The Complete Guide for CPA & Accounting Firms for Building Your Own Offshore Operations: Managed Offshoring Services vs. Do-It-Yourself (DIY)

Introduction

Over the past decade, after working closely with more than 1,000 CPA and accounting firms and delivering services to over 3,000, we’ve consistently stayed at the pulse of accounting industry. What we’ve seen, especially in the last few years-is a clear shift in how firms think about offshoring. The need is no longer just about saving costs or filling talent gaps. It’s about control, consistency, and culture alignment. 

As firms begin to scale their offshore teams beyond 10 or more staff members, many are now seeking greater control over how their teams work, how policies are enforced, and how their firm’s values are reflected day-to-day. This has led to a growing trend where firms consider setting up their own operations in India and the Philippines. 

At that point, they face two choices: 

• Build everything from scratch-setting up a local entity, managing compliance, hiring, handling HR and payroll, and investing in infrastructure. Or, 
• Partner with an experienced provider like MYCPE ONE under the Managed Offshoring Services (MOS) model.

Under MOS, we continue to manage all backend responsibilities-legal, HR, IT, payroll, and compliance- while firms pay the actual salary of the staff, plus a fixed monthly management fee. This allows firms to gain control and create a dedicated offshore team that functions just like their onshore one-without the complexity of building and managing an offshore office alone. 

Here’s why more firms are shifting to MOS: 

• They want more influence over HR policies and daily workflows 
• They prefer to set up their own reporting and team structures 
• They seek full control over hiring, firing, and promotions 
• They want to extend their culture and employee engagement programs overseas 
• Some prefer a Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) model, where MYCPE ONE serves as Employer of Record (EOR) initially, and later transitions to the firm once the team is ready

MOS gives firms the flexibility of ownership with none of the early-stage hassle. You stay in control of your offshore team-how it works, who’s on it, and how it grows-while we ensure everything else runs smoothly behind the scenes. 

The rest of this guide walks you through how Managed Offshoring Services work, what makes it different from traditional models, and how top accounting firms are already using it to scale with confidence. 

Disclaimer: 

The comparison presented in this blog reflects our professional understanding of the Managed Offshoring Services (MOS) model versus the Do-It-Yourself (DIY) approach, based on our internal experience, client feedback, and industry observations. While we have made a sincere effort to ensure the information is accurate, balanced, and helpful to firms exploring offshoring options, it is important to note that our perspective may be influenced by our role as a service provider in this space. 

Different firms may have different needs, priorities, and risk profiles, and what works effectively in one context may not be suitable in another. Therefore, this content should not be considered a substitute for tailored professional advice or a one-size-fits-all recommendation. We encourage readers to use this blog as an initial resource and to conduct their own independent assessment, including speaking with advisors or peers, before making strategic decisions about their offshoring mode 

We remain available to answer questions and support your evaluation process transparently, should you wish to explore further. 

What is MOS?

Not DIY. Not Our Way. Your Way - Done it for You 

Managed Offshoring Services (MOS) empowers CPA and accounting firms to build their own dedicated offshore teams in India and the Philippines-without the usual headaches of setting up an entity. Under this Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) model, firms can implement their own management structure, HR policies, and operational workflows while MYCPE ONE takes care of compliance, IT, recruitment, and day-to-day administration. 

What sets MOS apart is its simple and transparent pricing: firms pay the actual salaries and benefits of their offshore staff, plus a fixed monthly management fee that covers everything from infrastructure to HR support. This approach gives firms full operational control and long-term flexibility-without requiring large upfront investments or navigating local complexities.  

Managed Offshoring Services (MOS) represents a strategic shift from traditional hourly-rate hiring models to a more balanced approach that empowers accounting firms. Under our Managed Offshoring Services (MOS) model, we continue to manage everything for you - but with a new level of flexibility and control. Earlier, operations ran entirely within our ecosystem, following our HR policies and internal practices. With MOS, you now have the freedom to tailor operations to your own customized requirements. 

MOS vs. DIY Offshore Operations

Some firms take the do-it-yourself (DIY) route when setting up offshore operations. This means forming their own entity, managing local legal and tax compliance, hiring staff, handling payroll, and setting up infrastructure-all on their own. While this gives complete ownership, it also demands significant time, money, and energy from the leadership team, often pulling them away from client work and firm growth. 

Managed Offshoring Services (MOS) provides a smarter way forward. With MOS, firms still gain operational control, implement their own HR policies, and shape the team around their firm’s style-but without dealing with setup headaches or local challenges. MYCPE ONE takes care of infrastructure, compliance, hiring, and day-to-day admin, so you get all the upside of ownership with far less complexity. 

