For accounting and bookkeeping practices
Capacity for
your practice.
Qualified accountants and bookkeepers in South Africa who work inside your practice, in your client files, under your review and sign-off. Xero, MYOB or QuickBooks.
A South African CA is admitted to CA ANZ by reciprocal agreement, no conversion exam. Every profile is vetted by us before you see it.
How much capacity
do you need?
Pick the role and how many people. Figures are fully loaded local cost in Sydney or Auckland against direct hire through nearhire, mid-point of the indicative band, benchmarked 2026.
Back in the practice: $0 a year
Indicative, confirmed on the call. Local figures are fully loaded (base plus super, payroll tax, leave, workers comp), benchmarked 2026. Direct hire excludes the one-off placement fee (20% of first-year base salary).
Why South Africa.
Same calibre, South African cost.
Not a cheaper version of the person you would hire locally. The same qualification, the same training ground, at South African cost.
Recognised, not converted
SAICA and CA ANZ hold a reciprocal membership agreement. A South African CA registers with CA ANZ without further education, training or examination. How the recognition works
Trained through articles
A South African CA does a degree, a postgraduate year, three years of articles at a Big 4 or mid-tier firm and two SAICA board exams. We shortlist for that training and for the years of real client work after it.
IFRS, in English, since 2005
South Africa adopted full IFRS in 2005. Training, working papers and client conversations are in English. Australian GST, BAS and super take a short handover; the accounting underneath is the same.
What it costs
Direct hire is a one-off 20% of first-year base salary. Managed hire is cost to company plus a flat monthly fee. See both models, or pick a role in the calculator for your figures.
What your practice
gets.
One capable person in your team, in your systems, taking on the work that fills your month. You keep the review chain.
Reconciliation and processing
Bank and balance-sheet reconciliations, accounts payable and receivable, coding and data entry, prepared in Xero, MYOB or QuickBooks and ready for your review.
Month-end and reporting
Month-end checklists, workpapers and management reports drafted for your accountants to review, so the deadline is not the first time anyone looks at the file.
Payroll support, supervised
Payroll processing and checks under your supervision, with pay runs approved by someone in your practice.
Accountant-level roles
Assistant accountants, management accountants, financial accountants (CA) and financial analysts when the work needs more than processing.
A shortlist that has been checked
A recorded video interview and a practical test in the tools the role uses. Vetting and reference checks happen before you see a name, on both direct hire and managed hire.
A named recruiter and a check-in
One recruiter runs the search from South Africa against your brief. Thirty days after the person starts, there is a check-in with you and them.
What stays with you: lodgement, final review and sign-off, the client relationship, and the decision on who you hire. The person extends your team's capacity. They do not carry your compliance.
How it works.
From the first call to a person working in your files.
- A 20-minute call.We confirm the brief: the work, the system you run, the hours and the market.
- A shortlist within 7 days of the call.Typically three to five candidates for a bookkeeper brief, each with a recorded video interview and a practical test already done.
- Interviews you run.You meet the people you choose from the shortlist and decide.
- Offer and start.A start date is usually 2 to 3 weeks after you choose, subject to the person's notice period. Access is agreed and documented before day one.
- A 30-day check-in.With you and the person once they start. If it is not the right fit, tell us and we work with you on next steps.
What it costs.
Two ways to hire. Both are confirmed for your role on the call.
Direct hire
A one-off 20% of the person's first-year South African base salary, paid on hire. You employ or contract the person yourself. It carries the lowest ongoing cost, and the placement fee sits outside the annual figure in the calculator above.
Managed hire
The person's cost to company plus a flat monthly fee: AUD 1,100, 1,300 or 1,500 depending on seniority (NZD 550, 850 or 1,050 for New Zealand practices). Nearhire is the employer in South Africa and handles payroll, statutory contributions, equipment and compliance. You manage the work.
Most practices start on managed hire and move to direct hire once the person is embedded. Full Australian hours are a night shift for the person and carry a shift premium of about $500 a month for a junior role and $1k to $2k for a senior one. Confirm and cost it before you rely on it. Figures are indicative; the calculator above shows them by role.
South Africa and your
working day.
