How Local Outsourced Services Deliver When Candidates Are Scarce

Finding and keeping skilled employees has become a growing challenge for many business leaders. If you're facing talent shortages, you're not alone, and you're also not without options. One proven solution is outsourcing through local, trusted partners who can step in with the expertise you need, right when you need it.

Non-core business functions like accounting, HR, and IT are essential to keeping operations running smoothly, but they’re not where business owners should be investing their time or building large internal teams.

Strategic outsourcing has become an efficient way to tap into specialized expertise while allowing organizations to focus on growth and customer-facing priorities. "By hiring an outsourced provider rather than an individual, you get a slice of different skill sets rather than one person who's really good at one aspect of one thing,” said Steve Nebbia in a webinar on this topic.

Why More Businesses Are Turning to Regional Outsourcing

The talent game has completely changed, with specialized roles becoming increasingly difficult to fill. Today's reality is that businesses need solutions that work right now, not six months from now when you finally find the "perfect" candidate. Strategic outsourcing provides immediate access to skilled professionals, reduces training investments, and allows for flexible scaling as your business needs change.

The top advantages of outsourcing:

1. Access to evolving expertise: Outsourcing partners specialize in their field and stay current with industry trends and regulations, ensuring your business benefits from cutting-edge knowledge without requiring internal expertise development.
2. Built-in risk mitigation: By distributing responsibilities across a professional team rather than relying on individual employees, outsourcing helps reduce the impact of unexpected staff departures and protects institutional knowledge.
3. More focus on what matters most: Freeing your leadership team from non-core functions allows them to concentrate on strategic initiatives, customer relationships, and revenue-generating activities that drive business growth.
4. Improved operational efficiency: Professional service providers have refined their processes across numerous clients, offering access to proven systems and accumulated knowledge that often surpasses what can be developed internally.

Which Business Functions Are Best to Outsource?

Accounting and Finance

As your business grows, financial management becomes increasingly complex. Outsourced accounting services can handle everything from daily transaction oversight to high-level CFO services that help guide major business decisions.

When to consider outsourcing accounting:

• Your reporting is inconsistent or inaccurate.
• You've lost key finance staff or are scaling quickly.
• You need deeper visibility into metrics and margins.
• You're ready for forecasting and data-driven planning.

What roles can be outsourced:

• Accountant: Bookkeeping, AP/AR, bill pay, reconciliations, expense tracking
• Controller: Monthly financials, cash flow analysis
• CFO: Forecasting, KPI reporting, strategic planning, capital planning, business coaching

By outsourcing your accounting, you get financial accuracy, compliance assurance, and strategic insights from people who've seen your exact challenges across multiple businesses. They know what works, what doesn't, and how to help you avoid costly mistakes.

Human Resources

Modern HR is about more than hiring; it’s legal compliance, culture-building, training, and retention all rolled into one. An outsourced HR partner helps you keep up.

When to consider outsourcing HR:

• You don’t have a dedicated HR professional.
• Your current HR lead is new or overloaded.
• You're facing high turnover or engagement issues.
• You’re preparing for growth or navigating compliance.

When you outsource HR, you're getting what we call the "3 C's:”

• Compliance: Handbooks, policies, and checklists for legal compliance
• Culture: Strategies for onboarding, training, performance, retention, and employee engagement
• Coaching: Day-to-day HR, employee relations, and strategic support

Your outsourced HR team stays current with constantly changing employment laws. They help you build a workplace culture that aligns with your values and provides ongoing guidance to support your people and processes as your business grows.

IT

Technology is now at the core of every business, regardless of the industry. If you own a business, your technology infrastructure requires ongoing support from experienced professionals to keep it secure, efficient, and aligned with your goals.

When to consider outsourcing IT:

• You're concerned about cybersecurity or data protection.
• Your internal tech team is overextended.
• You need support implementing automation, AI, or analytics.
• You're lacking a clear IT strategy or recovery plan.

Professional IT service providers can assist you in various areas:

• Support: Help desk, user assistance, network services
• Security: Threat detection, backups, MFA, training
• Consulting: IT roadmaps, automation, vendor management
• AI: Identifying opportunities for automation, implementing AI tools, and ensuring secure usage

These services prevent the scramble of hoping your "computer person" answers their phone when your systems go down. No more discovering security vulnerabilities after it's too late. With outsourced IT support, you gain access to experienced professionals and scalable solutions that align with your business needs.

What is the Financial Benefit of Outsourcing?

Outsourcing offers several key financial benefits that can significantly impact an organization's bottom line:

• Reduced overhead by eliminating costs associated with full-time employees (salary, benefits, equipment, training costs, etc.)
• Scalability by adjusting service levels based on business needs
• Access to high-level tools like data analytics dashboards to provide visual insights into your data without significant investment

Businesses can reallocate funds that would be spent on a full-time hire to core activities that drive revenue. Instead of spending time and money managing support functions, you can invest in growth initiatives, customer acquisition, or product development.

How to Make Outsourcing Work for You

Success with outsourcing requires the right approach. Here's what we've learned from businesses that get it right:

• Outsource locally: Partnering with a local provider means faster response times, a better understanding of your regional business environment, and face-to-face support when it matters most.
• Prioritize communication: Set up clear communication channels and check-ins. Your outsourced team should feel like an extension of your internal team, not a separate entity you occasionally hear from.
• Think of it as a partnership, not a vendor relationship: Share your company's vision and goals with your outsourcing partners. When they understand where you're headed, they can help you get there faster.
• Review regularly: What works today might not work as well in six months. Build in regular reviews to ensure your outsourcing arrangement continues to deliver value as your business evolves.

The best outsourcing relationships feel seamless. Your customers and employees should have no idea that certain functions are handled externally.

Outsource Your Business Functions with Lutz

If you're spending too much time on functions that don't directly drive revenue, struggling to find specialized talent, or feeling like you're always playing catch-up with compliance and best practices, outsourcing might be the strategic move you need. The key is finding partners who understand your business, share your values, and have the expertise to deliver results. It's about finding the right fit that helps your business thrive.

Lutz offers Outsourced Accounting, Outsourced HR, and Outsourced IT services to provide the expertise you need to thrive in today's challenging business environment. Whether you’re based in the Midwest or beyond, our local experts are here to provide tailored support with a deep understanding of your industry, community, and goals. Contact us to explore these opportunities.

WEBINAR

Want to dive deeper into outsourcing during talent shortages? Lutz experts Scott Kroeger, Steve Nebbia, and Steph Hand understand how these practices can change the game. Watch the full webinar to learn more about outsourcing solutions for your business.