Building, Operating, and Transferring an Offshore Capability for a PE-Backed Accounting Platform
CASE STUDY

Building, Operating, and Transferring an Offshore Capability for a PE-Backed Accounting Platform

Client Profile

  • PE-backed accounting platform
  • Multi-entity structure following acquisitions
  • Rapid growth mandate with margin and scalability targets

Business Context

The platform was executing an acquisition-led growth strategy across multiple accounting firms. Growth placed pressure on:

  • group availability of qualified audit, tax, and accounting talent
  • directory_sync delivery consistency across acquired firms
  • bar_chart operating margins as onshore hiring costs increased

The leadership team wanted to build offshore capability but lacked the internal bandwidth to design, operate, and stabilize it at speed.

Challenge

  • No existing offshore delivery model
  • Need to scale capacity quickly in line with acquisitions
  • Requirement to retain long-term ownership and control of the offshore capability
  • Risk of quality and governance issues during rapid scale

The platform required an execution partner that could build and run the offshore operation, not just supply staff.

Solution

QX partnered with the client under a Build–Operate–Transform (BOT) model:

  • Established a dedicated offshore entity and operating setup
  • Built teams across audit, tax, accounting, and CAS
  • Set up recruitment, HR, infrastructure, IT, and compliance
  • Implemented standardized delivery pods, review structures, and governance
  • Introduced productivity tracking and automation as scale increased

QX operated the offshore capability end-to-end during the stabilization and scale phase.

Scale and Transition

  • Offshore capability scaled in phases from initial teams to 200+ FTEs
  • A clear roadmap defined to reach 300+ FTEs
  • Once delivery, leadership, and governance stabilised, ownership of the offshore entity was transferred to the client

Impact

  • altitude Enabled rapid growth without proportional onshore hiring
  • bar_chart Improved delivery consistency across acquired firms
  • directory_sync Reduced cost of delivery and improved operating margins
  • settings_b_roll Offshore capability became a core operating asset rather than a vendor setup

Key Takeaway

The BOT model allowed the client to de-risk offshore build and scale, while retaining full ownership once the capability matured.

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