Today’s markets are competitive. They are global. They are fast-paced.

To survive, your business needs to be prepared to meet these challenges. It needs to be cost competitive. It needs to reduce costs and improve efficiency. It needs to stay current with technology, training, standards and regulations. It needs to forge customer loyalty.

It needs an edge. It needs shared services.

Currently, more than 30 percent of US Fortune 500 companies have this edge. These companies are standardizing practices, cutting costs and creating economies of scale. In fact, these companies are reporting up to 45 percent saving in accounting costs alone.

B&N Shared Services helps you successfully meet these challenges. We become a member of your team and fill multiple roles at a cost, quality and timeliness that is not only competitive with alternatives but difficult to replicate internally.

We centralize administrative functions that are performed in separate divisions, locations or by different vendors (i.e. finance, purchasing, marketing, payroll, hiring and IT). We are then able to leverage our partnerships formed with separate businesses to lower your transaction costs.

THE VALUE OF OUTSOURCING
As the concept of share services evolves, business owners must continue to adopt new strategies and revise existing ones to achieve the full benefits. However, there are three components that serve as the foundation for share services. These not only help define its past and present state, but will help shape its future:

Centralization
Rather than have many people, places and centers performing the same function or process, share services companies adopt centrally managed service models. A key advantage of this convergence is that it enables the appreciation of economics of scale within the function and can enable multi function working, linking departments where there is the potential to create synergies.

Standardization
By standardizing processes and systems, companies can begin to realize the benefits of economics of scale. Ensuring that people work off the same processes and standard applications, the company will more easily realize cost reductions that come through critical mass. Just as important, this standardization also leads to improved policies, smoother processes, and information accuracy. The overall result is increased transparency and improved management.

Platform
Technology is the single most important tool for effective and efficient shared services. Networks have reduced the cost of communication to nearly zero. The internet’s ability to connect various parts of the business through the web enables companies to share processes and information more quickly and inexpensively than ever before. And in large part, our advanced technological systems provide the foundation for fundamental success and the future competitive advantage of using shared services.