Remote Staffing Archives

Should You Really Hire a Virtual Personal Assistant? Here’s Your Answer

Posted on May 9, 2023June 6, 2023 by flowz

With the growth of a company, its demands, and needs also grow. Therefore, keeping track of daily mundane tasks and expanding your business becomes difficult. There comes a considerable need for external support that you might not get from your in-house team. It is where virtual assistants come in.

Thanks to the pandemic, their popularity has increased, and more businesses have realized the true impact of hiring a virtual personal assistant. Let’s look at what these virtual personal assistants can offer and if hiring them is worthwhile.

What Do You Mean By Virtual Assistants?

As the name suggests, a virtual assistant is a remote working employee that offers additional support to your business. Their goal is to free up your time so you can focus on crucial tasks like increasing the profitability of your business.

A virtual assistant performs a myriad of valuable tasks, such as managing emails, handling administrative tasks, scheduling meetings, and more. They are well-versed with the latest tools and software that may help them work smart and offer quick turnarounds. A virtual assistant can help you improve productivity by 13%, making them a valuable asset for your company.

What Are the Responsibilities of a Virtual Personal Assistant

Let’s say you want to hire a virtual personal assistant, but you don’t know how their services can be relevant to you. In a broad sense, a virtual personal assistant can carry out any back-end or admin task, remotely. Read below to understand a few basic tasks a personal assistant can help you with.

1. Email Management

As a business owner, your inbox is often flooded with promotional messages, client queries, meeting requests, and whatnot. There's not enough time to skim through the spam and reply to each mail. A virtual personal assistant organizes your inbox, so you can quickly respond to the priority emails and ignore the spam. Furthermore, the assistant can reply directly to simple customer emails and carry out mundane communication tasks to free your time.

2. Social Media Management

If your business has a social media presence, it's imperative to build on that to increase brand awareness. Virtual personal assistants help you strengthen your social media strategy through regular social media posts, responding to customer queries, and even running social media ads.

3. Bookkeeping

Don't have the budget to hire a full-time accountant but need someone to carry out your basic bookkeeping tasks? Hire a part-time personal assistant to take care of such needs! Most virtual personal assistants can complete bookkeeping tasks such as entering data, reviewing inventory, reconciling bank accounts, maintaining financial records, approving invoices, etc.

Also read: 9 Practical Ways Virtual Accounting And Bookkeeping Can Improve Your Bottom Line

4. Travel Arrangements

Constant traveling is part of growing your business, but it can get tricky and time-consuming if you take care of such arrangements yourself. Hire a personal assistant to complete such tasks while you focus on other essential things. From booking tickets to arranging a comfortable stay, a virtual assistant makes your life easier.

5. Scheduling Appointments/ Meetings

As a busy entrepreneur, you do not have the time to keep track of your daily engagements and coordinate with other parties. Moreover, delegating this task to any of your employees will waste their productive time. A virtual personal assistant is a team player who will take care of back-end tasks to enhance your company's productivity. They will create e-invites, coordinate with clients and organize meetings/appointments at a suitable time for you.

Outsource Your Day-to-Day Hassles to an Flowz Personal Assistant

The Benefits of Hiring a Virtual Personal Assistant

Hiring a virtual personal assistant has been a game-changer for several business owners. Essentially, they are the external support your business needs to complement what it lacks internally. Here are some compelling benefits that will convince you to hire a virtual personal assistant today.

1. Work-Life Balance

The constant hustle of running a business can often blur the boundaries between work and personal space, making it challenging to balance both aspects of your life. Hiring a virtual personal assistant will lessen the workload, giving you more space to stay balanced and focused. According to the Harvard Business Review, learning how to delegate puts you one step closer to being a great leader. It enables you to spend time on other priorities like building your business and focusing on your personal life.

2. Cost-Friendly

Hiring a full-time employee is cheaper than hiring a virtual personal assistant. Full-time employees need high salaries and are entitled to employee benefits. At the same time, a virtual assistant doesn't require high-end benefits. Furthermore, your virtual personal assistant wouldn't need an office or other physical resources because everything would be done remotely. Thus, hiring a virtual personal assistant is not only beneficial but also affordable.

3. Expertise

Virtual personal assistants usually specialize in multiple domains due to the nature of their work. However full-time employees generally come with a special industry background. Thus, your versatile personal assistant can replace multiple in-house positions at a nominal rate. This is especially useful when you are cash-strapped or just starting up. Virtual personal assistants are a sure-shot way to get more done with minimal expense.

4. Time-friendly

Hire a virtual personal assistant to work on time-consuming administrative tasks and decrease your workload. They specialize in several areas and can quickly adapt to your business requirements. As a business owner, it helps you quickly free up your time and focus on your core responsibilities.

5. Flexibility

You can hire virtual personal assistants from anywhere, so they are compatible with working in different time zones. You are not limited to your business hours to complete your workload. These hardworking virtual personal assistants are available according to your schedule and can complete the job within your deadline.

6. Scalability

Another attractive benefit of hiring a virtual personal assistant is that you can tailor their services according to your needs. As your business grows, you can scale the assistant's workload. Whether adding more tasks or decreasing them, the assistant will adapt to your needs accordingly.

This flexibility makes it easy to manage your budget and ensures you only pay for the support you need when needed. Additionally, by scaling your virtual personal assistant's workload, you can ensure they can always provide high-quality support and that you are getting the best possible value for your investment.

