Frequently Asked Questions

Accountably helps US firms hire top-tier accounting talent from India through full-service recruitment and staffing.

We connect firms across all industries with high-performing professionals in tax, accounting, CAS, and payroll.

We're a white-glove recruiting partner for firms building permanent teams where people stick around, contribute expertise, and help your firm win.

We handle everything from sourcing to vetting to payroll and compliance, so hiring is made simple on your side.

Besides dedicated offshore staffing, we offer white-label delivery teams, build-operate-transfer, and tax and accounting services.

Accountably places professionals in India across multiple accounting and tax functions. If an accounting or tax role can be performed remotely, we can help you fill it with A-players in India.

Here are some examples of the roles we can fill:

• Tax: Tax preparers, tax reviewers, business and nonprofit tax preparers, SALT specialists
• Accounting & Bookkeeping: Staff accountants, bookkeepers, accounting assistants, QuickBooks and Xero accountants, CAS specialists
• AP, AR & Payroll: AP/AR specialists, payroll specialists
• Finance & Management: Financial analysts, accounting managers, finance managers, virtual CFOs, controllers

Start with 1-3 hires and add more as trust builds. Your dedicated recruiter becomes an expert in your firm's culture and hiring patterns, making each subsequent hire faster and more effective.

Accountably helps you add people to your own team. Your hire works inside your workflow, in your software, on your SOPs, and on your clients' files.

Many outsourcing vendors run a plug-and-play model: they match a resume to a job description, hand over the work, and leave the training to you.

We start from how your firm works: how you review, what your deadlines are, and what "done" looks like to your partners. Then we recruit and train to it.

Outsourcing and offshore both describe what we do. Your firm hands work to an outside partner, and the trained team sits in India. With a dedicated hire, the work runs inside your workflow, and the signature, the opinion, and the final judgment stay with your firm.

Accountably specializes exclusively in sourcing accounting and tax talent in India, which means deeper market knowledge and faster results. Traditional recruiting agencies typically focus on local US hiring and treat international placement as an add-on service.

Accountably's recruiters live and work in India, understand which firms and universities produce top talent, and have established networks across the region.

This specialization means your first shortlist usually arrives within 3-5 days instead of weeks, with higher quality matches because Accountably's team knows the nuances of regional credentials, cultural fit, and communication styles that US-focused agencies miss.

Accountably is a full-service recruiting partner, not a platform where you search through profiles yourself. You work with a dedicated recruiter who learns your firm and doesn't stop until they find you the perfect match.

Unlike most platforms, we're not limited by a database. We don't just send you whoever's available. Our recruiters source until we find people who fit your exact requirements.

Your first shortlist usually arrives within 3-5 days.

The biggest difference from other companies? We'll tell you who not to hire. If red flags emerge, we advise against moving forward, even when it means starting over.

No, Accountably works with firms of all sizes hiring talent in India, from solo practitioners and EAs to mid-size firms.

We qualify firms by whether they have consistent work to hand over, not by revenue. That might be a seasonal stack of 1040s or year-round close and reconciliations.

Whether you're making your first offshore hire from India or adding your tenth hire with Accountably, we have the expertise to support you. One solo EA doubled her client base with a single dedicated preparer and took her first April vacation in 12 years.

Yes. And this is where Accountably's value really compounds. Accountably helps firms scale from single hires to complete teams in India.

Start with 1-3 hires and add more as trust builds. Accountably can handle parallel searches across different functions simultaneously, or sequential hiring as your headcount needs evolve.

Take one regional CPA firm, for example. They started with two or three dedicated seats and scaled to 12 placements through Accountably, with 3x return volume and zero in-house hires.

Yes, Accountably complements internal recruiting teams rather than replacing them.

Here's how it typically works: Internal recruiters focus on US-based hiring where their local market knowledge adds the most value. Accountably handles placements in India where our specialized expertise, established networks, and regional salary knowledge deliver speed and quality that's difficult for internal teams to match.

This division of labor makes sense. Building expertise in hiring in India from scratch (learning which universities produce strong talent, understanding regional salary expectations, and establishing sourcing networks across the country) takes years.

Accountably's recruiters live and work in India. That specialization translates to faster placements with better outcomes.

Accountably also helps when internal teams are at capacity or need to fill roles quickly without pulling resources from other priorities. You're not choosing between Accountably and your internal team. You're giving your team a force multiplier.

Yes, Accountably has detailed case studies showing exactly how firms have successfully built teams with talent in India, including specific metrics on return volume, cost savings, and review time. Client names are withheld under confidentiality.

Examples include:

• A regional CPA firm scaled to 12 placements, with 3x return volume, 60% less partner review time, and ~$420K saved a year.
• A mid-size CPA firm turned around 600 returns in 12 weeks, all on time, with a white-label team.
• A tax-focused CPA firm filed 310 returns in 10 weeks and saved about 200 hours.
• A CPA firm with 8 placements cut its tax prep costs by 42%.

During your consultation, we can walk you through the results closest to your industry or role type, or you can browse our collection of case studies.

Schedule a free consultation call with our team. There's no commitment required. It's just a conversation about your hiring needs and how we can help.

