Outsourced bookkeeping services are a monthly engagement in which somebody outside the business codes every transaction, reconciles every account, records the invoices and bills, and produces the month-end reports. The word outsourced only says where the person sits; the job is the same one an employee would do. What is different is how it is priced, how it is handed over, and what happens when it goes wrong, and those three things are what an owner comparing quotes needs to understand before signing. This page explains each, and the pricing calculator on this site turns your own counts into the fee a quote implies.
What the monthly scope contains, and what it usually does not
A standard scope is bank and card transactions coded and matched, every account reconciled to its statement, sales invoices and supplier bills recorded, and a profit and loss, balance sheet and aged receivables and payables at month end. Commonly outside it, and priced separately: catch-up months, payroll processing, sales-tax filings, inventory counts, and anything that needs a decision rather than a record. A quote that does not list the scope has not priced the job, and the first question to any provider is which of these lines are in the fee.
How it is priced, and how to read a package as hours
Most providers sell tiers named by monthly transactions or expenses. Underneath, the fee is the hours the scope takes at the rate the provider charges, and two quotes in different shapes can only be compared once both are turned into the same thing. Take your own counts, put them into the pricing calculator at the hourly rate the provider would charge for extras, and you have the fee those hours imply. A package well below that figure is priced to win and will make its money on extras; one well above is built for a bigger business.
When an outsourced bookkeeper beats hiring one
Below a certain number of hours a month, an employee cannot be justified: the wage is only part of the cost, and on-costs, software, cover when away and the owner's time managing them are the rest. The hiring sheet on this site puts the employed cost against the quote and prints the break-even hours. Above that figure an employee is cheaper on paper; whether they are cheaper in practice depends on whether you want to manage one, and on whether the books need somebody in the building.
Handover, access and leaving
An outsourced engagement lives on the handover: statements and receipts arriving on time, questions answered within days, and a ledger the owner can open. Agree those in the engagement letter, and agree what happens on leaving: the ledger is yours, you keep a login, and you receive the reconciled books and working papers without a fee. Providers who resist that clause are asking you to stay for the wrong reason.
Questions people ask about outsourced bookkeeping services
How much do outsourced bookkeeping services cost?
There is no published national price. The fee is the hours your scope takes at the provider's rate, and it moves with transactions, accounts and channels. The pricing calculator on this site shows what your counts imply at a rate you type in, which is a better test of a quote than any average.
What is the difference between outsourced bookkeeping and an accountant?
The bookkeeper records and reconciles every month; the accountant prepares returns and advises from those records. Many firms sell both, and the quote should say which you are buying and who does the monthly work.
Can I outsource bookkeeping if my records are a mess?
Yes, but the mess is priced first as a catch-up or clean-up job, apart from the monthly fee. Ask for the two figures separately; a provider who folds them together is hiding one of them.
Do I lose control of my books by outsourcing?
Not if the engagement says the ledger is yours and you keep a login. Read-only bank access for the bookkeeper, your own access to the books, and a monthly reconciliation you can see are the controls; insist on all three.