This worksheet helps you compute the real, all-in cost of an internal accounting team versus an outsourced partner. It includes salary, employer taxes or National Insurance, benefits, software, equipment, office, recruiting, onboarding, management time, and rework. Use it to make a like-for-like comparison for In-House vs Outsourced Accounting: Fully-Loaded Cost Calculator (US & UK).
Step 1: Gather the right inputs
Team and scope
- Roles and headcount: AP/AR, payroll, staff accountant, senior accountant, controller
- Scope by process: AP, AR, payroll, month-end close, management reporting
- Transaction volumes: invoices per month, payroll runs, journals, reconciliations
- Working model: on-site, hybrid, remote
Pay and employer on-costs
- US: Base pay, employer FICA, FUTA/SUTA, state payroll taxes, healthcare, retirement match, paid leave accruals
- UK: Base pay, Employer NI, pension contributions, Apprenticeship Levy (if applicable), paid leave accruals
- Variable pay: bonus, overtime, allowances
Tools and enablement
- Software per user: GL, AP automation, payroll, expenses, OCR, close management
- Security: SSO, device management, backup
- Equipment: laptop and peripherals (annualize over three years)
- Facilities: office seat or WFH stipend
People costs beyond pay
- Recruiting fees or internal recruiter time
- Background checks and right-to-work
- Onboarding and training hours
- Expected tenure and annual attrition rate
Management and quality
- Manager hours per week on reviews, approvals, coaching, and escalations
- Rework rate from errors and follow-ups
- External support hours for audit and tax queries
Outsourcing partner inputs
- Pricing model: per FTE, per transaction, or fixed monthly retainer
- What is included: software, automations, audit support
- Transition cost and timeline
- SLAs: accuracy, cycle time, cutoff adherence
- Governance: weekly standup, monthly KPI review
Step 2: Use the cost formulas
A) In-house annual cost per role
Cash Compensation
= Base Pay
+ Employer Payroll Taxes (US) or Employer NI (UK)
+ Benefits (healthcare or cash allowance, retirement match/pension)
+ Bonus or variable pay
Work Enablement
= Software Licenses (role share)
+ Equipment (annualized over 3 years)
+ Office/WFH stipend
Talent Acquisition (Amortized)
= (Recruiting fees
+ Hiring manager hours × manager loaded rate
+ Onboarding hours × role loaded rate)
÷ Expected tenure (years)
Management Overhead
= Manager hours/week × 52 × manager loaded hourly rate × allocation to this role
Quality Cost
= Rework rate × productive hours × role loaded hourly rate
Total In-House Cost per Role
= Cash Compensation + Work Enablement
+ Talent Acquisition (Amortized) + Management Overhead + Quality Cost
Loaded hourly rate (in-house)
= Total In-House Cost per Role ÷ (Paid hours × Utilization)
B) Outsourced annual cost for the same scope
Total Outsourced Cost
= Annualized Subscription or FTE Fee
+ Pass-through Software (if any)
+ Transition & Knowledge Transfer (amortized over contract term)
+ Client-side Oversight
(hours/week for vendor management × 52 × internal manager loaded hourly rate)
If pricing is per transaction, convert to annual using forecast volumes.
Step 3: Compare on a like-for-like basis
- Match scope: List deliverables for close, AP, AR, payroll, and reporting on both sides.
- Match volumes: Use the same forecast for invoices, journals, and payroll cycles.
- Match quality: Include rework and error handling for both models.
- Include oversight: Count internal manager hours spent coordinating the partner.
Decision metric
Cost per Accurate Transaction
= Total cost ÷ number of transactions that met SLA and quality targets
Track Cycle Time and Cutoff Adherence as secondary metrics.
