KRISTEN LOVETT: The task of finding and attracting qualified staff

Kristen Lovett, founder and director of Klas Business + Accounting, chats with us about how outsourced accounting has helped her add qualified staff to her team, how she measures success in a global team, and how offshoring has benefited her clients. Klas Business + Accounting advises clients in time, wealth, life balance, tax minimisation, and business knowledge. The firm is based in Tenterfield, New South Wales.

TOA Global Podcast · KRISTEN LOVETT | Offshore accounting: the challenge of finding and attracting qualified staff

Topics:

Motivations for setting up an offshore team
Top tips for managing a remote team
Advice for someone who has a global team
Whether offshoring has resulted in more personal time

Quotes:

On managing an offshore team:

They are a part of your team and a part of your extended family, so you need to be treating them that way … Communicate, communicate, communicate. I can’t emphasise enough having that communication piece right and having that in place.

On a word or phrase to describe the value an offshore team provides:

We’re at the point now where I’d hate to think what our business would look like without our TOA team. I honestly don’t think I’d be able to survive without my manager over there. I’d say it’s an essential part of our business.

On the biggest myth or objection to having an offshore team and if it’s true:

What I hear is that employing offshore is taking jobs away from Australia, and that it’s taking jobs away from graduates. I don’t see that at all … When we went to offshoring we did it through necessity because we needed to have an accounting team. We couldn’t attract anyone in Tenterfield. It has led our teams to work on jobs that they really enjoy, to work closely with clients and talk more with clients. It has really increased our output and the quality of our relationship with clients.