The short answer
Outsourced accounting is generally priced one of three ways: per seat (a dedicated person at a flat monthly fee), per transaction or hour, or as a managed function scoped to your volumes. Exordiom charges from $3,000 per person per month all-in for a dedicated seat, and from $12,000 per month for a fully managed function. For comparison, a US accounting hire fully loaded costs $136,320 a year — $11,360 a month — the figure published on the homepage.
Key takeaways
- Three pricing models dominate: per seat, per transaction or hour, and managed by function. They are not directly comparable without normalising.
- A US salary is not the cost of a US hire. Exordiom publishes a fully loaded US hire at $136,320 a year.
- Per-seat pricing is predictable and easy to budget. Per-transaction pricing punishes you in your busiest months.
- Managed pricing should include the delivery lead, the team, and the automation work — ask explicitly, because many providers bill automation as a separate project.
- Below roughly two full-time equivalents of work, a seat is usually the right buy. Above that, a managed function usually wins on coverage and continuity.
What are the three ways outsourced accounting is priced?
Almost every quote you will receive falls into one of three shapes. Knowing which one you are looking at is most of the work, because a headline number in one model tells you nothing about a headline number in another.
| Model | How it is charged | Best when | Watch for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Per seat | Flat monthly fee for a dedicated person | You have steady, continuous work for at least one person | Paying for a full seat when you only have half a seat of work |
| Per transaction or hour | Unit rate per invoice, per hour, or per entry | Volumes are low, spiky or genuinely seasonal | Costs rising exactly when you are busiest, and minimum commitments |
| Managed by function | Monthly fee scoped to volume, covering a whole cycle | You want an outcome and a service level, not a headcount | Whether the delivery lead, coverage and automation are inside the fee or extra |
The trap is comparing a per-seat number against a per-transaction number without modelling your own volumes. A low unit rate looks excellent until month-end, when the volume that generates the rate is the same volume that generates your workload.
What does a US accounting hire really cost?
The honest comparison is not salary against fee. It is fully loaded cost against fee. Employer payroll taxes, health benefits, retirement contributions, equipment, software seats and a share of space all land on top of base pay.
The published comparator is a fully loaded US hire of $136,320 per person per year, or $11,360 a month. That is the homepage figure for a blended accounts payable, accounts receivable and general accounting team.
| Ten people, in house (US) | Ten people, Exordiom | |
|---|---|---|
| Annual cost | $1,363,200 | $360,000 |
| Per person, per month | $11,360 | $3,000 |
| Basis | Fully loaded US hire $136,320 | $3,000 per person, all-in |
| Difference, per year | — | $1,003,200 |
Cost is not the only variable, and it should not be the deciding one on its own. Time zone overlap, institutional knowledge, turnover risk and how much management attention the arrangement consumes all belong in the same decision. What the loaded figure does is stop the comparison being unfair to begin with.
Is per-seat or per-transaction pricing better?
Per-seat pricing is predictable. You know the number twelve months out, it does not move when volumes move, and it is trivial to budget. The risk is buying a whole seat for a fraction of a seat's work.
Per-transaction pricing is efficient at low volume and turns against you as you grow. It also creates an awkward incentive: the provider earns more when more transactions are processed, which is the opposite of what you want from anyone touching automation.
That last point is worth sitting with. If a provider's revenue is a function of how many invoices they key, asking them to reduce how many invoices get keyed is asking them to shrink their own contract. Per-seat and managed pricing do not have this problem.
What should be included in the price, and what is usually extra?
Ask for this in writing. The gap between providers is rarely the headline rate — it is what sits outside it.
- Recruitment and replacement. If someone leaves, who pays to replace them, and how long are you uncovered?
- The delivery lead. In a managed engagement, is the person you talk to every day inside the fee or a line item?
- Coverage. What happens during holidays, sickness and your month-end crunch?
- Automation and process work. Frequently quoted as a separate project. Ask whether improving the process costs extra.
- Software and licences. Whose ERP seats, and who pays for them?
- Onboarding and knowledge transfer. Some providers bill the first month of learning your process.
Our own answer to those, for reference: recruitment and replacement are included, the delivery lead is inside the managed fee, and the automation pass is part of the engagement rather than a project you buy separately.
At what size does each model make sense?
There is no universal threshold, but the shape of the decision is consistent.
- Under one full-time equivalent of work. A per-transaction or fractional arrangement usually wins. You are not yet buying enough to justify a dedicated person.
- One to two full-time equivalents. A dedicated seat is normally cheapest and simplest. You direct the person; they learn your systems; you keep the process.
- Two or more, or a whole cycle. A managed function usually wins, because you stop managing individuals and start buying coverage, cross-training and a service level.
The second threshold is less about cost than about your own time. One offshore person you manage is a small overhead. Five people you manage across a close calendar is a job, and it usually lands on the controller who was already the constraint.
How do you compare two quotes fairly?
Normalise everything to a monthly cost for the same scope, then check the four things that move real cost after signature.
- Convert every quote to a monthly figure for the same list of processes.
- Add anything billed separately: onboarding, replacement, automation, licences, overtime at close.
- Model your peak month, not your average month, under per-transaction pricing.
- Ask what happens to the fee if volumes fall 20 percent, and if they rise 50 percent.
If a provider will not answer the fourth question in writing before you sign, you have learned something useful about how the relationship will run afterwards.
Frequently asked questions
How much does outsourced accounting cost per month?
Dedicated per-seat arrangements commonly run from about $3,000 per person per month all-in. Fully managed functions, where a provider runs a whole cycle such as accounts payable with a delivery lead, typically start around $12,000 per month and scale with transaction volume. Per-transaction pricing varies too widely to quote meaningfully without your volumes.
Is outsourced accounting cheaper than hiring in house?
Usually yes on direct cost, once the US hire is loaded properly. A fully loaded US hire is $136,320 a year against $36,000 a year for a dedicated offshore seat at $3,000 a month. Whether it is cheaper in total depends on how much management time the arrangement consumes and how well knowledge is retained.
What is a fully loaded cost, and why does it matter?
Fully loaded cost is base salary plus employer payroll taxes, benefits, retirement contributions, equipment, software and space. It matters because outsourcing fees are already all-in, so comparing a fee against a bare salary understates the in-house cost by roughly a quarter to a third.
Does outsourced accounting pricing include automation?
Often not. Many providers scope process improvement and automation as a separate project, which is worth checking before you sign, because a per-transaction provider has little incentive to reduce transaction handling. At Exordiom the automation pass is included in the engagement rather than billed separately.
What hidden costs should I ask about?
Recruitment and replacement if someone leaves, coverage during holidays and month-end, onboarding or knowledge-transfer fees, software licences, the delivery lead's time in managed engagements, and any minimum volume commitment that applies when your volumes fall.