Back Office Outsourcing for Consulting Firms
What it means to outsource your financial back office, what you can hand off, and how to know when your firm needs more support.
By Molly Roberts • 10 min read
At A Glance
Best for:Consulting firm owners looking at everything happening behind the business and deciding which financial responsibilities still belong with them and which ones they are ready to hand off.
Key Takeaways
- Back office outsourcing can cover many areas of a business. Molly Keeps Books focuses on the financial side.
- You don’t have to hand off everything. The responsibilities you outsource can be based on what you actually need help with.
- Financial back office support may include bookkeeping, invoicing, accounts payable, contractor payments, payroll, and reporting.
- Needing more support doesn’t automatically mean you need to hire an employee.
- Handing off the work shouldn’t disconnect you from your finances. You still need to know what’s happening with your money.
In This Resource, You’ll Learn
- What back office outsourcing means for a consulting firm.
- Which financial responsibilities can be handled outside your company.
- How financial back office support differs from bookkeeping alone.
- What can change when someone else takes responsibility for recurring financial work.
- How to decide whether outsourcing or an in-house hire makes sense.
- What to consider when choosing someone to work with.
What You'll Find In This Resource
02. What counts as back office work?
03. What can a consulting firm outsource?
04. What does financial back office outsourcing include?
05. When your current setup stops fitting the business
06. What changes after you hand off the financial work?
08. Bookkeeping vs. broader financial back office support
09. How do you know what to hand off?
10. What should you look for in a back office partner?
11. Frequently asked questions
If you’re considering back office outsourcing, you may already know there are parts of running the business you don’t need to keep doing yourself.
Maybe it’s invoicing.
Maybe bills and contractor payments are taking more of your attention.
Maybe you already have bookkeeping support, but there are other financial tasks that keep coming back to you.
Or maybe you’re trying to figure out what “back office outsourcing” actually means before deciding whether it’s something your firm needs.
The term covers a lot, and that’s part of what can make the decision confusing.
You don’t have to outsource your entire back office. You don’t have to hire one person to handle everything. And you don’t have to give up the financial responsibilities you prefer to keep.
The better place to start is with what is happening in your business now.
What needs to get done, what are you still doing yourself, and what would you rather have someone else take care of?
In this resource, I’ll break down what back office outsourcing can look like for a consulting firm, explain the financial side of it, and help you think through what might make sense to hand off.
What Is Back Office Outsourcing?
Back office outsourcing means bringing in an outside professional or company to take care of work that supports your business behind the scenes.
That can include finance, administration, HR, technology, and other internal responsibilities.
For the consulting firms I work with, my role is on the financial side.
And that doesn’t mean every client hands over the same things.
I have clients who want to do their own invoicing but want me to handle accounts payable and contractor payments. Others want me to take care of invoicing while they continue managing outgoing payments themselves.
There isn’t one combination that every firm needs.
The question isn’t whether you need to “outsource your back office” as one big thing.
It’s what you need help with and what you still want to handle yourself.
Once you separate the individual responsibilities, it becomes much easier to see where outside support could fit.
What Counts as Back Office Work?
Your clients see the consulting work you deliver.
Behind that is all of the work required to keep the business running.
For example:
Financial
Bookkeeping, reconciliations, invoicing, accounts payable, contractor payments, payroll, expense tracking, and financial reports.
Administrative
Scheduling, documentation, records, and internal coordination.
People
Employee paperwork, onboarding, benefits administration, payroll, and HR.
Technology
Software, systems, user access, security, and technical support.
These areas don’t have to be handled by the same provider.
At Molly Keeps Books, I focus on the financial back office.
That may mean keeping your books current, taking care of bills, sending invoices, paying contractors, or handling another recurring financial responsibility you no longer want sitting on your list.
Knowing the difference between these areas matters because it helps you find support for the work you actually need done.
What Can a Consulting Firm Outsource?
There are plenty of things you can hand off.
