Business process outsourcing (BPO) has become sort of a buzzword among IT entrepreneurs in Bangladesh in the last few years. The expectation of grabbing a large chunk of the global BPO pie has prompted a good number of IT houses to jump onto this latest entrepreneurship bandwagon.
However, many new entrants get daunted after a few initial months as they realise that the investment-return ratio in the globally competitive market can shatter the confidence of even a seasoned investor.
Finance and accounting outsourcing (FAO), commonly referred to as an accounting BPO, has proved to be a bit different. This type of outsourcing work accommodates more new entrants than any other types of BPOs. For Bangladesh, this type of BPO has already proved to be a success, even though on a smaller scale.
Meet Monoj Kumar Talukder, a Bangladeshi national living in London, who had been bleeding money for years to keep certified accountants in his firm registered at the Regent Street, London. “Now, I outsource my accounting tasks from my office in Dhaka. It costs me one-fourth of the previous amount. Now, I get better services with the money I pay,” Talukder, who recenetly came to Bangladesh to attend a recent BPO Summit, told The Independent.
His company, First Serve Global, is one of the offshore accounting firms that now have their financial and accounting services conducted in Bangladesh. “This is convenient not only in terms of reducing company expenses, but also for paying the people for their services with money earned in foreign shores,” he said.
“This is foreign investment in a different manner,” he added.
Citing reasons behind the hike in outsourcing financial and accounting services aound the globe, Talukder said that many small businesses, startups and entrepreneurs find it difficult to hire someone with right skills to prepare their companies' financial statements, manage bank account operations, analyse financial data and prepare outgoing invoices. “It's really challenging to find a qualified and competent person at an affordable rate these days,” he noted.
Even though it is commonly believed that accounting and bookkeeping must be done inside the business, Talukder said: “It's important to ask yourself whether you have the necessary skills and experience to do this job. It might be worth considering outsourcing someone with the right knowledge and qualifications to manage the same job in a more cost-effective way.”
Ahmadul Islam Babu, owner of Atom AP Limited, one of the largest BPO outsourcing firms of the country, said: “We know where we need to improve. We already have financial attractiveness. If we start improving on a couple of factors, we'll be able to achieve significant success in a few years.”
Babu also said most people have a misconception that the BPO market is only confined to call centre services. “But that’s not the case at all. There are currently companies in Bangladesh that are engaged in checking the close-circuit television camera (CCTV) footage of over 1,000 branches of McDonald’s,” he explained.
“We're not aware of this diversified BPO market. Had we paid attention to this aspect of the market, we could have done much better because we can provide services at a very cheap rate,” he added.
Babu started Atom AT Ltd in April 2015. “Just within two years, I have been able to employ more than 60 people. I have been providing different kinds of BPO services to the Japanese market, including accounting BPO,” he said.
He also said that there are ample opportunities in the BPO market. “I was approached by a Pakistani person living in the US. He wanted to outsource accounting tasks for his firm from my company,” he added.
“There are a number of Pakistani accounting firms in the US. Now, they want to outsource the accounting tasks. They can't do the work in their own country because Pakistan has some issues with security compliance. They also can't get it done from India because of their bilateral relations. So, Bangladeshi companies are in the best position to grab the accounting tasks from Pakistani firms,” Babu said.
He also said that proper communication is the key to get accounting BPO tasks. “Without communication and reaching out to the outside world, the sector can't achieve the desired level of growth,” he added.
Mohammed Adnan Imam, managing director of Genex, another large outsourcing company, told The Independent that the prospect of accounting BPO in Bangladesh is huge, considering the availability of accounts graduates in the country among which only 15–20 per cent take up jobs based on their education qualifications.
“About 80 per cent  of these graduates are doing something which has minimum or no connection with their educational qualifications. Some freelancing unstructured accounting work is already being done for foreign firms from here. Taken together, they can make great case studies and success stories, which will enable Bangladesh to make a foray into global accounting BPO,” said Imam.
About his company, Imam said: “In Genex, we have a ready infrastructure and resources. We are now looking for opportunities. We plan to start outsourcing accounting services soon.”
Lauding the government, Imam said the ICT Division has been very supportive of the BPO industry. “We hope that some governance framework will be set up sooner or later to standardise the solution, quality and commercial framework of the BPO firms. This will provide a rationalised solution proposal and service delivery,” he added.

EA