Hiring or outsourcing: how should an accounting firm decide?

Your firm is overflowing. Tax returns are piling up, client emails are waiting three days, and you're turning down mandates you would have signed two years ago. At this point, two options clash: hire an employee, with the stability and associated costs, or outsource part of the work, with the flexibility and loss of control that also entails. Both are valid solutions; they simply address different issues.

The market doesn't make things easy for you: recruitment in accounting is difficult everywhere in France, while the Canada has more than 220,000 CPAs according to CPA Canada These costs are very unevenly distributed between large firms, industry, and local practice. This guide provides you with an honest decision-making framework: what problem each model actually solves, how to compare total costs rather than advertised prices, what ethics and confidentiality require when the work leaves the firm, and in what order to decide.

The real trigger: diagnosing the overload before buying capacity

Before choosing between an employee and a subcontractor, make the right assessment. Work overload encompasses three very different profiles:

• Structural overload. The volume exceeds your capacity twelve months a year: monthly accounting, payroll, end of the month. This is the natural terrain for hiring, because the work is there to stay.
• Seasonal overload. Tax season and the end of the fiscal year create peaks that the rest of the year doesn't justify. Hiring for a ten-week peak means paying fifty-two weeks of salary for ten weeks of need; subcontracting or seasonal work is almost always a healthier option.
• The skills overload. A mandate requires expertise that the firm doesn't possess (US taxation, valuation, complex GST/QST case). Here, the issue isn't volume but know-how: a specialized subcontractor or collaboration between firms solves the problem without creating a position you won't be able to support.

A fourth case deserves mention: the false overload. Many firms feel overwhelmed when the problem is a poorly priced or missorted portfolio, where demanding, low-profit clients consume the capacity that good engagements should occupy. Before adding staff, check what each hour is producing: the procedure is detailed in "How many clients can a firm actually serve?" and " How to price its accounting services ." Adding capacity to a poorly priced firm is like trying to enlarge a leaky bucket.

Employee, subcontractor, outsourcing: three models compared

The word "outsourcing" itself encompasses two realities: the independent subcontractor (a technician or accountant under contract, working on a case-by-case basis) and organized outsourcing (a company, sometimes located abroad, that takes over a complete process such as bookkeeping or tax return preparation). Here are the three models side by side:

An important point to note: regardless of the model, professional responsibility remains yours . The client has signed with your firm; you are responsible for the quality of the work delivered, whether the data entry was done by your employee, a contractor, or an outsourcing company. Subcontracting shifts the execution, never the responsibility.

The calculation that changes the decision: the total cost per hour produced

The intuitive comparison—annual salary on one hand, subcontractor's hourly rate on the other—is almost always flawed in both directions. To make a fair comparison, relate everything to the full cost of an hour actually worked:

• For the employee , add up the salary, employer social security contributions, benefits, training, workstation, and software licenses. Then divide by the actual productive hours, that is, paid hours minus vacation, leave, training, and administrative time. Finally, add the cost of recruitment and turnover: replacing a technician who leaves after eighteen months negates a significant portion of the theoretical savings.
• For the subcontractor , start with the invoiced rate, then add your own time: preparing the file, explaining the context, reviewing the delivered work, and correcting any discrepancies. This coordination and review time is the hidden cost of subcontracting, just as prospecting time is the hidden cost of customer acquisition, a phenomenon documented in the concept of time wasted finding clients .
• For outsourcing , add to the package the cost of setup (process documentation, access migration) and the exit cost if the relationship goes wrong.

Il n'existe pas de barème public fiable du coût horaire d'un employé de cabinet au Canada : les salaires varient fortement selon la région et l'expérience, et les affichages publics comme le Guichet-Emplois du gouvernement du Canada donnent des fourchettes larges. Construisez donc votre chiffre interne et mettez-le à jour chaque année. Puis mettez-le en face des revenus : au Canada, un client d'affaires paie une médiane d'environ 3 000 $ par année en services comptables, dans une fourchette de 500 $ à 6 000 $ selon le secteur (Baromètre Bankeo 2024-2026, données tirées de plus de 15 000 demandes reçues). Un poste à temps plein se justifie quand le carnet de mandats récurrents couvre plusieurs fois son coût complet, pas quand il le frôle.

“The real question isn’t employees or subcontractors. It’s: does my client base justify the ongoing capacity? If the demand is there twelve months a year, hire and build your team. If it isn’t yet, outsource the peak periods and work on filling the client base first.” Arnaud Bertrand, CEO of Bankeo

Confidentiality, ethics, contracts: what subcontracting requires

Leaving the firm is not insignificant professionally. Three key areas must be addressed before handing over the first case:

• Professional secrecy and data protection. Client files contain sensitive personal and financial information. In Quebec, the Act respecting the protection of personal information in the private sector (CQLR, c. P-39.1), as amended by Bill 25, governs the disclosure of personal information to third parties and outside the province, with requirements for assessment and written agreement; equivalent laws apply elsewhere in the country. A subcontracting agreement without a confidentiality and data protection clause is not a contract; it is a risk.
• Ethical obligations. CPA codes of ethics govern the supervision of delegated work and the member's responsibility for work performed under their control. Specific requirements vary by state: check the applicable code and, if in doubt, ask your state body before structuring the agreement, not after.
• Transparency with the client. Even when no specific rule requires it, informing the client that certain tasks are performed by an external partner, under your supervision and responsibility, protects the relationship. A client who learns this by accident loses trust; one to whom we have explained it generally sees no problem.

