Australian accounting firms are still making hiring decisions in a tight market. Vacancies for general accountants, taxation accountants and external auditors remain hard to fill, and the cost of a delayed start is felt in overtime, deferred client work and partner time spent covering the gap. A side-by-side look at remote vs hybrid vs local hiring helps partners weigh cost, speed and retention before the next role is advertised.
The comparison is not about declaring a single winner. Each model solves a different capacity problem, and the right mix depends on the work, the location of the firm and how tightly the practice needs people in the same room.
What the Current Market Makes Expensive
CA ANZ’s survey of members who advertised roles from January to December 2025, prepared for Jobs and Skills Australia’s 2026 Occupation Shortage List consultation, found vacancy fill rates of 49 per cent for general accountants, 55 per cent for taxation accountants, 49 per cent for external auditors and 40 per cent for internal auditors. Jobs and Skills Australia treats a fill rate below 67 per cent as a strong signal of shortage.
Time to fill was equally telling. External auditor roles averaged 113 days. General accountant roles averaged 79 days and tax accountant roles 77 days. Finance manager vacancies were quicker, at 32 days, which underlines how uneven the pinch is across the profession. The official 2026 Occupation Shortage List is expected around October 2026, after CA ANZ recommended a national shortage rating for general accountants, taxation accountants and external auditors.
On pay, the Robert Half 2026 Australia Finance and Accounting Salary Guide puts a mid-range accountant at around $110,000 base nationally, with senior accountants clustering near $120,000 before superannuation, leave and on-costs. The superannuation guarantee sits at 12 per cent for 2025–26. Separate Robert Half hiring research found Australian employers take five weeks on average to complete a permanent hire, and 31 per cent reported processes of six weeks or more. For accounting seats that already take two to four months to fill, those weeks compound quickly.
Future Skills Organisation analysis has pointed to a deficit in accounting services of around 7,400 workers by FY30, while CA ANZ has cited a shortfall of around 6,000 accountants by 2030 and rising demand across accounting, audit and finance roles through the late 2020s. Those figures do not tell a firm which hiring model to use. They do explain why a poorly scoped search is now a capacity decision, not only a recruitment task.
A Practical Framework for Remote vs Hybrid vs Local Hiring
Partners can review the three models against the same four tests: total cost to seat, speed to productive capacity, retention risk, and the supervision the work actually needs. The topic-specific question is not which label sounds modern. It is which combination keeps lodgements, reviews and client timelines intact without locking the firm into a cost structure it cannot sustain.
Cost
Local hiring carries the full Australian employment stack: base salary, 12 per cent superannuation, leave, workers compensation, recruitment fees and office space. In Sydney and Perth, Robert Half’s 2026 city figures sit above the national median, so metro practices feel the premium first. Hybrid hiring rarely reduces the employment cost of an Australian employee. It can reduce desk demand and slightly widen the candidate pool to people who will commute only on set days.
Fully remote Australian hiring can cut some occupancy cost and reach regional candidates who will not relocate. It does not remove award, superannuation or Fair Work obligations. Where the work is process-heavy compliance rather than client-facing review, some firms also compare a dedicated remote capacity model outside the local labour market, because the salary gap is material once on-costs are included. That comparison belongs in the cost column, not as a substitute for onshore judgement roles.
Speed
Local searches in shortage occupations often run to the 77–113 day ranges reported by CA ANZ. Hybrid postings can shorten that window when flexibility is stated clearly in the advertisement, because Hays’ 2025 skills research found flexible working at the top of what candidates value. Fully remote Australian roles expand geography, which can help when the bottleneck is a thin local list rather than the nature of the work.
Speed still depends on how ready the firm is to onboard. A remote or hybrid start that lacks documented workflows, file naming rules and review points simply moves the delay from recruitment into the first six weeks of employment. Firms that already run cloud files, structured workpapers and scheduled check-ins convert new capacity faster, regardless of where the person sits.
Retention
CA ANZ’s 2025 remuneration survey of more than 4,100 members found that fair pay still matters, yet work-life balance, manageable workloads and working from home now sit among the benefits people treat as essential. Around one third of respondents placed work-life balance ahead of a fair salary. Robert Half’s employer research has also listed a lack of remote or hybrid options among the barriers hiring managers report.
Local-only roles can still retain people who want proximity, mentoring and a clear path to client contact. They lose candidates who will not accept a five-day commute. Hybrid arrangements often sit in the middle: they keep enough in-person time for training juniors and reviewing complex files, while meeting the flexibility many accountants now expect. Fully remote Australian roles can retain people who would otherwise leave the profession or leave the city, provided isolation and uneven workloads are managed rather than ignored.
Retention is not only a location policy. CA ANZ members have repeatedly linked shortages to burnout, regulatory load and competition from industry. A hybrid timetable that still dumps peak-season hours onto the same small team will not hold people. The model has to change the volume of work each person carries, not only the days they appear in the office.