Step 4: Worked mini-examples (replace with your numbers)
US example: Staff Accountant equivalent
- Base pay: $70,000
- Employer taxes and benefits: $17,500
- Bonus: $3,500
- Software and equipment: $2,000
- Recruiting and onboarding (amortized): $2,400
- Management overhead: 1 hour/week of Controller at $100/hour → $5,200
- Rework cost: 3% × 1,600 hours × $60/hour → $2,880
Total in-house: $103,480
Outsourced equivalent
- Fixed fee: $6,800/month → $81,600/year
- Transition amortized: $3,000/year
- Client oversight: 0.5 hour/week of Controller → $2,600
Total outsourced: $87,200
Difference: outsourced saves $16,280 for the same scope.
UK example: AP Specialist equivalent
- Base pay: £30,000
- Employer NI and pension: £4,800
- Bonus: £1,000
- Software and equipment: £1,000
- Recruiting and onboarding (amortized): £1,200
- Management overhead: 0.5 hour/week of Finance Manager at £60/hour → £1,560
- Rework cost: 2% × 1,600 hours × £28/hour → £896
Total in-house: £40,456
Outsourced equivalent
- Fixed fee: £2,500/month → £30,000/year
- Transition amortized: £1,200/year
- Client oversight: 0.25 hour/week of Finance Manager → £780
Total outsourced: £31,980
Difference: outsourced saves £8,476 for the same scope.
Note: These examples show structure, not guidance on pay levels. Use your actual rates and benefits.
Step 5: Sensitivity checks that change the answer
- Utilization: Raise from 70% to 85% and recalc the in-house loaded rate.
- Volume: Add 25% more invoices. Check if partner pricing scales linearly or by tier.
- Manager time: Double oversight during year-end and see impact.
- Attrition: Model 15% churn and re-hire cost.
- Quality: Reduce rework to 1% with better controls. See where in-house breaks even.
Record the break-even utilization where in-house equals outsourced on total cost.
Step 6: Practical checklists
In-house checklist
- RACI by process and documented close checklist
- Salary bands, hiring plan, and backfill plan
- SOPs per task with target times and control steps
- Cross-training to reduce single-point risk
- Tooling map, license ownership, and access reviews
Outsourcing checklist
- Written scope with SLAs for accuracy, cycle time, and cutoff
- Named team, coverage hours, and escalation path
- Data handling, access controls, and audit support inclusions
- Transition plan with shadow and reverse-shadow sign-offs
- KPI pack: volumes, defects, rework, root-cause actions
- Exit and knowledge return terms in the MSA
Step 7: Common pitfalls to avoid
- Comparing salary to a vendor quote without adding taxes, benefits, tools, and manager time
- Ignoring transition effort and the first-month learning curve
- Under-counting rework and follow-ups during audits
- Missing transaction growth and seasonality in pricing tiers
Copy-paste calculator template (per role or per process)
ROLE / PROCESS:
Country: US | UK
A) In-house
Base pay: ______
Employer taxes or NI & benefits: ______
Bonus/variable: ______
Software & equipment: ______
Recruiting & onboarding (amortized): ______
Management overhead: ______
Rework cost: ______
TOTAL IN-HOUSE: ______
B) Outsourced
Annual fee or per-transaction total: ______
Pass-through software: ______
Transition amortized: ______
Client oversight: ______
TOTAL OUTSOURCED: ______
Like-for-like comparison
Transactions meeting SLA: ______
Cost per accurate transaction (in-house): ______
Cost per accurate transaction (outsourced): ______
Cycle time and cutoff adherence notes: ______
Cost difference (annual): ______
Decision rules that keep you objective
Choose in-house if you need tight cross-functional collaboration, frequent process redesign, or can run utilization above 85% with low attrition.
Choose outsourced if you want predictable cost, extended coverage hours, faster time to steady state, and access to skills you do not plan to hire today.
Action with Madras Accountancy
Use this In-House vs Outsourced Accounting: Fully-Loaded Cost Calculator (US & UK) to get your baseline, then run the sensitivity checks. If you want a decision-ready model with your data, Madras Accountancy can build the cost workbook, validate your assumptions, and propose a transition plan with SLAs and KPIs. Book a 30-minute cost review to finalize go or no-go.
