Resilient Partnerships: The Client-First Approach 

Traditional outsourcing patterns

Traditionally, outsourced finance processes were completed in a purely transactional manner, one that involved ticking off tasks and logging timesheets for invoicing purposes. After this, money would change hands, from client to firm, and the pattern would repeat. 

Nowadays, this transactional management doesn’t cut it. Every business is unique, requiring specific financial practices and specific industry knowledge. Accountancy firms that understand how to offer tailored services can stay one step ahead of their peers. 

A value-adding internal-external finance partnership between clients and accountancy firms is the new expectation in 2026, and this expectation will only grow. So, what tools and skills do accountants need to create this long-lasting partnership? 

5 ways to create a resilient partner-client relationship 

The role of the partner firm has undergone a transition from transactional to strategic ally. The partner firms’ responsibilities haven’t just altered: they’ve grown. Partners have more technological tools to aid their clients’ growth, thus their skill set and role have expanded. 

Digi-tech influencers, The Digital Disruptors, were joined by Laura Jolly, Principal Solutions Consultant at Xledger, and Dom Gibbs, Director at S&W Bristol, to discuss the ways in which outsourced partner firms have morphed into advisors in recent years. 

S&W divulged their methodology for creating robust and long-lasting partnerships with their clients, leveraging technology, experience, and empathy to fulfil their clients’ needs. 

1. Understand the demand for outsourcing

The demand for outsourcing is escalating in two key ways. A Forbes article stated that 83% of finance leaders felt a talent shortage in 2024, a 13% increase from 2022. [2] 

But why is this shortage leading to a demand for outsourcing? Firstly, the lack of emerging talent is causing recruitment difficulties, and secondly, outsourcing is an efficient way to fill these gaps. 

Often, businesses struggle to recruit talent into their finance functions at the appropriate level. Interestingly, in the US, 31% of new accounting hires in 2024 were non-accounting graduates. However, if employers invest heavily in training and career development, these new hires may be worth the long-term cost. 

The difficulties may continue, though. Hiring is expensive, and if the chosen candidate doesn’t develop and fully own the role, the value brought to the business isn’t enough to outweigh the cost of hiring. This imbalance causes businesses to consider outsourcing and the support it can offer. 

Essentially, outsourcing is a safety blanket. It removes the stresses of accounting and ensures a consistent service without these headaches. Partners that understand this cycle — hiring, cost imbalance, stressful periods — can use methodology to combat the stress that finance functions face daily, like high workload, regulatory changes, and lack of standard workflow. 

2. Discuss your partnership goals

Partnerships succeed through collaboration. As with all collaborative projects, both teams must be aligned to mitigate miscommunication, disappointment, and unsuccessful outcomes. 

The accountancy firm, S&W, begins its partnership with a scoping project — a dedicated session that aims to truly understand the client. This begins the partnership with an opportunity for transparency and detailed questions, such as: 

• What is your five-year plan? 
• What are your business aims? 

It’s fair to say that finance leaders rely on proper and regular management information to gauge a clear understanding of a business’s financials. However, high-pressure teams cannot always deliver this information. Unfortunately, this information is vital for CFOs and FDs to ensure the business stays afloat, and leadership ultimately comes to loggerheads with their finance functions. 

S&W’s scoping session counters this tension. It’s a space where finance leaders can discuss the struggles their team faces. It is also an ideal situation for firms to outline a strategy and present ways in which they can help alleviate inefficiencies and stress for finance functions during their partnership. 

3. Reassure with communication

Like collaboration, communication is key to successful and long-lasting client partnerships. By outlining your full service offering and its limitations, you provide clients with a realistic and transparent view of your support. 

During initial talks, S&W outlines its full service lines so that clients understand the breadth of their experience. This is an excellent way to reassure clients that you offer a range of services. At the start of your partnership, your clients may only require two or three key services, but it’s best for them to know that you can support them when their future ambitions change. 

Once your partnership is established, you’ll be considered key to your clients’ finance function. Communication shows your clients that you are invested in their strategic journey, rather than simply available for monthly invoiceable transactions. 

Here are a few channels you could consider developing communications in: 

• Events 
• Newsletters 
• Video calls 
• Webinars 
• Quarterly meetings 

Outsourced finance functions are crucial to the development of their clients, so why not build enduring partnerships through transparent communication? 

4. Consider implementing new technology

Technology plays a crucial part in streamlining time-consuming manual tasks. In Foundry’s Cloud Computing Study, 63% of respondents noted that the modernisation of legacy systems caused significant efficiency barriers. [3] 

Unlike legacy systems that are retrofitted to operate on the cloud, Xledger is built on the cloud, giving greater flexibility and efficiency to its users. By automating processes, true-cloud accounting software like Xledger can alleviate some stress from finance functions and ensure that CFOs or finance leaders receive regular and reliable information. 

Clients value the advice of their partners, so consider discussing the ways you can leverage the best accounting software to reduce inefficiencies, burnout, data inaccuracies, and task duplication. It drives finance teams away from a purely transactional function to an advisory, analytic function. 

5. Re-evaluate your strategy

Firms that follow a customer-focused approach while regularly reevaluating their strategy will find it easier to build durable partnerships. On the other hand, firms that steam ahead without allocating time for quarterly or yearly discussions may struggle to stay aligned with client goals. 

Here are some of the key points for partner firms to consider:  

• Allocate time to discuss overall business goals 
• Consider new technology to streamline processes 
• Celebrate the strategic wins 
• Recognise room for improvement 
• Partner with a robust accounting software 

Best-of-breed finance software 

Xledger is an efficient best-of-breed finance solution, built for scaling businesses. Software like Xero and QuickBooks can only take businesses so far and have limitations surrounding group consolidation and transactional capabilities. 

With Xledger, however, partners can lead their clients towards a streamlined and efficient finance function that provides value-added advisory support, rather than a simple transactional accountancy practice. 

Do you aim to offer clients the best accounting and finance services possible? Get in touch with our Partner Manager to discuss how Xledger can help you provide your clients with efficient and effective accountancy practice. 

References 

[1] Age, A. (2024), UK Accountancy Sector Outlook Report 2024-2025 | Accountancy Age.
[2] Whitmire, M. (2025), Mind The Gap: Addressing The Finance And Accounting Talent Gap In 2025 | Forbes.
[3] Foundry (2024), AI Dominates the Cloud Conversation Cloud Computing Survey | Foundry.