As the competition for top accounting talent continues, business leaders must think outside the box — and even out of the country. Here’s why working with offshore accountants can resolve your organisation’s talent gap concerns.
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Who are offshore accountants?
Offshore accountants are accounting professionals from another country who work in a remote or virtual setup. Despite their location, they can deliver most of the services you get from local and/or internal hires. Examples are accounting, bookkeeping, compliance, audit support, preparation of tax returns, and financial reporting, among others.
However, there can be some limitations to their services. For instance, because they work from another country, they may not have sufficient authority to lodge taxes. The same goes for auditors who need to do a lot of on-site work.
In most cases, offshore accountants can be better suited for middle- and back-office roles. They’re a good addition to your core accounting team, especially when your in-house employees are already being stretched too thin. Offshore accountants can handle all the grunt work as your core team focuses on more pressing concerns.
You must also note that offshore accountants can either be someone who’s employed in an outsourcing company or one who offers services as a freelancer. As long as they’re working from a foreign country — especially in low-cost nations with a different time zone — and they’re not your direct legal employees, they can be considered offshore accountants.
Freelance offshore accountants can be ideal if you only need short-term or hourly engagement. It’s also an option if you’re not planning to expand your offshore team.
But if you need long-term accounting support that you can scale when needed, then it’s best to work with a specialised accounting outsourcing company. The following section discusses why it can be the better option.
7 benefits of working with outsourced offshore accountants
It’s normal to feel hesitant about sending accounting work abroad. But with the right offshoring partner, it’ll be easier to increase your department’s ability to handle more work. It can be even more advantageous if you look at the convenience and cost savings it brings.
Let’s look at the reasons why outsourcing offshore accounting services and working with an offshore accountant can be a good move for your company.
1. Address your recruitment concerns
Most outsourcing companies offer end-to-end accounting solutions. This means that once you sign a contract, they’ll take care of everything on your behalf, including sourcing and recruitment.
“I don’t have to think about resourcing and staffing, and that’s part of why I want an outsourcing firm. I don’t want to have to think about staffing. I want you guys to think about staffing,” shares Remco Marcelis, the co-founder and CEO of Standard Ledger.
Marcelis first explored outsourcing in 2015. Back then, he shrugged off the idea of working with freelance bookkeepers since he wants to find “a firm with enough depth” and can be a backup “in case something goes wrong” with his startup.
“I didn’t want to rely on one person, I’ve got a team. Not a single bookkeeper, but a team. So that if I need more, I have more, and so it scales,” Marcelis added.
Read Standard Ledger’s full case study here.
2. Get access to an international talent pool
Choosing to work with offshore accountants means you’ll also get to choose the country where you’d like to outsource from.
Because of this, you’ll no longer be restricted to the available professionals in your area. Instead, you can research which countries have enough qualified accountants at a cost that suits your budget. You can even explore as far as the opposite side of the world.
Related: A Look Through Southeast Asia’s Accounting Outsourcing Industry
Once you’ve decided on a country, you can then shortlist the outsourcing companies that meet your standards. From there, you can send requests for proposals or make discovery calls to inform them of the services you need and the qualifications you’re looking for from an accountant.
3. Reduce operational costs
Reducing operational costs is one of the key benefits of offshore accounting, and it is a compelling reason why many companies are turning to this option.
Outsourcing accounting functions to offshore accounting professionals can result in significant cost savings. It’s because the cost of labor and overheads in countries such as the Philippines can be considerably lower than in developed nations.
By outsourcing tasks like bookkeeping, financial analysis, tax preparation, and payroll services, you can reduce the cost of hiring and training in-house staff. In addition, you can also save money on overhead costs such as office space, equipment and utilities.
4. Boost company productivity
When reliable offshore accountants have your back, the productivity of your day-to-day company operations can improve.
An offshore accounting team can offer your much-needed back-end support. As such, your in-house employees can let go of their routine accounting functions and focus on high-impact activities like advisory services, tax planning, and compliance with tax regulations.
A statement from an executive of a dairy ingredient supplier company backs it up, saying:
“Outsourcing labour intensive practices had allowed our business to scale and grow rapidly in a very cost-effective way and has allowed our [in-house] staff to concentrate on providing a higher level of customer service to our clients which is our competitive edge.”
This increase in productivity not only helps you achieve your goals but also makes it possible for your entire accounting department to grow and develop more in-demand skills.
Read next: Accounting Process Improvement: How to Reduce Inefficiencies
5. Increase scalability and flexibility
Growth comes with heavier responsibilities. To sustain its momentum, your company must also be prepared to handle it lest it might be too much for your employees.
Through outsourcing, along with smart automation, you can scale up your company’s operations without incurring significant costs and become more agile and responsive to changing market conditions.
“We have been able to expand our services and accept more clients. This has also alleviated some of the stress on our U.S. employees. They no longer work the long hours they previously experienced because the offshore team is here to support them,” shares one of D&V Philippines’ clients. The client, a public audit firm from the US, tried outsourcing for the first time during the pandemic due to the demand spikes for their services.
