How to Hire an Offshore Accountant Without Compromising Quality

The quality of offshore accountants you’re looking for determines the amount of effort you’ll put into the hiring process.

Offshore destinations, like India, the Philippines, and Eastern Europe, are brimming with accounting talent, so it’s easy to bring on candidates who are not familiar with your industry, tech stack, and accounting requirements, even though they understand accounting in general.

A structured hiring process enables you to identify offshore accountants who have the necessary certifications, technical expertise, and software experience to replicate your work quality, maintain consistent client experience, and stay accountable to your system across borders.

In this article, we’ll show you how to hire offshore accounting talent that suits your budget, skill, and workflow culture.

Introduction: Why More Businesses Are Choosing to Hire Offshore Accountants

Accounting services relied on local accounting talent for the longest time until advancements in technology, such as AI, data storage, and collaboration tools, have changed how accounting teams get work done.

The rise of global talent and remote finance teams

Advancements in cloud technology have enabled accounting teams to deliver financial management services from anywhere in the world, encouraging accountants to enhance their skills in international accounting jurisdictions.

With tools like QuickBooks Online, NetSuite, Financial Cents, TaxDome, Liscio, and SmartVault, accounting firms in the U.S, U.K., and other Western countries can now employ and collaborate seamlessly with team members in other parts of the world, like having two sets of people working across different cities in the same country.

Understanding this shift, offshore accounting firms like Finamart Accounting have created systems to ensure ongoing training for their specialists.

The result? A large pool of offshore accounting professionals who are well-versed in international accounting standards and are capable of working across time zones, helping accounting firms and global businesses augment their capacity and maintain faster turnaround times without compromising quality.

Moving from traditional hiring to offshore models

While the population of accountants in places like India is teeming, many accounting and CPA firms are struggling to find qualified accounting talent locally. When they do, they are too expensive for their budgets.

“I didn’t want to hire offshore. But I found myself in a very unique position where I was having a hard time finding the right fit for the right price.

I needed to fill two vacant positions, and I could not find accounting talent with the right skills that were not priced outside our budget.”

Rebecca Santiago, Owner, Advance Professional Accounting Service

That is why more firm owners are changing their hiring strategy to include, and sometimes focus exclusively, on offshore accounting talents. After all, they offer huge financial benefits at the same level of skill and expertise.

As businesses embrace these cost and accessibility advantages, they are quickly realizing that it’s much more than that. They are finding that offshoring increases their operational agility and flexibility to respond to seasonal peaks in client demands.

What Does It Mean to Hire an Offshore Accountant?

How well you scale your operations without sacrificing quality depends on the model you use.

Difference between freelance, offshore team members, and full-service outsourcing

Both terms are models of engaging third-party accountants to deliver client services.

• Freelance Accountants:

These are independent accounting professionals hired from online marketplaces on an hourly or project-by-project basis.

They usually manage their own tools and schedules, which can make this model less reliable in terms of corporate structure and accountability.

Getting quality freelancers depends solely on your ability and availability to vet their expertise and background information.

Freelance accountants require close supervision to ensure the security of financial data, timely service delivery, and responsive communication.

• Offshore Employees (or Offshore Team Members)

Offshore accountants are hired from another country to work as dedicated members of a team.

They are integrated into your firm’s workflows through project and communication management tools and report directly to your managers, just like your in-house staff.

This model offers stability, data control, and long-term value, making it the preferred approach for accounting firms building scalable teams.

• Full-Service Outsourcing

This model is more hands-free. It allows firms in the U.S., U.K., Australia, etc., to delegate entire accounting functions to finance and accounting outsourcing firms in countries like India and the Philippines.

The outsourced services firm will handle your entire accounting processes and provide regular reports to you on agreed dates, helping you expand your operations without increasing your in-house teams.

The outsourcing partner handles staffing, quality control, and delivery, with minimal involvement from your internal team.

Roles and responsibilities commonly handled offshore

Offshore accountants can take on most accounting tasks that can be performed remotely, including:

• Bookkeeping: Recording daily financial transactions, reconciling bank and credit card accounts, and maintaining general ledgers using tools like QuickBooks, Xero, or Zoho Books to ensure real-time, error-free data entry.
• Financial reporting: Generating financial statements, such as balance sheets, income statements, and cash flow reports, that provide insights to support decision-making.
• Payroll processing: Calculating payrolls, handling deductions, and maintaining employee records according to relevant regulations.
• Financial close support: Their knowledge of technical accounting tasks enables them to prepare adjusting entries, review trial balances, and generate management reports.
• Tax preparation and compliance: Preparing individual and corporate tax returns, data entry, and workpaper preparation in compliance with international tax regulations (such as IRS).

