Comparing offshore accounting providers for UK practices (2026)

In short: compare offshore accounting providers on seven things: published price, contract and notice terms, trial, security certification, who does the work, where they work, and how work is reviewed. Of the seven UK-facing providers below, two publish hourly rates, three offer a free 10-hour trial, and contract terms range from no minimum to 12 months.

Checked on 27 October 2026 against each provider’s own website. Quoted text is copied from those pages. Prices and terms change, so check the source before deciding. Providers can send corrections to [email protected] and we will update the page.

Seven things to compare

1. Published price. An hourly rate or monthly price you can see before a sales call. Without one, you cannot compare like with like.
2. Contract and notice. How long you are committed, and how much notice it takes to leave.
3. Trial. Whether you can see real work before committing, and on what terms.
4. Security certification. ISO 27001 or Cyber Essentials, if your firm, clients or insurer require it, plus a UK GDPR Article 28 contract in every case.
5. Who does the work. The qualification of the people preparing your files, and whether you get the same named people each month.
6. Where the work is done. This decides the international transfer mechanism you need for client data.
7. Review. Whether a second qualified person checks each file before it reaches you.

For the questions to put to any provider, see ten questions to ask before you sign.

What the table shows

• Few providers publish prices. EarthOne and Exuberant Global publish hourly rates. QX, Outbooks and Corient describe pricing models without figures, and AcoBloom gives an illustrative yearly estimate.
• Contract terms vary widely. QX states a 12-month contract with three months’ notice to end it early. Outbooks states a one-month minimum on pay-as-you-go. EarthOne has no 12-month contract and one month’s notice on the dedicated model.
• Free trials are common. QX, Outbooks and Exuberant Global offer around 10 hours. EarthOne does not offer a free trial; ad hoc hours have no minimum, so a first job is paid at the published rate.
• Certification is where providers differ most. QX, Outbooks and Corient state ISO 27001. EarthOne does not hold ISO 27001 or Cyber Essentials; it signs a UK GDPR Data Processing Agreement before work starts and works inside your own software with named logins.

Which kind of provider fits which practice

There is no single best provider. A fair way to choose:

• Your firm, clients or insurer require ISO 27001 or Cyber Essentials: shortlist providers that hold it, and ask to see the certificate and its scope.
• Your compliance framework needs ACCA or ICAEW members on files: check named qualifications; EarthOne’s team are Indian Chartered Accountants (ICAI), not ACCA or ICAEW.
• You want to see work free before paying: QX, Outbooks and Exuberant Global offer trials.
• You want published prices and short notice: compare rate cards directly; EarthOne’s are on the pricing page, and the cost calculator compares them with hiring.

Whichever you choose, the UK obligations are the same: a UK GDPR Article 28 contract, a valid transfer mechanism for data accessed outside the UK (ICO: international transfers), AML responsibility staying with your firm, and your PI insurer told before work starts (ICAEW: using a subcontractor).

How we checked

We read each provider’s homepage, pricing or engagement-model page and security page on 27 October 2026, and recorded only what those pages state. We did not use third-party directory estimates. EarthOne’s row comes from our own published pricing. We are one of the providers in the table, which is why every figure links to its source.