The Drawbacks of Hiring a Virtual Personal Assistant

Here are some foreseen challenges you might have to face if you're hiring a virtual personal assistant.

1. Potential Miscommunication

Working with a virtual personal assistant eliminates the possibility of face-to-face contact, which can result in miscommunication. Dealing with delicate or complex jobs that demand a high degree of knowledge and clarity can make it more difficult. These risks can be minimized by following clear communication guidelines and scheduling frequent check-ins.

2. Security Concerns

Most business owners are worried about data breaches when they hire a virtual personal assistant. Sharing highly confidential information becomes difficult and interrupts the workflow. Putting data safety measures in place or outsourcing these assistants from a company that guarantees data protection is recommended.

3. Technological Problems

Since all of their work is online virtual personal assistants must have reliable access to technology. Any technological problems will interfere with their daily communication and completion of tasks. These assistants must have some knowledge or training to troubleshoot simple tech issues to improve their workflow.

4. Building Relationships

It can be challenging to connect and build a strong working relationship with a virtual personal assistant as they are not physically present at work. Moreover, they might feel alienated as they don't get a chance to socialize with other employees and participate in the company culture. Virtual social events and team-building activities can help you solve this issue.

The Solution to Your Pain Points

Now that you know the benefits and drawbacks of hiring a virtual personal assistant, you have a good idea about their potential. However, these drawbacks may hold you back from hiring them. What if we told you there's a way to hire a virtual personal assistant without any hassles?

Flowz is an industry-leading company that helps businesses outsource required services. Our virtual personal assistants are heavily trained and have years of experience working in several industry verticals. We have legal checks in place to protect any sensitive client information that's shared. Moreover, our assistants are internally managed, so you don't have to go through hiring, managing, or training them.

To Conclude

It is fair to say that in today’s competitive landscape, virtual personal assistants have become indispensable. Many business owners have attested to the fact that hiring a virtual personal assistant has changed their life. Not only are they observing much more positive changes in their business, but they also have time to relax and focus on their personal lives. Based on the information presented above, it is highly recommended that you should hire a virtual personal assistant from Flowz.

Is a Remote Assistant Worth the Investment?

Posted on February 17, 2023July 25, 2023 by flowz

Many successful business owners believe that true leadership lies in delegating. When you are too busy building your empire, it’s redundant for you to spend your valuable time, money, and effort on small, mundane things. However, this doesn’t mean that the said tasks aren’t necessary.

Administrative tasks are crucial in the company’s grand scheme to work smoothly. It would help if you had someone in your corner. Meet remote assistants; they are the pillar of support for businesses worldwide. So what does a remote virtual assistant do? Are they worth your money? Read more to know!

CTA to download Flowz's virtual assistant service guide

What is a Remote Assistant?

A remote assistant is someone a company/ entrepreneur hires to outsource all their admin/business operations. Outsourcing has been one of the biggest trends of the past year. According to Deloitte's 2022 Global Outsourcing Survey, the total outsourcing expenses will exceed $971.2 billion by 2023. Think of remote assistants as a personal all-in-one tool. Whether sending out emails, scheduling appointments, or handling calls, your remote executive assistant controls everything.

What Services Can a Remote Assistant Offer?

The remote assistant can provide many services depending on the company's needs and wants. Some of the most common ones are:

Email Inbox Management

Answering emails and communicating with your clients will keep your business running, but you will notice that most of the correspondence exchanges add more workload. Your virtual executive assistant can save time and keep emails organized by sorting them priority-wise, forwarding or replying to emails, sending e-invites, managing your subscriptions, and sending follow-up or reminder emails. A dedicated remote virtual assistant ensures you are directed toward emails that need your attention and lessens your burden.

Appointment Setting

As a busy business owner, it can be hard to keep track of all the dairy bookings/appointments, let alone find ample time to coordinate these meetings. While you focus on building your corporate empire, your remote assistant will handle all the back-end tasks for you. They have got you covered, from managing your day-to-day calendar to organizing virtual and in-person meetings and scheduling appointments. Furthermore, you can also task them with handling your travels and planning trips.

Social Media Management

Why hire a social media manager or agency when your remote assistant can do the job for you? Many remote assistants are skilled and have years of experience handling social media accounts for businesses. Your company can benefit from inexpensive but efficient social media marketing strategies. A virtual assistant remotely working can create content calendars, track analytics and help your account grow.

Content/CRM Management

CRM systems can be tricky to handle and take up a considerable amount of your time. Instead of overwhelming yourself with these CRM platforms, let your remote assistant handle it. They will manage and polish your content on various platforms like WordPress, Drupal, Magento, etc. These assistants are also skilled in preparing presentations for projects or meetings, conducting content research, publishing blogs, and more.

Transcriptions

A remote assistant can come in really handy if your business model relies heavily on audio and video recordings. They will edit the audio and visual recordings into 100% accurate written content. A remote executive assistant can provide transcription services for various industries, such as interrogation transcription for legal purposes, time coding, subtitling, documentaries, medical transcriptions, etc. It saves your time and gives you the information needed efficiently.