These tax projects are usually subject to review by your senior staff.

Key Benefits of Hiring Offshore Accounting Talent

The benefits of offshore hiring cut across every aspect of your operations.

This includes:

Cost savings vs. in-house hiring

The most immediate benefit of offshore hiring is the significant reduction in labor and overhead costs.

In India, offshore accountants charge as low as $15 per hour, which amounts to a fraction of the salary of accountants of the same skill level in the U.S., U.K., and Canada. That’s not all.

In-house hiring also requires expenses on recruitment fees, employee benefits, office space, etc.

Access to certified, pre-trained professionals

Offshore accounting removes the geographical barrier to hiring. Since accounting work can now be done from any part of the world, the staff can also be hired from any part of the world.

This gives accounting firms the opportunity to hire the most skilled and experienced accountants who would ordinarily not be available to them.

Accountants in India, for example, are trained in one of the most rigorous compliance systems in the world. They are also employed by offshoring firms that ensure they are certified in international financial reporting standards (IFRS, GAAP, etc.).

This gives them the expertise and experience needed to serve businesses in the Western markets.

Scalability without overhead

Access to qualified accountants who don’t require employee benefits gives firms the confidence to add more clients and scale their operations confidently.

It also makes you ready for the tax season, knowing that a surge in your team’s workload can be managed by adding more accountants from your offshore partner to maintain work quality and team balance.

The fact that Offshore accounting firms do not require long-term contracts gives you the freedom to use their services only when you need them. This flexibility saves you the cost of paying fixed salaries and compensation long after your capacity needs are no more.

24/7 availability and time zone difference

Having an offshore team enables 24-hour service delivery, which improves turnaround times.

Your Indian team will be around 9-12 hours ahead of your U.S., U.K., and Canadian time zones.

This means that the tasks you assign at the end of your business day get completed and ready for review by the following morning, rather than the day after.

What to Look for in an Offshore Accountant

Beyond technical accounting expertise, cultural integration is critical to enjoying the benefits of an offshore accountant.

Here’s how to ensure your offshore team has the right combination of strong technical expertise with adaptability, communication skills, and a commitment to confidentiality.

• Technical qualifications and accounting knowledge

The accounting industry obviously requires a specific set of skills without which service delivery is compromised.

Your offshore accounting team should hold a bachelor’s or master’s degree in accounting or finance. They should also hold professional certifications like CPA, CA, ACCA, or CMA, which enable them to understand international accounting standards (IFRS, GAAP) and familiarize themselves with your specific compliance requirements.

They should also demonstrate practical knowledge of the types of services your firm provides, be it bookkeeping, payroll, or U.S. tax return preparation, etc., and these can be tested through work simulations.

• Familiarity with your tools and accounting software

Overhauling your tech stack just to accommodate your offshore team’s lack of experience is not an option.

The top offshore accountants are proficient in the latest accounting technology. Yours should be able to work in the tools you use for project management and collaboration.

The Finsmart Accounting team, for example, is trained on all the tools accounting firms use for work, including QuickBooks Online, NetSuite, Xero, Sage, Financial Cents, TaxDome, Gusto, Dext, SAP, etc.

“The Finsmart team can work with any software you have. QuickBooks Desktop, QuickBooks Online, Xero, Bill.com, you name it!

Another benefit of Finsmart Accounting is its extensive experience. There is no learning curve, so we don’t have to train anybody. They’re already trained.”

Mariko Hayashi-Hall, Founder and CEO of Chicago-based Brilliant Solutions Group

This proficiency makes them ready to start delivering value immediately after onboarding.

Verify your provider’s tech skills by asking for examples of past work that required your preferred tools.

• Communication, reliability, and data security

Effective communication is the glue that connects accounting expertise to actual client deliverables.

That is why ensuring your offshore team’s proficiency in the English language and availability for meetings and check-ins are non-negotiable.

This ensures clear reporting, timely updates, and smooth interaction with your team.

Conduct video interviews to assess their ability to articulate complex financial concepts or ask for sample reports to evaluate clarity.

A provider’s past clients can speak to their reliability. Ask for references to verify their attitude towards work. You can also check review platforms to see what other businesses like yours are saying about your potential offshore service provider.

Data security is also important since your offshore staff will be handling sensitive client financial information. Maanoj Shah, Finsmart’s Co-founder & Director of Growth, recommends making sure your offshore partners use secure VPN access, data encryption technology, and other measures that comply with data security standards like ISO 27001, SOC 2, and GDPR.

