The real cost of freelance IT support is the invoice plus six items that rarely make it into the budget: downtime while you wait, missing handover documentation, the risk of a sudden departure, no cover during sickness, security exposure, and tax paperwork. For an office of 10 to 30 people in Vietnam, these can match or exceed what you pay the freelancer.
When does a freelancer make sense?
A freelancer is a sensible choice for a new company under 10 people, or for a narrow skill on a short project. The hourly rate is low and flexible. Problems start when the company has grown but still treats a freelancer like a service with long-term commitments.
Hidden cost 1: downtime while you wait
Freelancers serve many clients. When your email or server fails, they may be at another client’s office, and you wait from a few hours to a day. Meanwhile, everyone who depends on that system stops working.
The formula: people affected × labour cost per hour × hours waited per month. For example, 10 people at 120,000 VND per hour each (salary plus insurance), waiting 4 hours a month: 4.8 million VND a month, or about 58 million VND a year.
Hidden cost 2: missing handover documentation
Many freelancers keep the setup in their head and never write down admin passwords, the network diagram or the backup schedule. When you change provider, the new person spends 20 to 40 hours rediscovering the configuration. At 300,000 VND an hour, 20 hours is 6 million VND, before counting downtime during the handover.
Hidden cost 3: sudden departure
A freelancer may take a full-time job, change careers or simply stop answering. With no binding contract, there is no notice period. If one rushed handover costs about 15 million VND (finding someone, downtime, missing documents) and happens every two years, that is 7.5 million VND a year.
Hidden cost 4: no cover
One freelancer is a single point of failure. If they are sick for three days, nobody handles incidents, and the business depends on one person’s calendar. One sick spell a year might cost around 5 million VND in downtime.
Hidden cost 5: admin rights held by one individual
Freelancers often hold the admin passwords for email, the domain, the firewall and servers. If the relationship ends badly, recovering control can take days. This is hard to price, but the risk is real. Where customer personal data is involved, Vietnam’s Personal Data Protection Law No. 91/2025/QH15, in force since 1 January 2026, allows fines of up to 5% of the previous year’s revenue for some violations (VnEconomy).
At a minimum, keep the master admin accounts in the company’s own hands and give the freelancer separate accounts you can revoke.
Hidden cost 6: tax paperwork
Payments to individuals can still be deductible for corporate income tax in Vietnam, but you need a contract and proof of payment, and you must withhold 10% personal income tax on each payment of 2 million VND or more to a person without a labour contract, under Article 25 of Circular 111/2013/TT-BTC (Thu Vien Phap Luat). That work lands on your accountant every month, and incomplete records can get the expense disallowed at year end.
What does it add up to?
Using the assumptions above, for an office paying a freelancer 5 million VND a month:
| Item | Per year (estimate) |
|---|---|
| Freelancer fees | 60 million VND |
| Downtime while waiting | about 58 million VND |
| Missing documentation | about 6 million VND |
| Sudden departure (amortised) | about 7.5 million VND |
| No cover | about 5 million VND |
| Total | about 136 million VND |
This excludes security exposure and accounting effort. Replace the assumptions with your own figures: how many people depend on the systems, your real labour cost, and the actual waiting hours over the last six months.
FAQ
Is using a freelancer a mistake?
No. Freelancers suit companies under 10 people, short projects and narrow skills. The risk comes when a freelancer replaces a service that needs guaranteed response times.
How is an IT outsourcing company different?
You get a contract with response times, several technicians who cover for each other, documented configurations and VAT invoices. In return, the monthly fee is usually higher than a freelancer’s hourly rate.
What should we prepare before changing IT provider?
Collect every admin password, ask for the network diagram and equipment list, and confirm backups are still running before the handover date.
GPIT helps companies decide when to move from a freelancer to a managed IT service. Learn more at gpit.vn.
GPIT, IT Solution Investment Company Limited, 32 Truong Phuoc Phan, Binh Tri Dong Ward, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Hotline +84 945 886 818. Email info@gpit.vn. Website https://gpit.vn.
