How outsourced bookkeeping works in Australia, and what it costs
Outsourced bookkeeping means someone outside your firm keeps your clients' books: coding transactions, reconciling bank feeds, running payables and payroll, and preparing the workpapers behind each BAS. In Australia the sign-off and the lodgement stay with a registered BAS or tax agent, which for most firms means you. The bookkeeper can be a local firm, an offshore provider or a dedicated person inside your own Xero files.
Below: who is allowed to do what, the three ways firms buy it, published prices, and what you can't hand over.
Serkan Honeine, Co-founder, CoSauce
Published · Last updated
Bookkeeper, BAS agent, tax agent: who can do what
The Tax Practitioners Board (TPB) draws the line. A BAS service means working out or advising on a client's position under a BAS provision such as GST or PAYG, where the client will rely on it. Representing them to the Commissioner counts too (TPB, BAS services). Anyone doing that for a fee must be registered unless an exemption applies. The penalties run to 250 penalty units for an individual and 1,250 for a company (TPB, apply to register). At the $364 penalty unit that applies from 1 July 2026 (Crimes Act penalty unit instrument), that's $91,000 and $455,000.
The TPB's own examples show where the line falls. Performing bank reconciliations is not a BAS service. Nor is coding invoices and entering data under the instruction and supervision of a registered agent. Completing an activity statement, or confirming the figures that go on it, is a BAS service. So is payroll that interprets a tax law, including Single Touch Payroll reporting.
Tax agent services go further: preparing and lodging returns, giving tax advice a client will rely on, and dealing with the ATO for them (TPB, tax agent services). Registered tax agents are the only people who can charge a fee to prepare and lodge a tax return (ATO). A BAS can be lodged online, by mail or through a registered agent. The agent can lodge, vary and pay on the client's behalf, and may get extra time (ATO, how to lodge your BAS).
One exemption matters for outsourcing. An employee or contractor of a registered agent doesn't need their own registration if they don't provide BAS services in their own right (TPB). That is how an unregistered bookkeeper, local or offshore, can do the processing while you stay the agent who checks the figures and lodges.
If you want the provider to lodge, look them up on the TPB register. BAS agent registration needs at least a Certificate IV in bookkeeping or accounting plus a Board-approved GST/BAS course. It also needs 1,400 hours of relevant experience in the past four years, or 1,000 for voting members of a recognised association (TPB, BAS agent requirements).
Three ways firms buy outsourced bookkeeping services
| Option | Who does the work | How you pay | Who signs off and lodges |
|---|---|---|---|
| Local bookkeeping firm or contractor | Their staff, on their process. Often a registered BAS agent. | An hourly rate, or a monthly package per client | They can, if registered. Otherwise you. |
| Offshore provider, seat model | A dedicated person the provider employs overseas, in your software | One all-in monthly fee per full-time seat | You |
| Dedicated offshore team, salary at cost | A dedicated person the provider employs and manages with you, in your software | Their salary at cost, plus a flat management fee | You |
With a local firm you buy their process, shared across all their clients. An offshore seat is for a full week of processing. Offshored, for example, places a full-time bookkeeper in the Philippines on a 40-hour week for one monthly fee, with your software seats and the lodgement left out (Offshored, offshore bookkeeper).
The third option is how we work at CoSauce. We employ the person in South Africa, pass their salary through at cost and add one flat monthly fee. They work on named logins inside your own software, and a co-founder joins your weekly review. We don't publish a price because it depends on the role. The outsourced bookkeeping page describes the Offshore finance desk, and how we work covers the method.
What outsourced bookkeeping costs at published prices
Xero's guide for Australian businesses puts bookkeepers at AU$40 to AU$120 an hour, depending on experience and location. It puts monthly outsourced bookkeeping at AU$500 to AU$2,500 a month, and an in-house bookkeeper at AU$50,000 to AU$95,000 a year before super (Xero, how to hire a bookkeeper).
For a local hire, Jobs and Skills Australia puts median full-time earnings for bookkeepers at $1,400 a week, or $37 an hour (Jobs and Skills Australia, ABS data, May 2025). SEEK's job ads in the accounting industry average $65,725, though some ads include super and some don't (SEEK). Super is 12% for the 2026-27 year (ATO).
For an offshore seat, Offshored publishes a bookkeeping band of A$2,100 to A$2,800 a month, all-in, with no super or payroll tax on top (Offshored, pricing). What sits inside an offshore price is covered in how much offshore accounting costs.
A worked example: 25 clients, one full-time week
Say your firm keeps the books for 25 small-business clients and the processing adds up to one full-time week: 40 hours, 52 weeks a year, 2,080 hours. The client count is the assumption. The prices are the published ones above, and this is an illustration rather than a quote.
| Route | A year of processing |
|---|---|
| Local contractor at A$40 to A$120 an hour | A$83,200 to A$249,600 |
| Local employee at the A$1,400 a week median, plus super at the ATO rate | A$81,536 |
| Offshore seat at A$2,100 to A$2,800 a month | A$25,200 to A$33,600 |
The hourly route is there to make a point: at a full-time load it is the dear way to buy. The employee figure is the Jobs and Skills median of $1,400 times 52, plus the ATO's 12% super. It leaves out leave cover, payroll tax, recruiting, a desk and software, so the real cost is higher. None of the three includes your reviewer's hours or the lodgement.
What stays with your firm
The TPB's outsourcing factsheet points to Code items 6 (client consent before disclosing to a third party), 7 (competent work on your behalf) and 13 (professional indemnity cover) (TPB factsheet). APP 8 adds reasonable steps and accountability when data goes overseas (OAIC, APP 8 guidelines). The detail is in what stays onshore. Our people work on ISO 27001-certified infrastructure, inside your software and under your access rules. This is a summary, not legal advice.
How to choose
- A few hours a month, or you'd rather someone else lodged: a local firm that is a registered BAS agent.
- A full week of processing, a written checklist and the lowest price: an offshore seat. Check what the fee excludes and how fast they replace someone who leaves.
- A full week of processing, and you want to see the salary and fix the process first: a dedicated person at salary plus a flat fee. That's us.
- The role is client-facing or needs answers in your morning: hire locally. South Africa is about eight hours behind Sydney, nine in daylight saving, which suits afternoon handovers rather than live work. See outsourced vs in-house bookkeeping.
Then move one kind of work for a small group of clients first. The week-by-week plan is in how to move your firm to offshore bookkeeping.
Questions
Can the outsourced provider lodge BAS for our clients?
Only if they're a registered BAS or tax agent, which you can check on the TPB register. Offshore seat providers tend to leave lodgement out of the fee. With a local firm, ask whether they'd lodge under their registration or yours.
Do we have to tell clients their books are done offshore?
Code item 6 says you must not disclose client information to a third party without consent, and the TPB counts outsourced entities as third parties. The usual place to cover it is the engagement letter: some work is done by staff overseas, and the firm reviews everything before it's lodged or sent.
Next step
If you're weighing up outsourced bookkeeping for your firm, book a call with me. Bring a rough count of the clients you'd move, and tell me who signs off today. I'll say which route fits. If it isn't us, I'll say that too.