Non-disclosure agreements have also helped prevent offshore partners from disclosing confidential information.

Where to Hire Offshore Accountants: Freelancers vs. Firms

The decision to hire a freelancer or an offshoring firm depends on the control and scalability the firm needs.

Pros and cons of hiring freelancers (Upwork, Fiverr, etc.)

Platforms like Upwork, Fiverr, and Toptal are full of freelance accountants, and that has made it easier than ever to connect and hire offshore accountants directly.

Pros of hiring freelancers:

• Lower initial cost: Many freelancers compete on price. This can be beneficial for firms looking to pay the lowest they can.
• Quick access to talent: Qualified accountants are readily available in marketplaces and can be hired within a day.
• Flexibility: They offer flexible engagements that are tailored to their clients’ specific needs.

Cons of hiring freelancers:

• Inconsistent quality: Skill levels vary widely between freelancers. Performance may fluctuate from one project to another.
• Limited accountability: Freelancers manage multiple clients. They may not align with your firm’s priorities or timeline as much as a dedicated team would.
• Data security risks: Many freelancers don’t have enough security infrastructure to protect sensitive financial data.
• Minimal integration: Freelancers often work independently and may not fully adopt your processes, tools, or communication systems.

Why firms like Finsmart offer more consistency and control

Offshore accounting service providers like Finsmart Accounting provide more structured, professional, and accountable outsourcing services because of the systems they have built over the years.

• Pre-vetted and trained talent: Finsmart Accounting employs accounting graduates and sees to their continued education in international accounting standards, systems, and technology.

• Structured supervision: Finsmart Accounting uses three levels of reviews to ensure its staff produce work that consistently meets client satisfaction and complies with regulatory deadlines.

• Data protection and compliance: Finsmart relies on a strong IT infrastructure that protects your client’s financial data using data encryption, VPN, antivirus, and other security measures that comply with international data security standards (ISO, SOC 2, and GDPR).

• Scalability and stability: You can easily add or replace your assigned accountants. Finsmart will ensure the training of the subsequent professionals when assigned to your firm.

Inside Finsmart’s Offshore Accounting Model

Finsmart Accounting has become a preferred offshore partner for firms looking to scale their operations without sacrificing control, quality, and client experience.

We use an approach designed to give accounting, bookkeeping, and CPA firms long-term access to skilled accountants who operate as full extensions of their internal team.

The “Accounting Seat” approach provides dedicated, embedded talent

Finsmart’s Accounting Seat model provides a full-time offshore team that works in your tools and follows your processes like your in-house team members who are working remotely.

These professionals are dedicated to your firm and do not work for any other firm as long as they are serving your clients.

This enables them to familiarize themselves with your processes, clients, and best practices while eliminating overheads like office rent, employee benefits, etc.

It also gives you real-time control over their tasks and performance.

Pre-Trained Professionals That Integrate into the Tools You Already Use

Finsmart only employs graduates and master’s degree holders in accounting. These professionals are already trained in local and international accounting standards (GAAP, IFRS, etc.), which enables them to serve our clients in the U.S., U.K., and Australia.

Integrating into your team, workflows, and processes is quick and easy because they are already trained in accounting technology, so you wouldn’t have to change your tech stack. They know what it takes to work with QuickBooks, Xero, Sage, NetSuite, Zoho Books, Tally, Sage, Dropbox, SAP, etc.

Fixed Pricing: Dedicated Seat vs. Hourly Models

Finsmart uses a subscription pricing system that is transparent, enabling businesses to manage their budgets predictably.

Users only have to pay a flat monthly fee $2,600, $3,200, etc., depending on the particular seat they chose. There are no hidden costs, so you can add or reduce the number of seats you’re using as your workload fluctuates.

The hourly option is also ideal for one-off, temporary engagements, such as audit support. Its flexibility makes it ideal for variable workloads.

Cost of Hiring an Offshore Accountant

The cost of offshore hiring is generally lower than local hiring, with up to 60% savings.

Using Finsmart Accounting as an example, here’s what it takes to hire an offshore accounting team and the possible return on investment.

What to expect for monthly vs. hourly pricing

The two most common pricing models are:

• Hourly Model:

Hourly prices are between $20 and $30 per hour. Final cost depends on the specific role.

• Dedicated bookkeeper: $25 per hour
• Senior Accountant: $25 per hour
• Reviewer: $30 per hour
• Cleanup specialist: $25 per hour

• Dedicated Monthly Seat Model:

Finsmart Accounting uses a fixed monthly pricing system.

