What is a Shared Services Center? A Beginner’s Guide

Ever feel like your international growth is being held back by messy operations and duplicate efforts across markets? You’re not alone. As brands scale across borders, keeping business functions aligned becomes one of the biggest challenges—and that’s exactly where a Shared Services Center (SSC) comes in.

A Shared Services Center is a centralized model for managing critical business functions like finance, HR, IT, and procurement across different regions. Instead of every country or business unit reinventing the wheel, an SSC provides one streamlined service backbone that supports the entire organization.

Global brands like Unilever and Johnson & Johnson have relied on SSCs for years to maintain consistency, improve compliance, and speed up decision-making across multiple geographies. But an SSC might not be the right model for your organization.

In this guide, we’ll break down exactly what a Shared Services Center is, why it matters for global brands, and how to decide if your business is ready to implement one.

What Is a Shared Services Center?

A Shared Services Center (SSC) is a centralized unit within a company that handles routine functions like HR, finance, IT, or legal for multiple departments or regions. Instead of duplicating these services across offices, an SSC consolidates them to improve efficiency, reduce costs, and maintain consistency. 

Unlike outsourcing, SSCs are owned and managed internally, giving brands full control. For companies expanding globally, SSCs provide a streamlined way to scale operations without losing visibility or quality across borders.

Why Global Brands Use Shared Services Centers

When companies expand internationally, complexity grows fast. Different teams handling the same tasks in different countries can lead to inefficiencies, inconsistent processes, and rising costs. That’s why global brands turn to Shared Services Centers.

SSCs centralize operations like payroll, procurement, and IT support so everything runs on a single, standardized process. This not only cuts costs but also ensures better compliance, faster reporting, and a consistent employee experience worldwide.

For brands scaling across borders, SSCs offer a proven way to stay agile, maintain control, and support growth without building entire teams in every location.

Key Benefits of a Shared Services Model

Implementing a Shared Services Center offers more than just operational convenience. It’s a strategic move that empowers global brands to scale efficiently, maintain control, and optimize internal performance. Here are five key benefits:

Cost Efficiency

By consolidating repetitive functions like payroll or accounts payable into a single unit, SSCs eliminate duplication across regions. This drives down administrative costs, improves process automation, and helps companies do more with fewer resources over time.

Consistency and Standardization

SSCs follow unified workflows, templates, and service standards across all business units. This ensures every market operates with the same level of accuracy, compliance, and service quality, critical for maintaining brand integrity across borders.

Faster Global Expansion

When expanding into new regions, brands with SSCs don’t need to build operational teams from scratch. Centralized services can immediately support new markets, allowing companies to scale faster while maintaining control over core processes.

Access to Specialized Talent

SSCs attract professionals skilled in finance, HR, IT, and compliance, often in regional hubs with strong talent pipelines. This allows companies to centralize expertise, improve service delivery, and reduce training and onboarding time across locations.

Improved Visibility and Control

Centralizing operations improves data transparency and decision-making. Leadership can track KPIs, monitor performance, and implement changes quickly without chasing reports from multiple departments or time zones.

Key Differences Between Shared Services, BPO, and GCC

When scaling globally, choosing the right operational model can directly impact efficiency, control, and innovation. Here’s how Shared Services Centers, Business Process Outsourcing, and Global Capability Centers compare across key dimensions:

Ownership

• BPO: Owned and operated by an external service provider.
• SSC: Fully owned and managed by the company itself.
• GCC: Also owned and operated internally by the parent company, typically for international or offshore operations.

Service Provider

• BPO: Delivered by a third-party vendor that serves multiple clients.
• SSC: Delivered by an internal unit serving various departments within the organization.
• GCC: Delivered by an internal offshore unit, often located in a cost-effective country, supporting strategic and advanced business functions.

Control

• BPO: Limited control once services are handed over to the vendor.
• SSC: High level of control remains with the company.
• GCC: High control is retained, often with tight integration into global teams and processes.

Customization

• BPO: Standardized services offered across multiple clients.
• SSC: Customized to fit the company’s internal processes and policies.
• GCC: Highly customized, often aligned with R&D, product development, or innovation strategies.

Cost Structure

• BPO: Based on contracts, SLAs, or per-transaction pricing.
• SSC: Operates on a cost-sharing basis between departments or business units.
• GCC: Considered a strategic investment, with costs allocated by function or geography, often measured by business outcomes.

Function Focus

• BPO: Transactional or non-core functions (e.g., payroll, data entry, customer service).
• SSC: Support functions across multiple units (e.g., finance, HR, procurement, IT).
• GCC: High-value and strategic functions (e.g., analytics, software development, R&D, innovation labs).

Quick Comparison Table

Common Functions Centralized in Shared Services Centers

So, what exactly gets handled in a Shared Services Center? The answer depends on your company’s structure and growth goals, but most SSCs are designed to take care of high-volume, process-heavy functions that every business unit needs.

Here are some of the most common ones:

Finance and Accounting

SSCs often manage tasks like accounts payable, receivable, general ledger, and financial reporting. By centralizing finance, companies reduce errors, improve audit readiness, and streamline monthly closings across regions.

Human Resources

From onboarding and payroll to benefits administration and employee data management, HR processes are a natural fit for SSCs. It ensures that HR policies stay consistent, no matter where your team is located.

IT Support and Services

Need a help desk that runs 24/7 for global teams? Many SSCs house centralized IT support, infrastructure management, and systems monitoring. It keeps everything connected and reduces downtime across offices.

