Bookkeeping services for small business
- Monthly fee that scope implies at the quoted rate
- $495
- Hours of bookkeeping the scope takes each month (rounded)
- 11
- Over a year
- $5,940
The record-keeping periods these pages cite are the IRS's published figures; every fee, hour and rate is arithmetic on the numbers you typed, and no figure on this site is a published national price for bookkeeping, because there is none.
Bookkeeping services for small business are sold as packages, and the package names hide the one thing that decides the price: how much there is to record. A business with two accounts and a hundred transactions a month is a different job from one with six accounts, a card processor and a payroll, even if both are called small. This guide is for the owner comparing those packages, and the pricing calculator on this site prices the scope from your own counts so the tiers can be checked instead of believed.
Open the Bookkeeping services pricing calculator Free to use. No account, no card, no trial clock.
Work out which tier your counts actually fall in
Package tiers are usually bands of monthly transactions or monthly expenses. Take your own transaction count from the bank statements and the number of accounts you hold, and find the band you are in today and the one you will be in next year, because the price step between them is where the surprise usually lives.
Check what the tier leaves out
Accounts receivable, accounts payable, payroll journals, sales-tax filings and catch-up months are commonly extra. A tier that includes reconciliation only is priced for a business that invoices nobody; if you raise invoices, the invoicing has to be somewhere in the scope or it is your job.
Price the same scope two ways
Put your counts into the pricing calculator at the hourly rate the firm would charge for anything outside the package. If the package fee is well below what the hours imply, the package is a loss-leader and the extras will be where the money is; if it is well above, the tier is priced for a bigger business than yours.
A quote the Bookkeeping services for small business does not explain?
Tell us which figure on a quote does not add up and we will tell you how the sheet arrives at it.
What an owner comparing bookkeeping quotes asks about the Bookkeeping services for small business
How much do bookkeeping services for a small business cost?
There is no published national price. The fee follows the hours the scope takes at the rate the provider charges, and the pricing calculator on this site shows what your counts imply at a rate you type in, so you can judge a quote rather than search for an average.
Should a small business use a firm or a freelance bookkeeper?
A firm gives you cover when your bookkeeper is away and a second pair of eyes on the reconciliations; a freelancer is usually cheaper and knows your business personally. Neither is right in general. The scope and the handover matter more than the shape of the provider.
Do I still need an accountant?
For tax returns and advice, yes, unless the bookkeeping firm employs one and the quote says so. Good monthly books make the accountant's year-end work shorter, which is usually the largest saving the engagement produces.