Why Pre-Hire Testing Matters When Hiring Offshore Accounting Talent

Hiring great people is hard — whether they sit next to you in the office or on the other side of the world. But the consequences of a bad hire are exactly the same: lost productivity, frustrated managers and owners, unhappy clients, and a drain on morale. That’s why objective pre-hire testing is not just a “nice-to-have” when you’re hiring offshore accounting staff. 

Offshore or remote hiring has become a standard part of many public accounting firms. But accessing global talent is arguably more risky than ‘in office’ hiring — and that’s where testing can play decisive role. 

1. Bad Hires Hurt 

Whether someone works in the next cubicle or thousands of kilometres away, the core issues of a wrong hire don’t change. A team member who lacks the skills you need costs time, client trust, and management attention. Offshore hires sometimes amplify these costs because they’re on different schedules, may require more systems and onboarding support, and don’t have the same informal channels for learning your firm’s expectations. 

Even beyond the raw cost of wages, the biggest cost of a bad hire is the time your on-shore seniors and managers spend compensating for performance gaps. In accounting work — especially compliance and deadline work — that cost quickly dwarfs any hourly savings from offshore wages. 

2. Remote Work Has Its Own Challenges 

We’ve all seen how fully remote work changes the expectations of how people communicate and solve problems. So offshore candidates must be comfortable: 

These aren’t technical accounting skills — they’re behavioural and cognitive ones. That’s why personality profiles and critical reasoning tests can be so valuable. They help you identify who thrives in an environment where the work isn’t constantly chaperoned, and where initiative and self-reliance are necessary. 

These kinds of traits aren’t always evident from resumes — especially when candidates come from diverse cultural or educational backgrounds. Objective testing can fill the gap. 

3. Technical Accounting Knowledge is Non-Negotiable 

Many offshore roles in accounting firms involve technically demanding compliance work: bookkeeping logic, understanding tax terms, accounting English, and process-driven thinking. Mistakes in compliance or tax preparation may be picked up in a review process – but at what cost to the firm? 

A client recently shared that after testing a sample of offshore talent, they revised their expected hire level upwards because the tests showed only higher-level candidates had the working knowledge they needed. Imagine how much frustration, rework, and lost time that decision will save them. This is exactly the kind of insight good testing provides — replacing guesswork with evidence. 

4. Salary isn’t the Biggest Cost — Performance and Fit Are 

One argument firms sometimes make against testing offshore candidates is: “Salaries are lower offshore, so it’s not worth testing.” That thinking actually misses the biggest cost. 

The wage rate is only one aspect. The much larger cost comes from: 

A well-run offshore team doesn’t just save on direct labour costs — it scales your firm’s capacity without draining your leadership’s attention. But that only happens if the team performs reliably. Pre-hire testing helps you achieve that. 

5. Objective Measurement Beats Assumptions 

One of the biggest challenges in hiring any accounting team members, as much on-shore as off-shore, is a lack of defined terminology across the industry for accounting roles.  “Senior”, “Intermediate”, “Staff Accountant” and “Bookkeeper” can all have different interpretations.   

Objective tests give you a reliable benchmark for comparisons, especially once you have a bank of test completions. They allow you to compare candidates on measurable skills.  

6. What You Should Be Testing 

Ideally, you’d be testing offshore accounting roles in: 

Using a combination of skills tests and cognitive or personality profiles gives you a rounded view of candidate fit — both technically and behaviourally.  We discussed ways to implement these tests through the hiring process here. 

Conclusion 

Hiring offshore accounting talent can be a tremendous asset to your firm — but only if the candidates you bring on board actually can do the work and thrive in a remote environment. Like every investment it’s worth doing your due diligence.