• Dedicated bookkeeper: $2,600 per month
• Senior Accountant: $3,200 per month
• Reviewer: $3,600 per month
• USA Tx Specialist: $3,200 per month

ROI: Savings on hiring, onboarding, and infrastructure

Here are some other costs you won’t have to bear when hiring:

• Recruitment and HR costs: Finamart and the other offshore service providers handle candidate sourcing, background checks, and HR, giving you plug-and-play professionals to meet your capacity needs.
• Onboarding and training: Offshore accountants are typically pre-trained in the accounting tools and standards that businesses in the U.S., U.K., Australia, and other markets use.
• Office space and equipment: Offshore accounting firms like Finsmart cover the cost of physical infrastructure, software licensing, and IT support.
• Employee benefits: All expenses, like health insurance, retirement contributions, and paid leave, are handled by the outsourcing service company.

Once you pay your subscription, your offshore accounting team will be on hand to deliver the same quality of service as an in-house team for less than half the cost of local hiring.

This helps global businesses and accounting teams to reduce the pressure on their internal resources, manage sudden surges in workload, and free up internal resources for growth and strategic tasks.

How to Get Started with Hiring Offshore

Your offshore team won’t rise above the systems you have put in place. Here’s how to prepare the ground for a successful offshoring relationship.

Onboarding process

1. Defining roles and responsibilities

I’m sure you already understand your need for an offshore staff.

The first step to meeting that need is to define the scope of the work, key performance indicators, and feedback mechanisms.

2. Access to the Workflow System

Securely share login information to relevant apps, such as general ledger software, communication tools, document management systems, and any other tool they need to get work done.

3. Process walkthroughs

Standard operating procedures (SOPs) will enable your offshore team to understand your processes and best practices quickly than you can imagine.

Document the process for completing tasks and reviewing projects to enable them to apply their expertise seamlessly.

4. Communication cadence

Establish a communication frequency. It could be daily or weekly. These regular check-ins will help you track progress more effectively.

5. Monitor performance metrics

Have key performance indicators (KPIs) that show what’s working well and what needs adjusting to get the best out of your offshore team.

Data security and compliance guarantees

The top offshore accounting companies must have a strong data security system that protects the confidential financial information they work with.

Business firms seeking offshore services should ask about their practice steps taken to ensure security.

They should look out for

• Secure, access-controlled workstations with restricted USB and file transfer permissions.
• VPN-encrypted connections and multi-factor authentication.
• Confidentiality agreements (NDAs).
• Compliance with global standards like ISO 27001, SOC 2, and GDPR.
• Regular security audits and IT monitoring.

Customizing the seat to your business needs

The Finemart’s Accounting Seat is not a one-size-fits-all. It can be customized to meet your unique business needs.

Some clients only need the bookkeeper seat, others U.S. tax seats, and some others might want a comprehensive record-to-report (R2R) service.

Along these lines, we can adjust our accounting professionals to suit your:

• Work hours: We can work with Indian time zones (which provides U.S., U.K., and Canadian clients with an overnight service) or work with our clients’ business hours to ensure real-time collaboration.
• Skill level: You don’t have to use a more senior or junior accountant than your client needs. We allow you to choose between entry-level, mid-level, or senior accountants depending on the complexity of your needs.
• Scalable Capacity: Finsmart allows you to add and reduce your offshore team size as often as your needs change. This saves you from workflow delays and the payment of a severance package, which makes traditional hiring rigid and expensive.

Get Three Levels of Services with Each Subscription to Finsmart’s Offshore Accounting Services

The sensitivity of financial data, the complexity of accounting processes, and the importance of regulatory compliance mean that the decision for an offshore accounting partner must be made through careful planning.

Offshore hiring is not only about access to accounting talent. It’s about getting the confidence to take on more work and clients, knowing that you have the expertise, flexibility, and ability to deliver consistent service quality across the board.

That is why Finsmart Accounting is committed to making expert and reliable offshore accountants available to finance and accounting teams using a data security infrastructure that keeps cross-border communication and collaboration safe and compliant with relevant security standards.

When you sign up for Accounting Seat, you’re getting a three-layered team.

• A Dedicated Account Manager who handles your accounting tasks as an extension of your team.
• An Engagement Manager who ensures successful onboarding and maximum performance of the dedicated account manager.
• A Senior Accounting Advisor who provides technical oversight and guidance on complex issues around the engagement.

This framework ensures the efficiency, accuracy, and success of all offshoring partnerships with Finsmart. Let’s discuss how we can help you hire an offshore accountant tailored to your business needs. Click here to book a Free Consultation.