Published: January 2026
Australian businesses are increasingly looking offshore for finance support. The cost savings are compelling, typically 60% to 70% compared to local hires. And with the right approach, quality does not have to suffer.
But offshore hiring is not as simple as finding someone cheap and handing over your books. Many businesses get it wrong, ending up with more problems than savings.
This guide covers what actually works: which roles suit offshore, how to structure teams, and the common mistakes to avoid.
The economic case is straightforward. A qualified bookkeeper or junior accountant in Australia costs $65,000 to $90,000 fully loaded. The equivalent role in the Philippines or India might cost $15,000 to $25,000 AUD including all fees.
That is not a small difference. For a business spending $150,000 on finance staff, offshore alternatives could reduce that to $50,000 to $60,000 while maintaining or improving capacity.
Beyond cost, offshore hiring offers:
The Philippines and India dominate Australian offshore hiring for finance roles, each with distinct strengths.
Not all finance work suits offshore delivery. The key factors are:
Based on these criteria, the following roles typically work well offshore:
1. Accounts payable. Processing invoices, matching to purchase orders, preparing payment runs. This is high-volume, process-driven work that suits offshore delivery.
2. Accounts receivable. Raising invoices, applying receipts, debtor follow-up (though follow-up calls may need local handling depending on your client base).
3. Bank reconciliations. Matching transactions, investigating discrepancies, maintaining reconciliation schedules.
4. Data entry and coding. Processing transactions in accounting systems, coding expenses to correct accounts.
5. Payroll processing support. Processing timesheets, calculating leave, preparing payroll journals. Note that final review and lodgement typically stays onshore.
6. Month-end processing. Preparing accruals, prepayments, and standard journals following established procedures.
7. Financial reporting preparation. Building reports from templates, pulling data, and formatting. Analysis and interpretation typically stays onshore.
8. Audit support. Preparing schedules, pulling documentation, and responding to straightforward auditor requests.
Some finance work does not suit offshore delivery:
1. Client-facing roles. If the role requires regular interaction with Australian clients, local presence usually works better. Cultural nuances and relationship building matter.
2. Complex Australian tax work. While offshore staff can assist with preparation, tax strategy and complex compliance needs local expertise and professional registration.
3. Strategic decision-making. CFO-level thinking requires deep business understanding and should typically stay close to leadership.
4. High-judgment work. Roles requiring significant interpretation, judgment, and exception handling are harder to deliver consistently offshore.
5. Real-time communication roles. If the role needs to be available during Australian business hours for constant communication, time zones become a constraint.
The most successful offshore arrangements use a hybrid structure: senior oversight onshore combined with junior execution offshore.
A typical structure might include:
- Onshore: Finance manager or controller who sets direction, reviews work, handles exceptions, and manages stakeholder relationships.
- Offshore: Two to three team members handling transaction processing, reconciliations, and report preparation.
This structure works because:
The ratio depends on your business. A common starting point is one onshore senior for every two to four offshore juniors, though this varies based on complexity.
The headline savings of 60% to 70% on labour costs are real, but the full picture is more nuanced.
- Direct salary savings. Significant. A role costing $80,000 locally might cost $20,000 to $25,000 offshore including all fees.
- Management overhead. Offshore staff require more oversight than equivalent local hires. Factor in time for training, review, and communication.
- Technology costs. You may need additional software licenses, communication tools, and potentially enhanced security measures.
- Provider fees. If using an agency or Employer of Record, their margin adds 20% to 40% on top of salary costs.
- Quality costs. If work requires significant rework, the savings erode. This is why getting the setup right matters.
Net savings after all factors typically land at 40% to 60% rather than the headline 60% to 70%. Still substantial, but plan accordingly.
Both countries are popular choices for Australian businesses, with different strengths.
Philippines strengths:
Philippines considerations:
India strengths:
India considerations:
For client-facing or communication-heavy roles, the Philippines generally works better. For technical accounting, analysis, or tax preparation work, India often has the edge.