Workflow Coordination

Get back hours in your workday by hiring a remote assistant. They will carry out mundane tasks like tracking deliverables, compiling meeting minutes, filing and organizing e-files, managing spreadsheets, and cleaning up any cloud or drive accounts. These activities may seem trivial, but they significantly impact your workflow and increase productivity. Your remote assistant makes your business easier to manage by coordinating with your employees, vendors, and tasks.

Event Management

Planning and organizing a conference, team event, or workshop is tiring and stressful. There are a lot of aspects to it, such as finding a venue, catering, promoting, inviting guests, and so on. You need an assistant on your team who can help with all the details. A remote assistant will help you find the best vendors for your event at a budget-friendly price. They will ensure that every part of the event is perfectly organized and oversee the successful execution.

Human Resource Support

Your remote assistant can lessen the workload of the HR team by helping them with various administrative activities. They can post job listings on social networking websites like LinkedIn to attract talented people. Remote assistants also pre-screen these potential applicants and set up interviews for you. Other than that, they can also lend a hand in employee management and workforce planning.

Data Entry

Data entry can be highly complicated and time-consuming, and if it’s not done right, it can lead to business problems. The remote assistant will precisely enter any numerical or alphabetical data into the database. The information is presented so that it can be easily accessed and understood. A skilled remote virtual assistant is on top of the current data entry norms and technology standards to cater to your data entry requirements.

Bookkeeping

It is yet another helpful service provided by remote assistants. Any financially competent business y needs meticulous bookkeeping. Unfortunately, most business owners have too much on their plate or do not have the required knowledge to carry out accounting tasks. Additionally, hiring an accountant can be expensive. Your remote assistant can be your in-house bookkeeper. They can perform tasks like processing invoices, taxes, monitoring cash flows, etc.

What Qualities Should a Remote Assistant Possess?

There are specific criteria the remote assistant must qualify for before you hire them. These criteria are a benchmark of a great remote assistant. Evaluating the individual based on them tells us if they have potential and are suitable to work with you. Some of these qualities are:

Communication

Since the work will be completely offline, strong communication forms the foundation of a good working relationship. The remote assistant should be proficient in English and any other language relevant to your business.

Time Management

You're investing in a remote assistant to save time and money, and they should be able to do the same. Prioritizing tasks, daily appointments, scheduling meetings with clients, etc., should be made to make your life easier. Furthermore, the remote virtual assistant should be a stickler for deadlines.

Tech-Savviness

Digital tools are the backbone of a world of virtual assistants. A 2022 Statista report states that 79% of remote assistants have been using digital tools for digital transformation. Being well-versed in technology will make the assistant's daily tasks more efficient and increase the company's productivity.

Attention to Detail

The remote assistant should have a keen eye for intricate details. They should double-check any form of content or communication that goes out publicly or to the clients. Small mistakes in scheduling or messages can harm the company's reputation.

How Will Hiring a Remote Assistant Benefit You?

In today's cut-throat corporate world, you need someone to help you manage your business. Remote assistants are the all-in-one go-to individuals for several companies worldwide. Now that you know what to look for in a remote executive assistant, let's talk about the benefits you will reap by hiring a remote assistant.

Higher Productivity

The data collected by Stanford University shows that remote workers are 13% more productive than in-house employees. They take fewer breaks and have more time, space, and energy to work. It means they can complete all their tasks efficiently, which leads to increased profits and helps your business grow.

Work-Life Balance

Throwing yourself at work will eventually lead to burnout. Since you will be delegating mundane tasks to a remote assistant, it frees up your schedule to spend time on something worthwhile. In an interview with VirtuDesk, 84.4% of the business owners said their business had a positive impact since hiring a remote assistant. Furthermore, 3.1% of the entrepreneurs also witnessed a similar effect on their personal lives.

Cost-Savings

Even though you might have to pay them a little more than your in-house employee, remote assistants save you money. You save a lot on operating benefits (about 78%, according to data!) It is because they are not liable for benefits like insurance, training resources, and other employee benefits.

Greater Flexibility

Hiring a remote assistant allows you to build an efficient team and help you retain talent. Since their schedule is flexible, they will be less prone to stress or burnout, which invariably allows them to carry out all tasks successfully. Moreover, business owners don't have to worry about constant absenteeism or tardiness with a flexible work schedule. A survey suggests that 43% of these workers felt that flexibility helped them be more productive.

Why Business Owners Find it Challenging to Manage Remote Assistants?

After several interviews, you might have found the ideal candidate. However, the process doesn't end after hiring them. Just like any other employee, remote assistants need to be managed too. Many employers face a fair share of hassles while working with them. Below mentioned are a few common challenges:

Performance Gap

The applicant might have gotten the job due to their stellar interview and resume, but when it comes down to it, you might notice they are not delivering their tasks. The deadlines are never met, the responsibilities are never fulfilled, etc. This underperformance could end up hurting your business, and the whole recruitment process would end up being useless. Therefore, one needs to be careful while choosing the candidate.

Unreliable

If you're outsourcing the job to a freelancer or an individual with no tie-ups to a virtual assistant agency, there's a possibility of abandonment. It had happened to business owners before where the remote assistant disappeared on them in time of need, leaving them high and dry. This is another hassle you have to handle, which means directing more of your precious time cleaning up the mess.

Security Concerns

During their time at the company, it is natural that the remote assistant will handle private and sensitive information regarding the company. They will have access to passwords and confidential data since they will work closely with you. It may raise some privacy concerns if they are unethical and unprofessional. It's advised to do legal work carefully before sharing any such information.