Procurement and Vendor Management

SSCs can oversee vendor onboarding, purchase order processing, and contract management. Centralizing procurement helps companies negotiate better terms and maintain better control over vendor relationships.

Legal and Compliance

While not every SSC handles legal work, some centralize contract reviews, regulatory reporting, and compliance documentation. It’s especially useful for brands operating in heavily regulated industries or multiple jurisdictions.

How to Set Up a Shared Services Center

Setting up a Shared Services Center might sound complex, but with the right approach, it can be one of the smartest moves you make for global expansion. 

Assess Readiness Across the Organization

Before anything else, take a step back and evaluate your current processes. Are different departments handling the same tasks in different ways? Are you duplicating resources across regions? If the answer is yes, you’re probably ready for a shared services model. Look for gaps in efficiency, opportunities to standardize, and areas where consolidation could actually improve performance.

Define the Scope and Objectives

Not every function needs to be centralized on day one. Start with high-volume, transactional processes like payroll or accounts payable. Once the SSC proves its value, you can gradually expand its role. Be clear on what success looks like, whether that’s cost savings, faster turnaround times, or better compliance.

Choose the Right Location

Location matters, especially if you’re building an offshore or nearshore SSC. Consider access to talent, cost of operations, time zone overlap with headquarters, and local infrastructure. Cities like Pune, Kraków, and Manila have become shared services hotspots for exactly these reasons.

Build the Right Team and Governance Model

Your SSC team should include both process experts and people who understand the broader business goals. Establish clear roles, escalation paths, and performance metrics. Many companies set up an internal “service agreement” so expectations are transparent between the SSC and the business units it supports.

Invest in the Right Technology

A Shared Services Center runs best when it’s backed by strong systems—think process automation tools, cloud-based ERPs, and centralized HR or finance platforms. Technology makes it possible to scale operations without scaling headcount at the same rate.

Challenges to Expect (and How to Overcome Them)

While Shared Services Centers offer clear advantages, setting one up comes with its own set of challenges. Knowing what to expect can help you plan better and avoid delays during implementation.

Internal Resistance to Centralization

Departments may be reluctant to give up control over their processes. To address this, involve key stakeholders early, explain the business value of shared services, and demonstrate how it supports, not replaces, their work.

Difficulty Standardizing Processes

Business units often follow different procedures for the same tasks. Identify overlaps and establish unified workflows that accommodate essential local variations without compromising efficiency.

System Integration Issues

Merging data from multiple tools or platforms can lead to compatibility problems. Select technology that supports integration and ensure your IT team is involved from the start to streamline connections.

Communication Barriers Across Regions

If your SSC serves multiple countries, language and time zone differences can impact service quality. Hire multilingual staff where necessary and set clear communication protocols to maintain responsiveness.

Tracking and Proving Value

Without defined KPIs, it’s difficult to measure performance or gain buy-in. Set up service-level agreements (SLAs), monitor key metrics like turnaround time and cost per transaction, and report results regularly to stakeholders.

Is a Shared Services Center Right for Your Business?

A Shared Services Center isn’t the right solution for every company. But, if you’re managing operations across multiple regions, struggling with inefficiencies, or planning to scale globally, it might be exactly what you need.

Here are a few signs your business is ready:

• You have duplicated processes across departments or countries that could be centralized.
• Teams are using different tools and workflows for the same functions, creating confusion and inefficiency.
• Your finance, HR, or IT teams are overwhelmed with transactional tasks that could be streamlined.
• You need better visibility and control over performance across regions.
• You’re planning global expansion and want a scalable support system in place.

If these points sound familiar, an SSC can help you bring order to the chaos. It’s a way to create structure, reduce operational drag, and set up your business for long-term growth—without building entirely new teams in every location.

For companies ready to go one step further, especially in tech, analytics, or innovation-led roles, setting up a Global Capability Center (GCC) can be the natural next move. While SSCs handle support functions, GCCs take on more strategic, high-value work like R&D, engineering, and product development—offering even more impact as your business matures.

Conclusion

Scaling a business across borders comes with plenty of operational challenges but a Shared Services Center can turn that complexity into clarity. By centralizing routine functions like finance, HR, IT, and procurement, you free up your teams to focus on growth instead of admin.

SSCs give you better control, more consistency, and room to scale without constantly reinventing your internal systems. And as your operations evolve, you can explore deeper models like Global Capability Centers to support innovation, analytics, or product development.

The most successful global brands didn’t wait until things became unmanageable, they built scalable support systems early. A Shared Services Center could be your first big step in that direction.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the main purpose of a Shared Services Center?

A Shared Services Center is designed to centralize support functions, like HR, finance, or IT, into one internal team that serves the entire company. This helps reduce duplication, lower costs, and improve process consistency.

How is an SSC different from outsourcing?

Outsourcing hands operations to an external vendor. An SSC is fully owned and managed by your company, giving you more control, flexibility, and alignment with internal goals.

What functions are usually included in a Shared Services Center?

Common functions include finance and accounting, HR services, IT support, procurement, and sometimes legal or compliance. The scope can grow based on business needs.

How do I know if my company is ready for an SSC?

If you’re seeing process duplication, inconsistent workflows across departments, or struggling to support growth in new markets, it’s a good time to explore an SSC model.

Can an SSC support global operations?

Yes. SSCs are especially useful for global businesses. They ensure standardized service delivery across countries while providing a central point of oversight and control.

When should I consider a GCC instead of an SSC?

SSCs are ideal for support functions. If you’re looking to centralize strategic work, like product engineering, AI, or data analytics, a Global Capability Center (GCC) might be a better fit.