A referral playbook for accounting firms outside the US with US-group clients

Where international firms meet qualifying US companies

Most firms outside the US meet eligible companies through group work. A practice in London, Toronto, Frankfurt, Mumbai or Sydney sees US entities on group reporting packs, consolidations, transfer pricing files, outsourced finance and US entity set-up. The firm can register as a SourceX partner, make the introduction with the client's agreement, and leave everything after that to the company and SourceX.

The people who notice the opportunity are rarely in one team: the partner who runs the US or international desk, the transfer pricing manager who documents the US entity's functions each year, the group reporting lead who chases the US controller at every close, and transaction services staff who see US targets change hands. Each of them already knows the facts a first screen needs, such as headcount on payroll schedules, how long the entity has operated and which finance and operating systems it runs. None of them needs to open, copy or describe a client record to make an introduction, and they should not.

The page for accountants covers the general case; this page adds the cross-border layer of ethics codes, group structures and payee paperwork.

Which clients fit

The strongest candidates are US entities with their own systems and a long operating history, reached through a relationship the firm already has.

The company must be a US company with several years of documented operations, rights to license the records and an authorized sponsor: the owner, CEO, CFO or an authorized representative. The firm itself can be based anywhere.

The five gates to clear before the firm registers

Work through these once for the firm, then again for each client you have in mind.

• Code: what does your national code say about referral fees and commissions? The international model is summarized in the IESBA Code overview on referral fees; some countries add statutory professional law, as German Steuerberater and Wirtschaftsprüfer must check.
• Independence: does your firm or any network firm provide audit, review or other assurance to the company or its group? If the group is an SEC registrant, US rules sit on top of your own code: SEC staff correspondence with the AICPA ethics committee treats the SEC's auditor-independence rules on contingent fees as a separate regime from the AICPA Code.
• Policy: does firm or network policy allow referral income at all, and must it be paid to the firm rather than to an individual?
• Consent: has the client agreed to be introduced, and to the disclosure of any reward, before you share its name?
• Contract: who signs the partner agreement, and has the firm reviewed the cross-border referral agreement clauses alongside the program terms?

This is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Confirm with your own counsel, tax adviser or professional body before acting.

When to raise it in the firm's year

Raise it at moments when the group is already discussing systems, structure or cash, and never in the middle of an assurance engagement for the same company.

How the introduction works

The firm opens the door and steps back; the company works with SourceX directly.

1. The firm registers as a partner and decides who is the partner of record: the firm or a named individual.
2. With the client's agreement, the firm sends its referral link to the US sponsor, which takes the company to sourcex.si/apply with the firm's code attached, or submits the referral form with basic fit information.
3. SourceX qualifies the company on size, history, data breadth and rights.
4. The company builds its data inventory with SourceX, system by system.
5. The company agrees price and terms; AI labs and data buyers review; the deal closes, data is delivered and the company is paid.
6. SourceX pays the partner reward after it has received its fee.

The firm gives basic fit information only. It never exports, uploads or describes confidential records, and any de-identification and redaction rules are agreed between the company and SourceX before work starts.

What to say to a group CFO

Put the disclosure in the first message so the client decides with full information.

How rewards work for a firm

Partners earn 25% of the eligible platform fees SourceX actually collects from the referred company's licensing deals, capped at $100,000 per referred company. Rewards become payable only after the buyer pays and SourceX receives its fee; a lead, meeting or signed agreement alone does not trigger payment, and rewards are not guaranteed.

The reward is a share of SourceX's fee and is never deducted from what the client receives, which makes disclosure simpler. The referral earnings calculator shows how the published formula works if a client asks. Decide the payee before registering: a firm registering in its own name is asked for the entity form explained in the W-8BEN-E guide for advisory firms. IRS Publication 515 explains that payments to foreign persons can raise US withholding questions; whether any apply to a particular reward depends on the facts, so ask your own tax adviser.

When not to bother

• The firm or its network audits or reviews the company and independence rules rule out a reward. You can still introduce the company without one.
• Your national law or code prohibits accepting a payment for the introduction.
• The US entity mainly processes its own customers' records, as an outsourcing or BPO subsidiary might, and those customers have not consented.
• The US entity is a small sales office that never reached 50+ full-time employees at peak.
• Group systems mix US and non-US records and no one can separate them.
• The client declines consent to be introduced.

Next step

Agree the five gates with your ethics partner, then register as a partner in the firm's name. Clients that prefer to start on their own can apply at sourcex.si/apply using the firm's referral link.