Home/Pricing
How pricing works
Every engagement is quoted after we have looked at your actual books. Here is what sets the number, so you know what you are walking into before you speak to anybody.
What sets the price
Six things, and they are all just measures of how much work your books actually take:
- How many transactions run through the business each month
- How many bank, credit card and loan accounts are involved
- Whether there is payroll, and how complicated it is
- Whether you carry inventory or sell through online platforms
- How many entities we are keeping separate
- How many systems have to reconcile to each other
A one-person consultancy and a company running inventory across three sales channels are not the same job, and they should not carry the same fee. That is the whole reason we look first.
What you get at each level
One monthly fee. Itemized for us, one number for you.
Essentials
Solo operators, startups and small businesses with straightforward books.
- Transactions categorized monthly
- Bank and credit card reconciliation
- Profit and loss, balance sheet
- Year end file ready for your CPA
- Questions answered by email
Standard
Established businesses with payroll, more accounts, or inventory and online sales.
- Everything in Essentials
- Payroll coordinated and posted
- Accounts payable and receivable
- Inventory and e-commerce reconciliation
- A monthly call
Partner
Companies past roughly $5M in revenue that need a real accounting function.
- Everything in Standard
- Monthly close on a fixed calendar
- Reporting package with written commentary
- Multiple entities and consolidation
- Lender and CPA ready throughout
The review tells us which level fits. We would rather place you correctly than sell you upward, because a client on the wrong tier becomes an unhappy client by about month three.
Hourly rates
Where work is billed by the hour rather than as a monthly fee.
- $75 an hourGeneral bookkeeping and accounting support.
- $100 an hourInventory and e-commerce work, where payouts, cost of goods sold and stock all have to reconcile to each other.
- $120 an hourCleanup and reconstruction of past books. The most demanding work we do, and the work that sets a business up for years afterwards.
Ongoing monthly bookkeeping is a fixed monthly fee rather than hourly, quoted after the review. That fee covers the agreed monthly scope. Work outside it, a cleanup of an earlier period or a one-off project, is quoted separately at the rates above rather than quietly appearing on your invoice. Cleanup is normally quoted as a fixed price too, with the hourly rate applying only where the scope genuinely cannot be bounded in advance, against a ceiling you approve first.
Setup and cleanup
Setup
Every engagement begins with setup: chart of accounts built or corrected, feeds connected, categorization rules established, opening balances agreed. It is roughly a third of the work of a first year, so it carries its own fee rather than being buried in the monthly rate. It can be spread across your first three months so it does not land as one payment.
Cleanup of past books
Quoted after the review, as a fixed price with a timeline. Where the scope genuinely cannot be bounded up front, it runs at $120 an hour against a ceiling you approve first. What we will not do is give you a flat number for cleaning up a file we have not opened. That practice is what produces abandoned engagements and half-finished years, and we have cleaned up enough of them to know better.
What is not included
Tax preparation and tax planning. We are bookkeeping and accounting only, and we work alongside your CPA rather than replacing them. If you do not have one, we can point you toward people we trust.
Audit and assurance work, which requires an independent firm.
Filing sales tax or payroll tax returns. We make sure those numbers are right in the books and reconcile to what your filing service reports, but the filing itself sits with them.
Questions about pricing
How much does a bookkeeper cost?
Our hourly rates are $75 for general bookkeeping, $100 for inventory and e-commerce work, and $120 for cleanup and reconstruction of past books. Ongoing monthly bookkeeping is a fixed monthly fee instead, quoted after a free review, because it depends on transaction volume, account count, payroll and how many systems have to reconcile.
Why not publish a price?
Because a number quoted before anyone has opened your file is a guess, and guesses go one of two ways: padded to cover the worst case, or too low and revisited later. Neither is a good way to start. The review is free and it produces a real number.
Why is cleanup not a fixed price up front?
Same reason, more so. Nobody can price a repair on a file they have not seen. We look first, then quote a fixed price with a timeline, and then it is fixed.
Is there a setup fee?
Yes, and it is real work rather than an administrative charge. Setting up the chart of accounts, connecting feeds, establishing the categorization rules and getting the opening balances right is roughly a third of the total effort of a first year. It can be spread across your first three months.
Do I have to sign a long contract?
No. Monthly work runs month to month on an engagement letter. We would rather you stay because the work is good than because leaving is difficult.
Is there a cheaper option?
There is always a cheaper option, and a good part of our work is repairing what it produced. We are not the cheapest and we do not try to be. If price is the deciding factor, we are probably not the right fit, and that is a fine outcome for both of us.
Start with a look at your actual books.
No cost, no obligation, and no sales pitch. You get a straight answer about where your books stand, and you can do whatever you want with it.
Prefer to talk first? (833) 653-7545 or hello@gotomybookkeeper.com