You might see some articles suggesting rates as low as $250 a month, but scaling a profitable firm at those price points is tough. As you might have figured out from the sheer volume of this post, it’s a topic I spend a lot of time thinking about. Based on my research with fellow bookkeepers, there isn’t one (or two, or three) answers either. Basically, a handful of common tasks that you might encounter on a regular basis. It’s the “good, better, best”, or “bronze, silver, gold” approach. For example, calling the tax office to negotiate lower penalties on tax arrears may only take 15 minutes of your time, but could save your client thousands of dollars.
Regular employees receive a W-2 in January showing their wages from the previous year. Contractors perform special services for is accumulated depreciation debit or credit companies and aren’t hired on as employees. Bundling services together in set packages is a good way to implement fixed-fee pricing.
Even if you plan to charge a fixed rate eventually, it can be a good idea to bill by the hour for the first few months. The client may require additional services from you in order to set them up on a new system or clean up the mess left by the previous bookkeeper. I find cleanup projects always take longer than the client expects. To make things more complicated, a freelancer, small business, bookkeeping firm, or an accounting firm will offer different average rates for bookkeeping services. Often, these clients don’t have the budget to employ a full-time CPA or accounting firm, and that’s where we come in. We can step in as their virtual finance department, managing tasks on QuickBooks Online or other accounting software.
Bookkeeper salary and hourly cost by state
As you’ve seen, there are several solutions to this bookkeeping dilemma, but they also come with additional questions you should keep in mind before making a decision. To help you on this decision-making journey, we’ve gathered four questions to ask yourself before hiring a bookkeeper. But who wants the task of sifting through receipts and organizing statements when there’s a whole slew of business operations to attend to? It may be time for you to make the executive decision of hiring a bookkeeper to take the reins. Get up and running with free payroll setup, and enjoy free expert support. Try our payroll software in a free, no-obligation 30-day trial.
- I work a maximum of 10 hours per month on this particular client’s books, and charge $500 a month, which still comes out to be roughly $50 an hour.
- If you’re using a fixed fee structure, explain what this entails.
- Entrepreneurs often struggle with how to price your bookkeeping services.
- If they value your relationship and the service you provide, they’ll understand why you make occasional and reasonable increases.
The challenge though, can be persuading your clients to agree to it. 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. In any industry, experience is influential in pricing decisions, and bookkeeping is no different. It means quality of service, efficiency, calmness, problem-solving, and confidence. Still, from how to calculate straight line depreciation formula state-to-state in the US, there are significant differences.
Average prices for bookkeeping services: Fast facts
Go for professionals who have already worked with similar businesses. It’s also important to make sure they have experience in accounting software you use. The best approach to bookkeeping is to translate the work of keeping your financial records and books in order into dollars.
You don’t know how long a bookkeeping project will take.
Partnering with Patriot earned this accountant a 50% cost savings from his previous provider, decreased his time running payroll, and more! Look at the types of services you offer and compare what you currently charge to others. Many clients may be willing to pay a little more in exchange for trustworthy knowledge and training. For this client, I do some tallying of their hourly employee amounts and then note how much is deducted for their health insurance and retirement savings. All I need to do is fill out the spreadsheet, and then I send it off to the payroll department. I like to calculate my rate based on my max time, but then I’m rewarded if I work quickly and efficiently.
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. Consider investing in simple software like FreshBooks for additional help in handling your finances without breaking the bank. You must understand what bookkeeping services you need and whether it’s best to hire a professional bookkeeper full time, part time, or outsource the service. Full-time bookkeepers keep track of all day-to-day operations, financial reporting, cash flow, tax filing, credit card accounts, customer invoices, monthly transactions, and much more. Small business bookkeepers have a few simple responsibilities. They keep your financial books in order by tracking the revenue and expenditure This is achieved by performing data entry in accounting software.
On paper, a part time bookkeeper may look like an attractive option. However, any error or oversight that may appear on the sheet is fully at your business’s expense. Ever since my first bookkeeping job over the summer in 1990, I’ve been focused on helping small businesses grow by better understanding their numbers. If you post them on your site, a potential client can choose your services like they’d choose a combo at a drive-thru. For another great article about using pricing 5 essential objectives of cost accounting bundles, check out this post over at FinePoints Bookkeeping. Once you put together a good system, including a pricing list and some standard bundles, this is a great way to bill for your services.
