Data Entry Outsourcing FAQ

Pricing depends on the type of data, volume, complexity, and turnaround required. As a general guide: basic data entry starts from $2–5 per hour. Ecommerce product data entry, healthcare data entry, and complex document processing are priced higher based on field count and validation requirements.

Monthly retainers for a dedicated operator typically start from $240–500 per month - approximately 60–70% less than the equivalent in-house cost in the USA or UK. To get an accurate quote for your specific project, submit a sample file through our Get a Quote form and we respond within 24 hours.

Most businesses save 60–80% compared to managing data entry in-house. At Stellar's rates of $2–5 per hour, outsourcing 8,000 hours of annual data work costs around $16,000–40,000 per year - compared to $90,000–100,000 for two full-time US staff fully loaded with salary, benefits, and software.

For UK businesses, a single in-house data entry operator costs £28,000–35,000 per year including employer National Insurance. The same output from our team runs to £12,000-18,000 at current rates - with 24/7 availability and no recruitment risk.

You pay only for hours worked. Low-volume months cost proportionally less, with no desk space, no software licences, and no onboarding overhead.

There is no minimum volume to start. Our free trial begins at 1,000 records, and ongoing projects can be as small or as large as your workflow requires. We work with businesses processing 500 records a week and businesses processing 500,000 records a month.

For very small volumes, project-based pricing works best. For consistent monthly volumes above 10,000 records, a monthly retainer with a dedicated operator is more cost-effective and provides faster turnaround since your team learns your data formats and quality standards over time.

We offer three pricing models depending on what works best for your workflow. Per-record pricing suits irregular or project-based volumes - you pay only for what we process. Hourly pricing suits tasks that vary in complexity per record, such as web research, data mining, or document abstraction where time per task is more meaningful than record count.

Monthly retainer pricing suits businesses with consistent ongoing volumes - you get a dedicated operator or team, priority turnaround, and a fixed monthly cost that is easier to budget. All models include our accuracy guarantee and dedicated account management.

Data security is built into every stage of our process. Every project begins with a signed Non-Disclosure Agreement before we see any of your files. All file transfers use AES-256 encrypted channels - we never accept files over email without encryption. Access to your data is restricted strictly to the specific team members assigned to your account using role-based access controls.

We maintain a zero-breach record across 12 years of operation and 100+ international clients. Internal access logs are maintained for every project. No data is stored beyond the agreed project lifecycle unless you explicitly request archiving.

Yes. Signing an NDA is the first step in our onboarding process - before we receive any files, see any data, or assign any team members to your project. The NDA covers: confidentiality of all client data and business information, restrictions on using your data for any purpose other than the contracted project, prohibition on sharing client information with third parties, and data handling and disposal obligations at project end.

We can work with your standard NDA if you have one, or we can provide our own template for review. For healthcare clients processing patient data, we also provide a Business Associate Agreement (BAA) on request.

Yes. We take GDPR compliance seriously for all UK and European Union clients. As a data processor under GDPR, we are happy to enter into a Data Processing Agreement (DPA) with EU and UK clients on request, which defines the lawful basis for processing, data subject rights obligations, and breach notification procedures.

All EU and UK personal data processed by our team is handled under strict access controls, encrypted in transit and at rest, and never transferred to subprocessors without client consent. We do not retain personal data beyond the agreed processing period. UK clients post-Brexit are covered under UK GDPR, which we also comply with. Contact us to receive our DPA template before your project begins.

Once your project is delivered and you confirm receipt of the completed files, all source data is permanently deleted from our systems within 7 days unless you instruct otherwise. You receive written confirmation of deletion on request.

For ongoing retainer clients, data is retained only for the active processing period and any agreed quality review window. We never archive, sell, or use client data for any purpose other than the contracted service. Our data retention and deletion policy is documented and available for review before any project begins.

We guarantee 99.9% accuracy on all data entry and processing projects. This is not a marketing claim - it is a contractual commitment backed by a defined quality assurance process. Accuracy is measured as the percentage of fields correctly entered, validated, and formatted against your source documents and specifications.

Every project goes through at minimum two independent verification passes before delivery. For high-sensitivity industries such as healthcare, insurance, and legal, a third review layer is applied. If delivered accuracy falls below 99.5% on any batch, we re-process the affected records at no cost and with priority turnaround.

Our QA process uses a multi-stage verification model. Stage one is the initial entry by a trained data professional. Stage two is an independent review by a QA specialist who did not perform the original entry - this catches errors the original operator may overlook. Stage three is a format and logic check: we verify that the completed data matches your specified structure, required field formats, and any validation rules you have provided.

For complex projects, a final accuracy sample audit is performed before delivery. The completed batch is held until it passes all stages. Our team does not operate on speed-only incentives - quality clearance is required before any file leaves our system.

