Examples of F&A offshore Shared Services Model

Of all the BPO processes, finance and accounting has the most opportunity for offshore leverage . For multi-national companies, offshoring F&A is a no-brainer.

• GE Capital Services opened India's first service center in Delhi in 1993. Its 12,000 employees now handle accounting, claims processing, and credit evaluation services for more than 30 General Electric divisions.
• Ford has over 400 people in their Business Services Centre in Chennai, India doing accounting for Ford worldwide.
• Citibank employs over 2,500 people in Mumbai and Chennai where they handle finance and loan processing.
• American certified public accounting firms are turning to Indian firms to cut the cost of preparing tax returns. In fact, one of the areas powered by offshore labor is the preparation of U.S. individual tax returns.

As financial services firms experience ongoing pressure on their cost base, the transfer of F&A processes to lower-cost offshore centers (particularly India) is an increasingly compelling alternative.

Companies usually begin with F&A transaction processing and book keeping. As they gain experience, they migrate towards activities like financial trend data analysis - information that will help the chief financial officer (CFO) make better decisions.