Below is a practical, side-by-side comparison of MOS versus the DIY model, laying out the major differences firms should consider. 

The Management Fee Model

Monthly Management Fees Structure

Our pricing is simple, transparent, and built for scale. You only pay two things: 

1. The actual salary and incentives paid to your team members - no markups, fully visible 
2. A fixed monthly management fee - which covers everything we manage: infrastructure, IT, HR, payroll, compliance, and backend support

We’ve structured the management fee to reflect three key factors: 

1. Team size (larger teams = lower per-head fee) 
2. Office location tier (Metro, Tier 1, Tier 2 & below) 
3. Work arrangement (Work from Office vs Work from Home)

Additional Considerations

Work-from-Home/Hybrid Option 

The management fee varies based on the work arrangement of the employee: 

• Work-from-Home (WFH) Employees: A reduced management fee is applicable. The specific rate depends on the total team size. 
• Hybrid Employees: The standard, full management fee applies. 

Note on Fee Calculation: 

• The team size for determining applicable slabs includes all employees, regardless of whether they are working from home, in a hybrid model, or from the office. 
• If an employee transitions to a full work-from-home setup during the month, the revised (reduced) management fee will be applicable starting the following month. 
• For the month in which the change occurs, the standard office-based management fee remains applicable.

Part-Time Staffing

While the Managed Offshoring Model is primarily designed to support the hiring and management of full-time staff, we understand that in certain cases, firms may require part-time resources. 

To accommodate such requests, the following management fee structure will apply: 

Important Note: 

The intent of transitioning to the Managed Offshoring Model is to build scalable, full-time offshore teams that align with your firm’s long-term growth strategy. Part-time hires are supported only in exceptional or transitional situations.

No Deposit, Termination and Notice Period:

There is no deposit required and no long-term commitment under this agreement. However, in the event that the Client wishes to terminate the agreement in full, a 2-months written notice is required. During this notice period, a pro-rated management fee equivalent to 2 months of the applicable charges shall be payable. 

This 2-months notice period shall also apply on a per-employee basis. Typically, employees are hired under terms that include a 2-months notice period. In cases where an employee’s notice period differs, whether shorter or longer, based on the mutually agreed employment terms between the Client and the employee, the Client shall be liable for the equivalent fees corresponding to such notice period. 

Custom Infrastructure & IT

In the event the Client requires additional infrastructure, IT resources, or customized workspace, such as dedicated manager cabins, multi-monitor setups, or any other specialized facility, such requirements shall be fulfilled subject to feasibility and shall incur additional charges on an actual cost basis. The Service Provider shall provide supporting invoices for the incurred expenses, and the same shall be charged to the Client without markup. 

Management Fee Slabs 

Once your team size crosses a defined threshold, the reduced management fee rate will apply only to the employees exceeding that threshold. Employees within the threshold slab will continue to be billed at the original slab rate. 

For example: If your team has 30 employees and the threshold slab is 25: 

• The first 25 employees will be charged at the standard rate applicable to that slab (e.g., $899/month for metro locations). 
• The next 5 employees (i.e., employees 26 to 30) will be billed at the reduced rate for the next slab (e.g., $849/month for metro locations).

This tiered pricing ensures fairness and reflects economies of scale as your team grows 

Fixed Fee and Leave Policy 

The Client shall be charged a fixed monthly fee per staff member, regardless of the staff member’s leave status, subject to the terms of the applicable leave policy. The fixed fee remains payable as long as the staff member is actively employed and has not resigned and been released. In the event a staff member resigns & released or is terminated during a calendar month, the monthly fee shall be charged on a pro-rata basis up to the staff member’s final working day. 

Tax-Optimized Compensation 

MYCPE ONE designs tax-optimized salary structures that increase employee take-home pay by 10–25% while staying compliant with local tax laws. These smart structures improve retention, reduce attrition-related costs, and enhance competitiveness in the job market.

Office Location Categorisation & Future Expansion 

We maintain offices across the following cities and various countries categorized into Metro, Tier 1, Tier 2, and Below locations. This categorization is used for determining applicable fees and charges. Should we expand our operations into any additional cities in the future, the details of such expansion, along with the corresponding categorization of those locations, will be publicly announced and published on our official communication channels and webpages. These classifications will be applicable for the purpose of determining associated fees from the date of such publication. 

Existing Offshore Team Migration to MOS 

Often, clients who approach us for Managed Offshoring Services (MOS) from the beginning are sometimes already engaged with one or more outsourcing vendors. However, they typically face challenges such as: 

• Lack of unified oversight 
• Communication gaps 
• Inefficient processes due to scattered teams

To overcome these hurdles, they choose to transition entirely under our managed model. 