Quality Issues

Initially, it's understandable that remote assistants will take time to adjust to your company's style and culture and deliver the kind of output you expect. However, it may take longer for some, and a lot of micromanaging and training will be required. Sometimes even after all that training, there will be quality issues with the work. So there's a waste of company resources and decreased productivity, which again is a loss for your company.

…but is there a way to overcome them?

All these issues are common in today's business world, but you won't have to face them if you choose to hire from Flowz. With about a decade of experience in the industry, Flowz has been a trusted agency to outsource remote assistance needs. Our assistants are fully trained and have the professional skills needed to work in the industry. You can rely on our virtual assistants anytime, from meeting deadlines to establishing a solid communication line. You won't face any hassle regarding onboarding or managing. The company legally protects your sensitive data, so there are no privacy breach concerns. You can pick from personal remote assistants to executive assistants remote specializing in specific roles to meet your requirements.

Final Verdict

As a business owner, your time is invaluable, and you need someone to help you achieve your goals. With all the data supporting the facts, it's a no-brainer that remote assistants are the future and worth every cent. If you are looking to outsource work, then Flowz has several trained and experienced remote assistants. These professionals are highly qualified and specialize in different fields. Whether you are looking for executive virtual assistants or remote operations staff, Flowz scouts for them easily and onboard them in no time!

9 Practical Ways Virtual Accounting and Bookkeeping Can Improve Your Bottom Line

Posted on September 26, 2022July 11, 2023 by Cloudester Admin

Did you know businesses that use cloud-based accounting software enjoy 15% revenue growth? (Xero, 2017). That’s something you can take advantage of through virtual accounting and bookkeeping services. A virtual accountant and bookkeeper utilizes the latest cloud-based tools to manage your financial tasks.

Virtual accounting and bookkeeping allows you to outsource your accounting needs so that you can focus on the more strategic aspects of your business. If you’re unsure about outsourcing your accounting and bookkeeping needs, read on.

Bookkeeping vs. Accounting

Bookkeeping is the process of recording financial transactions and summarizing the results in a ledger. It’s one of the four essential accounting functions, including recording, reporting, and analysis.

Bookkeeping helps track your business or personal income and expenses. It covers the following.

Daily recording of financial transactions
Receipts from customers
Payments to suppliers
Invoice payments
Loan repayments

Accounting summarizes, interprets, and communicates the financial transactions of your business. The accounting cycle starts with recording all incoming transactions, such as purchases and sales, followed by summarizing them in one place, called a balance sheet.

So, bookkeeping is part of accounting.

The final step in the accounting cycle is to project future cash flows based on these summarized results, called an income statement.

You can divide accounting into two broad categories: managerial accounting and financial accounting.

Managerial accounting deals with management decisions like what inventory to order or how much stock to keep on hand.
Financial accounting deals with company decisions like when to buy or sell an asset or how much debt your business should take on (or pay off).

Your business needs bookkeeping and accounting. Bookkeeping ensures you have an accurate and systematic record of financial transactions. A virtual accountant interprets and communicates financial information to help you make data-driven decisions.

Common Accounting and Bookkeeping Challenges

Managing your payroll
Unstable cash flow
Managing paperwork
Handling taxes
Preparing and analyzing income statements
Understanding your financial statements
Closing your monthly books
Accounts receivable/collections
Using spreadsheets to prepare financial reports
Fear of using accounting software
Keeping up to date with regulatory changes
Attracting and retaining your best accounting employees

Worry no more. A virtual accountant or a virtual bookkeeper can help you solve the above challenges.

What is Virtual Accounting and Bookkeeping, and How Does it Work?

Virtual bookkeeping services takes care of a business’s day-to-day financial activities using the latest cloud-based software remotely instead of hiring on-site accountants and bookkeepers. It’s also called online or virtual bookkeeping and accounting.

Once you hire a virtual bookkeeper and accountant, it implies the following things.

You must grant the virtual bookkeeping and accounting company or its virtual accountant and bookkeeper remote access to your server. This also includes your financial records and software.
This access enables your new bookkeeper and accountant to log into your network like an on-site staff member.
It also allows them to retrieve any necessary documents to handle your accounting needs.

Virtual bookkeeper needed but still, wondering whether outsourcing is the way to go?

Here is what you can expect from an virtual accountant and bookkeeper if you partner with a virtual accounting and bookkeeping provider like Flowz.

What Does a Virtual Bookkeeper and Accountant Do?

Understand that a traditional bookkeeper and accountant’s services aren’t different from a virtual one. But there’s only one distinguishing element. You engage with the online accountant and bookkeeper via platforms such as the Flowz Meeting app, other video conferencing apps, and social media tools.

Examples of virtual accounting and bookkeeping services:

So, why outsource virtual accounting and bookkeeping services?

9 Incredible Benefits of Virtual Accounting and Bookkeeping Services

1. Access a Pool of Financial Experts Who can Steer your Ship

Let’s face it. Companies like yours face loads of accounting challenges, specifically during recovery time. The type of accounting and bookkeeping professionals you have can make or break your business.

Thanks to virtual accounting and bookkeeping, you can gain unlimited access to a team of Certified Public Accountants (CPAs). They’ve got a ton of industry experience to meet every accounting need you have.

