Freelance Accountant: The Complete Guide to Outsourcing Your Accounting

Hiring a freelance accountant has become a common solution for small and medium-sized businesses that want to professionalize their financial management without hiring in-house. This guide covers what a freelance accountant is, the tasks they can take on, typical costs, and how to choose the right professional.

What Is a Freelance Accountant?

A freelance accountant is an independent professional who offers bookkeeping, tracking, or oversight services to businesses without being a salaried employee. They can work alongside a chartered accounting firm on day-to-day data entry and monitoring, or step in for specific one-off projects such as preparing a balance sheet, setting up management tools, or providing support during an audit. Unlike a certified public accountant, who alone can certify certain financial statements, a freelance accountant generally focuses on operational tasks.

Why Hire a Freelance Accountant Instead of a Firm or an Employee

Working with a freelancer lets you scale accounting support to your actual needs, without the fixed cost of a full-time position. This is an attractive option for a small business whose activity doesn't yet justify a salaried accountant, or for a company that wants to supplement its accounting firm with monthly data entry and tracking. The flexibility of a freelancer also helps absorb a busy period, cover a temporary replacement, or catch up on bookkeeping.

What Tasks to Assign a Freelance Accountant

• General bookkeeping and ongoing tracking
• Bank reconciliations and cash flow monitoring
• Preparing records before they're passed to your accounting firm
• Invoicing, payment tracking, and follow-ups
• Setting up or optimizing accounting software
• Support during year-end closing

How to Choose the Right Freelance Accountant

Several criteria are worth checking before entrusting your books to an independent professional: their experience with businesses of a similar size and sector, their familiarity with the software you already use, their references and client reviews, and their availability and confidentiality practices. It's best to clarify the exact scope of the engagement, the frequency of deliverables, and how they'll coordinate with your accounting firm if you have one, right from the start. For anything touching tax law or the certification of accounts, it remains essential to consult a certified accountant or another qualified professional.

What Budget to Plan For

A freelance accountant's rate varies with their experience, the complexity of the engagement, and their location. They're typically billed by the day or hour, sometimes on a monthly retainer for recurring work. For an accurate estimate suited to your business, it's better to request several detailed quotes than to rely on a general average.

Finding a Reliable Freelance Accountant

To make a confident choice, compare several profiles, check their track record, and discuss your exact needs before committing. You can browse available profiles in the accounting category of the Dusavoir blog or post your project directly to receive quotes from qualified freelance accountants.