How much does a bookkeeper cost?
Last updated: September 2026
Quick answer
A part-time bookkeeper typically costs $300 to $2,000 per month; freelance bookkeepers charge roughly $25 to $50 per hour; done-for-you services run $250 to $995 per month. Software that categorizes, reconciles, and closes the books for your review starts with a free diagnostic, then has a person catch the books up for a flat $1,500, and keeps them clean from $49/month. The right answer depends on your volume, how messy the books are, and what your own hours are worth.
What you’re actually paying for
Every option, human or software, is selling the same monthly job: get each bank and card transaction into the right category, reconcile the accounts against statements, close the month so the numbers stop moving, and produce what your tax preparer needs. Prices differ because of who does that work, how fast you get it back, and how much of your own time each option still consumes.
The biggest price drivers for human bookkeepers are transaction volume, how many accounts you run, whether there’s cleanup or catch-up work, and payroll/1099 complexity. If your books are months behind, expect a one-time catch-up fee on top of the monthly rate, often quoted per month of backlog.
The five ways to get books done, priced
Freelance bookkeeper (hourly)
≈ $25 to $50+/hour
A person you hire directly. Great when you also want judgment calls handled; quality and availability vary, and you manage the relationship.
Best fit: Complex books, or you want a human you know personally.
Part-time bookkeeper (monthly retainer)
≈ $300 to $2,000/month
Ongoing monthly service from a person or small firm. You wait on their schedule; the work happens off-stage.
Best fit: Higher-volume businesses that want a person on call.
Done-for-you service (Bench, Xendoo, etc.)
≈ $250 to $995/month
A subscription bookkeeping team. Books delivered monthly; the categorization decisions happen out of view, and your ledger lives with the service.
Best fit: Owners who want zero involvement and accept the price.
DIY software (QuickBooks, Wave, Xero)
≈ $0 to $275/month
You do the bookkeeping in their interface: categorize, reconcile, close. Cheapest in dollars, most expensive in your evenings.
Best fit: Owners with simple books, patience, and time.
Software that does the books (TrainedBooks)
Free diagnostic; cleanup from $1,500; Keep-Clean from $49/mo
A free diagnostic shows the issues first. A one-time cleanup categorizes every line with a reason, detects duplicates, and checks reconciliation; Keep-Clean runs the monthly close, computes a tax set-aside, and preps a CPA-ready packet. You review the few flagged items and own the ledger.
Best fit: Service businesses that want the work done without a service-sized bill.
Ranges reflect typical published US prices as of September 2026; individual providers set their own rates and yours may differ.
The math most owners actually run
Take your effective hourly rate and multiply by the hours you spend on the books each month (most service-business owners land between three and eight, done at night). If that number is bigger than the price of having it done, doing it yourself is the expensive option. It just doesn’t send an invoice.
The second comparison is human service vs. software that does the work. A done-for-you service and bookkeeping software both hand you closed books; the differences are price (hundreds vs. tens per month), turnaround (their cycle vs. as activity lands), and transparency (results delivered vs. every categorization explained with a reason you can check). See our honest comparisons with Bench, Xendoo, and QuickBooks Live.
Whichever way you go, keep your CPA. Bookkeeping keeps the months clean; your tax pro files from them. Clean books generally make that filing bill smaller, because accountants charge more to reconstruct a year than to review one.
Frequently asked questions
How much does a bookkeeper cost per month for a small business?
A part-time bookkeeper typically runs $300 to $2,000 per month depending on transaction volume and how messy the books are. Done-for-you services usually price between $250 and $995 per month, and cleanup or catch-up work is quoted on top, often per month of backlog. TrainedBooks runs a free diagnostic, then a person catches the books up for a flat $1,500 within a stated scope (up to 12 months behind, one bank account, under about 100 transactions a month, no payroll, inventory, or sales tax), with anything larger quoted before work starts. Keeping them clean afterwards is software from $49 per month.
What does a bookkeeper charge per hour?
Freelance bookkeepers commonly charge roughly $25 to $50 per hour in the US, with experienced or specialized bookkeepers charging more. A typical small service business needs a few hours a month once books are clean, more if there's cleanup.
Is it cheaper to do bookkeeping myself?
In cash, yes. DIY software runs $0 to $275 a month. In hours, rarely: categorizing, reconciling, and closing typically takes owners several hours a month, done at night, with mistakes that cost more at tax time. The honest comparison is your hourly value against the price of having it done.
Do I need a bookkeeper AND an accountant?
They do different jobs. A bookkeeper (or bookkeeping software) keeps the monthly books: categorized transactions, reconciled accounts, closed months. Your accountant or CPA files taxes and advises. Clean monthly books usually make the accountant's bill smaller, not bigger.
What's the cheapest way to get my books done without doing them myself?
Have someone catch them up once, then let software hold the line. TrainedBooks starts with a free diagnostic (no card required) that shows the issues, then a person brings the books current for a flat $1,500 within a stated scope, categorizing every transaction with a plain-English reason. Keeping them clean afterwards is software from $49/mo with a guided monthly close, a tax set-aside, and a CPA-ready packet. TrainedBooks is not a CPA or tax preparer and does not file returns.