Hire an offshore accountant in the Philippines for your Australian business
By William Smith, Co-founder and CEO, Offshored. Published . Last updated .
An offshore accountant from Offshored costs A$2,400 to A$3,400 per month, all-inclusive, and prepares your management accounts, reconciliations and BAS support to Australian standards in Australian business hours.
A qualified accountant, often a Philippine CPA, who works only for your business or your accounting firm. Recruited and managed by Offshored, employed in the Philippines by Australian Pathways OPC, and reporting to you or your supervising accountant every day.
An offshore accountant sits a level above bookkeeping. Where a bookkeeper records transactions, an accountant turns them into information: monthly management accounts, reconciliations that stand up to audit, cash-flow forecasts, budgets and the compliance workpapers your registered tax agent needs.
Australian businesses hire an offshore accountant when they have outgrown a bookkeeper but cannot justify a local senior hire. Australian accounting firms hire them to do compliance and management accounting work under a supervising accountant, which frees local staff for advisory work and client contact.
They work in your practice or business systems with the access you grant, following your review process. The offshore accountant prepares; your Australian accountant or registered agent reviews, signs and lodges.
Task list
Tasks you can hand to an offshore accountant
Start with the first column and add the second as trust builds. Your team member follows your procedures and your approval limits, documented during onboarding.
Management accounts monthly profit and loss, balance sheet and cash-flow statements with commentary against budget
Reconciliations balance sheet, inter-company, loan, fixed asset and clearing account reconciliations to a documented standard
BAS, IAS and FBT support preparing the workpapers and reconciliations for your registered agent to review and lodge
Budgets and forecasts annual budgets, rolling cash-flow forecasts and scenario models in Excel or your reporting tool
Fixed assets and depreciation asset register maintenance and depreciation schedules
Year-end workpapers trial balance clean-up, journals and the compliance file for the tax agent or auditor
Compliance work for accounting firms individual, company and trust tax return preparation and financial statements for review by the supervising accountant
Payroll oversight reviewing payroll runs, superannuation and Single Touch Payroll reporting prepared by a bookkeeper
Supervising bookkeepers reviewing the work of an in-house or offshore bookkeeper and closing the month on time
Reporting packs board and lender reporting, KPI dashboards and project or job profitability analysis
Systems
Tools an offshore accountant typically uses
Xero and Xero Practice Manager (XPM)MYOB Business, AccountRight and MYOB PracticeQuickBooks OnlineFathom, Spotlight Reporting and SyftKarbon and FYI DocsApprovalMax and DextMicrosoft Excel (advanced) and Power BIEmployment Hero and KeyPayNetSuite and Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business CentralATO Online services, used under your registered agent's supervision
Xero, MYOB and QuickBooks Online remain the core systems for Australian businesses and firms, so we recruit for those first. Practice management (XPM, Karbon), reporting (Fathom, Spotlight) and larger ERPs are common second requirements; tell us what your team uses and we shortlist for it.
Monthly cost
How much an offshore accountant costs per month
An offshore accountant from Offshored costs A$2,400 to A$3,400 per month. That is one flat, all-inclusive fee per full-time team member, invoiced monthly in advance, in the finance, qualified band on our pricing page.
Item
Offshore accountant
Monthly fee
A$2,400 to A$3,400 per month
Where in the band
Lower end for a degree-qualified accountant with two to three years of Australian work; upper end for a Philippine CPA with five or more years on Australian files, firm experience and supervisory responsibility
What is included
Everything: recruitment and vetting, employment in the Philippines by Australian Pathways OPC, salary, Philippine income tax and statutory contributions (SSS, PhilHealth and Pag-IBIG), 13th month pay, paid leave, HMO health insurance, payroll, timekeeping, HR and performance management, office space and equipment for office based team members, and replacement at our cost if the person leaves
What is not included
Your software subscriptions and practice licences, registered agent lodgment, and any hardware you choose to supply beyond what Offshored provides
Fees
No recruitment, placement or setup fees. One monthly invoice from Offshored Pty Ltd, an Australian company
A local accountant at this level costs several times the monthly fee once salary, superannuation, leave, payroll tax and recruitment are counted. The 2026 offshore staff cost guide shows the sourced comparison, and the pricing page lists every band.
A typical week for your offshore accountant, and what it replaces
An offshore accountant from Offshored costs A$2,400 to A$3,400 per month, all-inclusive, which is A$28,800 to A$40,800 a year. An accountant in Sydney is advertised at A$80,000 to A$90,000 a year (Seek, October 2026), about A$89,600 to A$100,800 with 12% superannuation.
What your offshore accountant does in a typical week
Monday: review the bank and ledger reconciliations prepared by your bookkeeper or the team and clear the open items
Tuesday: post the month-end journals (accruals, prepayments, depreciation and inter-entity) and reconcile the balance sheet accounts
Wednesday: build the management accounts pack: profit and loss against budget, cash flow and KPIs, with commentary for your review
Thursday: prepare BAS, IAS and FBT workpapers, or year-end and compliance workpapers for an accounting firm's clients, for your registered agent to review
Friday: update the rolling forecast and budget tracking and send a short variance note
Every week: keep the fixed asset register current, check the payroll run and improve one process, such as a reconciliation template or a reporting macro
This is the pattern most clients settle into after the first month. Your team member follows your procedures and approval limits, and you can change the mix at any time.