Quality assurance is the difference between offshore success and failure. Key practices include:
- Clear documentation. Write down your processes. Offshore staff cannot read your mind, and verbal instructions get lost. Process documentation pays for itself many times over.
- Checklists. For recurring tasks, create checklists that ensure nothing is missed. Review the checklist, not just the output.
- Review layers. Every piece of work should be reviewed before it is final. This is not optional. The onshore senior reviews offshore output before anything goes to clients or stakeholders.
- Sample checking. For high-volume work, you cannot review everything. Develop a sampling approach to catch errors without creating bottlenecks.
- Error tracking. Track mistakes by type and person. Patterns reveal training gaps or process problems that need fixing.
- Regular feedback. Provide prompt, specific feedback on both good work and errors. Cultural norms vary, but everyone benefits from knowing how they are doing.
- Escalation protocols. Be clear about what gets escalated versus what gets handled independently. When in doubt, escalate should be the default.
Managing across time zones requires deliberate practices:
- Overlapping hours. Identify when you have concurrent working hours and use that time for real-time communication. Even two to three hours of overlap is workable.
- Asynchronous communication. Learn to work asynchronously. Detailed written instructions, Loom videos, and documented processes reduce dependence on real-time discussion.
- Daily handoffs. Establish a rhythm where each team hands off to the other at the end of their day. What was done, what needs attention, what is blocked.
- Regular video calls. Weekly or fortnightly video calls maintain relationship and provide opportunity for discussion that does not fit written communication.
- Communication tools. Slack or Teams for messaging, Loom for video instructions, shared drives for documents. Invest in good tools and use them consistently.
1. Hiring too junior. The biggest cost savings come from junior roles, but junior staff need more supervision. If you hire very junior offshore without adequate oversight, quality suffers.
2. Underestimating management time. Offshore staff need training, review, and feedback. If your onshore team is already at capacity, adding offshore staff may not reduce workload.
3. No clear processes. If you cannot document how work should be done, offshore staff will struggle. Fix your processes before you offshore them.
4. Expecting identical output. Offshore staff will not do things exactly the way you would. Focus on outcomes rather than methods, and accept some variation.
5. Insufficient communication. Out of sight, out of mind does not work. Maintain regular contact and treat offshore staff as part of the team.
6. Ignoring cultural differences. Work styles, communication norms, and expectations vary. Learn about the culture you are working with and adapt your management approach.
Direct labour cost savings are typically 60-70%. After accounting for management overhead, technology, and provider fees, net savings usually land at 40-60%. Still significant, but plan for the true cost rather than headline savings.
Start with high-volume, process-driven work: accounts payable, bank reconciliations, and data entry. These roles have clear procedures, measurable output, and low judgment requirements. Once you have processes working, consider expanding scope.
Both approaches work. Direct hiring is cheaper but requires you to handle recruitment, contracts, payments, and HR matters in a foreign jurisdiction. Agencies add cost (typically 20-40% margin) but handle administration and provide a talent pool.
Implement clear processes, review layers, and error tracking. Every piece of work should be reviewed before it is final. Track errors to identify patterns. Provide regular feedback. Quality is a system, not an assumption.
The Philippines has minimal time zone difference (2-3 hours from eastern Australia), making real-time collaboration easy. India is 4.5-5.5 hours behind AEST, requiring more asynchronous work. Both can work with the right communication practices.
Expect two to three months to reach full productivity. The first month focuses on training and setup. The second month involves supervised work with heavy review. By month three, staff should be working more independently with normal oversight.
If you are considering offshore finance support, we are happy to discuss how our model might work for your business. Contact us at hello@scalesuite.com.au or visit scalesuite.com.au.
This article provides general information about offshore hiring for Australian businesses. Individual circumstances vary, and you should consider your specific needs when evaluating options.
Scale Suite delivers embedded finance and human resource services for ambitious Australian businesses.Our Sydney-based team integrates with your daily operations through a shared platform, working like part of your internal staff but with senior-level expertise. From complete bookkeeping to strategic CFO insights, we deliver better outcomes than a single hire - without the recruitment risk, training time, or full-time salary commitment.
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