Supervision, Culture and Fit
Local hiring remains the simplest model when the role is junior, the file work is judgement-heavy, or the firm is still building its review discipline. Hybrid hiring works when collaboration days are fixed, not optional, and when managers schedule reviews instead of relying on corridor conversations. Remote hiring needs written standards, visible work-in-progress and a single source of truth in the practice system.
The Australian HR Institute’s 2025 hybrid and flexible working research found that most organisations planned to maintain or increase hybrid arrangements, and a larger share reported a positive productivity effect than a negative one. That result is useful context, not a guarantee. Accounting files still need a named reviewer, a deadline and a quality check. Location does not replace that structure.
How to Use the Framework on the Next Role
Start with the work, not the vacancy title. Split the seat into client contact, technical review, and repeatable compliance. Roles that are mostly lodgement, workpaper preparation and checklist-driven tax or BAS support can often be designed as hybrid or remote. Roles that turn on partner judgement, difficult client conversations or on-the-job training of graduates usually need a local or hybrid core.
Write the cost of delay beside the cost of the seat. A $110,000 accountant who starts three months late is not a saving if two seniors absorb the files and write off the extra time. Compare that delay with the extra supervision a remote start will need in month one. Then test retention: if the last two leavers cited hours and inflexibility, a local-only advertisement is likely to recycle the same problem.
- Define the minimum days in the office before the advertisement goes live, so candidates are not surprised after offer stage.
- Cost the full employment stack, including 12 per cent superannuation, leave cover and recruitment time, rather than base salary alone.
- Match review cadence to location: same-day file queries for local staff, scheduled video reviews for remote and hybrid staff.
- Treat peak season as a capacity plan, not a test of loyalty. If the model only works when everyone overworks, retention will fail first.
- Review remote vs hybrid vs local hiring once a year against actual fill times and resignation reasons, not against industry slogans.
Many practices will end with a blended bench: a local or hybrid core for review and clients, and remote capacity for volume. That is a design choice. It works when owners are explicit about who reviews what, and when they stop asking a single hiring channel to solve every shortage at once.
Capacity Solutions
Australian accounting firms looking for reliable extra capacity often prefer partners with a proven track record and clear processes. BOSS Outsourced Accounting has supplied experienced offshore accountants and bookkeepers to Australian practices since 2004. Staff receive ongoing training through the BOSS Tax Training Program™, work according to your firm’s procedures, and can be engaged on a fixed-fee basis. This gives practices a stable way to manage peak periods while keeping control of quality and workflows.
You can explore the full range of support on the outsourced accounting services page or learn more about the team on the about BOSS page.
Sources
CA ANZ submission and member vacancy survey for the 2026 Occupation Shortage List Stakeholder Survey, covering January–December 2025 vacancies (published March–April 2026).
Accountants Daily reporting of CA ANZ fill rates and time-to-fill findings, April 2026.
Jobs and Skills Australia, Occupation Shortage Report, March quarter 2026, and Accountants occupation profile data.
Future Skills Organisation, Workforce and Skills report, June 2025, including accounting services workforce gap estimates to FY30.
Robert Half 2026 Australia Finance and Accounting Salary Guide and related Australian hiring timeline research.
CA ANZ Remuneration Survey 2025 findings on flexibility and retention, reported February 2026.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is there still an accountant shortage in Australia in 2026?
CA ANZ’s survey of 2025 vacancies found fill rates well below Jobs and Skills Australia’s 67 per cent shortage threshold for general accountants, taxation accountants and auditors. The 2026 Occupation Shortage List is expected around October 2026. Demand is still projected to outpace supply into the late 2020s.
How long does it take to hire an accountant locally?
CA ANZ reported average time-to-fill of 79 days for general accountants and 77 days for tax accountants among members who advertised in 2025. External auditor roles averaged 113 days. Broader Robert Half research put the typical Australian permanent hire at about five weeks, with many processes running longer.
Does hybrid work cost less than a local hire?
Usually not for an Australian employee. Base pay, 12 per cent superannuation and leave still apply. Hybrid can reduce some occupancy pressure and widen the candidate pool. The larger cost difference appears when firms compare a full local employment stack with remote capacity designed for repeatable compliance work.
What do accountants value most for retention?
CA ANZ’s 2025 remuneration survey found fair pay remains important, but work-life balance, manageable workloads and working from home are now treated as essential by many members. About one third placed work-life balance ahead of a fair salary. Flexibility without a workable hours model still leads to resignations.
When is fully local hiring still the better option?
Local hiring fits junior training, complex review, and roles that rely on frequent client meetings or same-day file queries. It is also simpler when a firm has not yet documented workflows well enough to supervise people off-site. The trade-off is a thinner candidate pool and longer time-to-fill in shortage occupations.
How should firms compare remote vs hybrid vs local hiring for one vacant seat?
Split the work into client contact, technical review and repeatable compliance. Cost the full employment stack and the cost of a delayed start. Then test whether the firm can supervise the role with scheduled reviews. Use the same four tests on every seat rather than applying one policy to the whole practice.
