What is Outsourcing?
The concept of taking internal company functions and paying an outside firm to manage the same is called Outsourcing.

Outsourcing allows companies to save money, improve quality, or free company resources for other activities. Outsourcing was first done in the data-processing industry and has today spread to every imaginable business vertical. Outsourcing is the wave of the future.

What are the benefits of outsourcing?
To read the complete list of benefits that outsourcing provides, refer the “Why Outsourcing” page.

What kind of functions/processes can I outsource to CBP?
We have worked with various customers who have outsourced processes ranging from Marketing to Finance & Accounting. The complete stack of Virtual services offered by Center for Business Planning includes:

Finance & Accounting

• Write-up
• Bookkeeping
• General Ledger Accounting
• Accounts Payable
• Accounts Receivable
• Fixed Assets
• Billing
• Payroll
• Sales Tax
• Bank Reconciliation
• Tax Return Preparation

Marketing

• End-to-end consultation services
• Strategies
• Research & Analysis
• Corporate Profile
• Logo design
• Re-branding/revamp solutions
• Collateral development – brochures, flyers, catalogs, business cards, giveaways, Multimedia presentations, flash product videos, etc.
• Online & Print advertisements
• Sales and pre-sales literature
• Press releases
• Ghost writing
• Newsletters
• Blogs
• Forums
• Transcription
• Translation

Back room support

• Secure Post Office
• Secure Hosting
• Data Conversions
• Virtual Assistant
• Document Management

Virtual Office

• Community Association Management
• Law
• Accounting
• Construction
• Restaurants
• Non-Profits

Does CBP take complete ownership?
CBP takes over the complete responsibility of fulfilling your project with a specified requirement set, budget and schedule defined in the contract. Note that this does not imply that you will end up losing control and visibility of your project.

To ensure that our services match our client’s needs, periodic status reports are sent and status / milestone meetings are held with the client whenever deemed necessary. The customer is free to influence the project at any given time during its lifecycle to ensure that the ending to contractual terms are being followed.

How can CBP maintain information confidential?
If required, CBP can sign a Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA), to protect your intellectual property and maintain confidential information.

How much can I save by outsourcing my functions/processes to CBP?
Although savings are dependent on a variety of factors, in the long term, you should expect to save anything between 30 - 50%. Note that this is an indicative figure and does not apply equally to all cases.

How can I be sure that the charges are fair and that my process is being managed properly?
Customers are welcome to be involved in every stage of the project. You can review and track the project progress, risk, quality and cost. CBP aims to gain the highest levels of trust of our clients to simplify the process of outsourcing as far as possible. Once you are confident of our services, you can sit back and relax, while we work continuously to manage outsourcing relationships and ensuring that the desired quality levels are being produced by the vendor(s) assigned to your project.

Where is CBP located?
In Lynnfield Massachusetts USA. 

Does CBP offer long term relationships?
Yes. We are always open to long-term contracts and relationships. In fact, our high focus on quality is a strategy to retain and grow customer relationships for years to come.

Can I start using your services from any stage or point that my outsourced process may be at?
Yes. The Virtual Process Manager platform has been designed to allow easy entry/exit. We undertake projects from virtually any stage within the business cycle.

How are the charges calculated?
Based on the process/function that you have decided to outsource, the charges are calculated on a pay-per-use basis. There are absolutely no upfront payments or hidden costs involved. Pay exactly for what you need, when you need it. No large capital investments.

Do I need to hire a project manager?
Every outsourced project is managed entirely by CBP on both sides of the equation. Our goal is to help our clients eliminate unnecessary overheads and time delays. All outsourcing service contracts from CBP come with expert project management services included. We are entirely responsible for overseeing the daily progress on your project and keeping the quality delivered by your outsourcing vendors in close check. There is absolutely no need for you to spend additional time and money on Project Management.

How does CBP manage to deliver & sustain those unbelievably low rates?
CBP works with trusted, proven outsourced service providers based in India. The cost of living and salaries earned in India are significantly lower when compared to the western world. In most cases, the manpower cost in India is approximately one-tenth of the costs in the US. Thanks to the low overheads of our outsourcing partners, we are able to help our clients achieve an overall cost reduction anywhere between 30% - 50%.

Why Outsource to India?
India offers several advantages that can be effectively leveraged by small and medium businesses in the US to derive maximum gains. Consider the following that make India a premier outsourcing destination for the rest of the world:

• India owns over 85 percent of the worldwide BPO market share. Among the different offshore destinations, India has become the number one location for most companies.

• India has the largest English-speaking population in the world after USA. India produces 3.1 million fluently English speaking college graduates a year, which is expected to double by 2010. Abundant skilled manpower has made India a target destination for global outsourcing projects.

• India produces the maximum number of engineers in comparison to the rest of the world. In 2005 India produced 200,000 engineering graduates, about three times as many as the United States and twice as many as all of Europe!

• India offers world class telecommunications infrastructure

• India is the world's largest democracy and the 12th largest economy (4th largest based on purchasing power parity).

• India has experienced robust economic growth and has a positive outlook.

