How to spend less time on administration and generate more revenue?

IMS Decimal announces the appointment of Tony Bolger.

October 14, 2021

Accounting and Finance Roundup for staffing/recruitment agencies—2021 (Globally)

January 25, 2022

In June to August 2021, the UK saw job vacancies in all industry sectors grow quarter on quarter by 269,300 or 35.2%, with the healthcare sector accounting for 40,000 of these vacancies. Furthermore, vacancies are 28% above its pre-coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic level.

In the US, there is a similar pattern. Healthcare staffing is predicted to grow 24% year over year in 2021. This in turn builds on the 8% growth in the same sector the previous year. These impressive growth figures are predicted to be short term. A September 2021 US Government report forecasts a 9% decline in the healthcare staffing sector in 2022, as the pandemic decreases.

This rapid short-term growth also coincides with a decrease in bill rates.

All of the above means that recruitment business will have to fulfil more vacancies to maintain its margin.

To deal with this growth in vacancies, recruitment businesses have two options

a) Hire new staff
b) Retain existing top talent

Hiring new talent is always beset with risks. Onboarding is time consuming and costly. There is no guarantee that the new resource will successfully help the business convert vacancy growth into revenue. Furthermore, businesses may also be left with a surplus of recruitment consultants if vacancies are predicted to decline.

A more effective approach is to invest in the business’s existing top talent through the provision of excellent placement support.

For recruitment, what does it take to thrive and succeed? One of the core elements is a reliable and experienced placement support team to nurture your business interests and keep candidates happy.

So, what is a placement support team?

If you are a finance director, CFO, or director, you may already be familiar with the term placement support team, particularly if you work in healthcare, accounting, IT, or construction recruitment. Think of the placement support team as the supporters, helping you to build a strong business; there to lend a hand so your consultants spend less time on administration tasks and more time on sales.

Depending on the size of your agency, placement support team tasks might be carried out by a standalone team or incorporated into the role of your recruitment consultants. From contract creation and review to capturing booking reference numbers, invoicing, reconciliation, and credit control: it can be a lot to take on and time-consuming for recruiters. It is hard doing it alone. Even if you already employ an office administrator or finance assistant, chances are you would still like more time in the day for your recruitment consultants to focus on sales and other revenue generating tasks.

What is the advantage of outsourcing placement support team duties?

Recruitment consultants are busy people and at such a face-paced and demanding time for the recruiting and staffing industry, it is easy for mistakes to happen. Inputting the wrong contract date or pay and charge rate or errors in timesheet processing can all cost your business precious time, money, and your reputation. Taking away the burden of support team tasks means recruiters process fewer timesheets, spend less time creating complex contracts and more time focusing on core recruitment, like sourcing candidates, formatting resumes, and lead generation. Outsourcing placement support team tasks and other essential accounts and finance tasks is a hot topic in recruitment and staffing agencies across the UK, the U.S. and beyond. And it is easy to see why.

Today's modern world places a higher demand on accountancy and finance departments than ever before. The need for flexibility and cost-control means service firms need a reliable, scalable finance and accounting team to support the ongoing, everyday operation of the business. But peaks in demand, sickness absence, holidays and maternity and paternity leave all put pressure on the team's ability to deliver business critical tasks.

By outsourcing tasks traditionally carried out by a placement support team or recruitment consultants, you have the peace of mind of knowing you have a dedicated team on hand, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. So, you will always be prepared to manage peaks and troughs in business demand and life's everyday challenges.

Worried about disruption to your existing accounting and finance processes?

There is no need to be. Outsourcing your placement support team tasks works with your current business model using your own systems, without the need to employ additional personnel. It is a cost-effective solution that provides added peace of mind.

How can IMS Decimal help?

IMS Decimal are experts at managing accounting and finance tasks, including those carried out by placement support teams. You gain instant access to a team of qualified finance and accounting professionals and end to end Payroll experts, so your business gets a flexible, scalable solution, with no long-term commitment.

IMS Decimal can help with:

Contract creation and review.
Capturing Booking Reference Numbers and Purchase Order Numbers.
Downloading booking confirmations.
Issuing pay slips and dealing with related queries.
Processing timesheets.
Invoicing, reconciliation, credit control.
Covering holidays, sickness absence, and increased demand.
Business intelligence and other critical reporting.

If you feel your recruitment consultants are spending too much time on administration and not enough time on creating and managing candidate pipelines and generating revenue, then outsourcing your placement team support administration provides the perfect solution. Get in touch today and discover how our outsourced placement support team can help your business to thrive every step of the way.

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