Decimal vs Reconciled: outsourced accounting operations

Decimal describes outsourced financial operations including bookkeeping, bill pay, invoicing, tax, and reporting. Reconciled publishes outsourced bookkeeping and accounting services. Ask both teams to define the actual operating work included in your proposal.

List the steps between receiving a supplier invoice and closing the relevant account. Include approval, payment scheduling, changes to bank details, and reconciliation. A business that needs those steps executed is buying a different scope from one that only needs transactions recorded afterward.

Ask how the team handles an invoice that does not match the approved amount. Identify who requests clarification, who decides whether to pay, how the dispute is recorded, and how any later credit reaches the books. Keep the responsibility for commercial decisions with the appropriate authorized person.

Request the same walkthrough for a late customer payment. Clarify whether the service includes reminders or collections activity, how communications are approved, and how the ledger is updated. Accounting access does not automatically include authority to contact every customer.

Request an anonymized close package containing reconciliations and support for material balances. Ask which receivable and payable reports are included and who reviews unusual items. The package should identify unresolved differences rather than hide them in an unexplained adjustment.

If the proposal includes controller, advisory, tax, or other additional work, name its deliverables separately. Confirm the assigned professional and the handoff of approved accounting records. Do not assume a general accounting relationship covers every filing or management analysis.

Separate setup, historical cleanup, recurring operations, accounting review, software, and additional services. Explain seasonal activity and ask how a peak month affects the price or delivery schedule. Include the approvals and document collection still performed internally.

Before onboarding, agree named access, payment controls, backup coverage, and usable exports. Retain approved balances, schedules, procedures, and open questions. Select the proposal that supports your operating process with an understandable division between the provider's execution and management's authority.