Independent offshoring consultant for finance, customer service and back-office work
Offshoring consultant or offshoring provider: why independence matters
Offshore providers give free advice because it leads to a contract with them. Their assessment of what can move, and where, is shaped by what they sell and where they have seats. An independent adviser has no stake in which provider or location wins, so the recommendation can include moving less, automating instead, or not moving at all.
In programmes the founder has led, offshoring selected functions has reduced their cost by 30 to 50 percent[1]. That outcome depends on choosing the right work and holding the provider to service levels agreed in advance.
Functions we assess
Finance and accounting. Accounts payable, accounts receivable, bookkeeping, reconciliations and management reporting preparation. Rules-based work with clear inputs and outputs is usually the easiest to move.
Customer service. Email, chat and phone support, order handling and returns. We look at language, time zone cover and how much judgement each contact type needs before recommending a split.
Back-office administration. Data entry, order processing, HR and payroll administration, and document handling, often the first work to move once processes are written down.
Choosing a location
India. A deep, mature market for finance, accounting and technical work, with a large graduate workforce. The time zone gives a morning overlap with the UK.
The Philippines. Strong in customer service and voice work, with neutral English accents and a long history of serving UK and US customers. Overlap with UK hours is limited, so many teams work shifted hours.
South Africa. A close time zone to the UK and strong English, well suited to customer service and finance work that needs full overlap with the UK working day.
Near-shore options. Locations in Europe offer the same or similar hours, short travel and cultural closeness, and suit work that needs frequent contact with UK teams. Our guide on nearshoring vs offshoring compares the two approaches.
For a fuller comparison of time zones, language and data protection, see our guide to outsourcing to the Philippines, India or South Africa.
How the transfer is run
- Feasibility review: what to keep, what to move and what to automate, function by function
- Location and provider selection: a shortlist compared on capability, risk and total cost, with the decision yours
- Service levels and KPIs: set and baselined before go-live, so service can be compared before and after
- Transfer plan: knowledge capture, shadowing, parallel running and a clear cut-over date
- Quality gates: each stage only proceeds when the agreed quality measures are met
Outsourcing consulting and the make-or-buy decision
Before you pick a location, you have to decide whether to keep the work in-house at all. The make-or-buy decision (also called make vs buy analysis, or the outsourcing decision framework) is where most cost mistakes are made: either outsourcing what should have stayed in-house, or clinging to work that is genuinely non-core. As an outsourcing consultant, we run the decision against a repeatable framework:
- Strategic fit: is this activity core to how we win in the market, or does it just have to happen well?
- Cost comparison: fully-loaded in-house cost against realistic outsourced cost, including transition and governance
- Risk and control: what is the cost of the process going wrong, and who bears it after the move?
- Scale sensitivity: does the cost per unit fall faster in-house or with a specialist partner?
- Reversibility, if the decision is wrong in two years, what does it cost to bring the work back?
The output is a defensible recommendation, make, buy, or hybrid, with the sizing, transition plan and governance model attached. It is often the first workstream on an offshoring or outsourcing consulting mandate.
Offshoring pairs well with procurement transformation and business strategy: the operating model, the location and the go-forward plan need to line up.
Offshoring decisions rest on a like-for-like cost comparison, not a headline rate. We break the price into materials, labour, overhead and margin so the negotiation is about cost drivers, not goodwill. See how we build a should-cost model.
Frequently asked questions
What does an offshoring consultant do?
An offshoring consultant works out which processes can move, to which location and to which provider, then supports the set-up so service levels, KPIs and the transfer plan are agreed before go-live. The consultant works for the client, not for a provider.
Are you an offshoring provider?
No. We are the independent adviser, not the provider. We help you choose a provider and hold it to the service levels agreed before go-live.
Which functions can be offshored?
Work that is rules-based, digital and repeatable: finance and accounting, including accounts payable and bookkeeping, customer service, and back-office administration such as data entry, order processing and HR administration. Work that depends on local judgement or face-to-face contact usually stays onshore.
What is the difference between offshoring and outsourcing?
Outsourcing means a third party does the work. Offshoring means the work is done in another country. They often go together, but a business can outsource to a UK provider, or offshore to its own team overseas.
Can a small business offshore finance work?
Yes, where the work is well defined and repeatable, such as bookkeeping or accounts payable. Smaller volumes usually suit a shared team with an established provider rather than a dedicated one, and the processes need documenting before anything moves.
Won't offshoring hurt quality?
Not when it is designed and governed properly. We build detailed KPIs, quality gates and shadowing periods into every transition. Service levels are measured before and after so any drift is caught early, and in most cases quality improves because the offshore team is dedicated to a narrower scope than the original in-house team.
How long does a typical offshore transition take?
3-6 months from decision to steady state for a mid-sized function. We can move faster where the process is well documented, or take longer where knowledge is tacit and needs to be captured before it is handed over.
Related procurement topics
Specialist areas that complement this work.
About Caventis
Caventis (Caventis Ltd, registered in England & Wales, company number 17158263) is a UK procurement, supply chain and cost reduction consultancy. It works with global businesses businesses to identify and deliver savings across procurement, operations and back-office spend, with every engagement shaped around what the client wants to achieve and results verified against the P&L.
The firm was founded by Matt Buckley, who leads every engagement personally, drawing on 16 years of procurement, supply chain and cost transformation experience at bp and General Motors. Matt holds an Executive MBA, two PG Diplomas in Senior Leadership and Finance, a Bachelor of Business in Supply Chain Management and MCIPS. Caventis is headquartered in the United Kingdom and serves clients internationally.
Discuss services offshoring
Start with a feasibility review. We act as your independent adviser, not the provider.