Outsourcing the Finance and Accounting Function 3123

8/4/2019 Outsourcing the Finance and Accounting Function 3123

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Accenture High Tech Solutions

Outsourcing the Finance

and Accounting FunctionExecutive Perspectives fromElectronics and High Tech


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1. Introduction and survey demographics 3

. The state of finance and accounting outsourcing

in electronics and high tech 6

3. Outsourcing drivers and challenges 10

4. Choosing an outsourcing provider 13

5. Why finance and accounting outsourcing

matters in electronics and high tech 13

Executive Summary

In recent years, outsourcing has become one of the best ways for companies to attain

and sustain high performance. And one of the fastest growing outsourcing areas is

finance and accountingtransferring activities such as purchase to pay and order to

cash to an external provider of these services. Finance and accounting challenges are

intense in any industry. But they can be particularly taxing in electronics and high

tech because of the fields global dynamism and the fact that companies physical

supply chains are very tightly linked with their financial supply chains.

Accenture recently worked with the Economist Intelligence Unit to assess the state

of finance and accounting outsourcing in electronics and high tech. With nearly 30

executive respondents in Europe and North America, the survey findings present an

interesting picture of a differentiable business strategy at work in a vibrant and fast-

changing industry.


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1. Introduction andsurvey demographicsBusiness process outsourcing has

evolved rom an interesting trend

to an enduring realityone o the

best ways or companies to attain

and sustain high perormance.

Perhaps most important, outsourcing

has given many entities the

scope and skills to become more

global. But outsourcing has put

other enhancements within reach,

including more advanced technology,

improved collaboration and greater

enterprise-wide transparency. Clearly,the beneits and characteristics o

outsourcing it well with the needs o

a 21st century business.

One particularly viable outsourcing

area is inance and accounting

transerring activities such as

purchase to pay and order to cash

to an external provider o these

services. Accenture researchers have

observed that three quarters o all

high-perormance businesses are also

leaders in inance. (High-perormance

business are deined as the roughly 10

percent o companies that outperorm

their industry peers consistently over

time.) For example, we have observed

that, by outsourcing inance and

accounting unctions, many high

perormers have tightened their ocus

on strategic priorities, strengthened

their governance capabilities, developed

better management controls, improved

eiciency, enhanced reporting and

introduced new opportunities or

continuous improvement. All o theseactions are key prerequisites to high

perormance in inance and accounting.

But what about speciic industries,

such as electronics and high tech?1 Are

there explicit opportunities, concerns,

metrics, and methods that make inance

and accounting outsourcing unique

to these ields? Should companies in

these areas be looking more, or less,

closely at inance and accounting

outsourcing, given the industrys unique

and ast-changing global proile?

And are there identiiable dierences

in electronics and high tech that

make outsourcing potentially more or

less viable? In an eort to ind out,

Accenture, in cooperation with the

Economist Intelligence Unit, surveyed

229 executives, primarily in Europe and

North America. The objective was to

better understand the current state o

outsourcing in the electronics and high-

tech industries, and the current mindset

o experienced executives with respect

to the potential and uture o inanceand accounting outsourcing.

Outsourcing the Finance

and Accounting FunctionExecutive Perspectives fromElectronics and High Tech

Outsourcing the Finance and Accounting Function 3


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The unique nature of outsourcing finance

and accounting in electronics and high techInternally or through outsourcing, every company must excel at managing finance

functions such as transaction processing, general ledger, accounts payable and

treasury. But electronics and high tech is different and often more complex because

its physical supply chain is very closely linked with its financial supply chain. At

many of the larger companies, in other words, work-in-process moves around the

world based on economic opportunity (for example, design in the United States, lead

frames from Singapore, assembly in Indonesia, distribution through Korea via Japan,

and transaction management in Ireland). As a result, the outsourcing paradigm is

significantly more complicatedwith greater risks and potentially greater rewards

proffered by service providers that 1) can recognize and capture opportunity and

) have focused experience in areas such as international trade, customs, local tax

law, transfer pricing and internal pricing.

4 Accenture High Tech Solutions


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Profiling the RespondentsVirtually all o our surveys respondents

occupy decision-maker positionsCEO,

COO, CFO, CIO, etc.and thus are well

qualiied to provide insights about

their companys priorities and the

expectations they have about how

outsourcing inance and accounting

unctions might contribute to high

perormance (Figure 1). Approximately

50 percent o respondents work directly

withinor are associated withtheir

organizations inance unction.

