Guide · Outsourced vs In-House
Hiring a full-time in-house accountant sounds like control — until you add up salary, benefits, software, training, and the risk of a single point of failure. For most construction and small-business owners in Washington, an outsourced accounting team delivers higher-quality work at a fraction of the cost.
Who this is for: Owners of construction, real estate, and small businesses ($500K–$25M revenue) deciding between hiring an in-house bookkeeper/accountant and outsourcing.
A mid-level in-house accountant in the Seattle/Tacoma market runs $70K–$95K salary, plus 25–30% in payroll taxes, benefits, PTO, workers' comp, and software licenses. All-in that's $95K–$130K/year. Outsourced accounting for the same scope typically runs $9K–$36K/year — 3–10x cheaper for the same or better output.
An outsourced engagement gives you an accountant, a reviewer, and a controller-level second set of eyes — all built into one monthly fee. In-house, you're paying one person to do everything and hoping they're strong at all of it. They rarely are.
Outsourced firms see dozens or hundreds of construction and small-business files every month. That pattern recognition catches problems (misclassified job costs, missed sales tax, WIP errors) that a solo in-house bookkeeper — with one file to compare against — usually misses.
We stay current on QuickBooks Online, Buildertrend, Jobtread, Jobber, Gusto, Ramp, and the receipt/AP tools that plug into them. In-house staff usually get trained once and coast — you end up paying to re-platform every few years. Outsourced firms upgrade the stack as part of the service.
When your in-house accountant is on PTO, resigns, or gets sick, month-end stops. An outsourced team has coverage, documented workflows, and no key-person risk — your books close on schedule regardless of who's out.
Adding a second job site, a new entity, or a payroll doubles the workload — but not the outsourced fee proportionally. In-house means either overloading one person or hiring another $95K seat. Outsourced scales in increments, not in whole hires.
A single in-house bookkeeper with access to bank, payroll, and AP is a fraud risk — that's a textbook internal-controls red flag. An outsourced firm separates duties across staff, reducing both fraud risk and honest-mistake risk.
Interactive estimator
Rough guidance — not a quote. Nothing you enter is submitted anywhere; the math runs in your browser.
Adds Projects, items, and WIP-ready complexity.
WIP schedules, lender packages, cash-flow forecasting.
Estimated tier
Core
Outsourced monthly range
$1,150 – $1,500
All-in monthly fee for the tier above.
Comparable in-house cost
$9,800 – $11,300 / month
Loaded cost of an in-house hire (salary × 1.28 + software).
Est. monthly savings
$8,300 – $10,150
vs. hiring in-house at comparable scope.
Disclaimer: This is a directional planning tool, not a binding quote. Every business is different — cleanup work, multiple entities, software integrations, and special reporting needs can change the final monthly fee. For an exact price, book a consultation.
Estimator ranges are directional. Final pricing depends on cleanup state, number of entities, and integrations. For a firm quote, book a consultation.
Fully-loaded costs for a mid-level in-house accountant in the Seattle/Tacoma market compared to a monthly outsourced engagement of equivalent scope.
| Dimension | In-house hire | Outsourced |
|---|---|---|
| Annual cost (all-in) | $95,000 – $130,000 | $9,000 – $36,000 |
| What that includes | Salary + 25–30% payroll taxes, benefits, PTO, workers' comp, software | Monthly close, reconciliation, sales tax, payroll oversight, reporting |
| Team depth | One person doing everything | Accountant + reviewer + controller-level oversight |
| Specialization | Generalist — one file to learn from | Sees dozens of construction & small-business books monthly |
| Technology & tools | You pay per license; training is on you | QBO, Buildertrend, Jobtread, Gusto, Ramp included and maintained |
| Coverage when someone is out | Month-end stops during PTO, illness, or turnover | Cross-trained team — no key-person risk |
| Internal controls | One person with all access = fraud risk | Separation of duties built in |
| Scales with growth | Hire another $95K seat | Move up a tier, no hiring cycle |
| Time to productive | 3–6 months hiring + ramp | 2–4 weeks onboarding |
Outsourced accounting scales in tiers — you buy the level of oversight your business actually needs, and move up as you grow.
$750 – $1,250 / month
Small contractors and service businesses under ~$1.5M revenue.
$1,500 – $2,500 / month
Growing construction firms and multi-entity small businesses $1.5M–$5M.
$2,750 – $4,500+ / month
Contractors, remodelers, and developers $5M–$25M needing controller-level oversight.
We configure QBO for construction and real estate every week. Book a consultation and we'll get it right the first time.
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(253) 367-3672