Finance and accounting

What finance and accounting functions can actually be outsourced?

Corpshore supports accounts payable and receivable, reconciliation and management reporting for Australian and New Zealand finance teams, scoped to a client's own chart of accounts and reporting calendar rather than a generic template. Accounts payable work covers invoice processing, matching and payment scheduling. Accounts receivable covers invoicing, payment application and follow-up on outstanding balances, which overlaps with but is distinct from dedicated collections work for accounts that have moved into arrears. Reconciliation and management reporting round out the core scope, covering the periodic matching of accounts and the preparation of the reports a finance team relies on to close a period accurately and on time.

Because these functions run on a fixed reporting calendar, month-end close, quarterly reviews, annual reconciliation, they lend themselves well to a documented, auditable workflow, similar in structure to broader back office work but with the added rigour a finance function demands.

Does outsourcing finance and accounting work change GST or PAYG withholding treatment?

This is one of the first questions most Australian finance leaders ask, and the general position is reasonably clear, though it depends on the specifics of the arrangement. A GST-registered Australian business buying services from an offshore supplier for business use generally should not be charged GST by that supplier, with standard business-to-business reverse-charge rules applying only in specific circumstances. PAYG withholding generally does not apply to payments made to an offshore outsourcing company for its own staff's work, since those workers are not Australian employees of the Australian business, though the Australian Taxation Office's guidance on this is fact-specific and turns on whether the arrangement is a genuine business-to-business services contract rather than something closer to a disguised labour-hire arrangement.

This is general information, not tax advice, and every business should confirm its own position with its accountant before finalising a contract. Corpshore treats this the same way internally: the point is raised early and transparently as part of scoping an engagement, rather than left for a client to discover during a tax return or an audit.

How much can outsourcing finance and accounting save compared to hiring in Australia?

Prime People's Accountant Salary Guide for 2026 puts Australian bookkeeper pay at around $73,000 a year and industry average accountant pay at around $83,800, before the compulsory superannuation guarantee, which reached 12% of ordinary time earnings from 1 July 2025, is added on top of either figure. That fully loaded number, not the headline salary, is the right basis for comparison against an outsourced quote.

Against that benchmark, reported savings for Australian and New Zealand clients run 60 to 75%, consistent with the range reported across Corpshore's other BPO services, with the exact figure depending on the complexity of the work and the size of the team. Transactional, high-volume work such as invoice processing tends to sit toward the higher end of that range, while work requiring closer familiarity with a specific chart of accounts or reporting standard sits somewhat lower. Transparent pricing and a tailored quote built against actual transaction volume will give a more accurate figure than any single published percentage.

How is financial data kept secure and confidential?

Finance and accounting work involves some of the most sensitive data a business holds, and the same Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) framework that governs any offshore disclosure of personal information applies directly here. Under Australian Privacy Principle 8 and section 16C, an Australian business must take reasonable steps before disclosing personal information to an offshore provider, and remains accountable under section 16C if that provider causes a breach. Access to financial systems is scoped to what a specific role in the engagement actually needs, and reporting is built to give the client's finance leadership the audit visibility it needs to satisfy its own internal controls and external audit requirements. For businesses in regulated financial services, this sits alongside the broader considerations covered on the financial services and fintech industry page.

Who stays accountable for financial reporting and compliance decisions?

Outsourcing the transactional work of finance and accounting never outsources the accountability for the numbers. Accounts payable, receivable and reconciliation work is performed to the client's own policies and chart of accounts, but sign-off on management reports, judgement calls on accounting treatment, and statutory compliance decisions remain with the client's own finance leadership and their accountant or auditor. This mirrors the same principle that runs through every Corpshore BPO service: an outsourced team executes a well-defined process accurately and on time, while the accountable decision stays with the client.

Can finance and accounting be delivered onshore, offshore or blended?

Yes. Some clients keep finance and accounting entirely onshore for reasons of local regulatory familiarity or preference for direct access to the team during Australian business hours, typically at a smaller saving than an offshore or blended model. Others run a blend, with an onshore team handling period-end review and anything requiring direct liaison with the client's own accountant, and an offshore team handling the higher-volume transactional processing behind it. The right split depends on transaction volume, complexity and how much the client's own finance team wants to retain hands-on control of day to day processing versus review.

How do we get started?

A scoped pilot against one function, accounts payable processing for a defined period, for example, is a practical way to see accuracy and turnaround results before expanding into a full finance and accounting programme. A request for a quote built against actual transaction volume, or a discovery call to talk through which functions to start with, are the fastest ways to get a real number rather than an industry estimate.