…and How South Africa Became a Serious Contender
In previous decades, you might have had a 4-5 man accounting team. Maybe that grew to a 20-30 person financial team that took up part of one whole floor. And now…well, the times, they are a changing. Now your team may be spread out all over the country; some may be hybrid, some may be remote.
What will the next few years bring? More companies are turning to Global Capacity Centers (GCCs) to expand talent pipelines and reduce costs. What is a GCC, you may ask?
A global capacity center, sometimes called a global capability center or shared services center, is an overseas facility set up by companies to manage certain core business operations. These centers are typically located in countries with a strong talent pool, lower labor costs, and favorable business environments that can rival the U.S. in efficiency and affordability. The idea is to consolidate essential functions such as finance, accounting, IT, HR, customer service, and procurement into a single hub that can serve the business remotely as needed.
What makes a global capacity center different from traditional outsourcing is ownership and integration. Rather than handing off operations to a third party, companies usually maintain full control of the GCC. The center functions as an extension of the organization just like a domestic office would, operating under the same systems, standards, and culture. This allows for better alignment, more consistent quality, and improved agility especially when dealing with strategic functions like financial reporting, risk management, or technology development.
GCCs are designed to deliver more than just cost savings (though those can be significant – often 30–50% compared to onshore counterparts). Many GCCs also become centers of excellence because of the diversity they employ, developing deep functional expertise and driving innovation through technology adoption like automation, AI, and advanced analytics.
In one McKinsey interview on global capacity centers, McKinsey partner Abhilash Sridharan breaks down his explanation of ideal GCC staffing.
“An ideal GCC focused on positioning itself as a talent headquarters for the enterprise can aim to follow what we call the ‘10/30/50 approach.’” Sridharan says. “What it means is 10% of the leaders for the enterprise come from the GCC, 30% of the overall employee base resides in the GCC, and 50% of the new age skills that the enterprise is building are with the GCCs.”
You may be most familiar with global capacity centers in other areas where they’ve been around for decades.
This is where the global capacity center model first made waves. For decades, companies have been using overseas customer service hubs to handle high volumes of inbound calls, tech support, and order management for far less than what it would cost domestically.
How it worked: Companies established centers in places like the Philippines, India, and South Africa, where English proficiency is reasonable.
The impact: Lower costs, longer coverage hours (even 24/7 in some cases due to the time difference).
Evolution: Many of these centers have shifted from script-reading call reps to delivering multichannel support, handling social media queries, live chat, and overall customer success functions.
GCCs also quickly became popular for replacing traditional IT help desks and support. Now, they handle everything from infrastructure support to software development, cybersecurity, and operational development.
How it worked: India, Eastern Europe, and Latin America became initial hotspots for skilled IT talent.
The impact: Companies were soon able to build full product teams offshore, complete with QA, development, testing, and support, with less cost than onshore teams.
Evolution: Today, IT GCCs have become true innovation hubs. Some now lead research and development initiatives, technology migrations, and rolling out company-wide technology solutions.
Global capacity centers have become a recent game-changer for supply chain operations, especially for global manufacturers and retailers.
How it worked: Centers were established to manage vendor relationships, track shipments, process purchase orders, and monitor inventory, all in one place.
The impact: Centralizing supply chain functions increased visibility, reduced delays, and allowed companies to respond faster to disruptions (hello, global pandemic).
Evolution: Many supply chain GCCs now use AI-driven forecasting tools and real-time dashboards to optimize logistics, reduce waste, and improve sustainability.
Hiring, onboarding, payroll, and compliance needs can multiply quickly as an organization scales, and GCCs helped fix that.
How it worked: Human Resource GCCs were established to manage recruiting pipelines, process benefits, maintain employee records, and ensure labor law compliance in various regions.
The impact: It streamlined hiring processes, reduced duplicate efforts across offices, and made global HR reporting much easier.
