How to manage remote staff when right-shoring accounting work

Right-shoring is a powerful way for accounting firms leverage all available staff and expertise. As part of this approach, it’s essential to properly collaborate with your remote colleagues, including third parties.

However, there is a real art to this – as well as some legal obligations. So, what does best practice look like?

First, a quick overview of right-shoring

When you right-shore work in your accounting firm, you typically have a mix of office-based staff and others working remotely for you, controlled to some degree by you, or a third party.

If you want some definitions, click here for our earlier blog.

In our guide, we said that:

• In‑house teams could help with high‑value advisory work
• Nearshoring was good for tasks requiring collaboration at lower cost
• Offshoring was for scalable routine processes
• Outsourcing was for repetitive or niche tasks like bookkeeping, tax returns, and payroll

It’s also fair to say that, if you have problems with recruiting, you might want to consider hybrid, remote or flexible working to attract staff. You might still consider them “in-house”, but they would not necessarily be in the office.

We have much more about right-shoring in our guide, but the important thing is that you work well with these staff, wherever they are.

How to work with remote employees

Let’s begin with staff that you consider part of the core team, or staff that are under your direct control. When you add these staff, you need to make sure they know what the arrangements are. This includes adding clarity for hybrid workers: will they know which days they need to be in the office?

It’s easy to assume that people working remotely are happy, as it’s considered a perk in many jobs. However, isolation can become a real issue. To combat this, check that they feel included and have regular check-ins.

How accounting firms can work effectively with third-party, external organisations (such as freelancers, agencies and outsourcing providers)

Remember that third parties are an extension of your firm. They must be treated with the same seriousness as direct employees. A background check needs to be integral to building a right-shoring network, and this goes double for sensitive professions like accounting.

Performance also plays a part. Make sure that the new third-party additions are up to the task. Consider giving them smaller pieces of work before they take up anything bigger or more complex

Next, you need a set of robust controls.

What are the right safeguarding controls for external providers?

What controls should be at the top of your list when right-shoring? Here are a few things to remember:

1. You are responsible for data protection

Even when outsourcing work, as a UK accounting firm, you are the “data controller”. That means you have responsibility for a client’s data security as well as their privacy. GDPR applies.

2. You must put processor contracts in place

It’s important to ensure that each outsourcing agreement follows a written contract that meets Article 28 of UK GDPR. This contract needs to have very clear role definitions and say who is responsible for what. If there is a breach, then everyone must already know their obligations, and there must be lists of subprocessors.

If you need a good reference point, then the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has a controller-processor contract checklist.

3. Your firm must be aware of international data transfers

Some countries do not have an “adequacy” decision, and you need to be mindful of this when right-shoring. Firms in these regions need to use the ICO’s International Data Transfer Agreement (IDTA) and conduct Transfer Risk Assessments (TRA). Again, the ICO can help, with guidance available on international transfers.

What is the ideal arrangement?

Ideally, your outsourcing services should use data that is hosted in the UK. Such a controlled environment can be set up pain-free – for instance, IRIS Centre of Excellence – India can issue free virtual desktop licenses to existing hosting customers when they also choose our outsourcing services. That saves firms thousands each year on purchasing additional hosting licences.

4. Carry out due diligence against hacking

There are 12 supply chain principles and steps for assessing suppliers that have been set out by The National Cyber Security Centre. It’s important that firms ask for security certificates (ISO 27001, SOC 2), carry out vulnerability scans, and run through incident scenarios with suppliers.

5. Keep important evidence trails

When you outsource, you still have to follow the same tax and anti-money laundering (AML) obligations as well as other sector-specific rules. As such, firms need to conduct Data Protection Impact Assessments, keep evidence trails, and document lawful bases for processing.

6. Manage third-party risks

Both the Financial Conduct Authority and The Prudential Regulation Authority say firms must manage third-party risks. These risks include:

• operational resilience
• business continuity
• exit planning

Your contracts need to allow for monitoring, audit access, and smooth transitions at contract end. Remember, it’s essential to communicate to clients how data is handled, and this is especially true when work is shared with a third party.

How do you communicate business and work objectives to every team when right-shoring?

Making sure everyone is working from the same playbook is a priority. As such, your firm’s objectives should be properly shared with every team. This includes any remote employees as well as contractors.

Consider the following core areas:

• Saving money
• Providing a competitive service
• Speed
• Happy customers
• Being compliant
• Growth

Finally, we must consider: what systems can help us implement our right-shoring plan?

Good right-shoring practices need great practice management and compliance tools

A good practice management system provides the tools and oversight needed for seamless collaboration, compliance, and efficiency.

IRIS Practice Management provides a single, secure platform for client data, documents, and workflows. Managers can assign tasks based on expertise and availability, track live progress, and watch KPIs.

When it comes to compliance, IRIS Cloud Accountancy Suite simplifies the whole client journey with powerful automation – combining accounts production, tax compliance, and client communication into one cloud-based platform.

People power: how IRIS Outsourcing makes all the difference

IRIS Outsourcing offers scalable, secure, and cost-effective support for accountancy and bookkeeping firms. Services include:

• Statutory accounts – Year-end accounts preparation.
• MTD services – Including quarterly updates.
• Bookkeeping – Ledger processing, reconciliations, and VAT returns.
• Payroll – End-to-end payroll management with compliance assurance.
• Personal tax returns – Seasonal support to ease internal workloads.
• iXBRL tagging – HMRC-compliant tagging for annual accounts.
• Audit support – Flexible audit resourcing to overcome staffing gaps.