Why Outsource · Serving Business Owners Across Canada
In-House Hire or Outsourced Books?
Here's the Real Math
Here's the Real Math
Open Road is a fully remote, cloud-based firm — which means we work with business owners anywhere in Canada, not just where our office happens to be. Before you post a job listing, see what an in-house hire actually costs where you operate, verified against wages in 17 major cities across 4 provinces.
Beyond the dollar figure
The cost comparison is only half the story
A lower total cost is what gets an owner's attention — but the risk and time you get back matters just as much. Here's what businesses gain when they move from an in-house hire to an outsourced, cloud-based service.
01
Compliance stays current
CRA rules, remittance thresholds, and provincial employment standards change every year. An outsourced team tracks those changes as part of the job — a single in-house hire has to do it off the side of their desk.
02
No coverage gap
Sick days, vacations, and turnover don't stop your books from needing attention. A firm has backup built in; a solo employee doesn't.
03
No hiring or training cycle
Recruiting, onboarding, and ramping up a new hire's software knowledge takes months — and starts over every time someone leaves. A fixed-fee service is already trained and already working.
04
Real-time, cloud-based visibility
Cloud platforms mean you see your numbers when you need them, not weeks after month-end — and your data isn't sitting on one person's laptop.
City-by-city cost comparison
Click any city row to expand the full cost breakdown and chart ▼
All Canada
British Columbia
Alberta
Saskatchewan
Ontario
| City ↕ | Province ↕ | Median wage ↕ | FT all-in/yr ↕ | 0.5 position/yr ↕ | Open Road/mo | Savings ↕ |
|---|
Open Road figure reflects a fixed-fee engagement covering full-cycle bookkeeping, payroll, and accounts payable management for a comparably staffed business — $1,800/mo, no line-item surprises. Internal costs include CPP/EI/WCB (9.6%), benefits (7%), vacation (4%), provincial stat holidays, RRSP (4%), EAP ($225), recruitment ($5,500), HR admin ($1,800), year-1 termination. Sources: Canada.ca/CRA 2025, provincial Employment Standards Acts, Government of Canada Job Bank NOC 12200 (Nov 2025). Contact us for a quote tailored to your transaction volume and team size.
Built for the owner
planning their exit
planning their exit
Canada's largest generational business transfer is underway. Over $2 trillion in business assets will change hands in the next decade. The difference between a successful sale and a failed one often comes down to the quality of financial records.
Open Road specializes in preparing businesses for sale — transforming messy books into clean, KPI-rich, buyer-ready reporting. Our typical exit-strategy client is 2–3 years from their target sale date.
Open Road specializes in preparing businesses for sale — transforming messy books into clean, KPI-rich, buyer-ready reporting. Our typical exit-strategy client is 2–3 years from their target sale date.
✓ Exit-Ready Financials✓ KPI Dashboards
✓ Due Diligence Ready✓ Business Broker Ready
✓ Xero Certified✓ Rippling + Plooto
Province summary — avg savings vs. FT hire
Our platform stack
Xero
Cloud-first bookkeeping and exit-ready financial statements. Real-time reporting and KPI tracking.
Rippling
Unified HR + payroll — clean, auditable records for due diligence.
Plooto
Streamlined accounts payable with automated approvals, payments, and reconciliation.
Syft Analytics
KPI dashboards and financial insights that tell the story of your business to buyers.
Curious what this looks like for your business?
Whether you're comparing your first hire to outsourcing, or you're already staffed and want a second opinion on cost — we're happy to walk through the numbers together. Open Road works remotely with business owners across Canada.
Book a Free Consultation