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).
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)
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.
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.
Total in-house: $103,480
Outsourced equivalent
Total outsourced: $87,200
Difference: outsourced saves $16,280 for the same scope.
Total in-house: £40,456
Outsourced equivalent
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.
Record the break-even utilization where in-house equals outsourced on total cost.
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): ______
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.
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.
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