A more useful question is:
Which responsibilities would make the biggest difference if you were no longer the person taking care of them?
| Area | What You Could Hand Off |
|---|---|
| Bookkeeping | Categorizing transactions, reconciliations, maintaining current records |
| Accounts Payable | Bills, vendor payments, contractor payments |
| Invoicing | Creating and sending client invoices |
| Payroll | Processing payroll and related tasks |
| Financial Reporting | Preparing regular financial reports |
| HR | Employee paperwork, onboarding, benefits administration |
| Technology | Software, systems, and IT |
| Administration | Scheduling, documentation, and internal coordination |
What Does Financial Back Office Outsourcing Include?
Financial back office outsourcing means having an outside professional take care of some of the recurring financial work happening in your business.
Depending on what you need, that could include:
- Monthly bookkeeping
- Bank and credit card reconciliations
- Accounts payable
- Client invoicing
- Contractor payments
- Payroll
- Expense tracking
- Financial reports
- Keeping your records organized for your CPA
You don’t have to hand over every item on that list.
You may like sending your own invoices.
You might want to approve every payment yourself.
Or those may be the first things you want somebody else to take care of.
There isn’t a right combination.
There is the combination that works for your business.
One of the things I’ve always felt was different about my bookkeeping is how personalized it is. I want to know what you’re already doing, what you want help with, and what you’d rather keep before deciding what the service needs to include.
That makes financial back office support different from simply choosing a bigger bookkeeping package.
When Your Current Setup Stops Fitting the Business
You are not behind. Your financial support is.
There is a point where the way you’ve been handling the financial side doesn’t fit the company anymore.
Maybe you managed everything yourself for years.
Maybe you already have a bookkeeper, but what you need from that relationship has changed.
There may be more clients now. More accounts. Contractors working on projects. Additional expenses coming through. More invoices to send and payments to keep track of.
Nothing has necessarily gone wrong.
There is simply more happening than there used to be.
And being capable of doing the work yourself doesn’t mean you still need to be responsible for all of it.
If you’re still figuring out whether you’ve reached that point, read [When to Hire a Bookkeeper]
That’s an important difference.
As the business changes, you can change the way the work gets handled too.
What Changes After You Hand Off the Financial Work?
At first, the change can look pretty simple.
There are fewer things for you to do.
But over time, what matters is that those responsibilities aren’t waiting for you anymore.
The books have someone consistently looking after them.
Invoices you’ve handed off are being sent.
Bills and contractor payments you’ve delegated have someone responsible for keeping them moving.
When you want to look at the financial side of the business, there is current information available.
And if your revenue moves differently from month to month or you work on larger projects, looking at patterns over time can give you more context than treating every month as if it stands alone.
Then there are the little reminders that stop taking up space in your head:
I still need to send that invoice.
Did that contractor get paid?
I need to look at the books.
The goal isn’t to know less about your finances.
It’s to have someone else taking care of the work while you still know what’s going on.
| If This Sounds Like Your Business... | It May Make Sense To... |
|---|---|
| You need consistent help with a specific financial function | Explore outsourced support |
| You need bookkeeping plus invoicing, AP, payroll, or contractor payments | Consider broader financial back office support |
| There is enough ongoing work for a dedicated internal position | Consider hiring in-house |
| You already have an internal operations person but need bookkeeping expertise | Use a combination of internal and outsourced support |
| You're not sure how much help you actually need | Start with a Clarity Call |
Outsourcing or Hiring In-House?
Needing help doesn’t automatically mean you need another employee.
The first thing to look at is what you’re actually trying to get handled.
If you need someone to consistently take responsibility for a specific function, outside support may be enough.
If there is enough work for an ongoing role and you want that person working inside the company, hiring may make more sense.
You can also use both.
You may have an operations person on your team while your bookkeeping stays with an outside professional. Payroll, HR, or technology may be handled by other specialists.
The answer can change as your company changes.
You’re deciding what works for the business you’re running now, not how every function has to be handled forever.
Bookkeeping vs. Broader Financial Back Office Support
Bookkeeping is part of your financial back office, but it isn’t the entire thing.
At its core, bookkeeping keeps a record of what has already happened financially.
Transactions are categorized.
Accounts are reconciled.
Reports are prepared.
For some businesses, that’s exactly the level of service they need.
Others want additional responsibilities handled alongside the books.
Monthly Bookkeeping
Your records are maintained, accounts are reconciled, and regular financial reports are prepared.
If keeping the books current is the main thing you need help with, learn more about [monthly bookkeeping].
