Outsourced accounting from South Africa for UK practices
Our own team works from our own office in Pretoria, one to two hours ahead of the UK all year. They do accounts production, bookkeeping, payroll and marketing for UK accountancy practices in the practice's own software, and our own UK practice reviews the accounts and tax work.
The working day you share
A Pretoria day of 08:00 to 17:00 covers most of a UK office day in winter and in summer, on a normal day shift.
Who does the work
Our own employees
Employed by Buzz Accounting in our own Pretoria office, with a manager there and cover for leave and sickness. You meet the person on your seat before they start.
Trained in South Africa
English is the language of the accounting profession there. Our accountants came through the SAICA and SAIPA routes, both with a training contract.
Reviewed in the UK
Accounts and tax work passes review by our own UK practice, Buzz Accounting, before it reaches you. Peter Allen holds our AAT practising licence, number 1001556.
In our audit of UK accountancy outsourcing sites on 21 September 2026, 3 of the 68 readable sites named South Africa as a place the work is done and 26 named India. The full list is in our comparison of UK accountancy outsourcing services.
The work comes through one portal
You send each job with its papers and a deadline, answer queries in one list, and see the hours used against your seat this month.
What it costs
Production seat
One person in one of these roles: bookkeeping and VAT, payroll and admin, or marketing.
Accounts seat
One accounts preparer for year-end accounts, corporation tax, self assessment and management accounts, reviewed by our own UK practice.
Prices exclude VAT. A seat is one person in one role for 160, 80 or 40 hours a month, billed rolling monthly with one month's notice. Our guides compare South Africa with India and South Africa with the Philippines.
Questions
What time is it in Pretoria compared with the UK?
South Africa runs on UTC+2 all year and does not change its clocks. It is two hours ahead of the UK in winter and one hour ahead during British Summer Time.
Who employs the team?
Buzz Accounting does, directly, in our own office in Pretoria. They are on our payroll, with the contracts, training and cover you would give your own staff. Muckin is a trading style of Buzz Accounting Ltd.
What qualifications do they hold?
The accountants in our office came through the SAICA and SAIPA routes, which both include a training contract. Accounts and tax work is then reviewed in the UK by Peter Allen MAAT, who holds our AAT practising licence, number 1001556.
Does client data leave the UK?
The work is done inside your software, under named logins you control, so the data stays in your systems. A person logging in from Pretoria is still an international transfer under UK GDPR, so we sign confidentiality and data-processing terms before access is granted. Our data security guide covers the transfer paperwork.
Is South Africa more expensive than India?
On published rates, usually yes. Our guide to South Africa against India sets the published prices side by side with the working-day overlap.
Other situations we help with
Year-end accounts outsourcing
Year-ends stacking up against the Companies House deadline.
Outsourcing tax return preparation
Self assessment returns to prepare before 31 January.
Outsourced bookkeeping for accountants
Your bookkeeper has handed in their notice.
Outsourced bookkeeping rates in the UK
Published hourly and monthly rates beside a UK hire.
Offshore staffing for accounting firms
One named person on your work when a UK hire will not come.
Meet the people who would be on your work
Half an hour on the phone with your job list in front of you, then a call with the person on your seat before they start.