As shown in Figure 2, Accenture

and the Economist Intelligence Unitsecured input rom companies with

varying revenue (turnover). This helped

to ensure that clear distinctions could

be made about the practices and

priorities o smaller companies (annual

revenue o less than $500 million)

versus larger ones (revenue equal to or

exceeding $500 million). Researchers

also sought to ensure diversity with

respect to industry representation:

Responses were distributed among

aerospace and deense; sotware;

semiconductors; computers and oice

equipment; telecommunications

equipment; and consumer electronics

(Figure 3).

. The state of financeand accountingoutsourcing inelectronics andhigh tech

In a survey about outsourcing, the

geographical disbursement o a

particular unction is particularly

relevant. For example, as shown in

Figure 4, only 26 percent o respondents'

companies are headquartered in Asia;

but more than double that number

(56 percent) said they have inance

and accounting operations there. A

similar situation exists with European

companies: 37 percent o the response

base is headquartered in Europe,

but 54 percent o respondents have

inance and accounting acilities

there. Altogether, there are about 1.6

inance and accounting operations

or every responding company. This

tells us that many finance and

accounting operations are already

distributedeither outsourced

or internally managed at several

locations. So it ollows that many

executives are used to working in the

kind o environment that outsourcing

oten representsthat they arecomortable managing physically

disbursed operations that traverse

multiple languages and time zones.

Because o the global nature o their

value chain, electronics and high-tech

companies oten must have inancial

operations in more than one country.

Ater all, some are managing sales and

production operations in as many as 60

countries, and each nation has its own

Figure 1: Survey recipients were asked,

Which o the ollowing titles best

describes your job?


What were your companys revenues in US

dollars in the most recent iscal year?

CIO or

Technology

Director

7%

CFO,

Treasurer or

Comptroller

8%

Head of

Business Unit

or Other C-level

Executive

10%Other

12%

SVP, VP or Director

19%CEO,

President or

Managing

Director20%

Manager or

Head of

Department

24%


What is your industry?

,

,

,

< $500 million

46%

$10 billion

to $25 billion

8%

$500 million

to $1 billion

10%

$5 billion

to $10 billion

10%

$1 billion

to $5 billion

13%

> $25 billion

13%

,

,

Software36%

Aerospace& defense5%

Consumerelectronics17%

Semi-conductors7%

Computers &

office equipment

12%

Telecommunicationsequipment23%



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unique inance laws. This can be a

powerul incentive to outsource inance

and accountinga desire to improve

perormance, reduce risk and raise con-

sistency by avoiding the need to build or

maintain in-country inance capabilities.

In act, Accenture research has revealed

that a key contributor to high peror-

mance is the consistent application o

metrics and behaviors across geographic

boundaries and organizations.

It also is clear that formal finance

and accounting outsourcing

relationships are becoming more

prevalent. More than one quartero survey participants (26 percent)

outsource their inance and accounting

unctions currently, behind inormation

technology, manuacturing and supply

chain management (Figure 5). But

survey results show that, over the next

three years, the only unction that

electronics and high-tech companies

plan to outsource more oten than

inance and accounting is supply

chain (an additional 20 percent versus

an additional 22 percent). In other

words, the outsourcing o unctions

such as procurement seem likely to

increase at a aster rate; but a greater

number o companies will outsource

inance and accounting.

However, the increasing prevalence o

inance and accounting outsourcing

becomes even more dramatic when

responding companies are segmented

by revenue. As shown in Figure 6,

the survey results suggest that the

percentage of larger companies that

outsource finance and accounting willincrease by more than 100 percent

within three yearsrom 16 percent o

survey respondents to 37 percent. Put

another way, an additional 21 percent

o the large-company survey population

(revenues equal to or exceeding $500

million) plan to outsource inance and

accounting within three years. No

other unction in our survey registered

increases o this magnitude.

On the one hand, a jump in inance

and accounting outsourcing among

large companies might be expected

since, according to survey results,

larger entities lag smaller ones in

current inance and accounting

outsourcing. However, the reality is

that outsourcing almost any unction

is more daunting and more complex

or larger companies than it is or

smaller ones. Thus, the act that


among larger companies seems slated

to increase by more than 100 percent

within three years is signiicant. It

tells us that many big companies eelthat third party services providers have

become more mature and stable. As

noted earlier, electronics and high-tech

companies also may be recognizing

thatinstead o maintaining inance

skills or the dozens o countries in

which they operatethey may be

able to raise perormance and reduce

complexity and risk by outsourcing.


