Start with the work, not the job title
Write down every recurring task: purchase and sales processing, payment runs, payroll, reconciliations, VAT and CIS where relevant, management accounts, cash forecasting, systems, and year-end support. Add the deadlines and who approves each output. A single finance manager might be strong at reporting but have little time for daily processing; a bookkeeper may keep records tidy without being the right person to build a forecast. The comparison only becomes useful when both options are priced against the same work.
What does an in-house team really cost?
Salary is only the starting line. Budget for employer National Insurance, pension contributions where applicable, paid leave, recruitment, training, software, management time and cover during absence. For a fair comparison, calculate the cost of the complete team you would need rather than the cost of one person asked to do several jobs. Rates and entitlements change, so use current official guidance and your own payroll assumptions rather than a generic online saving percentage.
What does the outsourced fee really include?
A provider may include routine processing but price onboarding, catch-up work, software, migrations or extra reporting separately. Ask what happens when payroll inputs arrive late, the month end is unusually heavy, a staff member is away or the business adds an entity. Establish the named contacts, response expectations, review process and exit handover. A low monthly fee is poor value if your team still has to chase, fix and explain the numbers.
Compare capacity and continuity as well as availability
An in-house colleague can be on site, know the daily operation intimately and answer urgent questions in the moment. An outsourced team can offer a wider range of skills and cover across the recurring finance cycle. Neither advantage is automatic: a provider still needs to learn your business, document the work and give you dependable contact. Ask each option how critical tasks continue through holiday, sickness and peaks.
Where Kept can be stronger than one hire
The advantage is the combination. Kept can connect the invoice and payment work to the close, the close to management reporting, and reporting to the next cash decision. The work does not have to depend on one person being equally strong at administration, checks, payroll, systems and analysis. Capacity can be arranged around the busiest points of the month. This is a comparison with one stretched role, not a claim that Kept is automatically better than every well-resourced internal department.
The mixed model is often the useful answer
You may keep an in-house finance assistant or manager who knows the business and use Kept for the close, payroll, reporting, cash planning or systems work. Another business may want Kept to run the whole function. Choose the model that puts a name against every task and gives management information they can act on. The best answer can change as the business grows.
Illustrative comparison: a business needs daily invoice and supplier work, a monthly payroll, a reliable close and a cash forecast. One candidate can run the routine work but would need specialist support for reporting and systems. Before comparing that salary with a Kept fee, include the specialist support, employer costs, software and cover in the in-house option; include setup, exclusions and the internal approval time in the outsourced option.
What to check
- List the tasks, deadlines and expected outputs both options must cover
- Calculate the full employment cost of the roles required
- Ask what the outsourced fee includes, excludes and charges for separately
- Check named contacts, continuity, access, approvals and handover
- Decide whether a full outsourced team, in-house hire or blended model fits the work
Where to start
Put the same work and standards in front of both options. The comparison is then about the finance function your business will actually have, not a headline salary against a headline fee.
Sources for employment cost factors: GOV.UK: Employer National Insurance rates; GOV.UK: Workplace pension duties; GOV.UK: Holiday pay and entitlement. Check current rates and your circumstances before calculating costs.