Online bookkeeping services that publish prices start near $99 a month for simple, software-led books. Full service with a named human bookkeeper runs about $199 to $649 a month. The number of transactions, the number of accounts and any catch-up work move the price most. All prices are as of October 2026, in US dollars.
The numbers
These are the services checked for this post that show prices on their own sites.
Bench publishes four main plans:
- Bookkeeping Light: $199 a month, or $1,910 a year billed annually. For businesses with $250,000 or less in yearly revenue.
- Bookkeeping: $399 a month, or $3,830 a year billed annually. Year-end tax-ready financials and access to your bookkeeper.
- Bookkeeping + Tax: $649 a month, or $6,230 a year billed annually. Adds business tax filing and up to four tax advisory calls a year.
- Fractional bookkeeper inside your own QuickBooks Online: $55 an hour, plus a one-time $1,200 onboarding fee.
Bench has a history worth knowing. It shut down suddenly in December 2024 and was then bought by Employer.com, as GeekWire reported. Make sure you can export your data from any provider, whoever it is.
Pilot lists an Essentials plan at $99 a month for cash-basis books built from bank and card data, for businesses with up to $100,000 in monthly expenses. Its Core plan adds a US-based bookkeeper and accrual books, and the price depends on your monthly expenses. A Custom plan is quoted by sales.
QuickBooks Live offers full-service bookkeeping with a dedicated bookkeeper and a cleanup in the first month. Its main page does not show a price. You book a consultation to get one. Tax filing is not included.
The in-house comparison
The US Bureau of Labor Statistics puts the median pay for bookkeeping, accounting and auditing clerks at $50,670 a year, or $24.36 an hour, in May 2025. You would add payroll taxes, benefits, software and management time. For most companies with under ten staff, a monthly service costs a fraction of that.
What pushes the price up
- Transaction volume. More card swipes, invoices and bills mean more work. Many firms price by monthly expenses or transaction count.
- Number of accounts. Each bank account, card, loan and payment app needs its own reconciliation.
- Accrual books. Cash-basis books are cheaper. Accrual books track what you owe and are owed, and cost more.
- Catch-up work. Every month that was never recorded is billed on top, often as a one-time fee.
- Extras. Bill pay, invoicing, payroll, sales tax and inventory are often add-ons.
- Speed. Faster monthly reports cost more. Pilot's Core plan delivers reports by the 10th business day, and its higher Custom plan by the 6th.
Catch-up is where quotes jump. Bench says the current year is free with an annual plan, and work more than a year behind is quoted separately. Ask every firm for a flat fee per month of history, so you can compare.
A quick way to estimate your own price
Say you run a consulting business with two bank accounts, two credit cards and Stripe. You have about 150 transactions a month and you are four months behind.
- Most simple plans cover this volume. Expect the entry or middle tier.
- Add a one-time catch-up quote for four months.
- Add tax filing if the plan does not include it, or keep your current tax preparer.
- Multiply the monthly price by 12 and add the one-time fees. That is your first-year cost.
Compare that yearly number, not the monthly headline. Annual billing often saves 20%, as Bench shows, but it locks you in.
When outsourcing is worth it
- You spend several hours a month on books, and those hours are worth more than the monthly fee.
- Your books are behind, and you have a loan, a tax deadline or a sale coming.
- You want monthly reports you can trust to price work and plan cash.
It is less worth it if you have a handful of transactions a month. Good software and an hour of your time may be enough. See bookkeeping basics for small business for what that involves.
Red flags in a quote
- A price with no stated transaction or expense limit, and no rule for what happens when you grow
- Catch-up work priced only as to be determined
- No named person or team, only a ticket queue
- No way to export your ledger if you leave
- Tax filing implied but not written in the scope
Questions to send before you sign
- What is the monthly price for my volume: about [number] transactions across [number] accounts?
- What happens to the price if my volume grows by 50%?
- Is it cash or accrual basis?
- What is the flat fee to catch up [number] months?
- By what day each month will I get my reports?
- Who is my contact, and how fast do they reply?
- Are tax filing, sales tax and payroll included or extra?
- Which software do you use, and do I own the file?
- How do I get my data if I leave, and is there an exit fee?
- Is there a minimum contract length?
Next steps
If you have not chosen your software yet, read QuickBooks vs Xero, since many firms work in one or the other. To see where the saved hours could go, see improve cash flow and how to pay yourself. Rules for records and taxes differ by country and state, so check the tax side with your accountant.