User query
A small business owner wrote to an NBC News column asking whether to hire an accountant full-time or call one in only when needed. The columnist said the right choice depends on what stage the business is in.
Fair answer. Not much use at 9 pm on a Sunday, though, when you're hunting for a receipt, and the bank rec is three weeks late.
So, plainly: Yes, it's possible to expand your finance department without breaking the bank & inflating payroll costs. Instead of hiring more full-time staff, outsource the tedious and repetitive tasks (like bookkeeping, payables, payroll runs & monthly reports) to a pool of remote specialists doing this exact same work for a living. Keep approvals and strategy yourself. Below you'll find what a full-time team really costs, what to pass on, how the rules shift across five countries, and a way to start small.
What a finance department really costs when you hire in-house
Everyone budgets for salary. Most business owners can only fit one more accounting hire per year, so the bills start to add up. In the US, a new accounting hire typically costs you 1.25 to 1.40 times their base salary - taking into account payroll taxes, benefits, holidays, recruiting costs, software & equipment, and of course, the hours you'll spend onboarding and managing them. For example - & I know this might sound harsh - a single full-time bookkeeper will be a $60,000 to $90,000 expense for a small business.
The add-ons change by country:
- USA: payroll taxes, health benefits, software licences
- UK: employer National Insurance, pension contributions, holiday cover
- UAE: visas, licensing, and a gratuity reserve that keeps growing
- Canada: CPP, EI, vacation accrual
- Australia: superannuation (12% since July 2025) and leave loading
Then there's the risk that never shows up in a budget. One person quits in March and the quarter's filings are stuck in their head. Worse is the old small business fraud pattern: one trusted person who takes payments, records them, reconciles the bank and signs checks while nobody reviews the work. It's rarer than the horror stories suggest. It's also entirely avoidable.
Signs your finance department has outgrown the founder
Count how many of these are true this month:
- Month-end close takes more than ten days
- Suppliers chase you more than customers pay you
- You can't quote your cash balance without opening three tabs
- A tax deadline (IRS, HMRC, CRA, ATO, the UAE's Federal Tax Authority) sneaks up on you
- Your only finance person is also your only backup
Three or more? The work has outgrown part-time attention.
Headcount is a decent signal too. One long-running guide for small firms says a typical service business can often outsource bookkeeping and CFO-style tasks until revenue climbs well past $1 million or the team nears 30 people, since before that there usually isn't enough work to keep a full-timer busy every day. Treat it as a rough rule of thumb, nothing more.
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Tell us which tasks you want off your plate. We'll send pre-vetted bookkeeper and accountant profiles within 48 hours.
How finance outsourcing works in practice
The idea of 'finance outsourcing' might sound a bit sterile, but the set-up itself is what matters, whatever you want to call it.. A shared firm splits its attention across dozens of clients. A dedicated remote hire works only for you, joins your stand-ups and uses your software. If I had to pick, I'd pick the second, because someone who knows your chart of accounts by heart catches things a rotating cast never will.
Accounting finance tasks you can hand off
Nearly anything that happens on a schedule can move:
- Bank reconciliation and day-to-day bookkeeping
- Payables and receivables, including the awkward invoice chasing
- Payroll processing
- VAT, GST or sales tax preparation
- Monthly cash flow and management reports
Where firms are landing in 2026 is a hybrid. Software imports and matches transactions, then a person reviews the exceptions, reconciles the accounts, and works out what the numbers mean.
What stays with you
Payment approval and bank access. Keep both. Your partner prepares, you sign. Doing it this way also closes the single-bookkeeper gap from earlier, because every number gets two sets of eyes.
Accounting services across five markets: what changes
The work looks alike everywhere. The paperwork doesn't. Ask any provider what they file every week in your country and notice whether the answer comes fast.
| Market | What your accounting services must cover |
|---|---|
| USA | Federal and state filings, sales tax, 1099s, GAAP-based reporting |
| UK | VAT returns, Making Tax Digital, PAYE and pension submissions |
| UAE | 5% VAT, 9% corporate tax on profits above AED 375,000, WPS payroll |
| Canada | GST/HST, CRA payroll remittances, T4 slips |
| Australia | BAS lodgement, Single Touch Payroll, superannuation payments |
How to scale your finance department in five steps
- Write down everything: Finance-related that you or your team does, with rough hours per month. Boring, I know. But most owners are shocked by the total.
- Split the list: Judgment calls go in one pile (approvals, anything touching the bank, strategy). Repeating jobs go in the other (data entry, reconciliation, payroll runs).
