Is your business ready to hire offshore staff? A 20-point checklist for Australian businesses
By William Smith, Co-founder and CEO, Offshored. Published . Last updated .
Twenty yes or no checks across processes, documentation, tools, management time and compliance. It works for any provider, including us, and every fact on it is referenced.
Is your business ready to hire offshore staff?
A business is ready to hire offshore staff when it can answer yes to twenty checks in five areas. Processes: the role is a list of recurring tasks with a measurable output that arrive through a system. Documentation: the main tasks are written down or recorded, with a first month plan, a glossary and templates. Tools: the systems are cloud based, the person gets their own login, and a daily communication channel exists. Management time: one named manager has check-ins booked, gives early feedback and has cover when away. Compliance: the business knows whether the Privacy Act applies, can remove access in one step, has checked its industry rules and knows who legally employs the person. Seventeen or more yes answers means ready now, and the scorecard on this page gives the result the moment the twentieth check is answered.
Most businesses that hire offshore and regret it did not hire the wrong person. They hired before the role, the documents, the systems or the manager were ready, and the person spent the first month waiting. Score yourself here: answer yes or no under each of the twenty checks and your result appears the moment the last one is answered. No form, no email address, nothing is stored.
Start the scorecardAbout five minutes. Answer with the person who will manage the role.
Processes: the work is defined, repeatable and measurable
1. The role is a list of tasks, not a job title
A title such as "admin assistant" hides the real question: what will this person do on Tuesday afternoon? An offshore hire works only for your business, full time, so the role has to be a set of recurring tasks that fill a working week from the first month. Offshored's typical time to hire is one to two weeks (Offshored, How it works), and the checks on this page decide whether that person can be productive in week one.
Done whenYou can write down the ten tasks that fill most of the week, and each one comes up every week.
Tick yes only if the done line is true today.
2. The main tasks are done the same way each time
Judgement calls stay with you. Tasks with a settled method, such as processing supplier invoices, following up quotes or answering the same customer questions, hand over cleanly. If every job is different, the role is not ready, however good the person is.
Done whenAt least eight of the ten tasks have one agreed way of doing them, followed by whoever does them today.
Tick yes only if the done line is true today.
3. Work reaches the person through a system, not a conversation
Someone in Manila cannot overhear the office. Tasks should arrive in a shared inbox, a job management system, a ticket queue or a task board, where they can be seen, picked up and marked done. A handover across a desk does not survive distance.
Done whenYou can name the inbox, queue or board where every task will land, and it exists today.
Tick yes only if the done line is true today.
4. You can measure the output
You will not watch this person work, so you need a number that tells you whether the week went well: invoices processed, tickets closed, leads followed up the same day, reconciliations completed. Without one, a performance conversation is two opinions.
Done whenYou can name the two or three numbers you will look at each week and where they come from.
Tick yes only if the done line is true today.
Checks 5 to 8
Documentation: what the person needs to read or watch before they can work
5. The top tasks are written down or recorded
A one page procedure or a short screen recording of you doing the task is enough. Recordings are quicker to make than documents and show the clicks a document leaves out. Week one goes faster when they exist before the start date, and it is spent making them when they do not.
Done whenA written procedure or screen recording exists for each of the ten main tasks, or a date in the first two weeks is set to record each one.
Tick yes only if the done line is true today.
6. There is a plan for the first 30 days
Week one is systems and introductions, week two is the first tasks with review, weeks three and four are the full task list with daily checks. Writing it down stops the person waiting on you for direction and gives you a fair basis for the first feedback point.
Done whenA one page plan lists what the person will learn and do in each of the first four weeks.
Tick yes only if the done line is true today.
7. Your business has a glossary
Every business has its own words: product names, client nicknames, system names, the abbreviations on your job cards. A new person in the same office asks. A new person offshore guesses. A one page list removes the guessing.
Done whenA list of your terms, clients, suppliers and systems exists, and someone who did not write it has read it.
Tick yes only if the done line is true today.
8. Templates exist for what the person will produce
Email replies, quotes, reports, file names, the way a job is closed off. A template sets the standard once, so you are not correcting the same thing twenty times, and it carries your tone into work you no longer see.
Done whenA template or a model example exists for each type of output in the role.