When you outsource virtual accounting and bookkeeping, you’ll get remote staff who continuously upgrade their skills. As a result, they’re up to date with the latest trends.

Top-quality feedback or advice from am expert virtual accountant can help stabilize your business in stormy waters. Outsourcing these services gives you access to reliable and well-informed staff.

Offering CAS services can reinforce CPAs’ roles as trusted business advisers who can provide practical and effective solutions for business challenges and valuable advice on the best ways to seize opportunities.

2. Saves your Business a Substantial Amount of Money

Look, you must find ways of reducing business operating costs in these challenging times! It’s a no-brainer. You can cash in on virtual accounting and bookkeeping services to make significant savings. Here’s why?

Let’s say you opt for Flowz as your virtual accounting and bookkeeping service provider. You can say goodbye to hiring and onboarding costs, payroll tax, training, annual leave, sick pay, full-time salary, and other technological expenses.

To say you can avoid paying a full-time accountant a salary of nearly US$ 70,000 per annum plus benefits isn’t boasting. It’s doable. Your business can do away with incentives, huge perks, training expenses, and legal fees.

You can also pay for the virtual accounting and bookkeeping services you use or want. You must pay a complete salary and other benefits if you have a full-time accountant and bookkeeper. As a result, your labor expenses could skyrocket.

In addition, you can make significant savings on office space and other infrastructure costs. Overall, you can enjoy mega savings when you opt for outsourced virtual accountant and bookkeeping.

3. Helps you Collaborate with Flexible Staff

Imagine working with readily available virtual accountant professionals worldwide. You can maintain open lines of communication 24/7. And you can get the relevant advice you need at any time.

All of the above is possible through outsourcing accounting and bookkeeping services. The remote accounting and bookkeeping staff are so flexible that you can collaborate with them as easily as ABC.

You can use the following communication tools.

Video conferencing platforms
Emails
Document collaboration tools
Productivity Software

And here’s the juiciest part of this experience. One tool that meets all of the above needs is the Flowz Meeting app. It’s Asana, Trello, and Monday in one app.

4. Reduces Accounting and Bookkeeping Errors

You know that recordkeeping mistakes can be a double-whammy of wrong decisions and cash flow problems. And this can also affect your investment drive in the long term.

But you can eliminate such errors by outsourcing your virtual accounting and bookkeeping needs to companies like Flowz. That’s because you’ll work with an experienced virtual accountant with zero tolerance for shoddy bookkeeping and accounting. They ensure your business records are accurate and meet high standards through automated accounting programs.

You don’t have to buy or subscribe to accounting tools or train your staff to use them. Your virtual accountants and bookkeepers will be well-versed with such platforms.

Also, popular accounting software such as Quickbooks or Sage can minimize fraudulent activities. And this stabilizes and conserves your cash flow.

5. Scales with Your Business as You Expand Operations

As your company spreads its tentacles, your in-house employees may fall behind in meeting your expansion goals. Whether growing locally, regionally, or globally, you’ll need a scalable workforce.

Virtual accounting and bookkeeping services can help you hit the ground running by giving you access to dedicated staff and reliable backup resources at zero cost. And you won’t have to worry about employment contracts or establishing new infrastructure for new employees.

A virtual accountant and bookkeeper is your ultimate solution as you expand. The service is available at your fingertips.

6. One Virtual Accountant and Bookkeeper can Handle Multiple Locations

Does your business have several locations? You must have a virtual accountant and bookkeeper who can handle the financial aspects of all your branches. They don’t have to travel to every site; they can process everything remotely using secure cloud-based software.

You can avoid having a physical bookkeeper and accountant at every business location. Thus, you end up slashing labor costs.

Your accounting data can remain safe since the virtual accountant and bookkeeper can store it away on remote servers. You won’t lose crucial information due to robust backup systems and strict data security measures.

7. Sharpens your Decisions by Leveraging Key Financial Metrics

Businesses thrive partly because of preparing and analyzing data or key performance indicators (KPIs). Data-driven decisions can enhance your performance and lead to skyrocketing revenue.

A Virtual accountant and bookkeeping professional can examine essential financial metrics like revenue. They also explain what each KPI means and what you can do to stay on course.

You’ll get accurate and easily understandable financial and accounting metrics that can improve your day-to-day decisions, like bank loans or investments.

8. Timely Financial Reports Keep You in the Know

Financial reports are also critical to your decision-making. Underqualified accountants and bookkeepers can take ages to give you monthly, quarterly, or yearly reports. It impacts your decisions.

While you can try to organize the reports, you’ll eat into your strategic planning time. To be effective in your business, you must focus on weightier tasks like strategic management.

Leave repetitive accounting activities like financial reports to virtual accounting and bookkeeping. It ensures you get top-class feedback every month or quarter to keep you in the loop.

A virtual accountant and bookkeeper will provide you with real-time financial reports and updates to enhance your strategic decisions. You can use the information to develop business plans or persuade lenders or investors.

9. Boosts Your ROI

As a business, you want to ensure your risk aversion ROI, simple ROI, and efficiency ROI are on an upward trajectory. A virtual accountant and bookkeeper can help you improve all three.

Remote teams can reduce operating costs while jumpstarting efficiency by maintaining accurate documents. Also, your productivity and profitability can increase when you hire a highly experienced virtual accountant and bookkeeper.

