A successful outsourcing and offshoring relationship depends greatly on the qualifications and experience of the staff processing the SMSF work.
“At the end of the day, we fall back on the quality and the training [of our staff],” BPO Connect managing director Arjuna Samarakoon told selfmanagedsuper.
BPO Connect uses SMSF Blueprint to train its staff, who service 4000-plus SMSFs.
“From a tax, software and application training perspective, we have staff with 10-plus years’ experience in superannuation and our training is around 80 hours per annum and it’s quite intense,” Samarakoon said.
“I’ve had a look at the other outsourcers in the industry and made my own decision about the positioning I wanted to do for BPO Connect – I didn’t want to be the cheapest, I don’t think I am at all.
“I wanted to be the best quality because I made a conscious effort to have consistent long-term relationships.”
He added that was backed by a commitment to continually improve the training and education of his staff.
“We invest a substantial amount because the question about the quality of staff is important,” he stressed.
“We do the training, but we’re also conscious about having the same team [which our clients deal with] because accounting and financial planning are very much relationship-based businesses.
“Not a single person in my team is a contractor, they’re all staff and so if we’re not transparent and upfront, they [accountants and advisers] are not going to deal with you.
“We put a lot of effort into that, but I’m sure the larger outsourcers in the industry also do the same thing – I think most of them are of a very high standard.”
He said BPO Connect had experienced fast growth over the past few years and he expected the use of outsourcing by SMSF accountants and advisers to continue.
“I don’t think there are any big hesitations about outsourcing anymore, but there are still some concerns,” he said.
“The one thing to realise is that it’s not necessarily outsourcing or offshoring, but more global resourcing because I can’t find the staff I need here [in Australia], so I need local resources and account managers.
“And while technology is still improving, you still need a human connection for compliance, audit or whatever else the super fund may require.”
BPO Connect is Australian-owned and operated, with accounting back-office processing and support in Australia, Sri Lanka, Vietnam and China.
