Guidance on Utilising This Hire vs Outsource Decision Wizard

Purpose:
Designed for Australian small and medium enterprises (SMEs), founders, and business owners, this interactive wizard guides you through structured decision-making to determine whether to hire in-house or outsource critical business functions. Answer four simple questions about your needs and receive personalised cost comparison, timeline analysis, and recommendations with specific action steps. Ideal for businesses facing growth decisions or evaluating hiring budgets.

Tips for Ongoing Use:
Bookmark this page (Ctrl+D or Cmd+D) and use it whenever identifying a new business need before rushing to hire. The wizard helps you think systematically about function type, business size, urgency, and true costs. Revisit quarterly during strategic planning to evaluate whether current arrangements still make sense as your business evolves.

Understanding Hire vs Outsource Decision:
This is one of the most consequential decisions for growing SMEs. Getting it right accelerates growth and controls costs; getting it wrong leads to expensive recruitment mistakes, capability gaps, or overpaying for under-utilised services. The decision isn't binary. Many successful businesses use a hybrid approach: core functions in-house and specialised or part-time needs outsourced. The key is matching the engagement model to your actual needs, not aspirational or industry-standard structures.

Key Components:‍
‍Step 1: Function Selection: Identify which business function you need support with: bookkeeping (transaction processing, reconciliation, invoicing), CFO/finance (strategic planning, forecasting, board reporting), HR/recruitment (hiring, onboarding, compliance, employee relations), payroll (salary processing, super, STP, awards), or BAS/tax (lodgement, GST, tax compliance). Each function has different cost structures, skill requirements, and optimal engagement models. For example, bookkeeping is highly commoditised and efficiently outsourced, while senior strategic roles might justify in-house investment once you reach certain scale.

‍Step 2: Business Needs Assessment: Provide key information: employee count (affects complexity), annual revenue (indicates transaction volume), expected salary for in-house hire (establishes cost baseline), hours needed per week (determines if part-time or full-time makes sense), and urgency (how quickly you need someone operating). This data drives the calculator's cost modelling and recommendations. Be realistic about hours needed: most businesses underestimate by 30-50%. If you "think" 10 hours per week, it's probably 15-20 hours in reality.

‍Step 3: Cost Comparison Results: The wizard generates side-by-side comparison of in-house hiring versus professional outsourcing. In-house includes base salary, superannuation (11.5%), payroll tax (if applicable), workers compensation, leave entitlements (annual, sick, public holidays), recruitment costs (amortised over 3 years), onboarding/training costs, equipment/software, and management overhead (your time managing them). Outsourcing shows monthly service fee, one-time setup fee, and explicitly highlights costs you DON'T pay (no super, no leave, no recruitment, no training, no equipment). Both sides include time-to-productivity: in-house typically takes 4-12 weeks to hire then 2-4 months to reach full productivity; outsourcing starts within 1-2 weeks with immediate expert productivity.

‍Step 4: Personalised Recommendation: Based on your inputs and cost comparison, the wizard provides clear recommendation (outsource vs hire in-house) with specific reasoning for your situation. For most SMEs under $10M revenue, outsourcing provides better value, faster implementation, lower risk, and higher expertise. The recommendation includes key benefits, potential annual savings, and next steps. Even when costs are similar, the wizard considers factors like urgency, risk tolerance, and management capacity.

‍True Cost Difference: In-house employees cost 30-40% more than base salary due to on-costs. If you need someone 20 hours per week (half-time), you're either hiring full-time (paying for unused time) or part-time (harder to recruit quality talent). Outsourcing aligns cost with actual usage.

‍Time to Productivity: Hiring takes 4-12 weeks (or longer for senior roles), followed by 2-4 months onboarding (4-7 months total before full productivity). Outsourced providers start within 1-2 weeks at full expert capacity. For urgent needs or seasonal businesses, this timeline difference is decisive.

‍Quality and Expertise: In-house hires at SME salary levels (typically $60K-90K for bookkeepers/administrators) attract junior to mid-level talent. Professional service providers employ senior-level experts but spread cost across multiple clients, giving you $120K-150K equivalent expertise at $50K cost. You also get a team (backup coverage, multiple reviewers) rather than single-person risk.

‍Scalability and Flexibility: Employees are fixed costs. If business slows or needs change, you face difficult decisions about reducing hours or letting people go. Outsourcing scales up or down easily: increase from 10 to 20 hours per week with a phone call, or scale back without awkward conversations or redundancy obligations.

Benefits for SMEs:
This wizard eliminates guesswork from build-vs-buy decisions. It provides objective cost comparison, considers multiple factors systematically, and helps avoid expensive hiring mistakes. Businesses using structured decision-making for workforce planning report 40% better resource allocation and 25% lower support function costs. Function-specific guidance: bookkeeping is almost always more cost-effective to outsource for businesses under $10M revenue. CFO/finance: for businesses under $15-20M, fractional CFO delivers superior value. HR/recruitment: outsourcing works well until hiring 10+ positions annually. Payroll: highly recommended to outsource regardless of size due to severe penalty risk for errors. BAS/tax: should be handled by registered BAS agents.

Additional Resources:
For more information about workforce planning, hiring best practices, and when to outsource vs hire, explore Scale Suite's blog and resource library.

Adherence:‍
This wizard provides estimates based on Australian market averages for SMEs. Actual costs and optimal decisions vary by industry, location, and specific business circumstances. The recommendations are guidance only, not professional advice. Consider your unique situation, culture, and long-term strategy when making final decisions.