Tick yes only if the done line is true today.
Checks 9 to 12
Tools: the systems, logins and channels the person will use
9. The systems are cloud based
Accounting, CRM, job management, documents and email need to be reachable from a browser or a remote desktop, not from a program installed on one PC in the office. Offshored team members work in your systems under logins you control, and Offshored holds no client data on its own infrastructure (Offshored, Data security page), so your systems have to be reachable from outside the building.
Done whenEvery system in the role can be logged into from outside your office, or a remote desktop or VPN is set up for the ones that cannot.
Tick yes only if the done line is true today.
10. The person will have their own login, with the access the role needs and no more
A shared password cannot be revoked for one person and leaves no record of who did what. A named login in each system, limited to what the role needs, is the most useful security control you have. Multi-factor authentication on each login is the second.
Done whenYou can list each system, the access level the person needs in it, and who will create the login before day one.
Tick yes only if the done line is true today.
11. There is a daily communication channel
A chat tool for quick questions, video for the morning check-in and screen sharing for training. In the dedicated staffing model the person works in your systems and your hours (Offshored, How it works), so the overlap is the working day. What you need is the channel, set up before day one, with the person in it from the start.
Done whenYou can name the chat tool, the video tool and the time of the daily check-in.
Tick yes only if the done line is true today.
12. Devices and passwords are handled properly
Decide before the start date whether the person uses a company supplied laptop or their own, and how passwords reach them. Office based Offshored staff use company supplied laptops with USB ports and personal cloud drives blocked; home based staff usually use their own hardware, and you can require a company supplied device (Offshored, Data security page). Passwords go through a password manager or the system's own invitation, never by email or chat.
Done whenYou have decided who supplies the device, and passwords will be shared by a password manager or a system invitation.
Tick yes only if the done line is true today.
Checks 13 to 16
Management time: who manages the person and how much time they have for it
13. One named person manages the team member
Not the business, not the team, one person. That person assigns the work, answers questions and gives feedback. When two people share it, the offshore hire gets two sets of priorities and no clear answer. Offshored gives every client a named account manager for the employment side (Offshored, How to choose a provider). The daily direction stays with you.
Done whenOne person's name is written next to the role as its manager, and they have agreed to it.
Tick yes only if the done line is true today.
14. The manager has time set aside in the first month
The first month is training, whoever you hire and wherever they sit. Book the time before the start date: a check-in at the start of the day and a review at the end, every working day of the first two weeks, then a daily check-in in weeks three and four. Time saved in month one by skipping training is spent again in month three on corrections.
Done whenThe check-ins for the first four weeks are in the manager's calendar as recurring bookings.
Tick yes only if the done line is true today.
15. Feedback will be given early and plainly
Tell the person in week one what was good and what to change. Waiting for a formal review to raise a problem means four weeks of the same mistake. Offshored asks you for formal feedback at the end of months one, three and six of the probation period (Offshored, Data security page); the informal feedback in between is yours to give.
Done whenThe manager has agreed to give feedback in the first week and every week after.
Tick yes only if the done line is true today.
16. Someone covers when the manager is away
Leave, site visits and busy weeks happen. Name the second person who can answer questions and approve work when the manager is out, and introduce them in week one. Without cover the person sits idle, which is the outcome nobody wants.
Done whenA second contact is named and knows the role well enough to answer a question about it.
Tick yes only if the done line is true today.
Checks 17 to 20
Compliance: the rules that apply to overseas staff and who employs them
17. You know whether the Privacy Act applies to you, and what APP 8 requires
The Privacy Act 1988 covers a business with annual turnover of more than A$3 million. It also covers, whatever the turnover, a health service provider, a business that trades in personal information and, from 1 July 2026, a reporting entity under the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Act, which now includes real estate professionals, lawyers, conveyancers and accountants providing designated services (OAIC, Small business) (OAIC, AML/CTF reporting entities). If you are covered, Australian Privacy Principle 8 requires you to take reasonable steps to ensure an overseas recipient does not breach the principles, and section 16C makes you accountable for how they handle the information (OAIC, APP 8 guidelines). Our legality guide explains what those steps look like.
Done whenYou know which side of the A$3 million line you sit on and whether an exception applies, and if you are covered, your privacy policy mentions overseas disclosure and you have a written answer to the reasonable steps question.
