09 Nov How Much Does a CPA Charge for Bookkeeping for a Small Business?

Many new businesses start out doing basic bookkeeping by themselves. Small business bookkeepers have a few simple responsibilities. Bookkeeping services are necessary for businesses of all sizes. It’s also important to note that while hiring a bookkeeper can seem like an additional expense, it can actually save you money in the long run. A bookkeeper can provide expertise in areas such as financial reporting, budgeting, and cash flow management.

Automate common bookkeeping tasks and grow your client base

According to GrowthForce, an accounting and bookkeeping firm, a bookkeeper with less than five years of experience may charge between $15 and $30 per hour, while someone with over five years of experience may charge between $30 and $50 per hour. With a flat fee, the bookkeeper will charge a fixed amount for a specific set of services, which can include tasks such as data entry, bank reconciliation, and financial report preparation. For example, if you have a large volume of transactions, a bookkeeper may need to spend more time reconciling accounts, categorizing expenses, and preparing financial reports, which can result in a higher hourly rate. However, this rate can vary based on several factors such as the size of your business, the complexity of your financial records, and the experience level of the bookkeeper. On average, outsourced bookkeeping services cost anywhere between $500 to $2,500 a month — BELAY Bookkeeping starts at $450 a month — for small and medium businesses depending on the hours you need each month.

Another key benefit to outsourcing bookkeeping to a professional CPA firm is the level of expertise received. This is an added burden to any company owner who is also responsible for many other key areas of the business. The average salary for a bookkeeper in the United States in 2018 is around $14-$17 per hour (per Indeed) which is about $2,400 to $3,000 per month.

58% of accountants said updating technology has improved efficiency and productivity, which is vital for creating space to add the services that clients demand. Another option is to offer an hourly rate for the first job with a new client. Having an open dialogue with clients about this when you’re first signing them can be a good idea to pre-empt adjustments down the line.

A part-time bookkeeper will usually cost more per hour than full-time bookkeepers, but the total monthly cost will be less. Bookkeepers, especially new businesses (the ones who don’t have to make the sometimes messy transition to another pricing model), should avoid hourly billing for that reason. To make things more complicated, a freelancer, small business, bookkeeping firm, or an accounting firm will offer different average rates for bookkeeping services.

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Straight away, the mid- and low-tier plans will appear the more palatable pricing options. Price anchoring is a strategy that plays on a buyer’s tendency to inherently compare information. Most people don’t want the most expensive option, but they also feel dissatisfied with selecting the base option because it lacks certain features. At the end of the day, pricing is psychological. A common pricing structure is 3-tiered pricing. In an ideal world, all your clients would be ongoing at a fixed or value-based billing structure.

Outsourced Bookkeeping

At BELAY, we prefer that our bookkeepers have bachelor’s degrees or five years’ experience – or both. But what you might not realize is that putting bookkeeping off can cost exponentially more time. As a business owner, you’re acutely aware of how precious a commodity time is. So you’ve concluded you can’t afford your own hourly rate to keep doing your bookkeeping.

Bookkeeping costs: Pricing considerations for bookkeeping services

The nitty-gritty costs … Not managing your finances accurately will cost you money. If you’re like most entrepreneurs, you’ve got nothing but free time to enjoy specialty mini-umbrellaed drinks poolside, right? Even at the top of the range – $2,500 per month – it would cost your business $30,000 a year. Then, overhead costs add an additional 20 percent on top of an employee’s base salary and include …

• Whether you decide to outsource your bookkeeping or do it with an in house bookkeeper, you should be aware of the costs involved.
• Don’t be fearful of having conversations about raising rates with long-term clients.
• One of the most delicate aspects to bookkeeping is figuring out how much to charge your clients.
• You’ve decided it’s time for a bookkeeper.

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They already trust you and you already know how their business works. If you’re already doing a client’s books, approach them with an offer to build on your role. Noticing trends for the different pricing systems that you test is key to establishing the right balance. The best way to know if a pricing structure will work for you is by testing it. You can read more about how to implement the 3-tiered pricing system here. Download The Pricing Playbook for practical steps for doubling your pricing without increasing your workload.

How are your bookkeepers qualified?

• One of the biggest disadvantages of hiring a part-time bookkeeper is that they provide only partial support in an area of business that requires a lot of attention and detail.
• That subscription is set and based on an agreed-upon scope of work, and will not incur additional fees based on transactions or report requests.
• Plus, it all comes with a strategy to manage every last detail.

If the cost is similar to that of an actual bookkeeper for performing the same tasks, then it may be better just to pay someone to do the job. The best approach to bookkeeping is to translate the work of keeping your financial records and books in order into dollars. For full time services, expect to pay from $3,000 to $4,500 per month without the benefits.

For outsourced bookkeeping, the price is from $500 to $2,500 per month for basic bookkeeping tasks. Business owners can then use those financial reports to make better-informed financial decisions to boost the growth and profitability of a company.

Do you offer both ongoing services and one-off projects? If you’ve been working in the industry for 10 years, for example, you’ll have the client base, referrals, references, and body of work to quote a higher rate. In a survey by PracticeWeb, 66% of clients surveyed said they would pay more for a ‘tech-savvy’ accountant. With tech taking up so much airspace in modern accounting, those who are fluent users are quickly outpacing those who aren’t.

As your business grows, you will need to focus more on detailed financial reporting and following state & federal regulations. We spoke with managers from high-performing accounting firms to find out the best interview questions to ask when hiring new candidates. Value pricing and bundling is an obvious strategy to boost your bottom line. Templates, workflows and automations all give you time how much do bookkeeping services for small businesses cost back in your day that you can spend building your client base and adding value for existing clients. With the right technology, you can automate bookkeeping processes and tasks that once took hours of your time. Marketing the services that add value to your clients outside of your typical responsibilities is a great way to increase revenue.

A weekly article to help grow your firm, empower your team, and lead with confidence, curated by Karbon Magazine’s Editor in Chief. There is a fine line between overcharging and undercharging, but the sweet spot does exist and you’ll know when you find it, because your clients will be happy, and so will you. Though you must be willing to make changes if it isn’t working for you—even if that means having tough conversations with clients. But breaking it down and building your pricing model by considering all the relevant factors will give you a reasonable solution to test. Figuring out the right price or the right way to package your services isn’t easy.

How Much Does a Bookkeeper Cost for a Small Business? (

By definition, fixed-fee pricing is inflexible, and in a complex industry, inflexibility can cost you money. A strong alternative to hourly billing is fixed-rate (or flat-fee). With an hourly rate, unless you can find more hours in the day, it’s difficult—borderline impossible—to drive up profit significantly. This means that regardless of a service’s value to your clients, you’re capping your pricing based on how long it takes to deliver that service. If you’re not there already, it’s worth upskilling to get to that point, as you’ll be able to justify higher pricing packages.

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Outsourced bookkeeping comes with none of the a la carte overhead expenses. On average, remote work is very often cheaper for employers – reportedly $11,000 cheaper – when instituted on just a part-time basis. Now, let’s lay the argument of in-house vs. outsourced bookkeeping squarely on what this looks like in application – with real dollars-and-cents. And you’ve learned that a full-time accountant isn’t the best use of your money – and their time. They record financial transactions, which lay the foundation for …