South Africa has no daylight saving. Here is how the overlap works if the person's day starts at 06:00 in South Africa.
| Your practice | Time difference (standard / daylight saving) | Live with you from | Overlap with a 9 to 5 day |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sydney, Melbourne | 8 hours / 9 hours | 14:00 / 15:00 | 2 to 3 hours |
| Brisbane | 8 hours all year | 14:00 | 3 hours |
| Adelaide | 7.5 hours / 8.5 hours | 13:30 / 14:30 | 2.5 to 3.5 hours |
| Perth | 6 hours all year | 12:00 | 5 hours |
| Auckland | 10 hours / 11 hours | 16:00 / 17:00 | 0 to 1 hour |
The rest of their day is processing work, reconciliations and preparation, so it is ready when you start the next morning. For a Sydney practice that is the standard arrangement: the overlap is your afternoon. New Zealand overlap is thin, so NZ work suits tasks that can be prepared in advance; full local hours are a night shift for the person and carry the premium above. Daylight saving dates differ by state and country, and we confirm the schedule with you and the person.
Hiring locally,
or through Nearhire.
An honest comparison. Neither is right for every practice.
| Local hire | Through Nearhire | |
|---|---|---|
| Where they work | In your office, or hybrid | Remotely, from South Africa, in your systems through your logins |
| Hours with your team | Your hours | A shared overlap as standard. Full local hours are a night shift and carry a premium |
| Supervision | In person | Remote, under your review and sign-off, like a junior in your office |
| Cost | Fully loaded: base plus super, payroll tax, leave and workers comp | Direct hire: pay plus a one-off 20% placement fee. Managed hire: cost to company plus a flat monthly fee. The calculator above shows both against the local figure |
| Getting started | Depends on the local market and the notice period | A shortlist within 7 days of the call. A start date usually 2 to 3 weeks after you choose, subject to notice |
| Employment | You employ them | Direct hire: you employ or contract them. Managed hire: Nearhire is the employer in South Africa |
| Lodgement and sign-off | Stays with your registered agent | Stays with your registered agent. The person does not lodge |
| Best for | Client-facing work, work on client premises, a role that needs someone in the room | Reconciliation, processing, month-end preparation and payroll support that can be prepared remotely and reviewed by you |
If most of the role is face-to-face or needs real-time cover across your whole day, a local hire is the better answer. If it is capacity for work you review, the overlap model is built for that.
What’s on
your plate?
Start with the work. We’ll help you put a role around it.
Keep the numbers in good hands.
How it fits a
registered practice.
Your agents keep lodgement and sign-off. Your systems, your access controls. One more capable person in the team.
Inside your engagement, under your agent
Lodgement stays with you
The person prepares, reconciles and drafts. BAS and tax lodgement, final review and client sign-off stay with your registered BAS or tax agent, exactly as for a junior in the office.
Your logins, your controls
They work in Xero, MYOB or QuickBooks through your practice logins with role-based access and two-factor authentication. Nothing is copied to a local machine. You revoke access at any time.
The Tax Practitioners Board expects supervision of work done by others and transparency with clients about how their information is handled, including where. Most practices cover it with a line in the engagement letter and a written access policy. We set the arrangement up to fit; your compliance adviser has the last word.
Before anyone reaches your shortlist
- A named recruiter in South Africa runs the search against your brief
- A recorded video interview you can watch before you meet them
- A timed bank reconciliation case with seeded errors, marked against a rubric
- Interviews you run, with the people you choose
- A 30-day check-in with you and the person once they start
Who you get
For accountant roles: CA-qualified, trained through articles at Big 4 and mid-tier firms, with the designation CA ANZ recognises outright. For bookkeeping roles: SAIPA or SAICA-trained bookkeepers who already run Xero, MYOB or QuickBooks for multiple entities. All of them close bank and balance-sheet reconciliations, handle payroll under supervision, and pick up Australian GST, BAS and super after a short handover. IFRS curriculum, in English, with a working culture close to Australia’s.
What they are not: a registered BAS agent in Australia, or a replacement for your review chain. They extend your team’s capacity; they don’t carry your compliance.
Roles and guides
for practices.
Roles we place
Guides
What practice
owners ask.
What do accounting practices get from Nearhire?
Qualified accountants and bookkeepers in South Africa who work inside your practice, in your client files, under your review and sign-off. They reconcile accounts, process payables and receivables, prepare month-end work and support payroll in Xero, MYOB or QuickBooks. Every shortlisted candidate has done a recorded video interview and a practical test before you see a name.
