Back office

Four functions. Timesheets: collection, chasing, validation against the booking and client approval. Invoicing: accurate invoices from approved timesheets, delivered into whatever portal the client insists on. Credit control: structured chasing, escalation and aged debt reporting. Compliance administration: right to work checks, ticket and qualification expiry, and the records to evidence all of it.

When the book is growing faster than the admin, when consultants are doing it, when credit control is not really happening, when you are taking funding and ledger quality affects your terms, or when compliance has outgrown the spreadsheet. It does not make sense for a small permanent-only book with monthly invoicing, or for an agency whose real problem is thin margins.

Pricing models vary: a percentage of turnover or invoice value, a charge per timesheet or per worker per week, a fixed monthly fee for a defined scope, or a bundle with funding or payroll. The comparison that matters is the fee against the fully loaded cost of doing it internally, not against zero. Our introduction costs you nothing; the partner pays us.

No. Outsourcing the administration does not outsource your legal responsibility, so be clear which is which before you commit. Check who owns the client relationship, the escalation path for disputed invoices, the service levels in writing and what exit looks like.