The free consultation call is a straightforward conversation about your hiring needs and how Accountably works. It's not a sales pitch.

We'll spend 30 minutes understanding what role you're looking to fill, discussing Accountably's engagement models (dedicated talent, white-label delivery, or build-operate-transfer), and sharing starting rates for talent in India in your target role.

You'll learn exactly what Accountably charges, how the process works, and get clear answers to any questions you have about vetting, timelines, or working with offshore teams.

By the end of the call, you'll know whether Accountably is a fit and what your next steps would be if you want to proceed. There's no pressure and no commitment.

Yes, Accountably works alongside your in-house team.

Here's how it works: your in-house seniors handle review and client-facing work, and your offshore hires take on prep and volume. That frees partners and seniors for advisory, client relationships, and bringing in new business.

It also helps when your team is at capacity in busy season and you can't hire locally fast enough. One regional CPA firm that built its team with us cut partner review time by 60%.

The signature, the opinion, and the final judgment stay with your firm.

For a dedicated hire, Accountably offers transparent, flexible per-seat pricing, hourly or monthly, depending on the role:

• Accounting: entry-level accounting support starts around $11 an hour.
• Tax: tax-focused roles start around $14 an hour.

A full-time accounting seat comes to roughly $1,800 to $2,500 a month, and a tax seat to roughly $2,400 to $2,500. Senior reviewers and specialized tax work cost more.

Every seat includes the same screening, US tax training, and multi-layer review.

White-label work is billed per return for tax work; other work is priced by scope, agreed on your discovery call, as is build-operate-transfer pricing.

During your discovery call, we'll share starting rates for talent in India and help you understand the total cost based on the role and seniority level you need.

For a dedicated hire, interviewing is free, and you pay nothing until you hire.

You can also have a look at our pricing page to get an idea of rates.

No. Accountably has no upfront costs to start working together.

Discovery calls, kickoff sessions, candidate shortlists, and interviews are free, and you commit to nothing until you hire. A dedicated hire has a 60-day minimum.

You only pay Accountably when you decide to make a hire. See the candidates, interview them, make your decision. You're in control the entire way.

Want to test our work first? Ask about a trial task on your discovery call. If it fits, your reviewer grades the work before you commit.

A full-time seat in India costs roughly $1,800 to $2,500 a month for accounting and $2,400 to $2,500 for tax through Accountably, up to 70% less than hiring US-based professionals for equivalent roles, depending on the position, skillset, and experience level.

You can make a hire within three weeks of your kickoff call.

After your initial discovery call, we'll arrange a kickoff session with your dedicated recruiter. They'll dig deep to understand your requirements, firm culture, team dynamics, and what success looks like in your environment.

Your first shortlist usually arrives within 3-5 days of that kickoff.

You interview at your own pace, and we're there to provide any support you need to keep things moving. Once you've chosen the right person, we help finalize details and get them started quickly.

Compare that with hiring locally, where accounting graduates are at a 20-year low. With Accountably, you're saving money and time. And here's what you won't spend time on: sorting through hundreds of resumes or screening unqualified candidates. We handle all of that.

The kickoff call is a working session where Accountably builds the roadmap for your perfect hire from India. It happens after you've decided to work with Accountably and signed the agreement, and it launches your search.

Your dedicated recruiter will dig deep to understand your exact requirements, firm culture, team dynamics, and what success actually looks like in your environment.

They'll ask clarifying questions about communication style, technical requirements, growth potential, and the subtle factors that determine whether someone thrives or struggles in your firm.

We'll also discuss any deal-breakers and align on your interview process and timeline.

By the end of this call, your recruiter knows exactly what "the perfect candidate" looks like for your firm: someone who will actually thrive on your team.

Your first shortlist usually arrives within 3-5 days of this kickoff.

Yes, Accountably adapts to your existing interview process and technical assessments rather than forcing you into a standardized system.

If you have specific technical tests, case studies, or multi-round interview requirements, Accountably incorporates them into the candidate evaluation process.

Accountably's role is to handle the initial vetting and screening to ensure only qualified candidates reach your interview stages, but the final technical validation and cultural assessment happens through your own processes.

This flexibility means you maintain your hiring standards and team involvement while Accountably eliminates the sourcing and initial screening burden.

Your firm assigns the work: your hire works full-time inside your workflow, in your software and on your SOPs.

Accountably carries the recruiting, the training, the quality control, and the day-to-day people management, so the team adds capacity without adding HR work for you.

If another setup fits better, a white-label delivery team (a manager plus reviewers) can take seasonal or compliance work end to end, or we can stand up your own offshore unit through Build-Operate-Transfer and then hand it to you.

No. If your firm doesn't have documented SOPs, we build them with you during onboarding. It's part of the service.

We map how your firm works: how you review, what your deadlines are, and what "done" looks like to your partners. Then we write it down, including file naming, workpaper structure, and version control, so the work stays consistent no matter who does it.

Your hire is trained against those SOPs and runs mock returns on them before any live work.

Accountably puts every candidate through a rigorous screening process before presentation.

