Published · 7 min read
Short answer: bookkeeping services costs depend mostly on how many transactions you have, how many bank and card accounts need reconciling, and whether payroll and sales tax are part of the job. At our firm, monthly bookkeeping for a small business typically starts in the low hundreds of dollars a month, quoted as a fixed fee after we look at a recent bank statement. Books that are behind are a separate catch-up project, also quoted as a fixed fee.
Most owners start looking at bookkeeping services costs at one of two moments: tax season arrives and the books are not ready, or the business has grown past the point where the owner can keep up at night. Either way, the question is the same. What should this cost, and what am I actually paying for?
We keep books for small businesses across North Carolina, from single-owner service companies to multi-location restaurants. This guide explains how bookkeeping is priced, what moves the number, how outsourcing compares with hiring, and what records the IRS expects you to keep. For how our monthly service runs, see our bookkeeping services page.
How bookkeeping is priced
You will run into three pricing models, and each one puts the risk in a different place.
| Model | How it works | Watch for |
|---|---|---|
| Hourly | You pay for the time spent each month | A messy month costs more, and you do not know the bill in advance |
| Fixed monthly fee | One price for an agreed scope of accounts and transactions | What happens when your volume grows, and what is outside the scope |
| Fixed project fee | One price to rebuild months or years of books | Whether the price covers every account and every year you need |
Our monthly bookkeeping is a fixed fee, so you know what it costs before the month starts. Catch-up work is quoted as a fixed project, so you know the total before we begin.
What drives the price up or down
Two businesses with the same revenue can pay very different amounts for bookkeeping. These are the things that move the number:
- Transaction volume. A contractor with forty deposits a month is a different job from a restaurant with daily card batches.
- Number of accounts. Every bank account, credit card, loan and merchant account gets reconciled to its statement each month.
- Payroll. Payroll entries have to be posted correctly every cycle. When the same firm runs payroll, they post straight into the books.
- Sales tax. North Carolina sales and use tax has to be tracked and filed on schedule if your business collects it.
- Invoicing and bill payment. Sending invoices, tracking who owes you and scheduling vendor payments can be added to the monthly work.
- The state of the books today. Clean, current books cost less to keep than books that need a rebuild first.
How much should you pay someone to do your bookkeeping?
A useful benchmark is what an in-house bookkeeper earns. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics puts the median pay for bookkeeping, accounting and auditing clerks at $50,670 a year, or $24.36 an hour, as of May 2025.
Even part time, that adds up. Ten hours a week at the median wage is about $1,055 a month, before payroll taxes, any benefits, the software license and the time it takes you to train and supervise them. A small business that needs a few hours of work a month can pay far less for an outside service with a fixed monthly fee than for a person on payroll.
What you are paying for is not data entry. It is reconciled accounts, financial statements you can act on, and books that are ready for the tax return without a scramble in March.
Bookkeeping services vs accounting services
The two overlap, but they are not the same job. The U.S. Small Business Administration’s guide to managing your finances describes a bookkeeper as handling basic day-to-day functions at a lower cost, while a certified public accountant usually costs more and offers more tailored service.
In practice, bookkeeping is recording and reconciling: categorizing transactions, tying accounts to statements and producing the monthly profit-and-loss statement and balance sheet. Accounting builds on those numbers: tax planning, tax returns, year-end adjustments such as depreciation, and advice on decisions like whether you can afford a second truck.
Our firm does both. Because the same team keeps your books, runs your payroll and prepares your return, the year-end close is already done when tax season starts. Our team includes enrolled agents admitted to practice before the IRS.
What catch-up bookkeeping costs
If you are months or years behind, the work starts with a catch-up project. We request the bank and card statements for the period, rebuild the books month by month, reconcile them, and produce financial statements for each year. It is quoted as a fixed fee, and the monthly service begins once you are current.
Some owners only want a year-end clean-up before the tax return. We do that too. Most clients who start there move to monthly service the next year, because the clean-up usually costs close to what the monthly service would have, without the benefit of seeing the numbers during the year.
What records you have to keep
Bookkeeping is also how you keep the records the IRS expects to see. Its guidance on how long to keep records (reviewed June 30, 2026) sets these periods:
| Situation | Keep records for |
|---|---|
| Most income tax records | 3 years |
| Employment tax records | At least 4 years after the tax is due or paid, whichever is later |
| Income left off the return worth more than 25% of the gross income shown | 6 years |
| A claim for a loss from worthless securities or a bad debt deduction | 7 years |
| No return filed | Indefinitely |
Receipts still matter, but not in a shoebox. A photo of the receipt attached to the transaction in your accounting system is what an auditor wants to see, and we set up a simple way to capture them from your phone.
How to choose a bookkeeping service
The best bookkeeping service for a small business is the one whose scope matches yours and whose price you know in advance. Ask each one:
- Is the monthly fee fixed, and what volume of transactions does it cover?
- Do you reconcile every bank, card and loan account to its statement every month?
- When do I get my financial statements, and will someone explain them?
- Do you handle North Carolina sales tax and post payroll?
- Who prepares my tax return, and does it come from the same books?
- Can I ask questions in Spanish?
- If I am behind, how is the catch-up priced?
What our monthly fee covers
Our monthly bookkeeping is a fixed fee based on your transaction volume, your number of accounts and whether payroll and sales tax are included. Combined bookkeeping-and-tax engagements are priced together. Every month you get:
- Every bank, credit card, loan and merchant account reconciled to its statement
- A profit-and-loss statement and balance sheet, with a short note on what changed and why
- Questions about unusual items sent to you in a short message, in English or Spanish
- Accounts receivable and payable tracked, if you add them
- North Carolina sales and use tax tracked and filed on schedule
- A year-end close that is done before the return is prepared
We work with owners from our office in Matthews, serving the Charlotte area, and with small businesses across North Carolina. A recent bank statement is all we need to quote a monthly fee. Start with our bookkeeping services page or book a free consultation.
Bookkeeping cost questions
It depends on transaction volume, the number of accounts and whether payroll and sales tax are included. At our firm, small businesses typically start in the low hundreds of dollars per month, quoted as a fixed monthly fee after we look at a recent bank statement.
For a small business that needs a few hours of work a month, outsourcing usually costs less. The Bureau of Labor Statistics puts median pay for bookkeeping clerks at $24.36 an hour as of May 2025, so even ten hours a week is about $1,055 a month before payroll taxes and benefits. A fixed monthly service fee covers the same reconciliations without an employee on payroll.
Bookkeeping records and reconciles your transactions and produces monthly financial statements. Accounting uses those numbers for tax returns, tax planning, year-end adjustments and business decisions. When one firm does both, the books are already built for the return.
It depends on how many months or years are behind and how many accounts are involved. We quote catch-up work as a fixed project fee after reviewing your statements, so you know the total before we start, and monthly service begins once the books are current.
The IRS says to keep most income tax records for 3 years, employment tax records for at least 4 years, records for 6 years if you left out more than 25% of your gross income, 7 years for a bad debt or worthless securities claim, and indefinitely if you did not file a return.
Yes. A photo of each receipt attached to the transaction in your accounting system is what an auditor wants to see. A good bookkeeping setup makes it easy to capture them from your phone.
Sources
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Outlook Handbook, “Bookkeeping, Accounting, and Auditing Clerks” (May 2025 wage data, page modified August 27, 2026); IRS, “How long should I keep records?” (reviewed June 30, 2026); U.S. Small Business Administration, “Manage your finances.” Checked November 2, 2026.