1) "Where is your company

headquartered? and 2) Where are

your inance and accounting operations

currently located? As the graphic shows,

or example, 26 percent o respondents

represent companies headquartered

in Asia; however 56 percent o all

respondents have inance and accountingoperations in Asia.

Figure 5: Survey recipients were asked,Which o the ollowing business processesdoes your organization currently outsourceand which does it plan to outsource withinthe next three years?

Locations of finance andaccounting operations

Headquarters

Europe

North America

Asia-Pacific

Middle East/Africa

Latin America

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50%60%

IT services

Manufacturing

Supply chain and logistics

Finance and accounting

Human resources

R&D/product development

Customer service, sales and marketing

Procurement

Outsourcing the Finance and Accounting Function

,

,

10%0% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90%

Currently outsource

Plan to outsource within 3 years

No plans to outsource

Dont know


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Figure 6: Survey recipients were asked,Which o the ollowing business processesdoes your organization currently outsourceand which does it plan to outsourcewithin the next three years? (Results orresponding companies with revenues equalto or exceeding $500 million.)

Figure 7: Survey recipients were asked,How satisied has your company beenwith its outsourcing experience?

IT services


Manufacturing


Human resources

R&D/product development


Procurement


IT services


Manufacturing

Human resources

R&D/product developmentProcurement


Another strong motivation may be linked

to the act that, according to survey

results, high levels of satisfaction

are evident among companies that

outsource finance and accounting. In

act, inance and accounting garnered

a higher percentage o very satisied

citations than any other outsourced

unction (Figure 7).

Responses to a dierent question also

support the conclusion that satisaction

in inance and accounting outsourcing

is high. Survey recipients were asked

i they expect inance and accounting

outsourcing to become more prevalent intheir industry over the next three years.

58 percent o the entire survey population

said yes, but so did 79 percent o those

respondents whose companies already

outsource their inance unction (Figure

8). The implication is clear: Companies

that have outsourced their finance and

accounting functions are satisfied with

the results.

Satisaction levels clearly must be linked

to observed beneits, and it is in this

area that several important distinctions

can be made between electronics and

high-tech companies with actual inance

and accounting outsourcing experience

and those without. As noted in Figure 9,

respondents in the aggregate (companies

that do and do not outsource) identiied

a tighter ocus on core competencies

and the opportunity to lower costs

as the principal beneits o inance and

accounting outsourcing.

However, when responses rom those

with inance and accounting experienceare separated rom those with no

outsourcing experience, a somewhat

dierent picture emerges (Figure 10).

Lower costs, or example, are still

important. But while they are the

principal beneit cited by companies

that do not outsource, they are less

top-o-mind among current outsourcers.

This doesnt mean that lower costs

are less attainable than previously

believed. More likely, it implies that

most satisied users o inance and

accounting outsourcing services think

well beyond low cost. They recognize

that, because inance and accounting

comprises a relatively small percentage

o overall operating expenses,

the primary motivator is not cost

reduction but rather the need to avoid

(extremely costly) inancial problems

such as compliance ailure. Basically,

high satisaction levelsand high

perormancecan result rom working

with outsourcing services providers

whose credentials go beyond low-costassurances to:

Documented experience in inance

and accounting and electronics and

high tech.

Global reach and presence (or example,

through in-country delivery centers).


10%0% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70%

15%

15%

21%

16%

6%

9%

13%

15%

Currently outsource

Plan to outsource within three years

10%0% 20%30%40% 50%60%70%80%90%100%

Very Satisfied 2 3 4 Very Dissatisfied


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Outsourcing the Finance and Accounting Function

Deep amiliarity and integration

with relevant processes, such as

procurement and planning/orecasting.

Sophisticated perormance metrics

and contractual commitments to

continuous improvement based on

those metrics.

Again, Figure 10 demonstrates how

the perspectives o experienced

outsourcers dier rom those without

experience. Several examples are

particularly noteworthy:

Sharper focus on core competencies:Outsourcing services providers are

requently successul at helping clients

reduce pressures relating to costs,

control, compliance and transparency.

As a result, most inance and accounting

client companies enjoy the opportunity

to reocus their attention on other, more

strategic areas o the business, such

as enhancing core competencies and

leveraging inance and accounting to

increase marketplace dierentiation or

bottom-line proitability. Maximizing

dierentiation by devoting more o their

attention to what they do best is nearly

always a trait o companies that have

achieved high perormance.

