How Much Does a Bookkeeper Cost in 2026? Hourly, Monthly and In-House Rates

A bookkeeper costs you a median $24.36 an hour in 2026 as an employee, which is $50,670 a year in wages. Add benefits and your full-time hire costs about $73,795 a year, or $6,150 a month. Outsourced plans you can buy online start at $399 a month.

If your company does $1 million to $10 million in revenue, you may not need 40 hours a week of bookkeeping. If you need 20, half of that $73,795 pays for idle time. That gap is why you should price a hire against monthly bookkeeping services. Below you get the hourly, monthly and in-house rates, plus the math to test any quote you receive.

How Much Does a Bookkeeper Cost in 2026? Rates by Hiring Model

Your bookkeeper’s cost depends first on how you hire one: on your payroll, as a freelancer, or through a firm’s monthly fee. Each model prices the same work in a different unit.

The BLS May 2025 wage estimates for bookkeeping clerks, the June 2026 employer cost survey and published 2026 price lists give you a benchmark for each model:

These numbers measure different things, and that explains the gaps. A wage is what your bookkeeper takes home before benefits. A firm fee also covers software, review, overhead and profit, and you pay only for the hours your books need.

Bookkeeper Hourly Rate by Percentile and State: Full-Charge, Freelance and CPA Rates

A bookkeeper hourly rate is the price of one hour of recording, reconciling and reporting work. The federal wage survey gives you an exact answer for employees. No government survey publishes billed rates for freelancers or firms, so you build that benchmark from wages.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics counted 1,373,680 bookkeeping, accounting and auditing clerks in May 2025. Their mean wage was $25.75 an hour. You can compare any quote you get against these percentiles:

A full-charge bookkeeper runs your whole cycle, from entries to the trial balance and draft statements. BLS does not report that title as its own group, so budget toward the 75th to 90th percentile if you need one. These are wages only, and your share of benefits comes on top.

Your location moves bookkeeping rates per hour by several dollars. The BLS state wage rankings put these five at the top for May 2025:

• District of Columbia: $31.34 median an hour
• Connecticut: $28.83
• Massachusetts: $28.77
• California: $28.48
• Washington: $28.18

The top metro area was San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara at $31.79. Hiring there or in Massachusetts can cost you 18 to 31 percent more than the national median. An outsourced bookkeeper is priced on your workload, not your zip code.

Self-Employed Bookkeeper Hourly Rate: The $35.48 Break-Even

A self-employed bookkeeper hourly rate has to cover costs you would normally pay as an employer. That includes health insurance, paid leave, retirement savings and the employer half of payroll taxes. When you hire a freelancer, they pay all of them.

The June 2026 BLS Employer Costs for Employee Compensation table shows the load for office and administrative support workers. Employers paid $25.22 an hour in wages and $11.51 in benefits, for $36.73 in total. Every wage dollar you pay carries about 45.6 cents of benefits.

Apply that ratio to the median bookkeeper and you get the break-even:

• Median wage: $24.36 an hour
• Ratio: $36.73 divided by $25.22
• Fully loaded cost: $35.48 an hour

A freelancer billing you $35.48 only matches an employee’s pay and benefits, before unbilled admin hours. So expect freelance quotes above that line. If you get a quote far below it, you are usually looking at an entry-level bookkeeper or a very small scope.

CPA Bookkeeping Rates at Tax and Accounting Practices

CPA bookkeeping rates sit above freelance rates because accountants cost more to employ. Bookkeeping services fees at a CPA firm carry that higher labor cost. BLS puts the median accountant and auditor at $40.23 an hour, or $83,680 a year, in May 2025.

Load that wage the same way as a bookkeeper’s and you see what your CPA firm pays:

• Median accountant wage: $40.23 an hour
• Business and financial staff cost: $88.63 in total for every $59.85 in wages
• Fully loaded accountant hour: about $59.58, before overhead or profit

Prices are also moving. The BLS producer price index for bookkeeping and compilation at CPA offices rose 3.2 percent between August 2025 and August 2026, in preliminary data. If your CPA firm raised its bookkeeping fee about 3 percent over the past year, it tracked the market.

So bookkeepers are cheaper than accountants: 39.4 percent less per hour at the median. Use your bookkeeper for monthly records and your accountant for tax and advice.

How Much Does a Bookkeeper Cost per Month? Fixed Fees and Packages

How much does a bookkeeper cost per month for you? It depends on the hours your books need, not on a standard price list. A monthly fee is simply those hours, priced in advance. So your most useful benchmark is the fully loaded hour.

