According to a recently published study by the Private University of Applied Sciences Göttingen (PFH), medium-sized companies have high deficits in the use of controlling instruments – but it is precisely here that new potential arises for those responsible for finance in SMEs under the outsourcing aspect.
What deficits are there in the use of controlling instruments?
More than 400 medium-sized companies with an annual turnover of up to EUR 100 million or up to 500 employees took part in the study. As a result, it was found that the use of controlling instruments has strong deficits.
The classic instruments are an integral part of the internal finance and accounting of medium-sized companies – for example, the balance sheet or profit and loss account is used by 98% of all companies surveyed, followed by cost accounting with 93%. Liquidity planning is the third most popular controlling instrument at 82% – but this also means that 18% of the companies surveyed do not use liquidity planning and tend to make decisions “based on gut feeling”.
In general, many strategic controlling instruments are neglected. According to the study, less than 50% of all companies surveyed did not rely on competitor or SWOT analysis. Topics such as life cycle analysis or shareholder value are used by only about 10% of the companies surveyed.
But why are these topics given little to no attention? The use of these controlling instruments is associated with a high administrative effort for many companies. In addition, there are other hurdles such as the provision of in-house know-how and additional costs. As a remedy, many companies see potential in outsourcing controlling instruments or even entire business processes.
What potential does outsourcing of controlling instruments offer?
Many strategic instruments in controlling have a high outsourcing potential for companies – in particular, instruments that support the
external market. Every second company could, for example, to have topics such as industry structure analysis or competitor analysis carried out by an external service provider. However, instruments such as liquidity and success planning as well as cost accounting also represent outsourcing potentials in the opinion of SMEs. At 70%, companies can imagine working with an external service provider when it comes to balance sheets/P
One in two companies can also imagine support from an external service partner in the generation of controlling systems or the formation of company key figures, as well as in project planning and the development of strategy concepts.
In the opinion of the companies surveyed, the outsourcing of business processes is also becoming increasingly attractive. At around 64%, the topic of travel expense accounting represents a high outsourcing potential. Companies also see a need for support in the areas of preparing annual financial statements and outsourcing parts of financial accounting or even the entire finance and accounting department.
What medium-sized companies can do.
The use of (strategic) controlling instruments should also play a decisive role for medium-sized companies in the future. Even if it is not possible to keep its own resources in its own company, medium-sized companies also benefit from the opportunity to reduce administrative effort and access specialized know-how by outsourcing to external service providers. In addition, the optimization of the company’s own processes and cost reduction, among other things, can have positive side effects.
What controlling instruments do you use in your company? What is your view on relocating certain instruments, even entire business processes? We look forward to your comments.
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