We assist them by: 

• Migrating existing offshore staff from other providers under our management umbrella. 
• Standardizing systems and processes to ensure better control and visibility. 
• Handling all future hiring through our platform, so they operate under a single, integrated offshoring structure.

This model offers them a more cohesive, accountable, and scalable solution to support their long-term growth. 

Leadership Time Saving

When firms attempt to manage offshoring on their own, a significant amount of onshore leadership time gets absorbed, often by partners, principals, and senior managers, handling tasks like recruitment, onboarding, training, and day-to-day oversight of offshore staff. 

The core purpose of engaging in our Managed Offshoring Services (MOS) model is to minimize this drain on internal bandwidth.

In our experience, If firms typically invest 1,000 hours annually of onshore time just to manage offshore operations under DIY model.  

Here's a breakdown of how MYCPE ONE’s Managed Offshoring Services (MOS) significantly reduces this burden: 

1. DIY Model vs MOS Model: Hidden Leadership Hours 

• In a DIY setup, leadership often handles recruitment, onboarding, training, performance reviews, and even daily check-ins. 
• This time adds up, between 1,000 to 3,000 hours/year depending on team size. 
• At an average billable rate of $200/hour, this equates to $200,000 to $600,000/year in indirect costs.

2. How MOS Saves Time & Money 

Under the MOS model, most of the heavy lifting—like hiring, onboarding, and operational oversight, is handled for you. 

This reduces your leadership’s involvement to only 200 to 600 hours/year, leading to massive cost savings.

Here’s how it looks: 

For a firm with 1–25 offshore staff, switching from DIY to our Managed Offshoring Services (MOS) saves $160,000 a year. 

For larger teams, the savings grow exponentially, up to $480,000 annually for a 76–100 member offshore team. 

Hidden Cost of Onshore Oversight

When firms try to manage offshore operations on their own, leadership ends up stretched thin, not just with time, but with mental bandwidth.  

Not having the right support or structure offshore doesn’t just cost time, it leads to: 

• Burnout at the top 
• Overdependence on expensive U.S. resources 
• Delays in scale and inefficiencies in execution 
• Long-term cost creep due to patchwork solutions 

Without dedicated expertise, things like onboarding, training, oversight, and performance reviews fall on already-busy partners and managers. Over time, this leads to inefficiencies, higher operational costs, delays in scaling, and missed opportunities. You may end up hiring expensive onshore or undertrained offshore resources to plug the gaps, hurting both quality and margins. 

Inclusion – Scope of Service Under MOS

With MYCPE ONE’s Managed Offshoring Services (MOS), you don’t just get staffing support-you get a full operational framework. From infrastructure and payroll to compliance, HR systems, learning, and engagement, we handle everything needed to run and scale your offshore team. Here’s a detailed breakdown of our scope and capabilities: 

Workspace

Your offshore team gets access to a fully equipped and secure workspace tailored to your firm’s needs. 

What’s Included: 

Talent Acquisition

We manage the full spectrum of talent sourcing, selection, and documentation, ensuring your offshore team is staffed with top-tier professionals - fully compliant, vetted, and aligned with your firm’s expectations. 

What’s Included: 

Tax Compliance & Legal 

As your Employer of Record, we handle all regulatory responsibilities so you can focus on running your firm with peace of mind. 

HR Policies & Guidelines

From payroll to engagement events, we manage your HR operations end-to-end, with customizable playbooks, automation, and team wellbeing at the core. 

Tech Platform – AI Powered HRMS 247 

Our 100+ feature platform with 15+ modules is designed to manage every stage of your offshore team’s lifecycle-from hiring to payroll, performance, and beyond. 

Learning & Development  

We offer robust training and upskilling through our tech-enabled L&D ecosystem—designed to grow your offshore team's capability from day one. 

Administration & Employee Engagement 

We offer a fully managed office environment and a culture-rich ecosystem to support productivity and team bonding. 

IT, Data Security & Compliance 

We provide a fully managed, compliant IT setup with built-in data security, remote support, and infrastructure monitoring-designed to meet U.S. accounting industry standards. 

Want to see the full breakdown of what’s covered? 

Visit our detailed blog on “What’s Included in MOS”

Regulatory Compliance

When building your offshore operations, one of the most overlooked-but critical-areas is regulatory compliance. Many firms focus on cost, hiring, and delivery-but ignore the legal responsibilities that come with managing client data across borders. 

At MYCPE ONE, we are fully compliant with all 3 regulatory requirements that every accounting firm must take care of while doing offshoring. 