Fewer compliance problems: According

to survey results, current outsourcing

clients were almost twice as likely as

those that do not outsource to cite

ewer compliance problems as a key


beneit. In eect, they have recognized

that a relationship with the right

outsourcing services provider will helpthem deal with an increasingly complex

and expensive component o inance and

accounting management. Take Sarbanes-

Oxley legislation, which requires

companies to increase the timeliness,

accuracy and transparency o their

inancial reporting. Research not related

to this study has shown that companies

now spend between $4 million and $10

million annually to address Sarbanes-

Oxley requirements, and that having the

right controls in place can reduce those

costs by up to 50 percent.2 Outsourcing

inance and accounting is one important

way to make this happen. This is because

outsourcing services providers are

more likely to have already made the

necessary investments in compliance

technology, certiication-ready processes

and the mechanisms needed to integrate

compliance programs with a centralized

system o corporate control.

Enhanced disaster recovery and

continuity planning: Business continuity

planning is a core component oany inance and accounting clients

arrangement with its service provider.

Most o those providers are exceptionally

well-qualiied to ensure continuity, due to

their broad experience and involvement

with multiple clients. Moreover, the best

outsourcing services providersthose

whose experience goes beyond the simple

assurance o lower costalso have

a global presence. With investments,

Figure 8: Survey recipients were asked,Do you expect inance and accountingoutsourcing to become more prevalent inyour industry over the next three years?

No

Yes

All respondents

Current F&A outsourcers

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80%

Sharper focus on core competencies

Lower costs

Opportunity to access best-of-breed talent and technology

Better service

Catalyst for wider organizational change

Fewer compliance problemsOpportunity for finance executives to play a more strategic role

Enhanced disaster recovery and continuity planning

Greater transparency and openness in the eyes of the market

Other

Figure 9: Survey recipients were asked,In your experience, what are the primarybeneits o outsourcing? Choose up tothree beneits.

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80%


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Figure 10: Survey recipients were asked,In your experience, what are the primarybeneits o outsourcing? Choose up tothree beneits. (Responses o companiesthat outsource currently versus those thatdo not.)

Non-outsourcers

Outsourcers

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80%

Sharper focus on core competencies

Lower costs

Better service

Opportunity to access best-of-breed talent and technology

Fewer compliance problems

Enhanced disaster recovery and continuity planning

Catalyst for wider organizational change

Opportunity for finance executives to play a more strategic role

Greater transparency and openness in the eyes of the market

Other

operations and skills that span the globe,

they may be ar better positioned than

low-cost providers (or even their client)

to keep the inancial ball rolling in the

event o a local mishap.

3. Outsourcingdrivers andchallenges

Having determined that survey

respondents plan to increase their use

o inance and accounting outsourcing

by more than 75 percent within threeyears (more than 100 percent or

larger companies), Accenture sought to

examine the drivers o these decisions

and the reasons behind the reluctance

o those whose plans do not include

inance and accounting outsourcing.

First, those executives who orecast

higher inance and accounting

outsourcing levels were most likely to

cite cost pressures and improved service

quality as the primary drivers (Figure

11). In eect, they are acknowledging

that lower costs and better service

are not only key motivators butkey realities. Executives at larger

companies were more likely to cite the

improved pricing structures oered

by outsourcing services providers

than were respondents rom smaller

companies (31 percent versus 19

percent). Reinorcing the message that


can reduce compliance problems and

compliance costs, a strong percentage

o the aggregate survey population

cited increasing regulatory compliance

burdens as a inance and accounting

outsourcing driver. Electronics and high

tech is virtually a poster child or this

issue: As one o the worlds most global

industries, its inancial complexities are

continuously magniied by compliance

mandates such as Sarbanes-Oxley

(United States), the Waste Electrical

and Electronic Equipment initiative

(Europe) and the Asian Environmental

Compliance and Enorcement Network.

Leading outsourcing services providers

oten are the most seasoned navigators

o these increasingly choppy waters.

Accenture then asked survey recipients,

I you do not outsource inance and

accounting unctions but you do

outsource other areas o your business,

why has the inance and accounting

unction not yet shited to this model?

While the responses shown in Figure 12

are largely sel-explanatory, it is worth

noting the high number o respondents

who perceive inance and accounting

unctions as too critical to outsource (54percent) or too diicult to outsource (23

percent). Not surprisingly, these concerns

were more prevalent among larger

companies than smaller ones.