• Leading Fortune 500 companies have already set up their own shared-services centers in India to offer services such as financial/accounting services, payroll processing and taxation, among others.

• Indian professionals rank high in areas such as qualifications, capabilities, quality of work, linguistic capabilities and work ethics.

• India is able to offer 24x7 services and thereby reduce turnaround times by leveraging on the time zone differences that exist with the US. In simpler terms, this means that Indians are at work even when business folks in America are asleep!

How do I send my data to CBP?
Email : If your documents are already available in a digital format – i.e. scanned photographs, MS Word Documents, text files, etc. then the fastest way to send it to us would be via email.

Courier : To send us paper documents, the best method would be to use reliable couriers like Fedex or UPS, which take approximately 1-3 business days to reach us.

Standard snail mail: This would take approximately 8-9 days to reach us. It is advisable to use the snail mail route when dealing with large volumes of non-mission critical data.

How can I remain in contact with CBP throughout the course of my project?
CBP is continuously at your service through email, Instant Messenger, Phone, Fax, etc.

Why does CBP call itself the Outsourcing Risk Killer? Are there any risks involved in outsourcing that I should be aware of?
The pros of outsourcing largely outweigh the cons. However, there are risks involved in an outsourcing relationship. Taking outsourcing to the next level, CBP offers a Smart Sourcing solution that eliminates all the potential risks involved with an outsourcing relationship.

What is Smart Sourcing?
Smart Sourcing is outsourcing through a trusted partner that can exercise direct control over outsourcing service providers. Adding another dimension to outsourcing, Smart Sourcing allows you to outsource the management of your outsourcing relationship and eliminate all the potential risks that an outsourcing relationship may involve.

Why choose CBP for Smart Sourcing?
Center for Business Planning is a leading Smart Sourcing partner that has strong alliances with BPO’s and proven outsourcing service providers across the globe. We deal with only the most professional and reputed service providers that have earned our trust over the years. Through CBP, you get a smart, single point access to virtually any outsourced service/function that you may be looking for – be it outsourcing Finance & Accounting, Condominium Association Management, Marketing Services, Back Room functions, Document Management, etc.

How and which Outsourcing risks does CBP eliminate with Smart Sourcing?
In the worst case scenario that your outsourced team underperforms, CBP can seamlessly move your services and functions to another outsourced vendor, without you even realizing that something has changed!

Thus, Smart Sourcing through CBP is an ideal strategy that drives all the potential risks and management headaches out of outsourcing.  

CBP helps eliminate the following risks:

• Strategic Risk
• Reputation Risk
• Compliance Risk
• Operational Risk
• Exit Strategy Risk
• Counterparty Risk
• Country Risk
• Contractual Risk
• Access Risk
• Concentration and Systemic Risk

How can I benefit from CBP’s Smart Sourcing strategy?
Among the numerous benefits offered by Smart Sourcing, in particular, CBP:

• Helps you identify the right parts to outsource
• Helps set realistic expectations on both sides
• Always stays involved
• Offers hands on management of whole process
• Selects the right service provider for the job
• Uses clout with service provider to negotiate deals and ensure timely delivery
• Helps you gear up to changes

Why should I outsource my Finance & Accounting functions to CBP’s Virtual Accounting Manager (VAM)?
VAM allows your management team to focus on your core business, and not on managing your Finance & Accounting department. Outsourcing Finance & Accounting through VAM allows your company to access a team of professionals who are experts in the domain of Finance & Accounting. Building a similar resource pool in house would require large investments and months of recruitment efforts – an impossible task for small and medium sized companies.

In house Finance & Accounting management demands that you hire a competent team consisting of a CFO, controllers, assistants, accountants, auditors, etc. With VAM there are absolutely no in house accounting capabilities required. Now you can focus your efforts on building up your business instead of wasting time on bookkeeping.

Which Finance & Accounting functions can I outsource?
You can outsource anything that falls under the following categories:

• Transaction management
• Finance
• General accounting
• Treasury and risk management
• Tax management
• Cross-function processes, such as procure-to-pay or order-to-cash

What happens to my accounting information once I outsource it through VAM?
With VAM, your accounting information will be processed by a team of domain experts in a highly regulated and secure environment. What’s more, you can now access this information from anywhere, anytime.

Remember, the experts assigned to your project are Finance & Accounting professionals for whom accounting is the “only” business. You are buying a service and not paying a salary to a bunch of individuals for the hours that they put in. In effect, this translates to the highest quality of bookkeeping at the lowest possible cost. We are driven to deliver results in the shortest possible time period.

Does this imply that I will lose control?
In fact, by using VAM, you will gain complete control and instant access to every report that you will ever need!

Look at some of the benefits:

• Spend saved time working with customers
• Today’s work posted and ready 8:00 AM tomorrow
• Departments brought to “Best Practices Standards”
• Electronic banking
• Electronic invoicing
• Electronic payables
• Paperless environment
• Management by exception dashboard
• Have every report you need available real time
• Tremendous cost savings
• Variable cost pricing – pay only for what you use
• No need for seasonal staffing
• No need for IT services – latest technology employed
• Available 24/7 from any place anywhere