FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
1. Do you have Closed Circuit Cameras for surveillance ?
A. Yes, our entire premises are covered under security cameras both from exterior and interiors. In fact, every cabin inside the office has 2 cameras fixed for a better visibility of the happenings and monitoring against any untoward incidents. These cameras are operational on 24X7 basis.
2. How does your staff respect the privacy of information they handle ?
A. Before we hire someone, we carry out background checks, and go through the references of previous employers about the person's conduct at past organization if any. While joining the organization, every employee has to sign an undertaking that states that he/she will respect the privacy of the client data being handled. Additionally, he is legally bound to do so, and there could be legal actions against an employee if inconsistencies are discovered from his/her end. So far, none of our employees have disappointed us in this regard.
3. What are the Mechanisms at your Office to guard against breach in data security ?
A. To begin with, the whole office is paperless. We do not allow pen-paper-any stationery, digital computer printers, personal mobile phones, portable storage devices into the work area. The USB ports are disabled for data transfers. No staff has access to personal emails, social media, or any such means that can facilitate transferring sensitive data. The emails, folder systems, and internal servers at office are continuously monitored by in-house IT department for inconsistency. There are no printers connected to our internal network, hence, we eliminate the chances of taking data out of office by any means either electronic or printed. It is like your own office where the data never leaves the premises.
4. How remote staff will access source document / information / data ?
A. There are three methods that remote staff can use to access documents/information/data at client's end:
- Remote access: Set us a workstation with necessary software and documents; allow remote access with username and password where staff can login, work, and logout after he is done completing assigned work.
- Cloud/server access: Have the documents uploaded on the cloud or server where staff can access, work, and save the work done after completion.
- File Transfer: Send the documents to the remote staff through email or online transfer applications. The client will work upon that, and send the file back for your review.
You can use any of the three methods to let your staff access a particular file (document/information/data), and give you back the completed work.
5. How does a remote staff generally communicate with me ?
A. There are a number of convenient methods to communicate with your remote staff.
- Telephone: Every employee has a dedicated USA telephone number to connect with.
- Email: You can send emails for instructions, and ask for daily reporting on email.
- Video conference: Every employee’s workstation comprises of webcam, microphone, and necessary software for speaking over video; you can choose any application such as Skype, Google Hangouts, etc. for live video call as well as chat over instant text messaging software.
6. What are the timings of work ? How do you manage the time difference ?
A.Normal shift / work timing for a full-time staff is 4 am to 1 pm EST (inclusive of 30 minutes of meal break and 15 min for coffee break). This allows for a 3-4 hours of overlap between your office timings and the staff working for you. Please note that since they start work at 4 am, so you may assign work in the evening and meanwhile you come to office in the morning, most of the work is done. However, these timings can be made flexible and matched according to your office hours, but that might cost you extra, as such staff needs to be paid midnight allowances and other facilities.
7. For What work can C V Pujara & Co's staff can be hired ?
A. When you hire a remote staff you will have to identify the requirements at your end. However, just like any local employee a remote staff can perform most of the tasks related to:
- Bookkeeping
- Monthly accounting
- Tax Preparation
- Financial Statements (review, audits, compilation tasks)
- Billing – Bill Payments, Billing Collection, Follow ups and other administrative tasks
- Other Office Admin tasks
In a nutshell a remote staff performs most of the tasks that are done in a public accounting firm.