Bringing the Future of Accounting Even Closer:The Trifecta Formula

At Southwestern Talent, part of our job is staying on top of the future trends and trajectory of corporate accounting, audit and payroll services. When you work with global clients and talent, you notice what’s working and what’s not working, as well as habits that are keeping firms stagnant. As such, there are a few distinct patterns we’ve seen emerge this year that are allowing early CAS adopters to achieve unprecedented levels of growth in their organization.

It’s like a secret recipe – or not so secret…we’re here to let you in on it. There are three things these organizations are taking advantage of to get to the next level. You can see benefits from one, lots of benefits from two, but the magic happens when you take advantage of all three at the same time.

“What are these three ingredients?” you say.

We’re glad you asked! Simply put, the next 18-24 months will reward firms that stop treating talent and technology as separate decisions. The winning operating model is a trifecta:

Offshore Resource Planning + Intelligent automation ➡ Growth and Profitability ➡ Cost Efficiency

Let’s break all that down.

Why the Trifecta Now?

First, CAS talent supply is dwindling and unevenly distributed. U.S. accounting graduates fell 7.8% in 2021-2022, which started a multi-year slide.

Next, global talent pools are expanding and professionalizing. This means more options, choices and scenarios than ever before. Mid-market and Big Four firms are taking advantage of remote talent in locations like South Africa, India and the Philippines to counter domestic shortages, especially in the U.S.

Global capacity centers are also maturing. A traditional GCC hotspot, India’s global capacity center market is projected to grow from $64.6 billion in 2024 to more than $100 billion by 2030, with 2,100-2,200 multinational centers and up to $2.8 million employees, in addition to rival destinations like South Africa, which is quickly rising to the top of the pack as the next talent destination of choice.

Finally, AI is moving from the pilot phases to a platform staple of many firms. Professionals expect AI to free up around 200 hours per year (12 hours per week by 2029), shifting work and expertise towards analysis and advisory.

Human capital is becoming borderless and productivity is booming. The organizations that integrate global people + global platforms + AI will set the cost and service curve for next five years.

Level 1: Global Remote Talent

Global Talent simply means hiring full-time employees or equivalent help outside the U.S., through organizations like Southwestern Talent or other offshore staffing providers.

Why it works:

1. The talent shortage is real.
2. Remote work is standard. Services like tax prep, finance operations and analytics are now regularly delivered remotely.
3. Global hiring infrastructure is strong. There is a steady growth in cross-border hiring, specially for finance and accounting roles, as companies use remove work to access scarce skills while controlling costs.  
4. The cost savings add up. Studies are beginning to show that offshoring accounting services can save up to 84%.

Where to start and what to do first:

• Take an audit of gaps and understaffing in your current CAS processes, examining seasonality, turnover and skillsets.
• Build a two-continent staffing model for recurring processes like accounts payable, reconciliations and tax prep with a provider of choice.
• Set up secure, role-based access so global teams can work safely.
• Track productivity (work completed per employee) rather than focusing only on hourly cost.

Lever 2: Global Capacity Centers

Global capacity centers are company-run hubs that handle finance and accounting functions in overseas, lower-cost locations.

Why it works:

1. Offshoring at scale lowers cost even further than isolated remote talent. Offshoring market reports show cost savings from offshoring can range from 20% to 60%depending on the function, location and scale.
2. The shared services model is expanding. According to one Deloitte global survey, 57% of respondents said they expanded current global centers, increased outsourcing and/or opened new centers since the beginning of the 2020s.
3. GCC talent hubs are growing. According to SSON Research & Analytics, there are about 8,000 captive centers and over 3,000 outsourced shared services centers globally.

Where to start and what to do first:

• Consider what location might be the most advantageous for long-term investment.
• Allow centers to become “centers of excellence” and manage processes end-to-end instead of splitting by function.
• Design centers with automation built in from the start (spoiler alert on Lever #3)

Lever 3: AI to Boost Efficiency and Further Cut Overhead

AI has officially moved out of its experimental phase and is quickly becoming part of the mainstream. Look for drastic adoption gains year-over-year in the industry for the indefinite future. Adoption is shifting from small tools to large platforms.   

Why it works:

Organizations who have embraced AI are noticing a multitude of benefits, including:

• Up to 70% time savings on manual tasks
• 5x faster review cycles (audits/tax prep)
• Increases in client capacity of up to 2-3x

What to do first:

• Audit your organization for AI-readiness, identifying inefficient or time-consuming processes
• Audit current workflows for where AI tools might help daily routines
• Pilot AI in a few controlled areas that have the highest potential for ROI or time-savings and build from there

The final step AI integration where it is not just embedded into workflows, but integrated with core systems, using agentic AI to permanently relieve human talent of time-consuming tasks, freeing them up for strategic analyzation and deeper client interactions.

How the Three Levers Reinforce Each Other

These three levers work in tandem to deliver the trifecta results:

Global talent + capacity centers = exponential growth and profitability.

Global Capacity centers + AI = scale without costs.

The result is cost efficiency, which allows businesses to achieve any number of CAS goals and further accelerates future vision.

If we look back at our original formula, you can see that is all starts with offshore resource planning:

Offshore Resource Planning + Intelligent automation à Growth and Profitability à Cost Efficiency

Pulling The First Lever

Global workforce planning is no longer just about saving money – it’s about building smarter, stronger, and more resilient teams. Hiring internationally for CAS services can cut your labor costs dramatically while still providing highly skilled professionals with U.S. tax and GAAP knowledge. Beyond cost, the right time zones, like those in South Africa, allow firms to gain overnight progress and avoid the long communication lags of more distant markets. On top of that, global professionals bring valuable expertise in areas such as IFRS, payroll, and compliance that can be hard to find locally in certain areas.

Getting started with offshore talent doesn’t have be daunting. Whether it’s your first time or you’re looking for a new solution for your offshoring, At Southwestern Talent, we make it easy – contact us today for a free consultation to see if our remote talent services are right for you. We’ll be glad to assess your needs and give you an honest answer on whether or not our remote talent is a good fit for your organization.