How does hiring through Nearhire work?
It starts with a 20-minute call to confirm the brief. A shortlist typically arrives within 7 days of that call. You run the interviews and choose who you want. A start date is usually 2 to 3 weeks after you choose, subject to the person's notice period, and there is a 30-day check-in with you and the person once they start.
How much does it cost?
There are two ways to hire. Direct hire is a one-off placement fee of 20% of the person's first-year South African base salary, paid on hire. Managed hire is the person's cost to company plus a flat monthly fee of AUD 1,100, 1,300 or 1,500 depending on seniority (NZD 550, 850 or 1,050 for New Zealand practices). The calculator on this page shows indicative figures for each role, and we confirm them on the call.
What is the placement fee on a direct hire?
A one-off 20% of the person's first-year South African base salary, paid on hire. It is separate from the person's pay and is not part of the annual figure in the calculator.
What is the monthly fee on a managed hire?
A flat monthly amount on top of the person's cost to company, set by seniority: AUD 1,100, 1,300 or 1,500 a month (NZD 550, 850 or 1,050 for New Zealand practices). Nearhire is the employer in South Africa and handles payroll, statutory contributions, equipment and compliance, and you manage the work.
Direct hire or managed hire, which suits a practice?
Direct hire has the lowest ongoing cost: you employ or contract the person and pay the one-off placement fee. Managed hire is the simplest to run, because Nearhire is the employer in South Africa. Most practices start on managed hire and move to direct hire once the person is embedded. We settle it on the call.
What is the time difference between South Africa and Australia?
South Africa is 8 hours behind Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane on standard time, and 9 hours behind Sydney and Melbourne during daylight saving (Brisbane does not observe it). Perth is 6 hours ahead of South Africa all year. Auckland is 10 hours ahead on standard time and 11 during daylight saving.
What hours do they work, and how much overlap will we have?
A shared overlap is standard. An early start in South Africa puts the person live with you from about 14:00 Sydney time on standard time, so a Sydney practice gets roughly two to three hours of live overlap in its afternoon, and their morning is spent on processing work that is ready when you start. Auckland practices get about an hour or less depending on the season, so New Zealand work suits tasks that can be prepared in advance.
Can they work Australian business hours?
Yes, but full Australian hours are a night shift for the person, so they carry a shift premium: about $500 a month for a junior role and $1k to $2k for a senior one. Confirm and cost it before you rely on it.
Are they chartered accountants?
For accountant roles, the shortlist is CA-qualified (SAICA), trained through articles in South Africa. For bookkeeping roles you get SAIPA or SAICA-trained bookkeepers with multi-entity experience in Xero, MYOB or QuickBooks. We tell you which on every profile.
Does a South African CA count in Australia and New Zealand?
Yes. SAICA and CA ANZ have a reciprocal membership agreement: a South African CA can register with CA ANZ without further education, training or examination. So the qualification on the CV is the qualification your own staff hold.
Can they lodge BAS for our clients?
No. Lodgement, final review and sign-off stay with your registered BAS or tax agent. The person prepares and reconciles under that supervision, like a junior in your office.
Do we have to tell clients that work is done offshore?
The Tax Practitioners Board expects transparency about how client information is handled, including offshore. Most practices add a line to the engagement letter and keep a written access policy. Check the current requirement with your compliance adviser; we set the arrangement up to fit.
How is client data protected?
The person works only through your practice logins, with role-based access and two-factor authentication, in your systems. Nothing is downloaded to a local machine and you can revoke access at any time. Access is agreed and documented before day one.
Is it cheaper than hiring someone locally?
The calculator on this page shows the fully loaded local cost (base plus super, payroll tax, leave and workers comp) against direct hire through Nearhire for each role, so you can see your own difference. Cost is only one factor. Offshore suits work that can be prepared remotely under your review. It does not suit work that needs someone in the room or on your clients' premises.
What if the person is not the right fit?
Tell us and we work with you on next steps, whether that is a further shortlist or a different match.
How many people can we add?
Start with one. Practices that need more month-end capacity add a second bookkeeper or an assistant accountant on the same terms, with the same recruiter. The calculator above prices up to six.
Book a 20-minute
call.
Pick a time that suits you. Times shown in your timezone.