Salary figures are Seek's average advertised full-time salary range for Accountant jobs in Sydney, refreshed 1 October 2026; Seek notes that some advertised salaries include superannuation. The superannuation guarantee has been 12% since 1 July 2025. The 2026 cost guide adds payroll tax, leave, recruitment and equipment to the local side of the comparison. Offshored's figure is the approved band on the pricing page. Before you share system access, read how we protect your data.
Who you get
Qualifications and experience
What Offshored looks for when shortlisting an offshore accountant for an Australian business:
Degree a Bachelor of Science in Accountancy, the four-year Philippine degree that leads to the CPA licensure examination
CPA licence many candidates at this band hold the Philippine CPA licence; we tell you on each shortlist which candidates do
Australian experience three or more years on Australian management accounts or compliance work, either in-house for an Australian business or in a Philippine team serving Australian accounting firms
Australian standards working knowledge of Australian accounting standards, GST, income tax, FBT, superannuation and Division 7A as they apply to small and medium businesses
Software Xero, MYOB or QuickBooks certification plus advanced Excel; practice management and reporting tools where your role needs them
Vetting a pre-screening interview with Offshored's recruitment team in BGC, Manila and an NBI clearance (the Philippine police check) before any candidate is presented to you
You interview the shortlisted candidates yourself, and for accounting firms we recommend a short practical test on a sample file before the final decision.
Working hours
Working hours and overlap with Australian time zones
Your offshore accountant works a full eight-hour day, Monday to Friday, at the times you set in your Australian time zone. Manila is two hours behind Sydney for most of the year, so the overlap is complete: they are online when you are, from your first coffee to close of business.
Your office
Manila is behind by
Your 9am to 5pm day in Manila time
Sydney, Melbourne, Canberra, Hobart
2 hours (3 hours in daylight saving, October to April)
7:00am to 3:00pm (6:00am to 2:00pm in daylight saving)
Brisbane and Queensland
2 hours, all year
7:00am to 3:00pm
Adelaide
1.5 hours (2.5 hours in daylight saving)
7:30am to 3:30pm (6:30am to 2:30pm in daylight saving)
Darwin
1.5 hours, all year
7:30am to 3:30pm
Perth
No difference, same time as Manila
9:00am to 5:00pm
Team members work Australian public holidays unless the day is also a Philippine holiday, and Offshored gives you two business days' notice of any Philippine holiday that affects your team member's schedule. Every shift is logged on our timekeeping platform. See the FAQ on the Sydney to Manila time difference.
Six questions
What Australian owners ask before hiring an offshore accountant
Can an offshore accountant lodge my tax return or sign my financial statements?
No. Only a registered tax agent can lodge on your behalf in Australia, and financial statements are signed by your Australian accountant or auditor. Your offshore accountant prepares the workpapers, journals and draft statements to your firm's standard, and your registered agent reviews, signs and lodges. That is the same review structure most Australian firms already use with junior staff.
Is an offshore accountant suitable for an accounting firm as well as a business?
Yes, both. Businesses hire one as an in-house management accountant reporting to the owner or CFO. Accounting and bookkeeping firms hire one or several to prepare compliance and management accounting work under a supervising accountant, which frees the local team for advisory work and client contact. Offshored has clients of both kinds.
What is the difference between an offshore bookkeeper and an offshore accountant?
A bookkeeper records and reconciles transactions and keeps the ledger current; an accountant analyses and reports on them, prepares management accounts, budgets, forecasts and compliance workpapers, and reviews the bookkeeper's work. If you need clean books, start with an offshore bookkeeper. If you need someone to close the month and explain the numbers, hire an offshore accountant.
How much does an offshore accountant cost?
An offshore accountant through Offshored costs A$2,400 to A$3,400 per month, all-inclusive. The lower end of the band is for a degree-qualified accountant with two to three years of Australian work, and the upper end is for a Philippine CPA with five or more years on Australian files and supervisory responsibility. The fee covers salary, 13th month pay, Philippine statutory contributions, payroll and HR, and there is no recruitment fee and no lock-in contract.
How is my financial data protected with an offshore accountant?
An offshore accountant recruited by Offshored works inside your own accounting software and document systems with the access you grant, so your data stays in your systems and Offshored holds no client data on its own infrastructure. Every hire passes an NBI clearance, the Philippine police check, and signs an employment contract with Australian Pathways OPC that includes a confidentiality clause that continues after employment ends. All logins are removed on the person's last day, and Offshored's data security and quality assurance page lists every control.
What happens if my offshore accountant does not work out?
Offshored replaces the accountant at our cost, with no re-recruitment fee. During the six month probation Offshored formally asks for your feedback at the end of month one, month three and month six, so a poor fit is picked up early. There is no lock-in contract either: you pay month to month and can end the arrangement with 30 days' notice and no exit fee.
Ready to talk about hiring an offshore accountant? Book a free 20-minute call.
Pick a time and William Smith, Offshored's co-founder, phones you. We scope the role, give you the monthly cost band and tell you honestly whether offshore staff will work for your business. No lock-in, no obligation.