• IRS Section 7216 
• FTC Safeguards Rule 
• AICPA Code of Professional Conduct

While working with independent contractors or setting up offshore teams, regulatory exposure can often go unnoticed. In our experience, more than 90% of firms are unaware of the detailed responsibilities placed on them when they begin to offshore-even when using third-party providers. That’s why we’ve made it a core part of our engagement model to ensure compliance is built into every step. 

We’ve developed a detailed due diligence documentation that outlines how our agreements, processes, IT systems, and team structures are built to protect your firm and client data-without adding complexity to your operations. 

Looking to review our compliance documents? 

We’ve compiled all of this into a password-protected Due Diligence Blog. 

Reach out to chris@my-cpe.com and we’ll be happy to share the full documentation for your internal review. 

AI-Powered HRMS 247 

When you build your offshore team under the Managed Offshoring Services (MOS) model, MYCPE ONE gives you full access to AI-Powered HRMS 247- a single, centralized HRMS and operations platform designed specifically for CPA and accounting firms managing global teams. 

It’s not just a dashboard; it’s your operational control panel. From recruitment to payroll, time tracking to learning plans, AI-Powered HRMS 247 brings all day-to-day processes under one roof. It’s built to help you reduce follow-ups, avoid manual errors, and make faster, better-informed decisions. 

Here’s what makes AI-Powered HRMS 247 different: 

A Quick Glimpse of What’s Inside

The platform includes 15+ modules with 100+ built-in features, organized across key operations

Want to explore all modules and features of AI-Powered HRMS 247? 

Option To Design Your Own Workspace

We understand that for many firms, team culture is not just built through processes - it’s also shaped by the physical environment your people work in. That’s why, under our Managed Offshoring Services (MOS) model, we offer the option to create your own branded, dedicated workspace within our infrastructure. 

This is not a default setup, but something we offer on a case-to-case basis, depending on your team size, growth roadmap, and operational preferences. 

Here’s what’s possible: 

1. Dedicated Floor or Section: You can request a designated area - such as a full floor or an isolated wing - where only your firm’s offshore staff operates. This helps create a focused, cohesive team environment. 
2. Branded Elements: We can work with you to include your firm’s branding - wall graphics, signage, screensavers, or internal posters - so your offshore team feels like a direct extension of your firm, not just a vendor setup. 
3. Controlled Access: With dedicated spaces, access can be restricted only to your staff and supervisors - ensuring privacy, enhanced data security, and a stronger cultural connection. 
4. Custom Layout: Based on your preferences, you can have input into how the space is laid out - open seating, private cabins, team pods, or collaborative zones - all built around your way of working. 
5. Enhanced Identity & Retention: Having a firm-branded environment helps with long-term retention, loyalty, and pride - your offshore staff feels like they’re “in your firm,” not just working for a partner.

Real Example: USXA(Formerly WSRP) 

USXA chose to go beyond the standard model. As they scaled their offshore team to 35+ staff and targeted 100+, they worked with us to create a fully dedicated floor, branded specifically to reflect their identity and culture. 

We helped them set up: 

• An entire floor with only USXA employees 
• Glass branding with their logo and partner names 
• Custom meeting rooms with access-controlled entry 
• Signboards and motivational visuals aligned to their U.S. HQ culture 
• Co-branded breakout zones and training rooms

Option for Direct Hiring

To ensure long-term control and continuity of your offshore team, we offer a Direct Hiring Option. This gives you the ability to directly transition employees to your payroll in the future, providing you with operational flexibility and a safeguard in case of unforeseen changes in the relationship or company structure.  

This option is available for a nominal one-time fee equivalent to 24 months of the applicable management fee. Upon payment, you will have the full right to directly hire and retain the employee on your payroll, without any further obligation to us. This ensures you maintain control of your talent while benefiting from the managed services during the engagement.

Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) Model 

 In addition to our standard Managed Offshoring Services, we also offer a Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) model for clients seeking long-term, scalable offshore operations. 

Under this model, based on a predefined understanding, we:  

We can outline this flexibility clearly in the agreement. We already have similar arrangements in place with several other clients. Usually, we charge a one-time transfer fee for you to become the Employer of Record.

Pricing & Customization 

• The fees and pricing structure for BOT are customized based on your specific requirements and location preferences. 
• This model does not follow our standard management fee structure, and a tailored quote is provided after evaluating the scope. 

That said, our current Managed Offshoring model already offers a future option for direct hiring, giving you flexibility and control without the complexity of custom infrastructure. For this reason, most clients prefer our existing model unless there is a compelling strategic need for a dedicated BOT setup. 