A CPA can perform your business’s auditing, budgeting, forecasting, and management tasks. You won’t need separate tax professionals and auditors when you hire virtual accounting and bookkeeping services like Flowz.

Wrapping Up: Why Outsource Accounting and Bookkeeping Services?

Virtual accounting and bookkeeping allows you to have a dedicated virtual accountant and bookkeeper who works for you and handles all your financial needs. It’s a great option if you’re looking for alternatives to traditional accounting and bookkeeping services. Or if you’re just starting your business and don’t want to worry about hiring an accountant and bookkeeper immediately.

Need help with virtual accounting and bookkeeping? Ping Flowz’s virtual accounting service right away.

The Flowz Advantage: Join a 20 Year Legacy

Posted on September 12, 2022July 25, 2023 by Cloudester Admin

Running your business can be rewarding, but it’s no walk in the park. You constantly struggle between driving growth and ticking off administrative chores. You burn the candle at both ends only to realize that your to-do list gets longer while the bottom line suffers.

Flowz was founded to solve this classic conundrum. In the past 20 years, we have helped more than 4000 clients scale their businesses by managing remote staffing needs and streamlining operations. Our virtual assistant services have proved to be a fundamental element of success!

The Office Beacon legacy

‘Remote work’ became the new corporate buzzword only after the onset of Covid-19. However, Flowz has been delivering remote staffing expertise to a multitude of industries long before teleconferencing became popular.

We specialize in offering competent virtual assistants (VAs) who take care of your back-office tasks. We have helped thousands of clients manage administrative/operational chores and increase business agility at a fraction of the cost of hiring full-time employees. Whether you are looking for a software developer, a graphic designer, or an accountant, no job description is off limits for Flowz.

The Flowz Advantage: What makes us different

You will find numerous businesses offering staffing solutions. But what makes us stand out is the Flowz Advantage- the epitome of simplicity and excellence that our virtual assistant services offer. Our rich history of delivering outstanding managed services has helped us stand apart from the clutter and become a trusted remote outsourcing partner to our clients.

1. 20 Years of experience and expertise

For the past 20 years, we have spearheaded the outsourcing of full-time staff and helped companies scale their business. With thousands of employees providing 150 plus operational support services and millions of client hours under our belt, Flowz has secured the position of the best remote staffing solutions provider in the US.

2. Global infrastructure

We are a US-based company with offices in Canada, India, the Philippines, Uruguay, and Australia. With delivery centers across multiple locations, we can ensure complete redundancy 24*7. Additionally, our global presence allows us to deliver service across various time zones (EST to PST) to suit your business hours.

3. State-of-the-art offices

Although remote, assistants at Flowz are not working out of their homes but from office premises. All office locations are secured with guards and mandate biometric identity verification for all entries. We provide our VAs with superior equipment and technology to deliver seamless service.

4. On-site support for quality performance

Outsourcing to Flowz removes additional hurdles to monitoring employee performance. All remote employees undergo mandatory initial training for 2-4 weeks, and only then do they go live. This helps them meet the required productivity, reconciliation, and quality trackers. Our team leads will monitor your remote assistants’ performance by setting KPI expectations and send you bi-weekly performance reports.

5. Bilingual customer care services

Due to the increasing demand for bilingual (English and Spanish) customer support, Flowz launched its brand new location in Uruguay this year. So when you choose Flowz, you get access to bilingual virtual assistants skilled in Customer service and support, Order management, Administrative (back-office) tasks, Inside sales, Marketing, and Translation services. This assumes significance especially if you are a global brand and you require virtual assistants in sales.

6. Complementary software support

Your monthly contract covers complementary software in addition to your remote assistant’s training and working charges. This eliminates any additional costs incurred in texting, video conferencing, data archiving, using project management tools, etc.

7. Data Protection and Confidentiality

Flowz ensures complete data protection and confidentiality by-

Partnering with Ernst and Young for auditing security protocols and following data protection practices.
Ensuring any client works produced by employees fully comply with global licensing standards.
Connecting with client systems via secure VPN and OTP. Flowz’s remote assistant management tool that holds client chats and files is end-to-end encrypted for your foolproof security.
Mandating virtual assistants to sign non-disclosure agreements (N.D.A) covering every data file they work on. This offers protection against intellectual property rights (IPR) and client data misappropriation.
Employing labor attorneys across all operational countries to adhere to every regional employment regulation.
Including a $1 million Errors & Omissions insurance policy. Flowz is a US-based company with international subsidiaries and does not involve third parties.

Outsource your staffing needs to Flowz

Looking to slash your overhead costs and eliminate HR headaches? Planning to hire this season but worried about space constraints? Well, look no further!

Over the years, Flowz has built expertise around liberating you from the time-sinkers, so you can focus on what matters most, i.e., business growth. We take your BPO job description and match you with virtual assistants who are subject matter experts and will be dedicated full-time to your company. We only offer customized packages because we understand that no two operations are alike.

So, whatever your staffing needs, “We Can Do That”! Hire a virtual assistant today and reap benefits!

Top 10 ways to Boost Business Growth by 10x

Posted on August 18, 2022January 20, 2023 by Cloudester Admin

Are you looking for ways to boost your business growth dramatically? If so, you’re in luck. This post will share 10 powerful remote staffing tips to help you achieve 10x growth. So, let’s get started!”