Every candidate goes through Accountably's vetting process, which includes:

• Skills assessment: Technical evaluation specific to the role requirements
• Experience validation: Accountably verifies work history and understands the regional job market context
• Software experience: we check every candidate's experience in your tax and accounting software, from UltraTax CS and CCH Axcess to QuickBooks and Xero
• Cultural fit: Accountably screens for alignment with US business practices, work style, and your specific firm culture
• Motivation check: Accountably rules out candidates who are just looking for short-term contracts or salary bumps
• Background checks: we run background checks, and every hire works under an NDA

You only see candidates who meet all these criteria. We filter for long-term success. Once you choose, onboarding adds training on your SOPs and mock returns before any live work.

Experienced hires start with onboarding on your software and SOPs. Newer hires first complete our 6-week US tax and accounting program. The training doesn't stop at placement.

We also build in:

• Mock returns during onboarding on your SOPs, so they practice before any live work.
• Weekly technical sessions after placement.
• Monthly IRS and regulatory-update reviews as tax law and firm software change.

Every file goes through preparer, senior, quality and final review before it reaches you.

We train to how your firm reviews and what "done" looks like to your partners.

Accountably offers a 45-day replacement guarantee on dedicated hires. If a dedicated hire doesn't work out within the first 45 days, we will find a replacement at no additional cost to you.

And if someone rolls off later, we shadow and hand over during their notice period, so your workflow never takes a hit.

We pre-vet all of our candidates for software experience and clean resumes. We run background checks. We'll do our best to find a teammate you can stay with for the long term.

No, remote workers in India don't need a visa to work for American firms. Candidates are not US-based and therefore don't need a visa/sponsorship to work.

India Standard Time is 9.5 to 13.5 hours ahead of the continental US, depending on your time zone and daylight saving.

For example, 9:00 a.m. in New York is 6:30 p.m. in India while US daylight saving time is in effect, and 7:30 p.m. the rest of the year.

Every engagement runs on agreed delivery windows. Talk to us about how working hours would be set up for your firm.

Accountably handles all payroll, benefits, contracts, and local compliance for your team in India. You get one simple monthly invoice from us.

You don't need to become an expert in Indian labor law or set up legal entities in other countries.

Accountably takes care of it. Equipment, office space, and the extras are part of our service, and your hire works from our secure workspace in Ahmedabad.

Your hire connects to your systems over a secure VPN with role-based access, and works in the software your firm already runs.

Yes, cultural alignment is one of Accountably's core screening criteria, and it's where we differentiate from platforms that just match keywords.

During the kickoff call, Accountably digs deep to understand your firm culture, values, communication style, team dynamics, and the subtle factors that determine whether someone thrives in your environment. We use this to identify professionals in India who are skilled and aligned with how your firm actually works.

The firms that get the most from offshore treat their hires like any US team member, with context, feedback, and proper onboarding. That's how one regional CPA firm grew from two or three dedicated seats to 12 placements.

That said, Accountably doesn't treat cultural fit as a box-checking exercise. We're looking for people who will actually click with your team, contribute to your culture, and make everyone around them better.

Our headquarters and team are in Ahmedabad, India, with a second office in Indore coming soon. Our registered office in the US is in Austin, Texas.

Accountably was founded by a US-licensed CPA who spent 7+ years inside US firms: PwC, then a real-estate tax practice, then a full-service firm, rising from reviewer to manager to advisory.

The person designing your offshore team has run the review cycle and felt April.

Yes, expect the same tools and platforms you'd see with US hires. Our people prepare returns in UltraTax CS, CCH Axcess, Lacerte, Drake Tax, and ProConnect Tax, keep books in QuickBooks and Xero, and work inside Karbon, TaxDome, and Suralink. During hiring, we:

• Screen explicitly for your stack (or close equivalents when tools are niche) and call out any ramp time.
• Run the assessments you already use (case studies, work samples, or your preferred testing platform), which we facilitate end-to-end.
• Prove it on your work: ask about a trial task on your discovery call. If it fits, your reviewer grades the work before you commit.
• Train on your setup: onboarding covers your firm's software and SOPs, and nobody touches live work until they know your software.

If there's a specialized system in your environment, we look for transferable skill paths. We'll highlight any gaps upfront, so you can make an informed trade-off between perfect tool match and speed to hire.

A trained backup steps in. When someone rolls off, we shadow and hand over during their notice period, so your workflow never takes a hit.

Every engagement runs on SOPs and structured workpapers, so the work stays consistent no matter who does it.

Every file goes through preparer, senior, quality and final review before it reaches you.

Underneath the review, every engagement runs on:

• SOPs and structured workpapers: standardized naming, file logic, and version control, so the work is consistent no matter who does it.
• Agreed delivery windows: predictable turnaround on every engagement.
• Workflow visibility: live tracking and progress reporting, and we keep you updated at every step.

What reaches your partner is review-ready, not a first draft. One CPA firm with 8 placements put it this way: "The quality of workpapers coming through is better than what we produced in-house."

Yes, client files are handled under SOC 2-aligned controls by background-verified staff who work under NDAs.

Access is role-based and runs over a secure VPN, files move by encrypted exchange, audit logs record activity, and nothing is stored on a personal machine.