4 Ways for Good Office Management

1. Establish office management routines and stick to them.

Routine tasks need routine procedures if you want to stay organized and keep things running smoothly. Set up routines for handling paperwork and office systems. For instance, every piece of paper that comes into your office should be handled once, acted upon, and filed – not haphazardly piled on a desk.

2. Set up clearly delineated responsibilities.

Good office management depends on people knowing who is responsible for what – it’s people who are accountable who get things done. What would happen, for example, if the purchasing for your small business was done by whoever whenever? Would you be able to find a paper clip when you wanted one? Or print off a report when you needed to? Putting one person in charge of ordering all equipment and supplies solves the problem and keeps things running smoothly. It’s the same with (computer) systems administration. You need to have one person responsible for the security of your computer system and keeping track of things such as accounts, passwords and software. Otherwise, chaos will proliferate.

3. Keep records – and keep your business records updated.

Keeping records sounds like the easiest part of good office management – until you consider the need to keep those records both accessible and updated. But my first rule for controlling chaos will help you get a grip on this; make updating records an office routine. When you get a new customer or client, for instance, it only takes a moment to enter him into your contacts database. Then it will only take another moment or two to update the record after you’ve spoken to him on the phone.

4. Take a walk through your office and have a sit.

Is your office an example of space management or space mis-management? When you walk through the office, do you have to detour around obstacles or run the risk of tripping over something? When you sit down at a desk, could you actually work comfortably there? Are things logically arranged so that the things that you would use most at the desk are closest to hand? There are a lot of things crammed into offices nowadays, from printer stands through filing cabinets. For good office management, you need to be sure that all the things in the office are arranged for maximum efficiency – and maximum safety. The Basics of Small or Home Office Design provides tips for safely meeting the power, lighting and ventilation needs of your office space.

Outsourcing for success

The Outsourcing Institute

The Outsourcing Institute (OI) is the only neutral professional association dedicated solely to outsourcing. Recognized worldwide for its intellectual capital, outsourcing practice expertise, and unbiased thought leadership, OI tracks and forecasts the rapid evolution of outsourcing while providing new services and programs to assist buyers of outsourcing services.

Gartner Outsourcing Summit

Finance and Accounting Outsourcing

The finance and accounting (F&A) outsourcing market is primed for growth. Nearly three-quarters of corporate executives see demand for outsourcing increasing over the next three years.That is what Accenture Finance Solutions and the Economist Intelligence Unit discovered in a study released this June. The two organizations analyzed responses of 236 participants online and then interviewed 44 worldwide leaders face-to-face for the study, entitled, "Outside Upside: Finding Focus Through Finance Outsourcing." The study found that increased cost pressures were the No. 1 driver for outsourcing in the F&A space.

The American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) has adopted new ethics rules that place new requirements on members who outsource work.

Two new rules and one revised rule spell out the responsibilities AICPA members now must meet when outsourcing clients' work to third-party providers.

The definition of third-party service providers has been broadened beyond an outside tax service bureau to any third-party service provider used by AICPA members, including independent contractors used by a CPA firm, it notes.

The new requirements state that AICPA members must inform their clients - preferably in writing and before providing confidential client information to the third-party service provider - that the firm will use a third-party service provider when providing professional services to the client.

The new rules also clarify that AICPA members are responsible for all work performed by the service provider.

Furthermore, AICPA members using third-party service providers are required under the new rules to enter into a contractual agreement with the third-party service provider to maintain the confidentiality of the client's information, and to be reasonably assured that the third-party service provider has appropriate procedures in place to prevent the unauthorized release of confidential client information.

New rules are effective for all professional services performed on or after July 1, 2005, except for professional services performed pursuant to agreements in existence on June 30, 2005, that are completed by December 31, 2005.It also pointed out that early application is encouraged.

iGATE Global Solutions

Xansa

Accenture

Intelenet's accounting services

Sutherland Global Services

EXL service

Capgemini  

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