One requirement here is not negotiable.
This page is written to disqualify as much as to qualify. On a finance file the reviewer cannot be a generalist, and a partner who staffs it as one will fail their first close.
The one that decides it: a reviewer who can actually read a reconciliation
On the eCommerce and franchise files, an experienced team leader from any background can clear the queue after training. Not here. Your reviewer accepts or rejects coding decisions, attests reconciliations and challenges an accrual basis. They need real finance literacy — a qualified or part-qualified accountant, a senior F&A processor, or someone who has run a set of books.
If you would be putting a general operations TL on this queue, take a different file. They will accept what the desk proposes because they have no basis to challenge it, the quality score will look fine for two months, and the first client escalation will come at close.
Company
- Registered company, LLP or firm in India
- GST registration in force
- Bank account able to receive foreign inward remittance with FIRC
- Authority to sign a service agreement, NDA and information-security schedule
- No conflicting engagement with a competing F&A platform
People
- One finance-literate reviewer — qualified, part-qualified, or genuinely experienced in F&A
- A full-time reviewer from agent 16 onward
- Availability across working days 1 to 5 of each month — close does not move
- An owner or operations head on the weekly review call for the first 90 days
Infrastructure
- A stable broadband connection and one workstation for the reviewer
- A clean-desk and device policy consistent with the infosec schedule — clients will ask
- No floor, no seats, no dialler required
- The VPS and ledger are provisioned by Akontec
Working capital
- The setup fee, 60% on signature and 40% at go-live
- Two months of running cost in reserve while allocation ramps
- Your reviewer's cost through the ramp period — higher than a generalist TL
- Income arrives monthly in arrears in USD, converted on statement date — plan the first cycle and the FX exposure
What you do not need, which surprises people
- Existing F&A experience as a company. The desk carries the process knowledge; your reviewer carries the judgement.
- Software licences. Client systems are accessed through the desk, not licensed by you.
- A team. One reviewer covers a ten-agent desk including close week.
- An ISO or SOC certification to start. The infosec schedule is the requirement; certification helps at renewal and on larger clients.
Do not take this file if
- Your reviewer cannot challenge a coding decision or an accrual basis
- You need a fixed monthly invoice regardless of volume
- You expect to bring your own finance clients — allocation and the contract sit with Akontec
- You want the desk to approve, post or pay anything autonomously — it never will
- You cannot carry FX movement between statement and settlement
- You need the setup back inside two months
If you have the reviewer, the rest is straightforward.
A walkthrough, then a scoping call. We will tell you plainly if we do not think the fit is right.