There is a gap in the literature related to understanding the relationship between outsourcing of accounting functions and financial performance (productivity and cost efficiency) of SMEs. This study examines the relationship between accounting outsourcing and financial performance in terms of cost efficiency and profitability in SMEs operating in Greater Sydney, Australia. An online survey of employees and managers (N = 80) of Australian SMEs using snowball sampling assessed the demographics, accounting outsourcing, organisational profitability, and cost-effectiveness of these SMEs. Data were analysed using linear regression and correlation analyses. The empirical analysis revealed that the outsourcing of tax services was related to a better financial performance of SMEs in terms of both cost efficiency and profitability. The outsourcing of management accounting functions was beneficial to the productivity of SMEs, whereas the outsourcing of general accounting was not related to higher productivity. Collectively, the findings of this study will assist SMEs in identifying resource gaps and the reasons for turning to external accountancy services to close the gaps and improve their financial performance.

关于理解会计职能外包与中小企业财务绩效（生产力和成本效率）之间关系的文献存在差距。本研究考察了澳大利亚大悉尼地区中小企业在成本效率和盈利能力方面的会计外包与财务绩效之间的关系。使用滚雪球抽样对澳大利亚中小企业的员工和管理人员 (N = 80) 进行在线调查，评估了这些中小企业的人口统计数据、会计外包、组织盈利能力和成本效益。使用线性回归和相关分析对数据进行分析。实证分析表明，税务服务外包与中小企业在成本效率和盈利能力方面更好的财务绩效有关。管理会计职能的外包有利于中小企业的生产力，而一般会计的外包与更高的生产力无关。总的来说，这项研究的结果将帮助中小企业确定资源缺口以及转向外部会计服务以缩小差距并改善其财务绩效的原因。