Outsourced chief accountant

Since 1 January 2026, Kazakhstan has had a new Tax Code (Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan No. 214-VIII of 18 July 2025), and for business this is not a cosmetic revision but a change in the rules of the game: the VAT rate has gone up, the mandatory VAT registration threshold has come down, and there are fewer special tax regimes. Against this backdrop, business owners are increasingly asking the same question: keep a chief accountant on staff or outsource the function? Below we look at the advantages of the outsourced chief accountant model based on current Kazakhstani legislation – no generalities, just the specifics that matter right now.

Accounting outsourcing is often seen as a “grey” alternative to an in-house specialist. In fact, it is a model expressly provided for by law. Paragraph 2 of Article 8 of the Law of the Republic of Kazakhstan No. 234-III of 28 February 2007 “On Accounting and Financial Reporting” gives the head of a company (or an individual entrepreneur) four equally valid ways to organize accounting, depending on the volume of work:

1. set up an accounting department as a separate unit headed by a chief accountant;
2. add the position of chief accountant to the staff;
3. hand bookkeeping and the preparation of financial statements over to an accounting or audit firm or a professional accountant under a contract – this is outsourcing;
4. keep the accounts personally.

In scope of duties and liability, the third option is equivalent to an in-house chief accountant. Moreover, for public interest entities (for example, joint-stock companies, financial organizations, subsoil users), Article 9 of the Law requires that the chief accountant’s functions be performed by a professional accountant, and Article 15 establishes that when the accounts are kept by an external accounting firm, the financial statements are signed both by the company’s management and by the head of that firm (or a professional accountant). In other words, quality outsourcing meets even the law’s stricter requirements.
Full outsourced bookkeeping usually means the entire cycle: from primary documents, tax accounting and payroll to filing tax and financial statements and support during inspections. It is not a one-off consultation but an ongoing function – effectively an external chief accountant for the company.

The 2026 tax reform has significantly raised the cost of an accounting error. Several key changes in the new Tax Code directly affect almost every business:

• The VAT rate has risen from 12% to 16% (Article 503 of the Tax Code). Reduced rates apply to certain categories – for example, medicines and medical services.
• The mandatory VAT registration threshold has been halved – from 20,000 to 10,000 MCI (Article 101 of the Tax Code; at the 2026 MCI of KZT 4,325, that is about KZT 43.25 million). Far more companies are now subject to VAT, and the registration deadline has been cut to 5 business days from the day the threshold is exceeded.
• The number of special tax regimes has been reduced from seven to three, and the conditions for using them have been tightened.
• As a general rule, expenses on goods, works and services bought from suppliers on the simplified regime can no longer be deducted when calculating CIT (subparagraph 16 of paragraph 1 of Article 286 of the Tax Code) – this changes the logic of working with B2B counterparties.
• A progressive IIT scale has been introduced for high incomes.

At the same time, digital control is tightening: electronic invoices (ESF), consignment notes for goods (SNT), the virtual warehouse and VAT reconciliation checks. Accounting errors now surface faster and automatically. In this environment, the workload on a single in-house accountant has risen sharply – and the demands on their qualifications even more so.

An honest answer: it is not for everyone, and not in every configuration.
Outsourcing makes the most sense for:

• small and medium-sized businesses, start-ups and individual entrepreneurs on the standard tax regime, for whom a full in-house accounting department is not cost-effective;
• companies that are required by law to have a professional accountant sign their financial statements (public interest entities) but do not need an expensive in-house team;
• businesses with foreign owners who value reporting in a language they understand and support across several jurisdictions at once;
• companies in a growth phase, where the accounting workload changes quickly.

A hybrid model is worth considering for:

• large manufacturing and trading companies with a high daily volume of documents, where it is more convenient to keep some functions in-house;
• businesses in specific industries (subsoil use, the financial sector), where an in-house specialist is often combined with external expertise on particular issues.

In many cases a hybrid is the optimal solution: an external team handles the routine work and reporting, while someone in-house keeps a finger on the pulse of day-to-day operations.

For fully outsourced bookkeeping to remove risks rather than create new ones, check the following when choosing a provider:

• qualifications: professional accountants on the team and experience in your specific industry;
• contractual liability: exactly what the provider compensates if it makes a mistake, and whether it carries professional liability insurance;
• a transparent scope of services: what is included in the package (primary documents, payroll, HR records, reporting, support during inspections) and what is paid for separately;
• readiness for the realities of 2026: correct handling of 16% VAT, the new forms (300.00, 200.00, etc.), ESF and SNT;
• confidentiality: commercial and accounting secrecy (Article 12 of Law No. 234-III) and a signed non-disclosure agreement;
• clear communication: a dedicated manager, response times and regular reporting to the owner.

Outsourcing the chief accountant is a fully fledged model expressly enshrined in paragraph 2 of Article 8 of the Law “On Accounting and Financial Reporting”. In 2026 – with a higher VAT rate, a lower registration threshold and tighter digital control – this model gives business what matters most: access to a team of experts, predictable costs, lower tax risks and uninterrupted accounting. The key is to choose a partner who takes responsibility for the result rather than simply “filing the reports”.