Local Branding

Under the MOS model, we help you build a visible, employer-branded presence in the local market. This ensures your offshore team knows who they’re working for and feels directly connected to your firm. 

Here’s how we help position you as an employer of choice: 

1. Branded Careers Page

We create a dedicated web page for your firm, hosted under our domain. This page includes your firm’s logo, mission, photos, team information, and any other branding elements you’d like to showcase. It helps you build trust and visibility with candidates. 

2. Tailored Job Listings

As part of our Managed Offshoring Services model, we help you establish a dedicated firm-branded web page and a custom job listing directly on our platform and we shall also post jobs on our handle for your firm. You can easily share these links on your social media channels to attract high-quality candidates from your local network as well. All candidates who apply through these listings will be interviewed and assessed specifically for your firm, ensuring alignment with your team’s needs and culture. This approach gives your firm a distinct hiring identity while leveraging our recruitment infrastructure

3. Exclusive Talent Pipeline

All candidate applications received through these branded job posts are directed exclusively to your firm’s dashboard. You get full control and visibility over resumes, applicant progress, and interview scheduling - ensuring that you’re building your own offshore bench. 

4. Social Media Hiring Campaigns

We also promote your hiring drives through co-branded posts across our hiring platforms and social media handles. This helps amplify your brand and attract better applicants faster. 

5. Embedded Employer Identity

From the very first touchpoint - job post to offer letter - the offshore employee feels like they’re joining your firm, which gives a better onboarding experience. 

Why MYCPE ONE as a Partner 

At MYCPE ONE, we’ve worked with 1,000+ CPA and accounting firms and have helped over 3,000 firms globally in various capacities. What we’ve learned over the years is simple: the success of your offshore journey depends less on the location and more on the partner you choose. 

Here’s why our existing clients firms are choosing to build their offshore teams with MYCPE ONE under the MOS model for their next phase of growth: 

MYCPE ONE gives you the power of creating extension of your firm in India and the Philippines team with none of the baggage-zero compliance headaches, full control, top-tier talent, and a long-term partner focused on your firm’s growth. 

Case Studies

USXA’s (formerly WSRP) Journey with Private Equity & Offshoring

WSRP partnered with private equity in 2023 to accelerate its growth through a combination of strategic acquisitions and a robust offshore strategy powered by MYCPE ONE (USXA). Together, we aligned leadership incentives, scaled global teams, and built operational muscle to support rapid expansion. 

(View Details Case Study) 

BPM’s Offshoring Journey: Scaling Smarter with Managed Offshore Services 

BPM LLP, one of the top 50 U.S. accounting firms, had an in-house offshore center in Bangalore. But to scale faster and reduce cost concentration, they transitioned to MYCPE ONE’s Managed Offshore Services (MOS). Within months, they built geo-diverse teams, gained full operational control, and eliminated compliance burdens-without opening a new entity. 

(View Details Case Study) 

Conclusion

Over the years, we’ve seen one consistent truth-offshoring works best when it’s structured around how accounting firms actually operate. 

Most firms don’t struggle with the idea of offshoring. They struggle with the execution-setting up operations, building HR policies, ensuring compliance, managing payroll, and creating a stable environment their team can grow in. That’s where delays happen. That’s where leadership time gets consumed. And that’s where MOS makes the real difference. 

We’ve built this model after working with thousands of CPA and accounting firms-firms of all sizes, across different geographies, with different needs. Every inclusion under MOS, every process we follow, every checklist we’ve created-it’s all shaped by what firms like yours have told us they need. 

So when you opt for MOS, you’re not starting from scratch. You’re starting with a framework that’s already been validated, tested, and tuned for firms like yours. 

Want to walk through how MOS would work for your setup? 

Schedule a no obligation call here

About the Author

CA Nemin Vora

Nemin Vora is a Chartered Accountant (equivalent to US CPA) and Tax Attorney, serving as the Director of Client Relations at MYCPE ONE. With over 7 years of experience working with Big 4s and public accounting firms across North America, he's the person you want to talk to when you're thinking about taking your accounting firm global. Nemin is a seasoned leader and a dynamic content creator, weaving stories and insights on tax, leadership, and life that resonate with a wide audience. This creative outlet showcases not only his depth of knowledge but also his ability to connect and inspire. He consults and speaks on various topics, including Building Remote Teams, Remote Working, Offshore Staffing, Strategic Planning, Scalability of Accounting Practice, Cloud Accounting, Practice Management, and AI in Accounting. Outside of work, Nemin is a learner at heart, an actor on the stage, and a tech enthusiast.