--- title: "Outsourced or In-house Accountant in Vietnam: Full Cost" description: "Salary, social insurance, software and cover for leave for an in-house accountant, against a monthly service fee. When hiring is the better choice." canonical: https://sosachsang.thenexova.cloud/en/blog/outsourced-or-in-house-accountant lang: en last-updated: 2026-10-04 --- 22/09 Company # Outsourced or in-house accountant in Vietnam: the full cost compared > Salary, social insurance, software and cover for leave for an in-house accountant, against a monthly service fee. When hiring is the better choice. Nguồn / Source: https://sosachsang.thenexova.cloud/en/blog/outsourced-or-in-house-accountant [!**Nguyễn Thị Hạnh**Chief accountant, founder](/en/team/nguyen-thi-hanh)Published 22 Sept 2026Updated 4 Oct 20266 min read ![Hands holding banknotes and a pen use a calculator next to a notebook and receipts on a wooden table](/_astro/blog-2.CXo8GGAV_Z2kFDvS.jpg) In this article 1. [What an in-house accountant really costs](#what-an-in-house-accountant-really-costs) 2. [What the outsourced route costs](#what-the-outsourced-route-costs) 3. [When hiring in-house is the better choice](#when-hiring-in-house-is-the-better-choice) 4. [What the contract should say so your records are never held back](#what-the-contract-should-say-so-your-records-are-never-held-back) 5. [Where people usually slip](#where-people-usually-slip) 6. [Sources and update](#sources-and-update) For a company under 20 people with around 80 documents a month, an outside accounting firm costs about a fifth of an in-house accountant once every cost is counted. An English-speaking in-house accountant on VND 15 million a month costs the company roughly VND 255 million a year. Our bookkeeping package for the same company, with monthly reporting in English, is about VND 49 million a year including VAT. Some companies should still hire, and we say which ones below. Founders usually compare the salary with the fee. That leaves out nearly half of what an employee costs, and it skips the question that matters most in a small team: who files the return when your only accountant is on leave in deadline week? ## What an in-house accountant really costs Assumptions: a general accountant with two to three years’ experience who can report to you in English, full time in Ho Chi Minh City, VND 15 million a month gross, social insurance paid on the full salary. The salary is an assumption for the sum; put in your own figure. | Item | How it is calculated | Per year (VND) | | -------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------- | | Salary, 12 months | 15 million x 12 | 180,000,000 | | 13th-month salary | Customary, not mandatory | 15,000,000 | | Employer social, health and unemployment insurance | 21.5% x 15 million x 12 | 38,700,000 | | Trade union fee | 2% of the insured payroll | 3,600,000 | | Accounting software | Annual licence, estimate | 3,000,000 to 8,000,000 | | Laptop, desk, workspace | Depreciation, estimate | about 6,000,000 | | Cover during leave | Two months of outside help a year, estimate | about 6,000,000 | | **Total** | | **about 252 to 257 million, or VND 21 million a month** | The employer’s 21.5% breaks down as 14% retirement and survivorship, 3% sickness and maternity, 0.5% occupational accident and disease, 3% health insurance and 1% unemployment insurance. The employee pays their own share out of the gross salary. Insured salary cannot be below the regional minimum wage, which in Ho Chi Minh City (region I) is VND 5,310,000 a month from 1 January 2026 under Decree 293/2025/NĐ-CP. Some companies insure a lower figure than the real salary. That shows up in inspections, so we do not count it that way. Three costs are left out because they are hard to price: your own time hiring and training (a new accountant usually needs two or three months to learn your business), rehiring when they leave, and the annual audit, which a foreign-owned company needs either way. Emerhub puts a small company’s audit at USD 1,500 to 3,000 a year. It is the same in both columns, so it does not change the comparison. ### Who files when your accountant is away Deadlines do not move for leave. Monthly returns are due on the 20th of the following month. Quarterly returns and provisional corporate income tax are due on the last day of the month after the quarter. Annual statements and finalization are due by the last day of the third month after year end, which for 2026 is 31 March 2027\. An accountant has 12 days of annual leave, gets ill, and may take six months of maternity leave. A one-accountant company either has cover arranged or accepts the risk of a late filing. The “cover” line in the table is the minimum. ## What the outsourced route costs For the same company with 10 employees, our [bookkeeping and financial statements](/en/services/bookkeeping-financial-statements) package: | Item | Per year (VND) | | -------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------ | | Fee of 3,000,000 x 12 months (up to 80 documents a month) | 36,000,000 | | Payroll for 10 staff: 5 above the included 5, at 60,000 each a month | 3,600,000 | | Monthly report in English, 500,000 a month | 6,000,000 | | VAT at 8% on the fees | 3,648,000 | | Software, workspace, cover during leave | 0, included | | Annual statements and CIT finalization | 0, included | | **Total** | **49,248,000, or about VND 4.1 million a month** | Published market rates for small-company bookkeeping in Vietnam run USD 100 to 300 a month (Emerhub). Local tax-only services start lower, from VND 400,000 a month for a company with no transactions, but they usually cover returns only, not full books or annual statements. Compare prices over a full year, including the year-end season. Try your own figures on the [fee calculator](/en/fee-calculator), or see every price on [pricing](/en/pricing). Outsourcing does not mean you do nothing. You still send bank statements and documents by the 5th, sign payment vouchers, and answer the accountant’s questions within the week. Daily office work, such as handling cash, paying suppliers and chasing customers who owe you, stays with your team. ## When hiring in-house is the better choice We tell clients to hire, or to hire alongside us, when: - **Volume is steadily above about 200 documents a month.