Outsourced offshore accountants can help you accommodate these growing needs as they offer comprehensive services tailored to a company’s distinct requirements. This way, you can have access to the specific tools and services necessary to reach your goals.
Even if they work from the opposite side of the world, time zone difference is rarely a problem. Afterall, it’s normal practice for outsourcing companies to adjust their work schedule.
With this approach, your outsourced team can work simultaneously with your in-house accounting team. If not for the full eight-hour shift, your work schedules can at least overlap so you can still maintain regular communication.
6. Improves accuracy and efficiency
The right offshore accounting company can improve the turnaround time of your financial reports, thus improving your overall accuracy and efficiency.
When given the right guidance, they can assist you in preparing accurate financial records. Such timely reporting is critical for managing your cashflow so you can easily track your company’s financial status and make informed decisions.
7. Make insightful data analysis
From mining accurate customer data to generating reports on financial transactions, offshore accounting services can help your in-house accounting team process insightful data. With real-time access to data and meaningful analytics, you will be able to:
- spot emerging opportunities,
- understand better the needs of your customers,
- make better decisions,
- identify and address inefficiencies, and
- make predictions about future trends and events, which can be useful in preparing a business plan.
Having these capabilities can ultimately improve your company’s overall performance in terms of maximizing revenue and profits, making better decisions, and improving the quality of your customer service.
To sum it all up, working with outsourced offshore accountants can help you with your recruitment efforts, operational capacity, and cost-saving initiatives.
But out of all offshore destinations with strong outsourcing capacity, how do you choose the right one?
Tips for choosing an offshore location
Not all offshore locations are the same, particularly when talking about the quantity and quality of their accounting professionals. Their English proficiency and cultural affinity may also come into play since you need clear communication for the success of your accounting outsourcing engagement.
So how do you choose an offshore location? Consider these tips.
1. Analyse the labor market and competitiveness
Assessing the availability of professional accountants, including their average annual salary (per level), is one of the first few things you must do. Doing so can give you an idea of the possible turnaround time in recruitment efforts, how easy it is to scale, and the potential cost of outsourced services.
2. Consider the country’s communicative competence
Clear communication is necessary for a successful outsourcing engagement. Thus, you should also check how proficient a country is in speaking and understanding your language.
For example, if you’re from an English-speaking nation, you must also choose an offshore location that can speak and understand English well. A good way to do this is to refer to the EF Education First’s English Proficiency Index.
Read Next: 5 Major Benefits of Outsourcing to the Philippines
3. Check their familiarity with your country’s legal and regulatory compliance requirements
It’s also best if the country has high familiarity with your country’s accounting standards. They must also have a good sense of understanding of your compliance requirements like the UK GDRP and Sustainability Reporting Standards.
A way to check this is to see if the country has an active professional accountancy organisation (PAO) that’s recognised by the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC) or has a partnership with your country/region’s PAO.
4. Assess the country’s data security regulations
You must also take the time to check a country’s data security regulations to have an assurance that your sensitive financial data will be protected. Read about their data and privacy laws.
On a micro level, you must also check with the service providers in your chosen country if they have relevant data security certifications.
5. Check the country’s economic condition and ease of doing business
As someone in business, we already know that external factors can affect a company’s operations and stability. That’s why when choosing an outsourcing destination, it’s worth checking if they have good economic condition and sound economic plans and policies.
Aside from the economic condition, you must also look into the country’s ease of doing business. Doing so can help you understand how conducive their regulatory requirements are to starting and maintaining business operations.
Choosing a country with a strong outsourcing industry can lead you to competitive business process outsourcing companies. Before you select an outsourcing destination, keep in mind that offshoring doesn’t simply mean offloading. Rather, it’s a mutually beneficial partnership between two entities — you get to expand your operational capacity at a reasonable cost while the service provider gets to grow its business.
Need a more extensive resource on finance and accounting outsourcing? Read this 2025 guide.
Work with offshore accountants from the Philippines
Looking for a reliable partner that can deliver high-quality back-office accounting tasks? Look no further than D&V Philippines.
We are a business process outsourcing company that specialises in finance and accounting, audit support, analytics, and admin.
With over 1,000+ professional accountants and proactive recruitment marketing efforts, we are confident of matching you with offshore accountants who meet your qualifications. Our IT Department are also in full swing around the clock to keep your data secure and assist all employees in delivering continuous service to clients.
If you’re a CFO who’s looking to expand your department’s capacity through offshore accounting outsourcing, feel free to give us a call. Get a free consultation with our experts today to know more about our services.
You can also get a copy of our latest whitepaper, Outsourcing for CFOs: Premium Finance and Accounting Solutions for Modern Finance Executives.
This article was first published on 29 March 2023 and updated on 20 February 2025 for relevancy and comprehensiveness.
Edited and updated by: Mary Milorrie Campos