On the operational side, formalize three things in writing: the exact scope of the work assigned, the review process before delivery to the client, and the deadlines during peak season. An excellent subcontractor in November might become impossible to find in March, precisely when you need them; this issue relates to peak workload management, discussed in the section on seasonality in accounting firms . And before adding staff, check that the existing tools can handle some of the workload: automating data entry and follow-ups often frees up the equivalent of a half-time position, as demonstrated by the firm's technology and productivity report.

Decide in five steps

1. Define the overload. Is it structural, seasonal, or skills-related? Measure it over twelve months, not just the six busiest weeks of the year.
2. Clean up the portfolio first. Reprice loss-making mandates and release captive capacity before buying new ones.
3. Calculate the full cost of both options using the method above, including your coaching and review time.
4. Test before you commit. A contractor for a season, a subcontractor for ten projects: the test will tell you in three months what a business plan never will. If the test confirms a permanent need, hire with confidence.
5. Secure demand in parallel. Capacity without clients is a cost; clients without capacity represent a missed opportunity. Both are managed together, as explained in the section on moving from a solo practice to a team .

C'est sur ce dernier point que Bankeo Pro intervient : un flux prévisible de demandes pré-qualifiées d'entrepreneurs, jumelées au profil de votre cabinet, souvent en 48 heures. Depuis 2023, Bankeo a reçu plus de 15 000 demandes d'entrepreneurs et compte plus de 1 500 firmes inscrites dans son réseau, avec des centaines de dossiers conclus au Canada. Le modèle est simple : des frais par dossier conclu, connus d'avance, jamais un pourcentage de vos honoraires. Quand vous savez combien de nouveaux mandats entrent chaque trimestre, la décision d'embaucher cesse d'être un pari.

Frequently asked questions

Quand un cabinet comptable devrait-il embaucher plutôt que sous-traiter ? Quand la surcharge est récurrente et structurelle : un volume stable de travail qui remplit au moins la moitié d'un poste, douze mois par année. Si le besoin est saisonnier ou ponctuel, la sous-traitance ou le contractuel est presque toujours plus sain.

Is subcontracting permitted for a CPA firm in Canada ? Yes, but it is regulated: the member remains responsible for the work performed under their supervision, must properly oversee the delegated work, and protect the confidentiality of files. Specific requirements vary depending on the provincial order: check the applicable code of ethics before structuring the agreement.

Should you tell the client that the work is subcontracted? Transparency is the safest approach: explain that certain tasks are performed by an external partner, under your supervision and responsibility. A client informed in advance generally sees no problem with it; a client who finds out by accident loses trust.

How do you compare the cost of an employee and that of a subcontractor? Bring everything back to the full cost per hour produced: for the employee, salary, charges, benefits, training and turnover, divided by the actual productive hours; for the subcontractor, the rate charged plus your preparation, coordination and review time.

Is outsourcing abroad a good idea for a small firm? It can reduce the cost of high-volume processes, but it requires documented processes, strict quality control, and particular attention to the protection of personal data, especially rules regarding communication outside the province or country. For a small firm, a limited trial is better than a complete switchover.

How does Bankeo help a firm hesitant to hire? By making demand predictable: pre-qualified contractor requests, matched to your firm's profile, with fees per completed project known in advance—never a percentage of your fees. A predictable client portfolio transforms the hiring decision into a calculation rather than a gamble.

Sources

• CPA Canada About CPA Canada , more than 220,000 members, accessed July 2026.
• Government of Quebec, Act respecting the protection of personal information in the private sector, CQLR, c. P-39.1 (amended by Act 25), updated in 2026.
• Government of the Canada , Job Bank , salary data by profession and by region, accessed in July 2026.
• Bankeo, Accounting Fees Barometer 2024-2026 , internal data from more than 15,000 requests received since 2023.

Par Arnaud Bertrand, CEO de Bankeo. Bankeo Pro met en relation plus de 1 500 firmes inscrites avec des demandes pré-qualifiées d'entrepreneurs partout au Canada : des clients qualifiés, sans prospection (4,7/5 sur plus de 180+ avis Google). Pour évaluer la crédibilité de votre présence en ligne, consultez l'Indice Bankeo; pour situer vos honoraires, le Baromètre Bankeo. Découvrir Bankeo Pro pour les cabinets.