There is evidence, however, that views on

(outsourcing-prohibitive) criticality may

be moderating. According to a recent

study by Everest Partners L.P., inance and

accounting outsourcing revenues more

Pressure on costs

Improved quality of service from outsourcing providers

Increased regulatory and compliance burdens

Improved technology and expertise of outsourcing providers

Finance outsourcing success observed at other companies

Success outsourcing other (non-finance) functions

Improved pricing structures offered by outsourcing providers

Others

Figure 11: Fity eight percent orespondents believe that outsourcingwill be more prevalent in three years. Tothat group, we asked, What will be theprimary drivers behind increasing use

o inance and accounting outsourcingproviders in your industry?

rs

rs

5%0% 10% 15%20%25%30%35% 40% 45% 50%


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Reflecting on riskWhile not represented as a barrier

choice, the issue o risk is very real

to any company that is considering a

process management alternative. Risk is

particularly top o mind to prospective

outsourcers, and it is every services

providers responsibility to clariy how its

oering seeks to minimize risk during the

transition and during ongoing process

management.

Recognizing these realities, Accenture

asked survey recipients, In your view,

what are the three primary risks

associated with inance and accountingoutsourcing? As shown in Figure 14,

most respondents worry about data

security breaches. However, this concern

is considerably less evident among

companies with experience in inance and

accounting outsourcing. In act, current

clients o outsourcing services were

almost 50 percent less likely than those

that do not outsource to cite breaches

o data security as a principal risk. It also

should be noted that, as shown in Figure

10, responding outsourcers were three

times more likely than non-outsourcers to

identiy enhanced disaster recovery and

continuity planning as a primary beneit

o inance and accounting outsourcing.

According to survey results, what tends

to increase among companies with

experience in inance and accounting

outsourcing are concerns that quality

o service is inadequate and/or that

the cost o the endeavor will exceed

their expectations o success. Although

these are valid concerns, they tend toaccompany any outsourcing relationship,

and thus do not relect a particular

shortcoming in the inance and

accounting outsourcing model. Moreover,

innovative and reliable service providers

always work with their clients to develop

contractually binding service levels and

cost/beneit ratiosthereby minimizing

worry about inadequate results. It could

be, thereore, that companies that have

opted to outsource (and are concerned

about poor service or excessive costs) are

not working with services providers that

commit to speciic outcomes.

Lastly, it should be mentioned that

because inance and accounting costs

represent only a small part o a typical

companys budgetthe real value that

outsourcing must bring to the party is not

lower costs but higher reliability. This is

particularly germane to electronics and

high-tech companies, whose market price

is based ar more on uture value than

what is experienced by organizations inother industries. In eect, doing inance

and accounting rightand thus avoiding

problems with regulators, analysts and

disgruntled shareholdersmust be every

electronics and high-tech companys core

mission. The best outsourcing services

providers understand this, which is why

most have invested (more than most

o their clients could) to maximize

Risk of breaches of data security

Risk that in-house knowledge andexpertise erode beyond repair

Risk that quality of service is inadequate

Risk that governance compliance standardswill deteriorate or not be met

Risk that cost of outsourcing exceeds expectations

Risk that management of outsourcing providertakes too much time

Risk that outsourcing provider goes bankruptor changes ownership

Risk that transition will disrupt current operations

Finance and accounting expertise

Strong cultural fit

Track record of outsourcing in my industry

Reputation for continuous improvement in outsourcing

Willingness to share risks and rewards of projects

CostScale and global coverage

Cutting edge technology and infrastructure

Ability to offer shared utility services

Other

Figure 14: Survey recipients wereasked, In your view, what arethe three primary risks associatedwith inance and accountingoutsourcing?

Figure 15: Survey recipients wereasked, Which o the ollowing aremost important when selecting ainance and accounting outsourcingservices provider?

10%0% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70%

All Outsourcers Non-outsourcers

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70%


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security, compliance, reporting accuracy

and consistency. Larger, more disparate

workorces, multiple locations, live

backups, niche experience, company-

wide continuity planning, disaster

recovery training, and leading-edge

technology are just some o the ways

they make this happen.

4. Choosing anoutsourcing provider

Thus ar, we have shared the opinions,

concerns and aspirations that respondentshold or their inance and accounting

operationsboth internal and (potentially)

in an outsourcing environment. The inal

step is to communicate their insights on

selecting an outsourcing services provider.

