Offshore Teams for Insolvency & Restructuring

The insolvency profession can be a scary black box for pretty much everyone outside their industry. For a business in trouble, these are the people banks and creditors call in to pull the plug. Imagine people in black suits. Dark sunglasses. A knock on the door you didn’t see coming…

Your Worst Clients Need Insolvency Help

In the first few years of running an accounting practice, I had a few clients who had no interest in paying their ATO debt. They shouldn’t have been in business to begin with and couldn’t run it to save themselves. Substantial debts accrued. As you start working with these types, you get a sense that their ‘bad fortune’ won’t turn around.

I reached out to an insolvency professional for one client when I felt the ATO was going to start circling.

At first, I was apprehensive about asking for ‘advice’ from an expert I knew would be on the creditors’ side once the engagement started. The thought crossed my mind, “I hope I did the books correctly”. But as time went on, the fears were unfounded, and most of it was routine and procedural as the company was liquidated.

Building Offshore Teams for Insolvency Clients

As Frontline Accounting (our BPO) grew, and I stepped away from public practice, we helped a number of insolvency and restructuring firms build offshore teams in the Philippines. We also worked with them through COVID-19, keeping their teams intact through a very challenging time when governments turned off their revenue sources by preventing businesses from going under.

The profession holds a unique skillset. Most are trained as accountants or lawyers, but the work is anything but routine. When they’re called into a struggling business, it’s all hands on deck. They need to get across new systems fast, uncover what’s salvageable, calm rattled staff – all while adhering to strict legal processes, and under time pressure.

That last point… time pressure presents a challenge for workflow planning.

Unlike the accounting profession, they don’t have the luxury to calendarize the annual workflow. While empathy is required, their job isn’t to build relationships. The stakes are high, and a slip probably won’t be forgiven like the client you’ve helped for the last 30 years.

How do you create capacity in this case?

The Case for Offshoring in Insolvency

Insolvency and restructuring practices need to build capacity just like everyone else. But it’s capacity in a different way—to respond to a sudden spike in workflow. When a new job lands, it must be acted on immediately.

1. Offshoring Works Well for Routine Processes
   A substantial portion of insolvency work is process-oriented. Admin-based, with form filling and information collation. Accounting knowledge is also required. Maintaining the books and lodging with tax authorities needs to be done as well.

   The good news is that well-trained Filipino staff respond well to process-driven work. Unlike much of the first world, there is a deep pool of talent to draw from to fill these types of roles. 

2. Lower Costs Facilitate Greater Capacity
   Being able to hire 2-3 staff in the Philippines for every 1 locally… You can hire more staff. In the quiet times, that means you can hold more capacity (in terms of available hours) while waiting for the next project to ramp up.
3. Training to Bridge Knowledge Gaps
   It’s unlikely that you’ll hire someone with insolvency experience in the Philippines. There just hasn’t been a long enough time passed with enough practitioners doing it to create a talent pool. But there are ways to quickly bridge knowledge gaps. A typical scenario would be to hire someone with a few years of bookkeeping experience.

   Frontline can help bridge local tax knowledge with our bootcamp training. We’ve also partnered with training providers like ARITA to bring new staff up to speed in the shortest time possible.

Fast Ramp-Up When the Wave Hits

Insolvency isn’t predictable. One month is quiet, the next is chaos. Internal hiring takes time, but offshore teams can be standing by. We can help you build a bench for when you need it.

We hire accountants, and we hire admin staff. For the insolvency profession, we hire a unique blend of both.

To meet the staffing needs of a busy insolvency firm, some planning and time investment are needed by the partner and managers. Maybe that sounds daunting, but it could be easier than you think.

Once assembled and trained, you can reap the benefits on an ongoing basis. The experience and knowledge in your offshore team compound over time. Subsequent hires get easier to onboard and train, allowing you even more ability to grow.

Like to know more?

Book a discovery call to find out how offshoring could be a fit for your practice.