8 POINTS FOR CHOOSING THE IDEAL OFFSHORE STAFFING COMPANY

It’s no secret that hiring and retaining staff is the top challenge for the accounting industry and a very promising way to overcome this is by hiring offshore staff. Bringing on board an offshore staff carries a lot of benefits and cost-saving is just one of them. 

There’s just one catch: where to find such staff & am I hiring the ideal offshoring partner. Here’s when a good staffing agency fits in the role. However, easier said than done, finding the agency that can fulfill all your requirements somewhat needs due diligence before you decide whom to work with.

Here we have listed down the 8 most important points to be kept in mind while Partnering with an Offshore Staffing Agency.

1. Check Online Presence: Easiest way is to just google it!  Today the internet is full of information about almost everything you want to know. Any reputed business can be found online, including an offshore staffing agency. Have a nice look at their website, what information they share, what kind of articles, blogs, ebooks, or any other insightful information do they post. This helps you determine how well are they updated with the industry standards. It is even better if their articles are published over some other reputed journal websites such as Accounting Today, JofA, or any other similar platforms.

2. Social Media Presence & Reviews: Today social media is the most convenient medium to gather background information about anyone. While looking for a good staffing agency, see if they have a social media presence. Which platforms are they present on, how active they are, who are their followers count on each channel, and what kind of posts are there on their walls.

You may also find a lot of reviews that have come from existing or past clients and employees. If there are a lot of positive reviews, you can consider working with them. If there are a lot of negative reviews, have a look at them, who has posted them, and for what reasons. Anyhow, that’s a red flag. If there are no reviews at all, that’s even worse as not a lot of people might even know how they work and their track record is inconclusive.

3. Client Testimonials: Every provider does post kind words of appreciation from their clients over their websites. More often than not, you will also find video testimonials and case studies or success stories of clients posted on other channels (such as YouTube). You should have a look at them. It is basically a great way to get reference watching a peer from your industry speak about the services, which can often be relatable to what you might want from your provider. 

4. Confidentiality: Privacy Policy and Security of data are of utmost importance, especially while working with offshore staff. Hence, the key thing to explore about an agency here must be to find out how well they ensure the confidentiality of data you might share with them. Insist on knowing what measures they have at the delivery center, how do they mitigate the risks of data security. Are they a certified organization in terms of security standards? These are a few points where you must be satisfied before you decide to work with them. If possible you can also insist on a  Physical tour/Virtual tour of the office.

5. Contractual Commitments: Before starting to work with any Offshore staffing agency,  it is important to determine what things do they cover in their contracts. How well and detailed is their contract? Does it lay down clear responsibilities of the agency and its employees? It is very important to have a detailed look inside the contract and determine if it is safe to work with them. In the end, the agreement must be a legal document and should be binding according to law.

6. Local Presence: Even though the staff works from offshore, they must be sourced through a local company. The best thing about a local company is that it adds to the credibility, as you can have direct communication at any point, they are approachable in person and capable of meeting your service needs more efficiently. 

7. Certification & Accreditation: As a prerequisite, every offshore staffing agency must have relevant certifications, that help you determine the standards, policies, and procedures they follow at work, for example, certification for Quality Management (ISO 9001), Information Security Management (ISO27001), Business Ethics (BBB), etc. Added to that it is also important to determine how they are positioned in the industry, what do industry leaders and societies have to say about them. How often do they come out to meet and greet at conferences or events?

8. Information About the Management Team: The leaders are the building blocks of any organization. So, while looking for an offshore staffing agency, it might interest you to know in detail about the management team. That will tell you about their knowledge, experience, expertise, and how focused are they on the industry you come from. It is always better to have an organization that exclusively works with the accounting industry as they will have a better understanding of the underlying issues and come up with apt solutions more often than the others.

How Entigrity Offshore Staffing Stacks Up On All These Parameters? 

Well, we would say we don’t mean to boast much about it, but, since you are here, you can have a look at our website and the blogs, ebooks, webinars, newsletters, and hundreds of insightful articles that we post regularly. Over our social media channels, we have a fair amount of follower base, a mixed bag of our clients and associates. Overall, you will find 200+ ratings and reviews from all of them. Also, we have our own YouTube channel that has several client success story videos and in itself is a testament to how we have built relationships in the years we have been in business. 

Our contracts are comprehensively written, legally binding, and state all the responsibilities for all the stakeholders including the clients, us (as an agency), and the employees who work from our offices. Also, we are a local (US) company, we are affiliated and accredited by several industry leaders and national or state bodies and have partnered with them on several occasions for conferences and events related to the accounting industry.

We also value the integrity of data and work quality management, hence as ISO 27001 and ISO 9001 certified organization, we have all the policies and practices in place which ensure smooth operations and safety of information.

Our Management comprises accountants, that’s why we call ourselves an organization run “by accountants for the accountants” as our focus is exclusively on the accounting industry.

Entigrity™ is a trusted offshore staffing partner to over 550+ accountants, CPAs, and tax firms across the US and Canada. Our flexible and transparent hiring model helps firms of all sizes hire staff for accounting, bookkeeping, tax preparation, or any other task for 75% less cost. As a firm 'run by accountants, for the accountants', Entigrity captures the hiring needs of accounting firms most precisely, providing staff that works directly under your control and management, still, you are left with least to worry about compliance, payroll taxes, overheads or any other benefits.