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Running an accountancy firm today feels like running two businesses at once: you must deliver technically excellent client work and run an efficient people + admin engine behind it.
Faced with a chronic recruitment squeeze, rising employment costs and an ever-growing compliance burden, more firms are turning to outsourced virtual assistants (VAs) and offshore/hybrid support to preserve margin and capacity.
Here are a few numbers worth bookmarking:
Put simply: outsourcing virtual assistant services is now a mainstream capacity strategy for firms that want to protect partner and senior time for fee-earning work, smooth seasonal peaks and reduce the marginal cost of back-office tasks.
The UK outsourcing and virtual assistant market has grown rapidly in the last five years, giving accounting firms far more choice than they once had. Below is a curated list of 10 providers that consistently appear in conversations across mid-tier firms, industry forums, and market research.
QX sits at the top of this list for outsourced virtual assistant for one simple reason: it is engineered specifically for accounting and bookkeeping firms, not as a general virtual assistant agency. Firms typically engage QX when they want more than email management and diary support; they want a trained, process-driven team who understands year-end, bookkeeping, payroll, tax workflows, and client-facing admin.
What accounting firms value most:
For firms wanting a scalable, predictable extension of their in-house team, QX is often the first call.
TOA Global is an established global outsourcing provider specialising in accountants, bookkeepers, and admin support teams. They are known for their academy-driven training model and deep bench of accounting-trained offshore staff. Firms use TOA when they want fully dedicated offshore resources who can grow with the practice.
Pinnacle is a fast-growing offshore staffing partner serving UK-based and Irish professional services firms. They are popular with practices that want the structure of an onshore client manager combined with offshore delivery. They are mostly preferred by firms with recurring workflows who want a predictable FTE model.
Virtalent is a UK-based outsourced virtual assistant agency providing senior, experienced VAs who can cover client communication, practice admin, meeting prep, and structured support work. They are ideal for firms that need UK-based support with no time-zone differences or offshore sensitivities.
They are one of the UK’s best-known virtual PA and admin networks. Firms choose SmartPA when they need high-quality EA support, partner-level diary management, and project-based admin delivered within UK business hours.
BeFree blends virtual admin with bookkeeping and back-office accounting support. It’s useful for small and mid-tier firms that want a combination of admin + low-level accounting processing without hiring internally.
VA Central is a UK-based outsourced virtual assistants provider with a niche in finance and bookkeeping admin. Firms use them for invoice handling, reconciliations, credit control follow-ups, and workflow support inside accounting software.
A familiar name in the UK outsourcing space, Outbooks focuses on accounting and bookkeeping support as well as admin-heavy tasks. They provide structured offshore teams and advisory-led engagement models that suit practices wanting to offload recurring compliance tasks.
MyTasker is a generalist VA provider with strong availability for UK clients. They are ideal for small practices or sole practitioners who want flexible, pay-as-you-go admin support without committing to dedicated staff.
Entigrity is a large offshore accounting staffing firm supplying dedicated accountants, bookkeepers, and administrative staff to UK practices. They are particularly known for volume hiring capability and structured onboarding for recurring workloads.
Accountants sometimes under-estimate what can be delegated. Below are some typical, low-risk and high-value tasks to outsource first:
Outsource low-judgement repetitive work first. That frees qualified staff to do the high-value, judgemental audit, tax, and advisory tasks that actually pay the bills.
Choosing an outsourced virtual assistant company isn’t the same as choosing a temp agency or a one-off freelancer. For an accounting firm, the wrong choice creates noise, rework, client-facing errors, and extra management time. The right choice creates breathing space for partners, smoother workflows for staff, and predictable capacity all year round.
Here’s a clear, accountant-friendly framework to evaluate providers and avoid the common pitfalls.
Most VA agencies can handle inboxes and diaries. Very few understand bookkeeping workflows, year-end preparation, client onboarding, AML admin, or the expectations of a regulated accounting practice.
Ask each provider:
If they hesitate, they’re a generic VA provider, which may be fine for simple tasks, but not for anything client-critical.
You’re not just outsourcing admin; you’re delegating access to client data. That immediately makes security non-negotiable.
Look for:
If the provider can’t articulate this clearly, your risk profile increases. A trustworthy virtual assistant company should sound like they’ve answered these questions a thousand times.
