local competitive suppliers,
  3. We analyse your spend, articulate your requirements, group your consumption and negotiate with relevant suppliers in the Irish market
  4. We save you Time and Money by sourcing suppliers with low margins and overheads, with the following results in 2015;

5 Steps – How Does the Process Work?

  1. Present concept of Arvo Audits
  2. Audit agreed and initiated (client invoices/bills shared with Arvo)
  3. Analysis, benchmarking and savings identified
  4. Savings Report presented within two weeks
  5. Implementation and Monitoring of new suppliers/rates

What are the Fees?

Results Focused:
If there are savings found, Arvo’s fee would be 40% of the previous twelve months savings. This fee includes savings implementation and monitoring (if required). 
NB: If there are no savings found, no fee applies.

Why undertake an Audit?

  1. We bring an entrepreneurial spirit to Strategic Sourcing and Procurement
  2. We assist in the implementation of new programs, contracts and suppliers
  3. We help Credit Unions reduce their costs and increase their profits while they focus on their core business

“Cost Savings are vital in today’s’ Credit Union landscape. Over the past year Our Credit Union have worked closely with Arvo, who have assisted us to make substantial savings to our Credit Union. Working with Supply has allowed us to reduce our Utilities costs by over 25% and improved efficiencies across the board. We are extremely happy with the service they have provided and the savings which we have made as a result.”
A Known Credit Union –

Contact Us to save time/money/hassle: [email protected] or 021-4205561

Correct Your Electricity Bills

AIB recently announced a €100 million Fund for businesses to complete energy efficiency projects, after researching that one third of SMEs do not understand their energy bills and 86 per cent do not know how to lower them. As energy prices are on an upward trend, there is an increasing need for businesses to effectively manage energy costs. Reducing utility costs is still one of the most effective and achievable strategies for lowering business operating costs.

It would seem also that lots of businesses are on the incorrect Electricity Tariff while their fixed charges may be inaccurate also. Mike McGrath, Managing Director of Arvo Cost Management commented “We see this every day. Some businesses are actually on the incorrect Electricity tariff and therefore are paying more for their electricity than they need to be. In one case in particular, we corrected a tariff for one business saving them €39,087 annually, while this week we corrected Tariffs on a daily basis for our clients”.

An even simpler technique is to ensure your fixed charges are correct. Every energy bill has fixed and variable charges, so start by ensuring your fixed charges are accurate and competitive. For example, your Maximum Import Capacity (MIC) Charges relate to the kilovolt ampere (Kva) connection and maximum load between your electricity account and ESB Networks. Mr. McGrath continues, “some businesses are not set at the correct MIC level and pay either penalty fees or excess charges on their bills as a result. We recently corrected the MIC for one client who was paying an excess of €2,067 per month. Worryingly for Irish Businesses, up until recently, we could ascertain this MIC Data from ESB Networks but now they no longer provide this information, ensuring it is difficult for businesses to correct their Maximum Import Capacity.

“This practice is not unique to the Energy Market, we observe discrepancies in billing on Telecom, Stationery and service-based invoices. This often occurs as the Purchaser, User and Payer of a particular product or service within a business, are rarely the same person.”

Contact us today if you feel like it is the right time to review your electricity bills.

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