Bookkeeping + Accounts Payable
Your bookkeeping is handled along with bills, vendor payments, or contractor payments.
Bookkeeping + Invoicing
Your records stay current while someone also creates and sends client invoices.
Back-Office Balance
You need a broader combination of recurring financial tasks taken care of based on the way your firm operates.
One isn’t better than another.
The difference is how much you want someone else to be responsible for.
How Do You Know What to Hand Off?
Start with the work itself.
Not your revenue.
Not the number of employees you have.
Not what another consulting firm is doing.
Look at what keeps landing back on your plate.
What keeps getting delayed?
If invoicing repeatedly gets pushed because client work comes first, that tells you something.
What do you keep thinking about after the workday ends?
Bills, payments, missing information, and unfinished bookkeeping all take up attention even when you aren’t actively working on them.
Where do you want someone else to take ownership?
There is a difference between occasionally getting help and knowing that someone else is responsible for making sure something gets done.
What do you still want to keep?
You don’t have to give away a responsibility simply because it could be outsourced.
If you like approving payments or sending invoices yourself, keep doing it.
Where do you need more than task support?
Maybe the books are being maintained, but you also want someone you can ask questions and talk through the financial information with.
The answers give you a much clearer starting point than trying to choose a service based on a list of features.
What Should You Look for in a Back Office Partner?
Once you know what you want someone else to take care of, you can evaluate the person or provider based on the actual relationship you’ll need.
Be Clear About What They Will Handle
“Back office services” can mean very different things.
Ask what is included and what will remain your responsibility.
Pay Attention to Communication
You should know how questions are handled, how the provider will reach you when they need something, and what regular communication looks like.
Make Sure You’re Comfortable Asking Questions
You shouldn’t need to understand accounting terminology before you can ask about your own business.
A good working relationship gives you space to ask when something doesn’t make sense.
Look for Someone Who Wants to Understand How Your Firm Works
A consulting company may have retainers, project work, contractors, or income that moves differently throughout the year.
The person working in your books needs context for what’s happening behind the transactions.
Don’t Pay for Things You Don’t Need
This one matters to me.
If you want bookkeeping and accounts payable but prefer to keep invoicing, I don’t think you need to buy something you won’t use just because it happens to be included in a package.
The service should make sense for the business.
Frequently Asked Questions About Back Office Outsourcing
Quick answers to the questions we hear most.
Outsourced bookkeeping focuses on maintaining your financial records, while financial back office outsourcing can include bookkeeping plus additional responsibilities such as invoicing, accounts payable, contractor payments, and payroll.
If you only need someone to keep your books current, monthly bookkeeping may be enough. If you want more of the financial work handled, broader back office support may be a better fit.
Yes. A consulting firm can outsource individual back office responsibilities without handing over the entire function.
For example, one business may outsource bookkeeping and accounts payable while keeping invoicing in-house. Another may outsource bookkeeping and invoicing while continuing to approve and make its own payments.
This is particularly good for Molly because it's based directly on how she described her actual client arrangements.
Ready to Take the Next Step?
You don’t need to know exactly which service you need before reaching out. Start with what you know now. Maybe bookkeeping is taking more time than you want to give it. Maybe there are a few financial tasks you’re ready to stop managing. Or maybe you already have help and realize you need someone to take care of more. We’ll talk through how things are being handled now, what you want to keep, and what you’d like to get off your plate.
Meet Molly Roberts
Bookkeeping that fits the way you run your business.Hi, I’m Molly.
One thing I’ve always felt strongly about is that no two clients need exactly the same thing.
One person may want me to handle accounts payable but keep invoicing. Somebody else wants the opposite. Some businesses have more accounts, more expenses, contractors, or other things happening throughout the month.
So I don’t start by assuming what you need.
I want to learn how your business works.
From there, we can figure out what I can take care of, what you’d rather continue doing yourself, and where having another set of hands would make the financial side easier to manage.
You still know what’s happening with your money.
You just don’t have to be the one doing everything behind it.
Know Another Consulting Firm Owner Who Might Find This Helpful?
If this resource helped you think differently about what you could hand off, there’s a good chance another consulting firm owner is trying to figure out the same thing.
Share it with someone who may be ready to get a few financial responsibilities off their plate.