So how much do bookkeepers charge per month? At $35.48 an hour, 20 hours of your bookkeeping is worth about $710 and 40 hours about $1,419. A fair fixed fee for a monthly bookkeeper lands near the loaded cost of your scope, or lower when the firm automates well. GATP’s fixed-fee plans start under $250 a month on annual contracts with a 30-day notice period.

Bookkeeping Packages: Published 2026 Prices and What Each Tier Covers

Bookkeeping packages bundle a scope into tiers so you can compare bookkeeping pricing without reading hourly logs. Three national online services publish their monthly prices. Here is what each listed on September 28, 2026:

At $35.48 a loaded hour, $399 buys about 11 hours of bookkeeping and $1,500 buys about 42. Those are starting prices, and each one grows with your transactions, accounts and entities. Most packages step up in three tiers:

• Basic: transaction categorizing and monthly bank and card reconciliation.
• Standard: basic, plus bill payment, customer invoicing and payroll.
• Full-service: standard, plus accrual adjustments, financial statements, sales tax and a monthly review call.

Before you compare tiers, ask whether your accounting software is included. QuickBooks Online pricing lists $38 to $340 a month, and Xero pricing lists $25 to $90, before introductory discounts.

Hourly or Flat Monthly Fee: Which Pricing Model Costs You Less

An hourly fee bills you for time actually worked. A flat monthly fee bills you a fixed price for an agreed scope. Each one wins in a different situation:

• Choose hourly for one-off work. A cleanup, a catch-up or a single reconciliation has hours you cannot predict, so you pay only for what the job takes.
• Choose a flat fee for recurring work. Your monthly close repeats, so a fixed fee gives you one known number and covers busy months at no extra charge.
• Watch hourly creep. At $35.48 a loaded hour, five unplanned hours add about $177 to your month, and you only see it on the invoice.
• Check the flat-fee scope. A fixed fee covers a set number of accounts and transactions, so ask what triggers a price change before you sign.

For your steady monthly close, the flat fee is usually the better fit. Keep an hourly rate on file for projects outside your scope.

In-House Versus Outsourced Bookkeeping Cost: A Worked Example

How much does it cost to hire a bookkeeper on your payroll, compared with outsourcing? The answer comes down to hours. Assume you run a $5 million distributor with three bank accounts and payroll twice a month. Assume your books need about 40 hours of work a month.

Here is the full cost of each route, using the 2026 BLS figures:

Paying only for the hours you use costs you about 23.1 percent of the full-time hire. You keep $56,765 a year, before recruiting, a desk or a second login for your accounting software.

Outsourced bookkeeping rates vary by firm, so treat $1,419 as your benchmark for this scope. It sits inside the $399 to $1,500 published range above. Virtual bookkeeping services pricing follows the same fixed-fee logic. In-house still wins when your books fill 40 hours a week, or when you need someone on site for cash, inventory counts or mail.

What Drives Bookkeeping Services Cost for a $1 Million to $10 Million Business

Bookkeeping services cost follows the volume and complexity of your records, not your revenue. Two companies with the same revenue can pay very different fees. At $35.48 a loaded hour, every extra 10 hours a month adds about $355 to your bill. These are the drivers a firm prices:

• Transaction lines: every sale, bill and payout line that needs a category.
• Accounts: each bank account, credit card, loan and payment processor to reconcile.
• Entities: every legal entity is a separate set of books, and one untouched entity can hold up your whole close.
• Payroll: pay runs, headcount and states.
• Accrual work: inventory, prepaid expenses and deferred revenue.
• Backlog: months behind, priced as a separate project. Bookkeeper360 starts prior-period work at $1,000.

Some providers tie price directly to your activity. Intuit’s bookkeeping service terms set your fee from your average monthly expenses and recheck the tier every three months.

The first driver is the easiest to undercount. In GATP’s ecommerce bookkeeping engagement, one seller ran four sales channels in two currencies across several entities. A single marketplace deposit held dozens or hundreds of orders, net of fees, refunds and reimbursements.

That seller’s bank statement showed a few deposits a month. The real work sat in every settlement line underneath. So ask for your quote on settlement lines, not deposit count. A quote built on deposits looks cheap and gets repriced once your real volume shows.

Your industry changes the work behind the same fee:

• E-commerce: Shopify and Stripe payouts split into gross sales, fees and refunds, then matched to each deposit.
• Real estate: a rent roll per property, with repairs and property expenses mapped to the right building.
• Clinics: insurance payments posted against claims, plus payroll for providers and front-desk staff.

