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Outsource Accounting and Bookkeeping Virtual Assistants: Why, How, When, and What?

Updated on : 28 Oct 2024

Discover everything you need to know about how to hire bookkeeping virtual assistants and outsource Accountants in the Philippines.

Before getting into the nuts and bolts, this article will benefit you if you're one of the following:

1. Business Owner

Every business owner and entrepreneur has to deal with bills, invoices, receivables, bank statements, and a lot of other time-consuming things.

Most of you as business owners would admit that doing your bookkeeping is a very tiresome and time-consuming task.

That's why you hire an employee, specifically an accountant, to handle your company's bookkeeping. But most often, hiring a local bookkeeper can be costly. It can cost you a small fortune to say "good morning" to your accountant. That is the reason many companies hire accounting virtual assistants.

2. Accounting/Bookkeeping firm

Accountancy firms are familiar with a balance sheet, and even more so, they're aware of the impact of costs on a business's net income.

That's why it makes perfect financial sense to outsource to the Philippines and hire virtual accountants and virtual bookkeepers at 70%-80% less than a regular local employee.

Virtual Accountants and Virtual CPAs are just like any ordinary accountant, assistant, or bookkeeper (depending on the role you're hiring them for). 

But you might be wondering what specific bookkeeping tasks you can safely outsource to bookkeeping virtual assistants.

There are endless tasks, but these are among the most common tasks you can delegate when you outsource accountants in the Philippines:

  • Ensuring bills are paid on time. You have to admit that sometimes, it's hard to keep up with the deadline and due dates, especially with important bills such as electricity and internet services. Let your bookkeeping virtual assistant do this for you to avoid delays in paying your bills.
  • Managing bank and credit card statements. Letting your virtual assistant take responsibility for your books will also mean you allow them access to your bank and credit card statements. This will help you keep track of your company's expenses.
  • Preparing invoices and general ledgers. Virtual assistants, especially those with an accounting background, can thrive in this task. This can be very technical which needs a keen sense of focus and analysis.
  • Preparation and mailing of invoices to clients and customers. Keeping track of outgoing invoices and even mailing them can be quite a lot of work to do. Let your virtual assistant do this to keep you more focused on business development instead.
  • Mailing payment reminders and following up with customers. In relation to preparing and sending invoices, your virtual assistant can also be tasked to email payment reminders and even follow up through the phone. This will ensure that clients' services or products will be paid appropriately.
  • Maintenance of financial data. With all these accounts, statements, and invoices, you also need an application or database to store all these financial data. Since you have already trusted your virtual assistant with maintaining your accounts, maintaining financial data in your chosen application or database will also be easy to accomplish.

When to Outsource Accounting and Bookkeeping Tasks

If you're a small business owner, you're likely juggling multiple tasks on a daily basis. Accounting and bookkeeping tasks may not be your forte, but they're crucial for the success of your business. That's where the need to outsource accountants in the Philippines arises. But when is the right time to outsource accounting and bookkeeping tasks? Here are some situations to consider:

1. Your business is growing rapidly

As your business grows, so do your accounting and bookkeeping needs. More clients, more transactions, and more employees mean more data to process and more financial records to maintain. If you're finding it hard to keep up with the workload, it is better to outsource accountants in the Philippines to help you focus on other aspects of your business that require your attention.

2. Your in-house team is overloaded

If your in-house accounting and bookkeeping team is struggling to keep up with the workload, outsourcing some of the tasks can help ease their burden and prevent burnout. Outsourcing can also provide your in-house team with access to additional expertise and resources that they may not have in-house.

3. You lack expertise in accounting and bookkeeping

Accounting and bookkeeping can be complex, and if you lack the expertise, it can be easy to make mistakes that can have serious consequences for your business. When you consider to outsource accountants in the Philippines who have the knowledge and experience, it can help you avoid costly errors and ensure that your financial records are accurate and up-to-date.

4. You need to reduce costs

Outsourcing accounting and bookkeeping tasks can be a cost-effective solution for businesses of all sizes. When you outsource accountants to the Philippines, you only pay for the services that you need, and you don't have to worry about the additional costs of hiring and training in-house staff.

What Does It Cost to Outsource Accounting and Bookkeeping?

I'm going to split this into the different types of accountancy/bookkeeping staff you could hire by outsourcing to the Philippines. I'll give you the salary range and skill level you can expect.

The salary ranges suggested below are based on the thousands of jobs and jobseekers' profiles listed on VirtualStaff.ph.

Bookkeeper/Bookkeeping Virtual Assistant

For a full-time bookkeeper in the Philippines, you are looking at a salary range between $400 and $800 per month. Many of them will have a degree in accountancy or a finance-related qualification.

You can find bookkeepers on the virtual staff platform and negotiate directly with the applicant on what monthly salary you both agree on.

Accountant (CPA)

If you are looking to outsource accountants from the Philippines, it's probably best to hire a qualified CPA, even if their experience is mainly within the Philippines' local tax setting.

You can hire fantastic accountants and have them do stuff like payroll, balance sheets, and other such tasks for your firm's clients.

How much salary you pay your outsourced accountants depends on their skill level. You can choose from thousands of CPAs and hire accountants in the Philippines on our outsourcing platform.

Fresh Graduate

The salary range would be between $360 and $500 per month.

Intermediate Level

For intermediate level, with 3-5 years of work experience, I'd suggest paying the accountant within the $500 to $1000 range.

Experienced Accountant

You're looking for someone with 5+ years of experience as this type of accountant. They will have passed the board exam, and they'll have the CPA letters after their name. I'd suggest you pay this accountant $1000+ per month.

How to hire outsourced accountants and virtual assistant bookkeepers in the Philippines?

Virtual Staff: The Philippines outsourcing platform

With thousands of remote staff and virtual assistants registered on our platform, you can directly choose from the best candidates, whether that's part-time or full-time.

You are not limited to only outsourcing accountants and bookkeepers. You can employ other staff in various positions, such as customer service, virtual assistant, graphic design, and many more.

Who is this best suited for?

Hiring directly on the Virtual Staff outsourcing platform is the best option if you want the fastest and most cost-effective way to hire accountants, bookkeepers, and virtual assistants in the Philippines.

Virtual Staff: The enterprise solution

Suppose you'd like the help of a professional outsourcing provider with years of experience in delivering the best-outsourced staff in the Philippines. In that case, our enterprise outsourcing solution will be a great option.

The enterprise solution is more expensive than directly hiring staff on our platform.

However, you will be getting your own client success manager, HR, and talent acquisition support, as well as legal protections.

You will still save as much as 70-75% on salary costs compared to hiring the equivalent skilled employees locally in the USA, Australia, etc.

Who is this best suited?

Suppose you want to build a long-term outsourced team in the Philippines professionally. In that case, you want to leverage the expertise and support that comes with having the backing of the country's largest outsourcing provider.

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Michael Brodie
Helping make outsourcing to the Philippines easy for everyone. Michael is the Founder of VirtualStaff.ph - "The Philippines Outsourcing Marketplace".

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