** At that point a service fee grows with volume and a full-time person starts to make sense. - **Stock moves every day across many items.** Someone needs to reconcile inventory on site. The same goes for manufacturing with multi-stage costing. - **Money needs handling in the office every day:** cash, payment orders, invoices issued the moment goods leave. - **You have 20 or more people,** with shift work and several allowances in payroll. - **You import or export regularly,** with customs declarations and exchange differences on each shipment. Many of our clients sit in between. A junior in-house staff member handles daily entries, payments and invoices; we handle returns, the general ledger, annual statements and responsibility for deadlines. That is usually cheaper than one senior accountant and does not depend on one person. You do not have to choose once and for all. Start with a service. When volume grows, hire, and let the service move to reviewing your books and preparing the annual statements. What makes the switch painless is that every record stays in the company's name. ## What the contract should say so your records are never held back Whether you outsource or hire, the books, the e-tax account, the digital signature and the software passwords should be in the company’s name, and you, the owner, should hold a copy of every password. For a service contract, check: - **Scope and limits:** how many documents, how many employees, whether annual statements and finalization are included, and what happens above the limit. - **A named accountant:** one person, not “the accounting team”. - **Handover when you leave:** what, within how many days, at what cost. With us: every ledger, return, password and the digital signature, within five working days, free. - **Who pays a penalty caused by the firm’s mistake.** In our contract, our mistake means we pay. - **A fixed price for the year,** with no “finalization season” surcharge. For an in-house accountant, write it into the employment contract or internal rules: documents and passwords belong to the company and are handed over in full before the last day. Employees give notice before leaving (usually 30 or 45 days depending on the contract type). Use that time for handover, not the final afternoon. How we collect documents, report each month and hand over is set out on our [how we work](/en/how-we-work) page. ## Where people usually slip **Comparing salary with the fee.** As above, VND 15 million in salary becomes about VND 21 million a month. **The accountant leaves and takes the passwords.** An electrical supplies distributor in Gò Vấp came to us after its accountant left and nobody knew the e-tax password. Recovering it took three weeks and one return was late. **Hiring the cheapest service and finding out in March that annual statements are extra.** A VND 500,000 monthly package is usually returns only. Statements are priced separately, at the point where you have no time to negotiate. **Outsourcing, then sending documents once a quarter.** No accountant can keep books without the documents. Late books mean late monthly reports, and you lose the most useful part of the service. **Assuming an outside firm can also audit.** A foreign-owned company needs an independent auditor. We do not audit books we prepared; we work with the auditor you appoint. To have both columns redone with your company’s numbers, [book a free 30-minute call](/en/book-a-call). If the company does not exist yet, our article on [company setup costs in 2026](/en/blog/company-setup-cost-vietnam-2026) counts every cost up to the first tax month. ## Sources and update Checked on 4 October 2026. - Employer insurance contributions of 21.5% in 2026: MISA AMIS summary of the Social Insurance Law 2024, Health Insurance Law and Employment Law. - Region I minimum wage of VND 5,310,000 a month from 1 January 2026: Decree 293/2025/NĐ-CP. - Monthly, quarterly and annual deadlines: Tax Administration Law 108/2025/QH15; Decree 252/2026/NĐ-CP. - Market prices and audit range: Emerhub and AZTAX price lists, read in October 2026. - Salary, software, depreciation and cover costs are assumptions for illustration, not official figures. NG ## Sources checked 1. [MISA AMIS: employer social insurance contribution rates in 2026](https://amis.misa.vn/?p=292831) 2. [Thư Viện Pháp Luật: regional minimum wage 2026 under Decree 293/2025/NĐ-CP](https://thuvienphapluat.vn/ma-so-thue/phap-luat-thue/muc-luong-toi-thieu-vung-dong-bao-hiem-xa-hoi-2026-moi-nhat-865771-214675.html) 3. [Emerhub: Cost of company registration in Vietnam, ongoing compliance costs](https://emerhub.com/vietnam/cost-company-registration-vietnam/) 4. [AZTAX: 2026 tax accounting price list](https://aztax.com.vn/dich-vu-ke-toan-thue/) 5. [KPMG: Decree 252 on tax administration](https://kpmg.com/vn/en/insights/2026/07/decree-252-on-tax-administration.html) Checked on 4 Oct 2026\. Tax rules change often; ask an accountant about your own case before acting on this. TG ## Written by ![Portrait of a Vietnamese woman in a white blouse sitting and smiling against a grey background](/_astro/team-1.DkQRmEiV_1wrpP9.jpg) Nguyễn Thị Hạnh, Chief accountant, founder Eighteen years in accounting, six of them at an audit firm before opening the office in 2014\. Signs off every financial statement before it is filed. [Profile and other articles](/en/team/nguyen-thi-hanh) LQ ## Read next 25/09 Tax [CIT finalization and financial statements for 2026: due 31 March 2027](/en/blog/vietnam-cit-finalization-financial-statements-2026) 18/08 Company [Opening a company in Vietnam as a foreigner: real costs in 2026](/en/blog/company-setup-cost-vietnam-2026) 12/08 Tax [Quarterly provisional CIT in 2026: the new deadline and the 80% rule](/en/blog/vietnam-provisional-cit-2026) DV ## Want someone to handle this? [Bookkeeping: price and what is included](/en/services/bookkeeping-financial-statements)[Ask an accountant, free](/en/book-a-call)[More on company](/en/blog/topic/company)