The business landscape has changed quite a bit since 2020. As a result, it’s no surprise that remote staffing has become an effective way for companies of all sizes to scale. It elevates your company’s operational performance while cutting costs at the same time.

You have probably grown accustomed to your own employees working from home. Another model to seriously consider is outsourcing to a company that can staff for your back office needs.

Did you know that a remote staffing partnership can help your business grow 10x faster than usual?

But first, let’s unpack remote staffing.

What is remote staffing?

Remote staffing involves paying a monthly flat fee to a third party that will take care of your HR needs. The outsourced company will source, hire, train, and supervise the person or team you need.

In the case of Flowz, you have a dedicated full-time remote employee who works in an Flowz office. Flowz conforms to all employment laws of the country where your full-time employee resides in order to protect them, and most importantly, your company’s information remains secure.

Here are the top 10 ways to boost your business growth 10x (or more) using a remote staffing company.

1. Reduced operational costs

In-house employees require that you have an administrative office, which comes with extra costs. But you can save on overhead expenses like employee benefits, workplace services, utilities, and infrastructure costs through remote staffing. As a result, you don’t incur ancillary costs such as office space and equipment when you use a remote staffing company.

2. Seamless productivity

Seamless coordination means your dedicated remote employee works with you effectively and efficiently, making decisions and moving forward as a team. Everyone pulls their weight and contributes to the overall success of your organization.

Flowz achieves this by carefully planning and communicating with your business. As a result, it leads to the following outcomes:

Your remote staffing team clarifies the goals and priorities.
There is clear and frequent communication about changes in deadlines and requirements.
The team is ready for unexpected interruptions in your organization.

If by chance, your remote employee leaves, the staffing company will quickly find and train a replacement. It stabilizes your productivity.

3. Faster scalability

As your business grows, there will be a need for more employees to take up new roles. And the hiring process is long, which makes it challenging to get new workers for your business quickly.

But a remote staffing company helps you scale faster because staff with different skills are already available. As a result, you can keep up with demand and ensure you have enough employees to meet customer demand.

Using a remote staffing service helps you hire more remote workers in less time and at a lower cost. That’s because the company does all the recruitment and deployment for you.

4. Are you dropping the ball on customer service?

If you’re recently getting numerous customer complaints, it is a sign that you should outsource to remote staffing companies.

Customers are rarely interested in knowing why a problem occurred; they need solutions. A staffing solution company has a talent pool of experienced professionals that will serve your customers better and can provide round-the-clock support if necessary.

5. Data protection

In today’s cyber world, your data security is paramount. A reputable remote staffing provider has cyber security systems in place to avoid data leaks and cyber-thefts. It has set some parameters and follows all the international cyber security guidelines.

Flowz has partnered with E&Y for regular audits. We have licensed software, including antivirus and malware protection software, for servers and work stations security. We connect with business systems via a secure VPN to avoid data leaks.

6. Back-up systems

Unlike WFH employees, a remote staffing company has backup generators and systems. It ensures your remote employees continue to be productive without your company incurring extra costs.

7. Geographic expansion

Remote staffing is a potent resource that can help your business effortlessly expand into other geographical markets. That’s why we launched a new facility in Montevideo in Uruguay five months ago to cater to your business growth needs. Because of Uruguay’s high literacy rate, we can provide you with bi-lingual (Spanish and English) remote staffing services.

You can tap into Uruguay’s bilingual capabilities to explore international markets and enhance your market share without breaking your bank. That’s because there is no need to hire extra staff to get your company off the ground.

Expanding your operations worldwide is more rapid when you collaborate with a remote staffing company. And you won’t have to develop the infrastructure for employees.

8. Continuous training

Upskilling workers is vital for your efficiency. It helps your employees work more effectively, which reduces costs and boosts profits. A remote staffing company provides your remote employees with the most current training.

9. Strategic focus

If you have in-house staff, you need to conduct regular meetings, assess their performance, and consider remuneration and labor laws. These administrative activities eat into your strategic planning time

Luckily, with a remote staffing service company, you can free yourself from managing employees. You can also avoid day-to-day tasks that a virtual assistant can handle, such as checking emails and scheduling meetings. Thus, you can zero in on improving your company’s revenue and profits.

10. Software support

Let’s face it. Software support is expensive and requires ongoing maintenance and upgrades. A major advantage of working with Flowz is the added benefit of our exclusive Flowz software. With Flowz, your company doesn’t have to subscribe to various services for video conferencing, texting, CRM, data storage, and project management. This adds up to a huge cost savings over time.

Flowz's 20+ years of experience in remote staffing

Since 2001, Flowz has helped hundreds of companies like yours maximize their growth with our virtual staffing expertise. And here are examples of the services you can expect.

11 signs you need remote staffing now more than ever

Posted on August 11, 2022January 18, 2023 by Cloudester Admin

If the last 2+ years taught us anything about business, it is that you have two options: adapt or go bankrupt. If your ultimate goal is to implement cost-cutting measures, you should consider remote staffing as a solution.

Let’s look at 11 common signs that your organization needs remote staffing.

1. Are you struggling to recruit the best talent?

Take it as a first sign that your business needs a remote staffing service. As a business leader, more than anyone else in the organization, you often confront an acute scarcity of one essential resource: time. There is never enough time for you to recruit the best talent for your business activities.

