When a business decides to outsource its finance processes IT needs to be an integral part of the strategy from start to finish, advises analyst firm Gartner in a new report.

Finance and accounting business process outsourcing is becoming increasingly commonplace and chief financial officers (CFOs) should draw on the expertise of IT teams that have outsourced before, said Cathy Tornbohm, Gartner research vice president.

Tornbohm said she commonly sees one of three scenarios: “Either the finance team does not understand the initiative and throws it all at the IT department; or the finance team believes the initiative is a mere labour arbitrage and does not bother to inform IT; or IT and finance work in partnership and deliver a successful outsourcing project together.”

An IT department that has outsourced before will understand challenges, such as managing an offshore contract and the best practice surrounding governance.

“IT should approach the business and lay out the mistakes it will see if previous expertise is ignored,” she said.