How much does a bookkeeper cost for a small business?

Cypher Outsourcing · 8 October 2026 · 7 min read

If you've asked three bookkeepers for a price, you've probably had three answers that are hard to compare. One quoted an hourly rate, one a monthly fee, and one wanted a call first. This guide explains how bookkeepers charge, what really moves the price, and how to compare quotes fairly.

The three ways bookkeepers charge

1. By the hour

You pay for the time spent on your books. It's simple and fair when the work is small or unpredictable, but it makes your monthly cost hard to budget, and it gives nobody a reason to make the work faster. If your books are messy one month, the bill goes up.

2. A fixed monthly fee

You agree a set price for a defined scope, such as "bookkeeping and month-end close for up to 100 transactions". You know the cost in advance, and the bookkeeper carries the risk of a slow month. The thing to check is what the scope includes and what happens when you go over it.

3. Per transaction or by volume band

Many outsourced firms price by how many bank and card lines you have each month, because that's what drives the work. It's usually presented as tiers (for example, up to 100, up to 400, up to 1,500 transactions). It's predictable like a monthly fee but scales with your business.

What actually drives the price

• Transaction volume. Every bank and card line needs to be categorised and checked. More lines, more work.
• Number of accounts. Each bank account, credit card, loan and payment processor needs reconciling every month.
• How clean things are today. Books that are months behind or full of uncategorised items need a one-off catch-up first.
• Extra jobs beyond bookkeeping. Sending invoices and chasing late payers, entering bills, payroll figures, sales-platform reconciliation (Shopify, Amazon, Stripe) and year-end work for your CPA are often priced separately.
• How fast you need the numbers. A close by the fifth business day takes more discipline than "sometime next month".

Costs that are easy to miss

• Your accounting software. QuickBooks Online is usually billed to you by Intuit and isn't part of a bookkeeper's fee.
• Setup or onboarding fees. Some firms charge to set up your chart of accounts and bank feeds.
• Catch-up work. If you're behind, expect a one-off charge to bring the books up to date before the monthly service starts.
• Year-end extras. Collecting W-9s and preparing a clean file for your tax preparer is sometimes an add-on.
• Tax returns. Bookkeepers keep your books ready for filing; the tax return itself is normally a separate service from a CPA or enrolled agent.

How to compare two quotes

Put each quote side by side and ask the same questions:

1. How many transactions and accounts does this price cover?
2. Which jobs are included: reconciliations, a monthly report, invoicing, bills, payroll figures?
3. By which day of the month will my books be closed, and when do I get the report?
4. What happens if I go over the limit one month?
5. Is there a setup fee, a minimum term or a cancellation fee?
6. Does my data and my QuickBooks file stay in my name if I leave?
7. Will you ever move money out of my accounts? (The safest answer is no: you should approve and release every payment.)

An example

Say you run a landscaping business with one checking account, one credit card and about 90 transactions a month. On an hourly arrangement your bill would move with the time spent each month. On a volume-based plan you'd pick the tier that covers a normal month and pay the same amount every month, with invoicing or bill entry added only if you want them.

What Cypher charges

We use fixed monthly plans priced by transaction volume, with no setup fee and no long contract:

• Starter, $149/month: up to 100 transactions, bookkeeping and monthly close, P&L and cash summary, receipt matching.
• Growth, $399/month: up to 400 transactions, adds invoicing and collections, bills and payables.
• Scale, $899/month: up to 1,500 transactions, adds payroll calculation, a 13-week cash forecast and the year-end CPA pack.

Books that are behind are caught up once, at half your plan price per month behind. Prices exclude your QuickBooks subscription. You can see your exact price in about two minutes with the price calculator.