Is It Worth Getting a Bookkeeper? Six Checks Before You Hire

A bookkeeper is worth it when your own hour is worth more than theirs. At $35.48 loaded, ten hours of your month costs about $355, a small price for a clean close. Run these checks before you sign, because each one prevents a common mistake:

1. Count your monthly transaction lines. This prevents a quote built on bank deposits that gets repriced later.
2. List every entity, account, card and processor you have. This prevents surprise per-account or per-entity fees.
3. Write your scope down. This prevents you paying full-service prices for basic work.
4. Get the hourly rate and the fixed fee, then compare at your hours. This prevents hourly creep on recurring work.
5. Classify the worker correctly. The IRS independent contractor rules weigh behavioral and financial control and the relationship. Misclassify an employee and you may owe the employment taxes.
6. Price any backlog separately. This prevents catch-up work hiding inside your monthly fee.

If you still keep the books yourself, start with the small business bookkeeping basics and time one month of your work.

What Changed for Bookkeeping Costs in 2026

Four 2026 changes affect how you budget for a bookkeeper:

• New wage data. BLS published its May 2025 wage estimates on May 15, 2026, in the Occupational Employment and Wages release.
• A heavier benefit load. Benefits made up 31.3 percent of employer cost for office staff in June 2026, so your in-house hire costs more than the wage suggests.
• Higher firm prices. CPA office prices for bookkeeping rose 3.2 percent in the year to August 2026.
• A higher 1099 threshold. The Form 1099-NEC instructions raise the filing threshold to $2,000 for payments made after December 31, 2025, up from $600. Pay an unincorporated freelance bookkeeper that much in 2026 and you file one for them.

Conclusion: What a Bookkeeper Really Costs in 2026

How much does bookkeeping cost you in 2026? A median $24.36 an hour in wages, about $35.48 fully loaded, $399 and up for a published outsourced plan, and about $73,795 a year for a full-time hire. Your transaction lines, accounts and entities decide how many hours you need, and so what you pay.

Find out what your books should cost each month. We count your transaction lines, accounts, entities and pay runs, then map them to the right scope. You get back three tailored pricing options and any cleanup your books need first. Compare our fixed-fee bookkeeping plans before we talk.

Book a free consultation.

Frequently Asked Questions

Are bookkeepers cheaper than accountants?

Yes. The median bookkeeper earns $24.36 an hour and the median accountant earns $40.23, per May 2025 BLS data. That makes a bookkeeper about 39.4 percent cheaper per hour. You can use a bookkeeper for monthly records and keep your accountant for tax and review work.

How much should you pay someone to do your bookkeeping?

Pay $24.36 to $35.84 an hour for an employee, from the BLS median to the 90th percentile. Expect a freelancer to charge you at least $35.48 an hour, which adds the June 2026 benefit load. For a firm, expect published plans from $399 a month, then compare against your hours multiplied by $35.48.

Is it worth getting a bookkeeper?

Yes, once your bookkeeping takes more than a few hours a month. A median bookkeeper hour costs about $35.48 fully loaded, which is less than your own time is likely worth. A bookkeeper also closes your month on schedule, so your tax preparer starts from reconciled numbers.

Is $300 a month reasonable for monthly bookkeeping?

$300 a month is reasonable only for a small, simple scope. It buys about 8.5 loaded bookkeeper hours at $35.48. National online services publish full monthly plans from $399, and a $199 plan only for revenue under $250,000. Check whether your $300 quote excludes payroll, inventory or extra entities.

What is the average cost of a bookkeeper?

The average cost of a bookkeeper is $25.75 an hour in wages, the BLS mean for May 2025. The median is $24.36, or $50,670 a year. With benefits at the June 2026 rate, your full-time bookkeeper costs about $73,795 a year. Outsourced plans publish from $399 a month.

Is it better to pay a bookkeeper hourly or monthly?

Monthly is better for recurring work, and hourly is better for one-off projects. A fixed monthly fee gives you a known cost and covers busy months at no extra charge. Hourly billing suits your cleanup, catch-up or single reconciliation, where the hours are hard to predict.

Is outsourcing bookkeeping cheaper than hiring in-house?

Outsourcing is usually cheaper unless your books fill a full-time week. A full-time hire costs you about $73,795 a year with benefits. The same bookkeeper’s time for 40 hours a month is worth about $17,030 a year. That makes outsourced bookkeeping cost roughly 23.1 percent of the hire in this example.

How much does a CPA charge for bookkeeping?

A CPA firm charges you more than a bookkeeper because its staff cost more. A median accountant hour costs a firm about $59.58 with benefits, based on 2026 BLS data, before overhead and profit. BLS producer price data show CPA bookkeeping prices up 3.2 percent over the 12 months to August 2026.