If you’re in the market for someone to manage the books, you might be thinking that it’s time for a CPA, or Certified Public Accountant. Although having a CPA on hand could be handy, it’s often more than most small businesses need. However, it may still be the ideal choice for managing your books in some cases. Many small business owners outsource their bookkeeping to an accounting firm. The typical cost of outsourcing your accounting and bookkeeping can range from $500 to $5,000 per month for small businesses.
Look at the types of services you offer and compare what you currently charge to others. Smaller clients generate less revenue than medium or large clients. Therefore, you generally want to charge a small client less because they have fewer needs. Additionally, a bookkeeper may work with an accountant, accrued interest journal entry who is responsible for more advanced tasks such as assessing the health of a business or generating financial statements. On top of this, it is also a bookkeeper’s job to keep everything organized. That way, when it is time to file your small business taxes, you can easily access all the data you need.
Remember, more specialized services can demand a higher rate of pay. Small clients often have simple bookkeeping needs and small revenue, so you may want to charge them less. For instance, you may charge an hourly rate of $40 to a large client that earns up to $2 million in revenue and around $30 for a very small client with an annual revenue of $300,000. Hopefully, you now have a better idea of what bookkeeping services you can afford and which services come with a lower or higher bookkeeper cost.
The Pricing Playbook: Double Your Firm’s Prices in 4 Easy Steps
Through the categorization, reconciliation, and books close process, your Live Bookkeeper ensures your books are accurate. Your bookkeeper can’t, however, prepare or file your taxes for you as part of your Live Bookkeeping service—even if they’re a credentialed CPA. But with 12 months of accurate books, your finances are accurate and ready to file taxes at year end. You can also book a call with your bookkeeper (or send them a message) whenever you’d like. There’s no extra fee or hourly charges for support—we’re always happy to nerd out about bookkeeping and your financial statements.
- New bookkeepers will enter at a lower rate than those with years of experience under their belt.
- For one, you may choose to have someone provide services on a part-time basis.
- While you’re waiting for your chance to branch out and start your own small business, you can use this time to practice your negotiation skills.
While having a degree and/or bookkeeper certification will give you the knowledge that you need to get your foot in the door, having practical work experience is equally valuable. The more experience you have doing actual bookkeeping work, the more confident you’ll be in your skills, which will translate into higher billable rates. You’ll find that bookkeepers who have completed all 3 programs have a much higher average hourly wage. Whether you’re a self-employed professional, a business with employees, a business with contractors, or a freelancer, you can benefit from FreshBooks’ services. In a nutshell, a bookkeeper records your financial transactions and collects information to create general financial reports. Business owners can then use those financial reports to make better-informed financial decisions to boost the growth and profitability of a company.
Basic bookkeeping
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. Location can play a major role in how much you charge for services. Price for bookkeeping services can vary from state to state. So, it’s important to know how much to charge clients based on location. As great as it is to talk about potential bookkeeping costs and get estimates, we know that seeing an actual average for your state can yield excellent value for you as a business owner.
Why Is Bookkeeping Important?
Once again, it’s a mindset shift where you price the client instead of the service. If that interests you, then grab the FREE resource to package and price your
bookkeeping services. The lower end of the range typically includes basic bookkeeping for a small business that only requires five or so hours of work per month.
How Much Should I Charge Monthly for Bookkeeping?
If you think they’re too high for you to set reasonable rates, consider lowering them. A major and effective way to do that is to move to a remote or hybrid work set-up. One of the extra tasks I do for this law firm is their bill pay.
How much does a bookkeeper cost FAQ
As we close, I want to share a few talking points to help you share with the potential client about why it would be better for that person to hire you as a contractor instead of as an employee. The AIPB certification program is ideal for someone who does not have any formal education in bookkeeping. Certification exams and materials are $574 for nonmembers and $479 for AIPB members. Plus, it all comes with a strategy to manage every last detail. What’s more—if you’re still working on that outreach and self-promotion, ask how we can assist with outbound sales support and outreach campaigns, too.
For example, when the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) went into effect on Jan. 1, 2018, it made some sweeping changes to the tax code. This made filing taxes more complicated and required substantial (and potentially unproven) updates to tax filing programs. However, humans tend to more prone to errors compared to well-functioning programs. These programs can scan financial information and organize data accurately, thus reducing any possible errors.
