2026 Pricing Report
How Much to Charge for Bookkeeping Services (2026)
Factors affecting the amount by which to shift quotes / Market compensation by client type and skill level / How to choose your own rates
This report aggregates bookkeeping service pricing information for 2026 from various sources including published rates, pricing guides, and the Bureau of Labor Statistics wage information. Although these prices will be useful to bookkeeping buyers, the report is written for those who provide bookkeeping services. Each table describes a range of prices, as well as factors that will affect where within that range a given customer will fall.
Quick answer: In 2026, US bookkeepers typically charge $30–$90 per hour or $300–$1,500 per month for standard services. Clients with 200–500 transactions can expect to pay $600–$1,800 per month, while those with payroll and inventory needs pay $1,000–$2,500+. Bookkeeping cleanup projects are charged at a different rate and could cost $1,000 to $5,000. Most small business clients pay $400–$800/month.
Figures are indicative ranges based on a number of publicly available pricing guides. Prices will be national ranges and actual quotes will be impacted by local economics (wages, industry presence) as well as accounting practices, as cash based prices are often 25 to 35% less then accrual for the same client.
Monthly pricing by client tier
| Client tier | Monthly price | What moves the price |
|---|---|---|
| Solo and side business | $200–$400 | Account count and transaction volume |
| Small business, simple books | $300–$800 | Number of bank and card accounts |
| Small business, 200–500 transactions | $600–$1,800 | Accrual basis, AR/AP support |
| Payroll and inventory added | $1,000–$2,500+ | Inventory alone adds $300–$1,500 |
| Mid-size, $500K+ monthly revenue | $1,800–$4,000+ | Multi-entity, multi-state, advisory |
Three findings from this table:
- On an otherwise identical client, the need for inventory can increase the price by $300 to $1,500 for perpetual inventory, COGS, and reconciling inventory counts. Inventory is the biggest contributor to pricing differences in the market.
- And so flat monthly pricing has won. Current industry best-practice guides label hourly pricing for ongoing services as the exception. For the firm, flat pricing creates an incentive to be efficient. For the client, it’s predictable and offers good value.
- The reason for the spread, which is about 3x within each tier, is scope. A low quote will likely be for cash basis accounting, basic data entry rather than a full monthly close, and possibly have less accounts.
Hourly rates, where hourly still makes sense
| Level | Hourly rate | Typical scope |
|---|---|---|
| Entry level | $20–$35 | Categorization, receipt organization, data entry |
| Mid level | $35–$60 | Monthly closes, error correction, vendor billing |
| Senior or certified | $60–$100+ | Payroll, inventory, sales tax, multi-entity |
What should your billable rate be? According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the median wage for a bookkeeper is $23.66/hour, or $49,210 a year. According to freelance site Upwork, the average bookkeeping freelance rate is $43/hour. Freelancers charge more than an employee’s wage to make up for overhead, business costs such as software, and profit. As a rough guide, if your billable rate isn’t close to double an employee’s wage, you’re not charging enough. Use an hourly rate for one-off projects and situations where you don’t know what’s involved. Quote a one-time fee for a cleanup job, say, $1,000 to $5,000, depending on the size of the backlog.
How to set your own number
Market bands can help you understand what clients will accept. They do NOT determine what you should be charging. Determine how much you want to make in a year and what your expenses are, including software and insurance. Find out how many hours you spend working with those kinds of clients. Those three pieces of information should help you figure out how much to charge. Example: You spend 6 hours working with a client that has 300 transactions. You can charge $900, which is an effective $120/hr, or you can charge $45/hr and make $270. Charge by outcomes. Keep track of your hourly rate on those types of accounts to make sure you’re coming out ahead.
When a client adds an entity, adds payroll, adds inventory, expands into a new state, raise their rate. Clients expect a raise at these junctures because complexity has increased. Firms should not wait for annual reviews, as it’s leaving money on the table each time there’s a transition in scope.
Conclusions
- Charge a monthly rate for ongoing projects. Most small business engagements can be handled for $300 to $1,500/month. Flat rates mean you get paid for being efficient.
- Remember that it’s the number of accounts, transactions, whether they need a payroll and how much inventory they have that will determine what area of the tables they sit in, NOT YOUR NERVE OR COMFORT LEVEL.
- Never include cleanup / backlog tasks into your first month of service, because this decreases the value of your service. Treating backlog as another project is worth $1,000 to $5,000.
Frequently asked questions
- How much should I charge for bookkeeping services?
- A good rule of thumb is to add what you want to earn to your business expenses to get your rate. Flat fees are charged above this rate. In 2026 the typical monthly fee for standard engagements ranges from $300 to $1,500/month. Most small business clients will be paying $400-$800/month. Hourly rates are charged anywhere from $30-90/hr depending upon the level of experience.
- How much should I charge per month for a small business client?
- Typical bookkeeping fees can be anywhere from hundreds to thousands of dollars per month. Some benchmarks are: -Simple client with a couple of accounts: $300-$800 -Accrual basis and 200-500 monthly transactions: $600-$1,800 -Needs payroll and inventory help: $1,000-$2,500+
- Should bookkeepers charge hourly or a flat monthly fee?
- For one-off projects of undefined scope, charge by the hour ($30-$90); for cleanup, treat it as a different kind of project ($1,000-$5,000). For ongoing work, charge a fixed, monthly fee. Predictable billing is nice for clients, and fixed fees reward efficiency.
- What do cleanup and catch-up projects cost?
- 2026 published guides for one-time cleanups are $1,000 to $5,000, depending on the depth of the cleanup. Make sure to create a project quote for the work and do not include this fee in the first month of work.
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Sources & methodology
- Bookkeeping Pricing Guide 2026: How Much to Charge. Relay. August 2026.
- How Much Does a Bookkeeper Cost in 2026. QuickBooks. June 2026.
- Bookkeeping Services Pricing in 2026. Exact. June 2026.
- Bookkeeping Prices for Small Business. NerdWallet, citing BLS and Upwork data. 2026.
- Bookkeeping Services Fees 2026. Finlens. July 2026.
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