What You Should (and Should Never) Outsource in Accounting?

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If you are a growing business, you might want to try accounting outsourcing. Hiring an external accounting firm or an accountant to do your tedious internal financial tasks seems wise when you need cost savings, efficiency, and access to expertise.

However, a question that pops into the mind of every business owner is whether they should outsource or not outsource in accounting. It isn’t an easy decision to take, and it can be stressful for many founders to research and make a list.

Fret not! We have conducted the research for you and listed the outsourced accounting tasks that should be externally sourced and the ones that should be maintained in-house. This list can act as your checklist for the near future when you are expanding your business in the future.

Why You Should Outsource Accounting?

Outsourcing your accounting can be a smart move when you’re trying to balance cost, efficiency, and accuracy as your business grows. Instead of stretching your internal team or juggling financial tasks yourself, bringing in an external accounting partner can help you streamline operations without losing control.

Here’s why outsourcing makes sense:

• Cost Efficiency: Reduce overhead costs compared to hiring full-time staff.
• Access to Expertise: Work with skilled accountants, tax professionals, and compliance specialists.
• Scalability: Easily adjust support as your business grows or slows down.
• Improved Accuracy: Minimize errors with professional oversight and advanced tools.
• Better Focus: Spend more time on sales, strategy, and operations.
• Technology Advantage: Avoid investing in expensive accounting software.

Outsourcing ultimately gives you breathing room, helping your business stay organized, compliant, and financially healthy without overwhelming your internal team.

Here are 10 Reasons to outsource your accounting services

What You Should Outsource in Accounting Tasks?

Some tasks in accounting are better for outsourcing than others. These cost you less, become streamlined, and are the best tasks for delegating to an external team.

1. Bookkeeping

Bookkeeping involves recording daily financial transactions, tracking expenses, and maintaining accurate ledgers. Outsourcing this task ensures accuracy, consistency, and compliance without the overhead of hiring full-time staff. 

By delegating bookkeeping to an experienced accountant or a team, businesses save time, reduce errors, and lower costs associated with salaries, software, and training, allowing owners to focus on strategic growth rather than routine financial maintenance.

2. Payroll Processing

Processing payroll is a huge task that needs precision. It may include calculating salaries, deductions, taxes, and distributing payments accurately and on time. Outsourcing this task ensures compliance with tax laws, reduces errors, and keeps sensitive employee data secure. 

By delegating payroll to a professional team, businesses save time, avoid costly penalties, and cut overhead costs associated with in-house staff and software, allowing leaders to focus on growth while employees are paid accurately and promptly.

3. Accounts Payable (AP) & Accounts Receivable (AR)

Managing AP and AR means handling payments to vendors and collections from clients accurately and on time. Outsourcing ensures professional oversight, reduces errors, and speeds up cash flow. 

This approach lowers operational costs, improves financial organization, and frees your team to focus on strategic decisions rather than day-to-day transaction management.

4. Tax Preparation & Compliance

Outsourcing tax preparation ensures expert knowledge, minimizes errors, and keeps you compliant with constantly changing tax laws. This reduces the risk of penalties, saves time, and lowers costs associated with in-house tax management. 

It also allows business owners to focus on growth while professionals handle all tax-related responsibilities efficiently. Each task, whether it’s handling tax filings, deductions, or regulatory requirements, is accurately tackled by outsourced accountants.

5. Financial Reporting

Accurate financial reports are the backbone of informed business decisions. Outsourcing your reports is more precise, timely, and compliant with accounting standards. This not only reduces the risk of errors but also provides actionable insights into cash flow, profitability, and growth opportunities. 

By letting your external accounting team handle financial reporting, you as a business save time, cut operational costs, and empower leadership to focus on strategic planning and scaling operations.

6. Software Setup & Automation

Implementing accounting software and automation tools is critical for efficiency and accuracy. Especially for growing businesses that want their workflows to grow alongside them, this is a crucial step. 

Outsourcing processes like these makes sure you get expert configuration, seamless integration, and optimal use of technology. It reduces errors, saves time, and prevents costly disruptions from incorrect setups. By letting professionals handle software setup and automation, businesses streamline financial operations, cut operational overhead, and enable teams to focus on growth and strategic priorities.