If you identify any errors in delivered data, contact your account manager immediately. We will review the flagged records within 4 business hours and re-process any confirmed errors at zero cost. Our accuracy guarantee means the re-processing is our responsibility, not yours.

We ask that error reports be submitted within 10 business days of delivery so we can audit the original processing batch. Most error reports are resolved and re-delivered within 24 hours. For projects with ongoing error patterns, we review our process with you to identify the root cause and prevent recurrence.

Standard turnaround for most data entry and processing projects is 24 to 48 hours from the time we receive your files. This applies to batches up to approximately 50,000 records. For urgent projects, same-day delivery is available with prior arrangement.

Our team operates 24 hours a day, 7 days a week across time zones. A project submitted by a US client at 6pm EST is processed overnight and typically delivered before the client's next working day begins. For UK clients, IST-to-GMT overlap provides excellent same-day turnaround on morning submissions.

Yes. Scalability is one of the primary reasons businesses outsource data entry rather than hire in-house. We maintain a trained bench of cross-specialised operators specifically to absorb volume surges. With 24–48 hours notice, we can scale from 10,000 to 200,000 records per month without impacting turnaround or accuracy commitments.

For businesses with predictable seasonal spikes - such as ecommerce retailers ahead of peak season, or insurance companies at renewal periods - we plan capacity in advance. There are no additional setup fees or premium charges for volume increases within our standard service tiers.

File transfer is handled through a secure, encrypted file exchange system. We provide each client with a dedicated upload portal. Common transfer methods include secure FTP, encrypted email attachments for smaller files, Google Drive or Dropbox with restricted access permissions, or your preferred internal system if you have one.

Completed files are returned in your specified format via the same secure channel. For ecommerce clients, we can deliver directly into your platform (Shopify, Magento, etc.) without requiring a file transfer at all. Your dedicated account manager walks you through the process on day one — no technical setup is required on your side.

Every client gets a dedicated account manager from day one. One person. One direct contact. They manage your onboarding, handle your file submissions, answer questions, coordinate quality reviews, and escalate anything that needs attention.

Your account manager learns your specific data formats, your quality preferences, your deadline patterns, and your industry requirements over time. You will never need to re-explain your project to a new person. This is a deliberate design decision - communication consistency is one of the most common failure points in offshore outsourcing relationships.

Yes. Ecommerce data entry is one of our most active service areas. We provide product listing services, bulk catalog uploads, product description formatting, image tagging, attribute population, variant configuration, and inventory data management across all major ecommerce platforms - including Shopify, Magento, BigCommerce, WooCommerce, and OpenCart.

For Shopify clients, we work directly inside your store admin or via CSV import. For Magento and BigCommerce, we handle bulk uploads and attribute set mapping. Average turnaround for 500 products is 24 hours. For large catalog projects of 10,000+ SKUs, we provide a dedicated ecommerce data team with a project plan and milestone delivery schedule.

Yes. We provide healthcare data entry services for medical practices, hospitals, healthcare billing companies, and insurance providers in the United States. Our healthcare team receives HIPAA awareness training covering the handling of Protected Health Information (PHI), access controls, and breach avoidance protocols.

Services include patient demographics entry, insurance verification data, EOB (Explanation of Benefits) processing, medical record indexing, claims data entry, and EMR data migration support. For US healthcare clients, we provide a Business Associate Agreement (BAA) on request. All healthcare projects use encrypted file transfer and role-based access - no PHI is accessible to team members not assigned to your account.

Yes. We have a dedicated insurance data processing team experienced with US and UK insurance operations. Services include insurance application data entry, claims processing data, policy renewal data, EOB processing, premium schedule entry, document abstraction from insurance forms, and mailing list management for insurance agencies.

Our team is familiar with standard insurance document formats, field structures, and the accuracy requirements that downstream claims workflows demand. All insurance data is handled under NDA and encrypted transfer. For US clients processing personal insurance data, we can operate under a BAA framework where required.

Yes, and this is one of our most valued service relationships. We work with digital marketing agencies, web development agencies, and business consulting firms as a white-label back-office data partner. Your clients receive the data output under your brand - we work invisibly in the background.

What this means in practice: white-label delivery reports branded to your agency, NDA protecting your client relationships from any contact with our team, agency pricing (volume discounts), and a dedicated agency account manager who understands your project management workflow. We never approach your clients directly.

Yes. Real estate data entry is a core service area. We provide lease abstraction - converting commercial and residential lease documents into structured data summaries - as well as property data entry, MLS listing data management, tenant database entry, CRM data population for property management companies, and document scanning and indexing for real estate archives.

Lease abstraction projects are handled by a team trained in standard lease terminology and document structures. Typical turnaround for lease abstraction is 24–48 hours per document set. For large portfolios of 100+ leases, we provide a project schedule with phased delivery.