Whether you’re a self-employed professional, a business with employees, a business with contractors, or a freelancer, you can benefit from FreshBooks’ services. 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. Every client is unique, and their needs will vary greatly depending on the size and nature of their business. It’s important to have a flexible approach when it comes to bookkeeping pricing, to ensure you’re providing value and meeting the individual needs of each client. As your business grows, you will need to focus more on detailed financial reporting and following state & federal regulations.

1. Although not a crucial factor, it’s important to ensure the bookkeeper has experience working with software that you find convenient.
2. Whether you do the bookkeeping yourself or hire someone to do it, certain elements are fundamental to properly maintaining the books.
3. It allows you to adjust your fees without painting yourself into a corner, which can happen if you provide quotes to clients when you don’t know the details of their business.
4. When you’re calculating your rates, especially in a new location, doing local research is crucial.
5. Another option is to offer an hourly rate for the first job with a new client.

If you only have a few employees and don’t do a lot of transactions or have hundreds of invoices to go through, you should be able to get by with part-time help. A full charge bookkeeper has a larger responsibility and full oversight over a company’s finances. 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. 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. Many businesses rely on FreshBooks because of their flexible, trustworthy, and versatile system.

Communicating Your Pricing Strategy to Clients

This is performed by entering data into an accounting software like QuickBooks. Don’t continue handling your own bookkeeping or pawning it off on your administrative worker as you grow! Instead, consider hiring an in-house bookkeeper, outsourcing a bookkeeping service, or even upgrading to a monthly accounting service. Generally speaking, bookkeepers help collect and organize data and may have certain certifications to do so for your business. On the other hand, accountants are generally equipped with an accounting degree and may even be state-certified CPAs. You can expect most bookkeepers to maintain the general ledger and accounts while the accountant is there to create and interpret more complex financial statements.

How much does a bookkeeper cost?

Bookkeepers provide a variety of financial services found in the table below. If you need services a bookkeeper doesn’t typically provide, you may need to hire an accountant or CPA firm instead. A small business can likely do all its own bookkeeping using cost of bookkeeping services for small business accounting software. Many of the operations are automated in the software, making it easy to get accurate debits and credits entered. Every financial transaction should have a line item in the general ledger, which tracks everything in one place.

Types of services you offer

But with today’s advancements in technology, outsourcing has never been easier. Outsourcing can provide advanced and less costly bookkeeping service than a typical in-house bookkeeper. Outsourcing bookkeeping is a good option when you could use a hand hiring a bookkeeper for keeping track of a part of your financial management. Average monthly fees for this type of activity include from $500 to $2,500. One of the main benefits of such an approach is that you can customize the services you want the bookkeeper to provide. 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.

Or you may want to go with a large firm that takes on a high volume of clients for a lower rate. By the time your business reaches the size where you may want to consider a full-time bookkeeper, you may find that your best bet is to outsource to a firm or larger company. There are plenty of options out there to find a bookkeeping package that will meet your needs no matter how big or small your business is. For example, you might process a certain number of transactions for one cost, but going over that incurs a different fee. This ties into client size and is a good way to stay transparent while correctly charging larger clients. Generally, small to medium-sized businesses expect to pay between $500-$2,500 USD monthly for their outsourced bookkeeping—an dauntingly large range to deal with.

In most cases, working out a set rate is best and makes it easier for your budget. The average hourly rate for bookkeeping is between $18 and $25 per hour, depending on the exact services provided and the bookkeeper’s skill level or experience. The template is divided into seven sections, and includes critical details for each step.

Bookkeepers handle basic, day-to-day management of a business’s finances. Accountants perform more complex tasks and help the business with long-term financial planning. Similarly, more employees, more payroll, and more clients will all translate to a larger cost to complete bookkeeping services. The good news for most small businesses is that they don’t need full-time bookkeeping services.

Additionally, invoicing software can streamline the billing process, ensuring your clients have a clear understanding of your charges. Check out this article on the best invoicing software to explore some great options. Every client relationship is founded on clear, transparent communication. When you’re ready to discuss your pricing strategy with your clients, there are a few key steps to consider. To illustrate the cost efficiency of a part-time bookkeeper, consider the following example. At BELAY, we’ve provided remote services from all over the U.S. for 10 years.