A good provider can walk you through their first 30, 60, and 90 days in detail. Ask them:
Weak onboarding means you’ll spend more time project-managing than delegating, which defeats the purpose of outsourcing in the first place.
Smooth communication is the difference between a productive partnership and daily firefighting. Make sure the provider can offer:
If the provider’s communication model involves long gaps, vague timelines, or ticket-only support, your team will feel the friction.
VA pricing looks simple until it isn’t.
Compare:
For accounting firms, predictability matters. Choose the model that scales without surprising bills.
Any provider can say they work with accounting firms; only a few can prove it with actual deliverables.
Ask for:
You’ll quickly see who’s a polished salesperson and who’s actually built for accounting work.
Before signing anything long-term, run a focused 30-day pilot on a defined workflow such as:
A pilot shows you real quality, real communication patterns, and the real time savings you can expect. No hypothetical promises, just operational reality.
Today you might need 10 hours of admin support per week. Next tax season, you may need 40. Next year, you may need two full-time offshore staff.
A suitable VA partner should be able to expand (or contract) quickly without forcing you into long-term commitments or rigid staffing structures.
The decision-making shortcut
If you remember only one thing, remember this:
Start with capability, not cost.
The cheapest provider may seem appealing, but rework, supervision, and client-facing errors cost more in the long run. The best virtual assistant partner will feel like an extension of your practice: consistent, capable, and operationally aligned with how your firm works.
If you’re considering outsourced VA partners, QX Accounting Services is built specifically to solve accounting firms’ operational problems rather than provide generic admin VAs.
What you can expect from QX (practical things that matter to partners):
If you want, we can produce a short, costed pilot scope for one of your common tasks (for example, management accounts pack preparation or year-end working papers) so you can see the time and margin impact in real numbers.
Yes, virtual assistants are completely reliable provided you choose a partner that understands accounting workflows. Reliability comes from documented processes, clear SLAs, daily communication rhythms, and trained staff who know how to handle financial data. A well-structured VA partnership often becomes more consistent than ad-hoc in-house admin support.
Start with low-risk, repetitive, time-heavy tasks: bank reconciliations, AP/AR processing, credit control reminders, client onboarding admin, inbox triage, meeting scheduling, and management accounts prep. These create quick wins for your team without exposing the firm to compliance risk.
No. It, in fact, improves client experience when handled correctly. Faster responses, smoother onboarding, timely reminders, and structured follow-ups reduce friction for clients. The key is making sure the VA is trained on your tone of voice, communication etiquette, and client expectations.
Choose a virtual assistant company that offers GDPR-compliant processes, secure file-sharing, controlled access, and written data-handling policies. For offshore providers, ask about SOC 2, ISO 27001, and internal audit controls. Security should be a conversation, not an afterthought.
Most firms see meaningful productivity within 3-6 weeks if the onboarding is structured. Simpler tasks (like inbox triage or basic admin) go live in days; more complex work (like month-end prep) requires a short shadowing period. A 30-day pilot is ideal for measuring early impact.
Not exactly. A VA focuses on admin, communication, and repetitive processing tasks. Offshore accounting staff are trained in accounting, tax, and compliance workflows. Many firms use both: virtual assistants for admin-heavy work and dedicated offshore FTEs for recurring accounting delivery.
Outsourced virtual assistant services are no longer experimental; they’re a mainstream lever to protect margin, scale without risky permanent hires and keep partners focused on advisory work that grows fees.
Start small: pick a repetitive, well-documented task (bank feeds, management accounts prep, or credit control), run a 30- to 60-day trial with 2-3 shortlisted providers from the list above, score them on the practical checklist, and then scale what works.
Ready to start your trial or hire virtual assistants for your team? Book a free discovery call with our expert today or submit your query here.
Deepika is a seasoned accounting professional with over 13 years of experience spanning the Indian, US, and UK markets. Her expertise covers audit, iXBRL, bookkeeping, VAT, taxation, and both management and statutory accounts preparation and review for limited companies, partnerships, and NRLs. She also brings specialised knowledge in conducting Independent Examinations for not-for-profit organisations, ensuring accuracy, compliance, and value-driven outcomes for diverse clients.
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