Evolution: Today’s HR GCCs often manage employee engagement, learning and development programs, and diversity/inclusion initiatives.
When it comes to accounting, GCCs handle a wide range of functions that keep the financial wheels turning:
In many organizations, these functions used to be scattered across regions and business units. But GCCs consolidate them, often as part of broader finance transformation initiatives. This centralization brings structure, consistency, and scale. It also allows companies to streamline technology, automate routine tasks, and deploy standardized processes across geographies.
So why are more firms moving their accounting operations to these global hubs? A few main reasons:
Factor | Global Capacity Center Value |
| Cost Savings | Lower labor costs in countries like South Africa can save up to 30–50% on finance operations. |
| Talent Availability | Access to a large pool of finance and accounting professionals in offshore locations. |
| Standardization | Enables consistent financial processes and compliance across regions. |
| 24/7 Operations | Time zone differences allow for continuous work cycles and faster turnaround. |
| Technology Leverage | GCCs often adopt automation and certain tech process systems to streamline finance functions. |
Cost Savings: Labor in regions like South Africa or India can cost 30–50% lower than in the U.S. or U.K. That kind of savings is hard to ignore.
Access to Talent: Overseas locations are home to vast pools of finance professionals, while some domestic areas can have a shortage of CPA talent. For example, India and South Africa produce tens of thousands of accountants every year, many of whom are trained in international standards like IFRS and U.S. GAAP.
Standardization: By consolidating accounting under one roof, companies can enforce consistent processes, ensure better compliance, and improve accuracy across countries.
Around-the-Clock Productivity: Thanks to time zone differences, GCCs enable 24/7 operations, if it helps the business to work that way.
Technology and Automation: GCCs are often at the frontlines of adopting new finance tech and AI-powered analytics.
While global capacity centers have had a historically strong representation in India and Asia, other regions are becoming increasingly more popular for logistical reasons.
South Africa, in particular, is gaining momentum as an accounting GCC destination thanks to its strong English proficiency, cost competitiveness, and a growing reputation for finance excellence. According to Business Tech, a recent survey of business leaders indicated that 60% now ranked South Africa as the most attractive country for offshoring. This surpassed offshoring sites of India (10%), the Philippines (10%), and Eastern Europe (19%). Key reasons for choosing South Africa according to the survey were access to skilled talent(41%) and retained earnings(39%).
So, if you’re a company thinking about expanding your finance footprint through a global capacity center, South Africa makes especially good business sense in these scenarios:
This isn’t a temporary trend. Some of the world’s most respected companies are already running key operations through global capacity centers:
A global capacity center makes the most sense when a company is looking to scale operations efficiently for less, without compromising quality. If your business is expanding across multiple regions, managing increasingly complex workflows, or struggling to recruit and retain skilled talent locally, a GCC may be an ideal solution. It’s also a smart move when speed, control, and consistency are important; unlike traditional outsourcing or contractorship, GCCs are fully owned and operated by the parent company, which means you can maintain tighter oversight, and control priorities and deadlines.
A GCC becomes especially compelling when you’re ready to modernize your operations through automation, analytics, and digital tools. Many GCCs eventually evolve into “centers of excellence” for strategic functions like these, as noted in some of the examples above.
As companies navigate regional or national talent shortages, rising operational costs, and increasing pressure to scale efficiently, global capacity centers have become an increasingly strategic option. They offer a way to employ high-quality employees, save money and maintain control over key processes. Whether it’s a financial services firm centralizing audit support or a tech company scaling up product development, the global capacity center model is reshaping how modern businesses run behind the scenes.
And among the many locations vying for attention, South Africa is rising to the forefront in accounting in particular, thanks to its talent quality, cost benefits, time zone compatibility, and deep financial expertise.
If your company is considering where to expand its finance operations, global capacity centers are a serious contender – and in many cases, the smart move.Want more information? Let’s talk more about global capacity centers and how we can help.