Tick yes only if the done line is true today.
18. Access can be removed in one step when the person leaves
Offboarding is a security control. Keep one list of every system the person can reach, so that on their last day each login is removed the same afternoon. Every client system login is removed on an Offshored team member's last day (Offshored, Data security page), and that only works when the list exists.
Done whenA single list of the person's systems and access levels exists and is kept current.
Tick yes only if the done line is true today.
19. You have checked your industry's rules on outsourcing and overseas access
Some regulators and professional bodies set conditions on outsourcing and on overseas access to client information. Registered tax and BAS agents must get the client's permission before disclosing their information to a third party, tell the client to whom and where it goes, and keep outsourced work under their supervision and control (Tax Practitioners Board, Outsourcing and offshoring). Australian financial services licensees remain responsible for choosing suitable providers, monitoring their performance and dealing with breaches, and cannot delegate that accountability offshore (ASIC, Review of offshore outsourcing). Legal practitioners, NDIS providers and registered health providers have their own bodies. Check before the start date, not after.
Done whenYou can name the regulator or body that applies to you and have read what it says about outsourcing and overseas access, or you have confirmed that none applies.
Tick yes only if the done line is true today.
20. You know who employs the person, and your insurer knows they exist
In dedicated offshore staffing the person is not your employee. Offshored team members are employed in the Philippines by Australian Pathways OPC, a registered Philippine company, and you contract with Offshored Pty Ltd in Australia (Offshored, Is offshoring legal in Australia?). Read the terms before the first call ends. Then tell your professional indemnity and cyber insurers that an offshore team member will access your systems, and ask whether the policy carries any condition on it.
Done whenYou can name the employing company and the contracting company, you have read the terms, and your insurer has confirmed in writing that overseas access is covered.
Tick yes only if the done line is true today.
Your result
Your readiness score
0 of 20 answered. Your result appears here the moment the last check is answered.
17 to 20Ready now
Book the scoping call. The remaining no answers can be closed in the one to two weeks it takes to shortlist and interview.
12 to 16Ready within a month
Close the no answers in Documentation and Tools first. They are the quickest: a screen recording takes ten minutes, a login takes five.
11 or fewerNot yet
Start with checks 1 to 4. A role that is not defined cannot be documented, tooled or managed, and no provider can fix that for you.
Two checks are worth more than their weight. If check 1 or check 13 is a no, the result shows "Not yet" whatever the count, because nobody can define your role or manage your person for you.
How do I know if my business is ready to hire offshore staff?
Answer the twenty checks on this page with a yes or a no. They cover five areas: processes, documentation, tools, management time and compliance. Seventeen or more yes answers means the business is ready now, twelve to sixteen means ready within a month once the gaps are closed, and eleven or fewer means the role needs defining before anything else.
Which readiness check matters most?
Check 1: the role is a list of recurring tasks that fill a full-time week, not a job title. Every other check depends on it. A role that is not defined cannot be documented, cannot be measured and cannot be managed, wherever the person sits.
Does the Privacy Act apply to my business if I hire offshore staff?
It applies if your annual turnover is more than A$3 million, and whatever your turnover if you are a health service provider, trade in personal information or, from 1 July 2026, are a reporting entity under the AML/CTF Act, which includes real estate professionals, lawyers, conveyancers and accountants providing designated services (OAIC, Small business page and AML/CTF reporting entities guidance, read 26 September 2026). If it applies, APP 8 requires reasonable steps to ensure the overseas recipient does not breach the Australian Privacy Principles, and you remain accountable for their handling of the information.
Does Offshored help with the checks I have not done?
Offshored covers recruitment, screening, employment, payroll and day to day HR. The twenty checks sit on your side: the role, the documents, your systems and your manager's time. Bring your answers to the 20-minute scoping call and we will say plainly where the gaps are and whether the role is ready.
This page is general information, not legal or financial advice. Offshored's own facts reflect our published pages at the "Last updated" date above.
Book a 20-minute scoping call and bring your score. We will tell you plainly whether the role is ready, and if it is, you will have a shortlist to interview in one to two weeks. We reply within one business hour, 8am to 6pm AEST, Monday to Friday.