Accounting company Acotax celebrates its fifth anniversary

In November 2010 specialized accounting company Acotax celebrated its fifth anniversary on the market of financial and accounting outsourcing services and business process outsourcing.

The company was founded in 2005 as a Marlin Group subsidiary, initially focused on accounting services and from the beginning became an outsourcer of financial and accounting functions for small and medium-sized businesses. Sustainable development towards of the higher level of key competences, quality and reliability of service, as well as the step-by-step increasing of specialization has also led to need of altering in the middle of 2009 of original company name Marlin Consulting. As a result, the name of outsourcer was changed to Acotax, rights to use of that were purchased from Belgian company Acotax BVBA in 2008. Today the name Acotax is a registered trademark (service mark) of service provider.

"Five years on the Russian market of financial and accounting outsourcing for highly specialized service provider in the field of business process outsourcing is really important event, especially given that the majority of accounting firms cease its work during the first three years since its inception," said Sergey Bulavsky, Acotax business development director. -During these five years, primarily thanks to our customers, we not only developed an excellent practice of outsourced accounting processes and daily operating activities, reached a high level of competence in the field of business process outsourcing and overall maturity, but also we made a great basis for further development of the our company.

About the company:
Acotax today is a specialized accounting company - outsourcer, has a high-level professionals in a fields of accounting and management, with a high degree of competence in the field of business process outsourcing. Accounting services are the only professional specialization of Acotax. Staying focused on its major specialization, she became in the 2009 the only accounting company among the 50 largest auditing and consulting company of the Northwest of Russia according to opinion of the analytical center "Expert North-West".

Company Acotax is the first and only known in the Russian market of accounting outsourcing companies today that operate on the basis of regular use of the most substantive professional knowledge in the field of outsourcing – Outsourcing Professional Body of Knowledge (OPBOK).
Professionalism and competence of outsourcer repeatedly confirmed by the customer and partner feedback, opinions of experts, representatives of various inspection bodies, and even recognition of some of the other companies operating in the market of accounting services and business process outsourcing.

The company has membership in the Institute of outsourcing (Outsourcing Institute, United States) and the world's largest International Association of Outsourcing Professionals (IAOP, United States). Sergey Bulavsky, Acotax business development director, became the one of the two Russian professional members of International Association of Outsourcing Professionals (IAOP).

Make your costs smart

By Maxim Stepanov

We are hearing from many sources that the world economic crisis has reached its bottom. Over the last 12 months, companies have examined each and every cost in their operation, looking for any expense to eliminate or decrease. Seven out of 10 businesses have reduced personnel head count, salaries and benefits on a limited or permanent basis, to ensure their survival as the global economy spiraled downward. Now, with economic conditions improving and wage demands on the rise again, employers are seeking solutions to keep their fixed costs in human capital at their current levels. Yet, how can this be done when improvements in demand necessitate increases in headcount, salaries and benefits?

Employers have a variety of instruments to “right-size” their labor force as demand in their business goes up and down, as economic conditions fluctuate in their industry and as the availability of skilled labor moves from surplus to shortage. One strategy to cope with these uncertainties is to engage temporary help, lease employees or transfer certain business functions to outsourcing service providers.

Accounting, payroll, clerical services, tech support, call centers and office management are classic examples of cost centers transferred to outsourcing companies by employers to keep their organizations “right-sized” as demand increases. Business process outsourcing services are available in Russia to fulfill these functions, saving time and money on the hiring, training and management of personnel.

Through outsourcing, fixed expenses become variable costs. Transforming a permanent cost into one that can be proactively managed up or down as conditions dictate enables employers to better manage time, resources, capital and cash. Outsourcing reduces clients’ personnel expenses as they outsource only the necessary amount of tasks to get the desired results.

Outsourcing has other benefits. Because service providers are experts in business processes, they have deep knowledge of the most modern management and technology techniques used to manage these functions. Such expertise ensures the continuity of their clients’ business so companies can concentrate their efforts and resources on their profit centers as new revenue opportunities open in the market. Staff leasing and temporary staff services for accounting, payroll and tax declarations are just three of the prime cost centers ripe for outsourcing in today’s market.

