How to hire an offshore accountant for your UK practice

Most UK practices that look offshore do so for one reason: there is more work than people. In a 2026 global survey of about 500 accountancy leaders, 73% of firms said they were turning away potential clients because they lacked staff. Hiring offshore will not fix a broken process, but it can add real capacity when it is done carefully. Here is how to do it, step by step.

Step 1: Decide what you will hand over

Start with the work, not the person. List the tasks that take up your team’s time and split them into two groups.

• Preparation work that follows a clear process: bank reconciliations, transaction coding, ledgers, VAT return preparation, payroll processing, year-end accounts preparation, self-assessment preparation.
• Judgement and accountability work that must stay in the UK: final review, sign-off, HMRC submissions, client advice and anything your professional body expects a qualified member of your firm to own.

The first group is what an offshore accountant does. The second group stays with you. If you cannot name at least 25 to 30 hours a week of preparation work, a full-time hire is probably too early.

Step 2: Choose the model

There are two broad ways to get work done offshore.

• Outsourced accounting. You send jobs to a provider and get finished work back. You do not choose or manage the people.
• Offshore staffing. You get your own team member who works only for your firm, in your systems, to your processes. A staffing provider can employ and pay them for you, or you can employ them directly.

If you want control, continuity and someone who learns your clients, staffing is the better fit. If you only want to clear a seasonal pile of work, outsourcing may be enough. We compare the two in detail in Offshore staffing vs outsourced accounting.

Step 3: Write a brief that a recruiter can test against

A vague brief produces a vague shortlist. A useful one covers:

• The level you need: bookkeeper, accountant or senior accountant.
• The software you use: for example Xero, QuickBooks, Sage, FreeAgent, Dext, IRIS, CCH or Taxfiler.
• The client mix: sole traders, partnerships, limited companies, and typical size.
• The tasks from step 1, in order of volume.
• Working hours and who they will report to.

Step 4: Test technical skills, don’t just read CVs

CVs tell you where someone has worked. They do not tell you whether a reconciliation will balance. Ask for evidence:

• A practical test on UK work: bookkeeping entries, a bank reconciliation, a VAT scenario and a task in the software you use.
• The test reviewed by a qualified accountant, with a score you can see.
• A conversation in English about how they would handle a missing document or an unclear instruction.

Then interview the shortlist yourself. You are hiring a colleague, so judge them as you would a UK candidate: do they ask good questions, and do they explain their work clearly?

Step 5: Put access and data protection in place before day one

Giving someone outside the UK access to personal data is a restricted transfer under UK GDPR. If the destination country is not covered by UK adequacy regulations, you need a safeguard such as the International Data Transfer Agreement (IDTA), plus a transfer risk assessment. The ICO’s guide to international transfers explains the rules.

On the practical side:

• Give each person a named user account with only the access the role needs.
• Turn on multi-factor authentication wherever your systems support it.
• Keep work inside your cloud software, with no client data stored on local devices.
• Have an NDA and confidentiality agreement signed before any client work starts.

More detail is in our guide to offshore accountants and UK GDPR.

Step 6: Onboard them like a UK hire

The firms that get the most from offshore staff treat them as part of the team from the first morning.

• Share your process notes, checklists and working-paper templates.
• Start with a small group of straightforward clients and add more each week.
• Agree a daily handover: what was done, what is waiting, what needs a decision.
• Name one person in your firm as their manager and reviewer.

Step 7: Manage the first 90 days closely

Review everything at first. Track simple measures: jobs completed, review points per job and queries raised. Review points should fall as your accountant learns your standards. If they do not, raise it early with the person and with your provider. A sensible provider offers a replacement guarantee for exactly this period, so check how long it lasts and what it covers before you sign.

What it costs

A UK bookkeeper typically costs a firm £35,000–£45,000 a year once salary, employer NIC, pension and recruitment are included. DigiHyre Dedicated starts at £750 a month for a bookkeeper, £1,100 for an accountant and £1,500 for a senior accountant, excluding VAT. See the full pricing for every role.

Common mistakes

• Hiring before you have a process. Offshore staff need written steps to follow.
• Choosing on price alone. The most cost-effective hire is the one whose work needs the fewest corrections.
• Leaving nobody in charge. A dedicated accountant still needs a manager on your side.
• Blurring accountability. Offshore staff prepare. Your qualified staff review, sign off and submit to HMRC.

For your own practice, compare what an offshore bookkeeper does and costs with recruiting an offshore accountant for year-end and VAT work, read the security controls our accountants work under, and use our 90-day onboarding checklist once someone starts.