Each month, your controller closes the books and signs off on the reports your board reviews. When you outsource finance and accounting, your controller keeps final sign-off and hands routine work to an outside team.
An outside team lets you hire accountants beyond your local market, where many employers want the same candidates. Employers will need to fill about 115,300 accountant and auditor openings each year through 2035, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Once the provider starts, your controller gets steady help with routine work and keeps more time for forecasting.
Which Finance Tasks Companies Outsource First
Outsource your routine tasks first, especially work that follows set rules and comes up every week. Accounts payable and accounts receivable usually go first, and bookkeeping comes next. Outsourcing routine processing gives your CFO more time for budgeting, cash reserves, and other financial management strategies that build assets. The handoff covers processing only, so your own staff keeps approval rights, and the provider works under your staff’s direction.
How to Outsource Finance and Accounting and Keep Control
Your control over an outsourced team comes from the setup work you finish before the provider’s first day. The setup begins with a clear picture of every task your finance team handles day to day.
Map Which Tasks Move and Which Stay
Before you outsource finance and accounting, list every recurring finance task, from entering invoices to preparing board reports. On the list, mark high-volume, repeatable tasks for your provider. Keep decisions that need judgment, such as cash planning and final sign-off on the books, with your own team.
Keep System Access and Approvals in Your Hands
Give the provider system access that matches the tasks on your list. Have your IT team create every login and give each outside accountant access only to the systems the job requires.
Access rules work best when entering and approving sit with different people. For example, have one outside accountant enter invoices, and someone on your staff approve each payment. The GAO’s 2025 Green Book revision says management keeps responsibility for controls over any process it assigns to a service organization. Private companies aren’t bound by the Green Book, but the same principle holds when you outsource.
Choose a Team That Reports to Your Controller
Your approval rights carry into daily work when your controller directs the provider’s accountants. Finance and accounting outsourcing providers work in one of two ways, and your choice decides how much daily control you keep. Some providers run your books on their own, while other providers assign accountants who work under your managers.
According to Amalga Group, a team in the second model logs into your accounting systems every morning and reports straight to your controller. Your controller then assigns month-end tasks and checks each deliverable, the same as with any local employee. Teams in Mexico work during U.S. business hours, so your controller can hold daily check-ins and same-day reviews. Before you sign, ask every provider which model it uses.
Put Controls in Writing
Once you choose a model, write your access and approval rules into the contract so both sides can check them later. The contract should state how the provider protects your data and which security standards, such as ISO 27001, the provider follows.
The contract should spell out how long the provider keeps your records. Employment tax records must stay on file for at least four years after the tax comes due or you pay it, whichever is later, per the IRS. Write that minimum into the contract so your provider’s records match what the IRS expects.
Track a Short List of Performance Measures
The contract sets the rules, and a few performance measures show whether the provider follows them. Agree on the measures before the first month-end close so you can judge the provider’s work from the start. Days to close the books and invoice accuracy work well because you can track both every month. Review performance with your provider every quarter, and measure results against the same operational efficiency goals you set for your other departments.
What to Hand Off and What to Keep
When you outsource finance and accounting, the same split applies to every function, with processing at the provider and approvals and policy decisions with your own team.
| Function | Good Fit for the Outside Team | Keep In-House |
| Accounts payable | Entering invoices and matching vendor statements | Approving payments |
| Accounts receivable | Sending bills and following up on late payments | Setting customer credit terms |
| Bookkeeping | Recording daily entries and matching bank statements | Final review of the books |
| Financial reporting | Drafting statements and month-end checklists | Final sign-off for the board |
| Payroll | Running payroll each pay period | Setting pay and raises |
The split stays the same whether you move one function or all five.
Outsource Finance and Accounting One Function at a Time
Finance and accounting outsourcing gives your senior staff more time for planning, while your controller keeps final sign-off on the books. Start with one function from the table, such as accounts payable, and add more functions once the first team meets your targets.
