Accounting, tax and treasury offshore jobs

The dominant business sectors found in most offshore low tax jurisdictions are financial, fiduciary and legal services related to wealth creation, wealth management and wealth protection. Much of the expertise needed in this area involves accounting, finance and business administration, hence the high levels of demand for accounting and finance professionals.

Local businesses, major leisure/hotel operators and the insurance companies also require accountants and although there are no accurate statistics to confirm this, it is a widely held belief that accountants outnumber all other types of white collar executives in the offshore market.

The most common finance roles are Finance Manager, Financial Controller, Client Accountant and, of course, Trust and Fund related roles. Whilst there is some demand for commercially minded analysts and more senior positions (FD, CFO etc), demand is less regular in these areas.

All of the accounting firms and most of the fiduciary companies offer tax advice to private and/or corporate clients. In addition, some businesses employ ‘in house’ tax professionals, so there is a reasonably high level of demand for this skill set. The specific tax knowledge and qualifications required varies significantly between jurisdictions. For example, the demand in the Channel Islands is often for UK and general International tax advisory skills whilst in Cayman and Bermuda it tends to be more US/Canadian tax specifically related to funds, trusts and insurance companies.

Although there is a limited demand for treasurers to be based offshore, we have completed several assignments where the ACT qualification is required. The ‘local’ pool of qualified treasurers is often insufficient to satisfy demand hence the occasional need for organisations to look beyond their local workforce when recruiting in this field.

To discuss your move Offshore in more detail, e-mail the team or call +44 20 7776 5955