In recent years, more and more accounting firms have turned to global outsourcing in order to:
- Solve skill shortages at home
- Promote internal staff members to higher-value and higher-paid work
- Deliver process-driven work faster and more efficiently
- Increase margins on commoditized work
- Provide more value to clients
Now that strategic outsourcing is a confirmed accounting industry trend, many firms are interested in comparing the strengths and weaknesses of the major outsourcing destinations.
This country comparison will help:
Countries Compared In Our Analysis
Although accounting outsourcing is available in many countries, in this article we’ll compare the top 7 outsourcing destinations for accounting work:
- Philippines
- India
- Vietnam
- Sri Lanka
- China
- Brazil
- Mexico
Accounting Outsourcing Destination Comparison Table
| Country | Philippines | India | Vietnam | Sri Lanka | China | Brazil | Mexico |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cost | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 |
| English (Written) | 8 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 |
| English (Spoken) | 9 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 |
| Workforce Availability | 9 | 10 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 8 | 8 |
| Timezone Convenience (USA) | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 10 | 10 |
| Timezone Convenience (ANZ) | 10 | 6 | 7 | 6 | 7 | 6 | 6 |
| OVERALL | 54 / 60 | 47 / 60 | 46 / 60 | 44 / 60 | 46 / 60 | 46 / 60 | 46 / 60 |
NOTES:
- Cost: all of the destination countries offer much lower compensation costs than onshore. For this reason we’ve given all destinations a 10 out of 10.
- English – Written and Spoken: English proficiency scores are based on the EF English Proficiency Index.
- Workforce Availability refers to the number of CPA-level accountants available per country.
- Timezone convenience: a match with standard business hours scores a 10. Day/night offset scores an 8 (meaning work can be completed overnight). And a partial offset scores a 6 or 7).
Overall Country Ranking
According to our analysis, the best country for accounting outsourcing is the Philippines, with a score of 54 out of a possible 60.
Although each of the target countries has a significant accounting outsourcing industry, the real “tie breaker” lies in the language proficiency of the Filipino workforce.
As a former territory of the United States, English is one of two official languages of the Philippines. It is also the language of the media and the vast majority of educated Filipinos. The accent tends to be easy to understand, with a slight American English twang.
For this reason, the Philippines is growing as a centre for accounting outsourcing.
Other Outsourcing Firm Selection Factors
Apart from location, there are several other factors that we suggest accounting firms take into account when choosing an outsourcing provider to work with. These include:
- Degree of specialization in accounting
- Familiarity with accounting and tax in your country/jurisdiction
- How long they’ve been in business
- The size of their client base and their support team
- The level of support – both in terms of internal support team members offshore, and onshore account management resources
To see how TOA Global measures up in these areas, please refer to our outsourced accounting services page.
If you’d like to learn more, click here to get a Free Accounting Outsourcing Strategy And Plan for your firm. This is a detailed blueprint for rapidly scaling your capacity, margins and profits for free – a $500 value.
