Outsource Partners International, a business process outsourcing company that provides finance and accounting services to clients in the US and UK through offshore resource centres in India, plans to target Indian global firms to scale up business.

The US-based company, which started operations in India in 2002, has set up centres in Bangalore, Delhi and Kochi and employs around 2,500 people with accounting backgrounds. The company is all geared to tap the Indian accounting market which has been witnessing hectic activity.

OPI chairman and CEO Clarence T Schmitz said today, "A lot of India-based global firms are facing difficulty in instituting good accounting practices and rigorous financial controls. But the biggest challenge these companies face pertains to hiring and retaining good people, a problem that is also nagging the US. We are looking at such companies."

Assuring timeliness and accuracy of results, Schmitz his company provides financial reporting and analysis, data management, business operations consulting, records management and documentary compliance services.

By outsourcing, the multinational companies can focus on corporate strategy and core competencies, thereby, reducing the amount of executive time spent on routine accounting and processing tasks. Companies that have not invested on technology in the financial area can leverage OPI's financial tools, Schmitz said.

On the challenges to be overcome while wooing Indian multinational companies, OPI President Kishore Mirchandani said, "As it is a relatively new phenomenon, it is like a consultative sale.

We have to first educate the CEO on why it has to be done." On expansion plans, Mirchandani said that OPI's Bangalore centre has been moved to a new 280,000-sq feet facility at Vikas Telecom SEZ. The company plans to increase its total employee count to 10,000 in the next two years.