Picking the best candidate from thousands of resumes can be challenging. Sometimes, you’ll resort to hiring the best candidate you can find at the time—not the finest candidate for the job.

More than ever, highly-skilled professionals have vast opportunities to sell their skills. Still, as a business leader, you’ll have a tough time finding them. This is the first sign that says you need to outsource the business activity to remote staffing companies.

2. Are you struggling with having to pay high salaries?

If you’re struggling to pay your on-site employees, that’s another sign you should consider enlisting the help of a remote staffing company.

Payroll is one of the enormous burdens that most businesses have to carry. But can you keep your business afloat while you struggle to pay high salaries? On the face of it, the answer is crystal clear.

Your organization can’t survive long enough if you continue to pay high salary overhead costs. The economic conditions we are currently facing exacerbate this problem.

The Federal Reserve Board continues to consider adjusting interest rates, which could affect your company’s ability to borrow funds and subsequently impact salaries. Fortunately, remote staffing helps you avoid paying high salaries during these uncertain economic times by outsourcing business activities.

3. Are you struggling to scale your business?

This is another sign that you need to use a remote staffing service. Inability to scale can stem from a workforce that is spread too thin.

When you are wrestling with unprecedented risks and disruption, the last thing you want is to have an employee that won’t help you scale. Luckily, remote staffing can help you scale your business through a skilled team.

As your business grows, you can easily add employees through a remote staffing provider and not incur the cost of adding managers to oversee your growing team. This way, your company will have a consistent flow of income throughout the year, and become more resilient.

4. Are your profit margins dropping significantly?

A noticeable decline in profit margins could be another sign that you should consider remote staffing.

The world as we know it is an entirely different place post-Covid. As a business leader, you must devise innovative ways to maximize profit. One of the cost-effective ways is by utilizing remote staffing. It will enable your organization to increase its profit margins sustainably.

Moreover, it will help you grow your market share and extend your footprint. Not only does remote staffing allow you to hire world-class remote talent, but it also saves you time and money.

5. Is your on-site team reporting low productivity?

If you notice low productivity from your on-site team, consider outsourcing to remote staffing companies. No employee is 100% productive all day, every day. Still, when 60% of your employees report low productivity, that doesn’t bode well for the success of your business.

Remote staffing consultants are experts in managing remote teams. Leave managing remote employees to them and focus on growing your business, which is what you do best. Remote staffing uses a set of pre-defined KPIs expectations, which allow them to track performance and improve productivity accordingly.

6. Are you dropping the ball on customer service?

If you’re recently getting numerous customer complaints, it is a sign that you should outsource to remote staffing companies.

7. Do you rent expensive office space?

US companies spend approximately $8 to $23 per square foot. For instance, office space per employee in New York is roughly $14,800 annually. And opening an office in San Francisco will cost a lot more.

Amid mounting debt, inflation, and skyrocketing costs, your ultimate goal should be to avoid wasting money on fancy office space. If you’re spending money here, this is yet another sign you need to outsource business activities to remote staffing companies.

8. Do you struggle to access a wider talent pool?

If your organization’s talent is confined locally, that’s another sign you should consider remote staffing services.

Every organization that hires only local talent is bound to have underperforming employees, which is normal. You should only be concerned if 30% of your team are nonachievers. Fortunately, you won’t deal with underperformance as you will access a broader talent through remote staffing.

Accessing candidates from different geographical regions will enable your company to hire at an international level without incurring costs. For instance, Flowz has a global pool of qualified candidates who will surpass your client’s expectations. Flowz’s remote talent will also help your company to pivot new product lines or services at an insanely low cost.

9. Does your company spend more on office supplies?

If your company spends considerable money on office supplies, you should consider this as a sign of outsourcing to remote staffing.

The average spending on office supplies is around $50 per $100 per month. If your staff complement is 100, that figure jumps to a whopping $10,000 per month. That amount increases if you tally up office functions, salaries, telephone, and transport allowance; this cost can be avoided.

10. Do you spend more on travel expenses?

A remote staffing solution will help your organization to save on expenses by recruiting a 100% remote team that will become an extension of your company.

Remote staffing removes the need for your organization to subsidize travel. On average, organizations that don’t use remote staffing spend roughly $949 per person. You can invest some of that money in impacting your organization’s financial statement.

11. Do you struggle to retain top talent?

If you are struggling to retain top talent, you’re not alone. 80% of companies find it challenging to find and keep qualified employees.

Your employees are the most prized asset of your organization. If you don’t hold on to them, your competitors will snatch them away.

Retaining remote talent might not be possible unless you team up with a remote staffing company. A remote staffing service can change all that and bring in a loyal team who will scale your business.

Final Thoughts

Take all the above 11 signs as red flags for your organization. The sooner you do something to address them, the better for your company. The good news is that it is not too late to partner with a reputable remote staffing company. This way, you’ll be able to assemble a diversified talent that caters to a global market.

A remote staffing company will quickly and easily provide solutions for your staffing needs. Then onboard and manage that talent while you focus on strategizing, which is what you should be doing. In addition, remote staffing will expand your company’s reach and help your organization gain a competitive edge.

Are you looking for a reputable remote staffing company? Reach out to us today!