Why Permanent Agencies Are Wasting Valuable Time

When a recruiter decides to start their own recruitment agency, often during the first few months they will concentrate on only making permanent placements.  This process allows the agency to start getting funds into the bank without having to be concerned with the additional administration and funding to make contractor placements.  The idea of running a permanent only recruitment agency seems easy- make the placement, raise the invoice and client makes the payment. However often it isn’t as simple as that and each of those steps takes away valuable sales time, especially when a client doesn’t make the payment they promised.

TBOS continuously helps to set up and run the back office and accounts departments for many successful permanent only recruitment agencies and each of them will tell you that having TBOS to look after those tasks is invaluable especially in the early stages.

When we speak to prospective permanent only recruiters who are looking to start their own agency they will say things like “I don’t think I’m big enough yet”, “I don’t think I need all of your services” or “I can do most of this myself” but the reality is they often haven’t understood what is on offer or how time-consuming it can be to run the administration along with making those all-important sales.

Below is a list of the advantages that our permanent only recruitment agencies enjoy by using TBOS especially when they first start:-

  • FULL TIME ACCOUNTS DEPARTMENT ON TELEPHONE AND EMAIL

TBOS acts as the accounts department for all the agencies that we manage and as the phones are answered as “Good Morning/Afternoon Accounts” and emails are sent from the agency domain name the clients, candidates and suppliers do not know of TBOS’ involvement only that we are members of the agency’s back office.

  • CAN MAKE THE AGENCY APPEAR BIGGER THAN IT IS

As all of the staff within TBOS are representing the agencies we manage this can make the agency appear much larger than it is.  Many of our agencies (especially new start-ups working out of their homes) use the TBOS office as the registered address so should the client decide to “Google Earth” the business address it shows our main office instead of the Director’s front door.

  • PROACTIVE CREDIT CONTROL

TBOS looks after all the permanent invoicing for the agencies we manage and we are especially proud of our proactive credit control process.  TBOS will ensure that within 7 days of the invoice being raised it is verified by the client as being correct, received and being paid within terms.  This proactive approach reduces the risk of invoices not being paid within terms which can often be the biggest headache for new start-up businesses.

  • SPECIFIC ADVICE ON ALLOWABLE EXPENSES

As TBOS only looks after recruitment agencies we know the type of expenses that will be spent and also the allowable expenses that maybe are not as obvious.  By ensuring that these are accounted for correctly each month  there is no back log of work to be done, the correct VAT can be reclaimed and the expenses can be reimbursed back to the directors immediately if paid out personally.

  • MONTHLY MANAGEMENT ACCOUNTS

Every TBOS client receives monthly management accounts which include a balance sheet as well as profit and loss.  These reports are invaluable to any business especially when starting a business to track the overheads and sales plus the liabilities to HMRC.  The TBOS management accounts team are also available to discuss either over the phone, on video conference or at a face-to-face meeting to ensure that the agency understands the figures being presented and how they can increase their company value.

  • RECOMMENDATION ON TAKING FUNDS FROM THE COMPANY

Although TBOS’ service is primarily to provide the back office and accounts of the agencies it manages it can also advise on the best way for the Directors and Shareholders to take funds from the business.  The TBOS management accounts team will work with the Directors and Shareholders on the methods to take funds from the company either through expenses, salary or dividends to ensure they are paying the correct taxes on their drawings whilst making the most of any allowances available.

  • ALL BACK OFFICE AND ACCOUNTS UNDER ONE ROOF

By using TBOS, the agencies we look after only have one port of call for any aspect of their company’s back office and accounts. There is only one cost from one company with all the staff working from the same process which ensures continuity and accountability for the agency.  In our experience, having separate companies looking after the invoicing, payroll, bookkeeping and year end accounts can lead to additional costs and discrepancies with the advice and service being provided.

  • CAPABILITY OF HANDLING CONTRACTORS WHEN THEY COME ALONG

As an agency begins to take off they will start to move their focus towards providing contractors to their clients.  TBOS has many years of experience in helping agencies to move into the contractor market and can help with providing the administrative and funding support either through the TBOS Freedom model or by helping to arrange invoice finance for the agency.  TBOS will take away a large portion of the administration to allow the agency to concentrate on making more contract placements.

There are many permanent only recruitment agencies on TBOS’ books who are taking advantage of the above list and would happily recommend the TBOS service.  The starting price for a permanent only recruitment agency is from £250 per month which means that a basic agency could pay £3,000 per annum for a full time accounts and back office department.  The time that the Directors would save by not having to look after the administration burden themselves would easily ensure that they potentially made more than one additional placement during the year which would pay for the TBOS service.

For more information on how TBOS can help manage the back office and accounts needs of your permanent (or contract) agency please do not hesitate to contact us.


Stewart Roberts

Written by Stewart Roberts

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