Sunday, October 3, 2004

Jesse Robertson (Alabama – School of Accountancy), Dan Stone (Kentucky – School of Accountancy), Liza Niederwanger (Deloitte & Touche LLP), Matthew Grocki (Kentucky – School of Accountancy), Erica Martin (Crowe Chizek & Co.) & Ed Smith (Kentucky – School of Accountancy) have posted The Coming Accounting Revolution: Offshore Outsourcing of Tax Return Preparation on SSRN. Here is the abstract:

This paper describes the work processes, procedures, and vendors that CPA firms can use to outsource tax compliance work overseas. The overseas outsourcing of tax compliance work can free accounting professionals’ time to offer more lucrative client services, lessen the burden of hiring and staffing, save money, and speed the delivery of client returns. Concerns about overseas outsourcing include privacy and security risks, staff concerns about downsizing and changing roles, potential interruptions to outsourcing services, and compliance with ethical standards and applicable law. We conclude by anticipating, and encouraging, a “global village” of professional accounting services that includes the overseas outsourcing of tax services by U.S. CPA firms of all sizes.