- Hand off the second pile, and begin with a single role. A bookkeeper is the usual first hire.
- Settle on a rhythm: A 20-minute weekly call and one monthly report is plenty for most teams.
- Add people only when volume demands it: An accountant, a payroll specialist or an analyst can join later without another hiring round.
Don't expect it to go perfectly. Sixty days with one specialist on a month-to-month deal will show you more than any planning document.
Finance staffing solutions: where The Remote Staff fits
The Remote Staff builds and runs dedicated offshore teams for companies in the UAE, USA, UK, Canada, and Australia. It's been at it for over a decade. On the finance side, its staffing solutions cover bookkeepers, accountants, payroll specialists, and financial analysts.
They find the person, employ them, and handle payroll, compliance, laptops, and performance reviews. Your hire works for you and nobody else. You get one invoice per person each month, and you never build an HR function.
Take GGS in the UAE. They hired three e-commerce specialists in December just to test the model. Two years on, the team is 23 people, finance support included, and GGS still hasn't hired anyone for HR or admin.
How it compares
| In-house hire | Traditional staffing agency | The Remote Staff | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Time to shortlist | 6 to 10 weeks sourcing and screening | 1 to 3 weeks | 48 hours |
| Payroll and compliance | Yours | Not included | Handled and audited monthly |
| Vetting | Whatever you build | CV screen and a call | Proctored, role-specific assessment |
| Cost model | Salary plus 25 to 40% extras | 15 to 25% of annual salary, one-off | One monthly fee per person |
| If it doesn't work out | You restart | New fee, new search | Free replacement, exit managed |
| Performance follow-up | You | Ends at placement | Monthly one-to-ones and reports |
Why choose The Remote Staff
- Speed. Pre-vetted profiles land within 48 hours, and most hires are working within one to two weeks, which beats two months of job ads and interviews by a wide margin.
- Price. Rates start at AED 1,799, $1,499, £799, CA$1,899, or A$2,499 a month depending on where you are. The company says clients save up to 70% compared with the fully loaded cost of a local hire. Your real number depends on role and seniority, so get a quote.
- Low risk. Interviews are free, there's no setup fee, and you pay nothing until you say yes. Cancel monthly if it isn't working. A free replacement applies during the first 30 days.
- Follow-through. An account manager stays on your account and sends monthly performance and compliance reports.
- Timezone. People work to your hours, which sounds minor until you've waited a day for an answer.
Frequently asked questions
Trained people, faster and cheaper, with no HR or payroll system to set up. You also get cover when someone's ill or leaves, and a second pair of eyes on your numbers.
Yes, outsourcing certain finance tasks can be cheaper and more efficient for businesses. Companies don't have to pay for expenses related to hiring full-time employees such as recruitment costs, office space, equipment, and employees' benefits. Outsourced finance personnel can help businesses manage their accounts and perform different routine tasks. Business owners can then spend more time on growing their business and still retain the power to make important financial decisions for the business.
They can handle it. You'd likely only hire additional staff during a formal hiring process. In the interim, you would just work longer hours or add a second staff member. Reports continue to be processed on schedule.
Pass on repetitive tasks first, and then add one role at a time. Make sure to connect each new role to actual demand. Charging per person each month is better than having fixed monthly overhead that you may not need next quarter.
Depends on scope. Full-time offshore and nearshore accounting staff from big outsourcing hubs generally cost about $1,400 to $6,000 a month, compared with the loaded in-house figures above. Remote Staff cites savings of up to 70% compared to local hiring. Send us your requirements to get a quote.
For smaller and mid-sized firms, yes. There are cost and practical advantages to flexibility. An in-house team is required when the work keeps two or more full-time finance employees occupied all year or if the firm operates in several tax jurisdictions and requires advisory-level judgment on the team.
Conclusion
Growing a finance department shouldn't mean growing payroll at the same rate. Write down the repeating work, give it to dedicated specialists, and hold on to sign-off. You'll close faster, see cleaner numbers, and have a team that expands when the business does.
Looking to build a finance team that supports your business growth while keeping costs under control? Talk to Our Staffing Experts to explore the right staffing solutions for your needs. We’ll help you find skilled remote finance professionals who can streamline accounting tasks, improve efficiency, and give you more time to focus on growing your business.
Scale your finance team the smart way
Dedicated bookkeepers and accountants who work your hours — we handle hiring, payroll, equipment and HR.