7. Audit Support

Handling audits requires organized records, accurate documentation, and timely responses. Most internal teams struggle with these responsibilities as they already handle 5 to 6 accounting tasks simultaneously. 

Outsourcing audit support gives businesses access to experts who prepare financial statements, gather evidence, and communicate with auditors on their behalf. This reduces stress, minimizes the risk of discrepancies, and ensures full compliance. If you choose to externally outsource your audit-related tasks, you can save time, avoid costly errors, and maintain smoother audit processes while keeping internal teams focused on daily operations.

These accounting tasks are ideal for outsourcing because they demand accuracy, consistency, and significant time. However, they are also best for outsourcing because:

• Time-heavy
• Process-driven
• Prone to errors if rushed
• Require professional oversight
• Improve efficiency when delegated

What You Shouldn’t Outsource in Accounting?

These are the tasks that you should refrain from outsourcing if you have a strong internal team.

1. Strategic Financial Decision-Making

It involves evaluating long-term goals, assessing financial risks, planning investments, and guiding the company’s overall financial direction. Outsourcing it is risky because external teams lack the deep, day-to-day understanding of your operations, culture, and priorities. Your internal team is better equipped to align financial choices with business strategy. Not outsourcing strategic tasks can guarantee you:

• Scenario planning & forecast accuracy
• Confidential risk insights
• Cross-department alignment
• Faster decision cycles

If your internal accounting team isn’t strong, consider strengthening it through targeted hiring, training, or outsourcing only the technical tasks, while keeping all strategic decisions firmly in-house.

2. Cash Flow Oversight & Approvals

Managing cash flow requires real-time visibility into incoming revenues, outgoing payments, and the financial obligations that keep a business running smoothly. Outsourcing functions like these can create delays, reduce internal control, and expose sensitive financial activity. 

Your in-house team is better positioned to make quick, informed decisions and enforce approval protocols. If your internal team lacks experience, you can improve this area by using expert outsourced accounting consultants for guidance, without handing over full control.

3. Internal Controls & Fraud Monitoring

These systems safeguard your business by regulating access, detecting irregularities, and maintaining transparency across financial activities. Outsourcing your internal controls and fraud monitoring can weaken oversight and create blind spots, since external teams lack full visibility into your daily operations. Your internal staff is better positioned to enforce control policies and respond quickly to red flags.

If your team isn’t fully equipped, you can strengthen this area by implementing stronger approval workflows, conducting periodic third-party audits, or training staff in risk management, without giving up direct control.

4. Core Financial Policy Making

This involves setting the rules that govern spending, approvals, financial accountability, risk tolerance, and long-term operational standards. Outsourcing these policies can misalign your financial structure with your company’s culture, goals, and internal workflow. Your in-house leaders understand operational realities and stakeholder expectations better than any external team.

Also, outsourcing this task can be risky as it involves compliance that can land you in heavy fines if they are not followed properly. Always hire a specialist or choose to consult with an experienced accountant.

5. Sensitive Information Review

This work involves examining high-risk documents, merger plans, legal disputes, executive decisions, investor communications, and proprietary financial models. These materials often carry:

• Strategic
• Reputational
• Legal consequences

Outsourcing becomes risky not just because of privacy, but because external teams may misinterpret nuance, lack historical context, or overlook subtle red flags.

A stronger solution is implementing tiered access systems, digital audit trails, and strict documentation protocols to ensure precision and accountability.

Conclusion

You now know about all the accounting tasks that you should or shouldn’t outsource. These are decisions which can impact the present and future state of your growing business. Hence, if you have not been taking this list seriously, you should be.

Outsourcing routine, time-consuming, and repetitive tasks is the way to go. This saves your internal team the time and effort of performing the menial tasks and focuses on bigger, important tasks like checking for fraud and missing financial data.

To sum up, you should definitely choose outsourcing accounting teams like Invedus to make your entire financial system efficient. But know that there are some limitations to them, like less involvement in strategizing where you should invest your money, and bringing in an experienced accountant for.

If you would like to start outsourcing your routine financial burden, Invedus is waiting!