There is no single right answer, but the question can be broken into three more specific ones.

One: what do you actually need now

If the need is “keep the books properly, file the taxes, avoid trouble”, a mature outsourcing service is entirely sufficient and cheaper. If the need has shifted to “which product makes money, which customer is losing, how many months of runway are left”, then someone has to do management accounting — statutory books alone will not answer it.

Two: how complex has the business become

• Multiple entities, multiple bank accounts, exports or cross-border receipts;
• Inventory, production processes, or project-based costing;
• A need for internal approvals, budgeting and cash planning.

With two or more of these, external bookkeeping alone is usually not enough — not for lack of capability, but for lack of access: an outside accountant cannot see your daily purchasing, quoting and delivery.

Three: who carries the compliance responsibility

Who is accountable if the books are wrong is a question many owners overlook. With an in-house accountant, responsibility sits with the company; with an outsourced service, the boundary is written into the agreement. Our approach is compliance first, optimisation second — with both clearly documented.

The more realistic option: dual track

Many growing firms end up with a dual track — one in-house accountant for business liaison and internal management, plus an external team for filing and review. You keep both the business perspective and independent review, at a fraction of the cost of a full in-house finance team. Our Shared CFO bookkeeping and management-accounting tiers are designed exactly around that logic.