We asked electronics and high-tech

survey recipients Which o the ollowing

are most important when selecting an


services provider? Not surprisingly,

unctional expertise was the top

considerationidentiied as a top-three

actor by 62 percent o all respondents

and 80 percent o those with inance

and accounting outsourcing experience

(Figure 15).

Accentures view is that inance and

accounting expertiserespondents

most valued selection criterionwas

chosen because o its direct relationship

to quality o service. In a previous

Economist Intelligence Unit survey,

executives rom a wide variety o

industries were asked How could

your outsourcing services providerhelp you improve the perormance

o your inance and accounting

unction over the next three years?

Improving service quality was the

most prevalent response. Clearly, when

a company outsources a process,

that process evolves rom an internal

back-oice unction to part o a

vital customer-service relationship.

This signiicant changethe product

o increased process rigor, detailed

service level agreements, consistent

reporting and metrics-based continuous

improvementstypically results in

better service.

5. Why financeand accountingoutsourcing mattersin electronics andhigh tech

Electronics and high tech is uniquely

dynamic. Constantly changing

landscapes and complexities (new

products, acquisitions, services, markets,

countries, businesses) are routine. As

a result, electronics and high-tech

inancial models, reporting structures,

mechanisms, priorities and personnel

also are in lux, with new demands made

constantly by customers and investors.


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The core tenets of collaborationtighter

focus, commitment, accountability and

visibilityare also the foundations of a

successful outsourcing relationship.

1 "Electronics and high tech" industriesinclude aerospace and deense; sotware;semiconductors; computers and oiceequipment; telecommunications equipment; andconsumer electronics.

2 Source: Virsa Systems, Inc., Customer Survey,July 2005.

3 "Why Finance And Accounting OutsourcingWill Experience Double Digit Growth," 2005Everest Partners L.P.

More than ever, the burden o

those demands can be addressed by

outsourcing, and the deep industry/

niche experience, unctional excellence,

global coverage and (yes) lower costthat the best outsourcing services

providers make available.

In addition, there also is the innate

value o collaboration. Most o

this surveys executive respondents

concurred that inance and accounting

outsourcing is one o the best terrains

upon which to access, integrate and

optimize the contributions o multiple

players. Simply put, inance and

accounting outsourcing in electronics

and high tech is about partnerships. It

means working together to identiy and

capture opportunities, while sharing

responsibility or implementation,

setbacks and success. In eect, the

core tenets o collaborationtighter

ocus, commitment, accountability and

visibilityare also the oundations o a

successul outsourcing relationship.

But outsourcing has yet another

pillarthe mantra o continuous

improvement. Across numerous

surveys and customer relationships,

Accenture has observed thatcontinuous improvement is vital to high

perormance and that a commitment

to continuous improvement in

inance and accounting is key to

an outsourcing contract. The point

is simple and dramatic: Companies

expect their outsourcing relationships

to help them improve perormance

on an ongoing basisrequently and

indeinitely. A good example is the

opportunity to leverage leading-edge

technology: In our 2004 survey o

inance and accounting executives in

multiple industries, only one-third o

respondents said they are able to apply

the best available tools to manage

the inance and accounting unction.

However, nearly twice that number

expect leading-edge technology to

accompany an outsourcing program.

Thus the most important message

contained in this report is that highly

successul outsourcing engagements

particularly or dynamic industries

such as electronics and high tech, andchallenging and sensitive processes such

as inance and accountingare actually

partnerships. They are not superior/

subordinate ailiations but win-win

partnerships, complete with high levels

o communication, high levels o trust

and continuously escalating expectations

or the attainment o high perormance.


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Copyright 2006 Accenture

All rights reserved.

Accenture, its logo, and

High Perormance Deliveredare trademarks o Accenture.

About Accenture

Accenture is a global management

consulting, technology services and

outsourcing company. Committed

to delivering innovation, Accenturecollaborates with its clients to help

them become high-perormance

businesses and governments. With

deep industry and business process

expertise, broad global resources and

a proven track record, Accenture can

mobilize the right people, skills, and

technologies to help clients improve

their perormance. With approximately

140,000 people in 48 countries, the

company generated net revenues o

US$16.65 billion or the fscal year

ended Aug. 31, 2006. Its home page is

www.accenture.com.

Documents

Outsourcing the Finance and Accounting Function 3123