In one way, the crisis has taught us to identify employees who are truly critical to our long-term success. Ups and downs in staffing as normal consequences of business cycles really are detrimental to employee morale, to recruiting, attracting, motivating and retaining high achievers. Since no one is immune to the negative effects of downsizing, solutions like outsourcing stabilizes employment levels since employers can shift business functions to service providers. Because of their specializations, they are able to recruit, attract, motivate and retain the high achievers that are needed to make your business a success.

Outsourcing will see new growth as the Russian economy revives. It will become one of the most popular business tools to maintain the stability and effectiveness of the business models of international companies operating in Russia, and Russian enterprises. Outsourcing transforms fixed costs into variable costs that can be scaled up or down as business conditions demand to give companies more flexibility and control over their business.

Is the crisis over?

By Thomas D. Nastas

Has the world economic crisis reached its bottom? Clearly, the first signs of recovery have appeared. This means that the hope of improvement in the labor market has appeared too. Is it possible that the lean times have already passed, and that the end of the extremely complicated situation in the world markets will be as sudden as its beginning? What lessons can Russian executives draw from the preceding crisis?

Without a doubt, emotional reactions to recent economic proceedings can have a real effect on market behavior, accelerating loss or enabling gain, but market confidence alone is not enough for a quick recovery in collapsed economies. It is impossible to deny that the recent economic crisis has been not only felt, but very painful to all strata of the population. However, just as exposure to disease is necessary for the human immune system to improve itself, this crisis will have a most favorable effect on the Russian economy, by providing country, company and individual with a good lesson in crisis management. The only complaint is that the majority has and will pay a very high price for that education.

Never before in the era of the Russian free market has it been necessary for executives of so many different enterprises to implement such large-scale reductions of expenses, due to decreased production, examining each expense “with a fine-toothed comb.” Never before has the “human factor,” a fundamental component of any production process, been as poignant and painful as at this time. Seven out of 10 businesses were forced to reduce personnel, on a limited or extensive scale, to ensure the survival of their company and protect as many jobs as possible under prevailing conditions. The tragedy of reductions served as a good motivator for the analysis and revision of earlier common models, concerning traditional labor mobilization. Many looked at what had once seemed a natural and beneficial resource, i.e. their own personnel, with a new perspective, and began to assess the real costs, risks and social benefits. More and more executives, who are responsible for a company’s profitability, began to look at modern methods of safeguarding their business and alternatives to hiring their own personnel.

As the economy improves, companies look to hire new staff to manage increased workloads. But higher employee headcount adds fixed expenses to the balance sheet, and given the unpredictability of the recovery, companies might consider outsourcing as a variable cost solution to manage increased work loads. Since outsourcing is ‘scalable’ to the workload, it gives companies a way to adjust variable costs as economic conditions dictate.

The amount of outsourcing services available in Russia today is already great enough that any company can take advantage of them to fulfill any number of functions, which had earlier been handled by internal departments, saving both time and money on the hiring, training and management of personnel. Accounting, payroll, clerical services, tech-support, call-centers and office management are some classic examples of formerly internal services transferred onto the market in order to optimize business.

Outsourcing transforms fixed expenses into variable costs so employers can better manage time, resources, capital and cash. Outsourcing reduces clients’ personnel expenses as they outsource only the necessary amount of tasks to get results desired.

Outsourcing has other benefits; because service providers are experts in business processes, they have deep knowledge in the most modern management and technology techniques used to manage these functions. Such expertise ensures the continuity of their clients’ business so companies can concentrate their efforts and resources on their profit centers as new revenue opportunities open in the market. Staff leasing and temporary staff services for accounting, payroll and tax declarations are just three of the prime cost centers ripe for outsourcing in today’s market.

Simultaneously the demand for outsourcing services also requires people to be ready to consider nonstandard conditions regarding the use of their labor. This testifies to a sufficiently high level on the market and high level of outsourcing’s development. In particular, it testifies to its ability to resist negative factors inherent in the global economy and to guarantee adaptability and stability.

One could also see the readiness of people to adapt to temporarily complicated conditions as “sagging” under a changing world, or on the contrary, as a developed ability to resist and to defend their long-term vital interests and plans, through the manifestation of flexibility and readiness to make concessions.

Today it can confidently be said that, due to crisis conditions, outsourcing will find a second and prolonged life. It will become one of the most popular business tools, not only in all areas of recovering economies, but also as a long term method of maintaining the stability and effectiveness of business models.