You are not worth any less than an Auckland or Wellington bookkeeper just because you live elsewhere. Insurance – you should have professional indemnity and public liability insurance – another cost for you. Our culture tends to covet expensive things, aligning the price to value or worth.

The level of review and interaction with your bookkeeping team can also vary by provider. Make sure to ask about anything important to you, so that both you and your provider can know what to expect. When you hire one of these firms, the usual process is that they’ll give you a quote estimating how many hours it will take them to do your books, and what the cost for that will be. Keep in mind that this is often not binding – meaning it might take a lot longer than they think it will, which means your costs would be a lot higher than the quote. If you’re contracted as a bookkeeper, your client isn’t in charge of your sick time or vacation time or disability or leave or anything that they may have to think about with an employee. Depending on your experience and skills, you can charge between $15 to $30/hour as a remote, beginner bookkeeper.

The total hourly cash compensation, which includes base and short-term incentives, can vary anywhere from $19 to $23 with the average total hourly cash compensation of $21. The 2020 full-time average hourly wage rate for finance, insurance and related business administrative occupations, which includes bookkeepers, is $29.57. The 2020 corresponding median weekly wage rate is $1,021, giving an approximate full-time annual salary for this employment group of $53,000. Compensation Data Based on Experience The average bookkeeper gross salary in Ireland is €38,044 or an equivalent hourly rate of €18. Salary estimates based on salary survey data collected directly from employers and anonymous employees in Ireland.

If you’re a small business owner who is great with numbers, spreadsheets, and organization, doing your own bookkeeping may be an option. While this option can save you money—you don’t need to hire someone else—bookkeeping takes up valuable time. Recent reports estimate that small- and mid-sized businesses spend roughly 5% of their time on administrative tasks like bookkeeping and accounting. That might not seem like much, but that’s over 100 working hours a year that could be better spent on your business.

The Salary Difference Between Accounting and Bookkeeping

This initial meeting is helpful before you commit to a price. Many bookkeepers charge their clients for initial consultations because it gives them a chance to look at the books. This gives them an opportunity to let the client know just how much they will need to charge to take over their bookkeeping. Veronica Wasek from 5-Minute Bookkeeping has a great pricing strategy. For her fixed-rate pricing, I believe she does the 1-3% for any clients that are $300k or below.

• Hourly rate can vary widely depending on many important factors, including education, certifications, additional skills, the number of years you have spent in your profession.
• It’s vital to differentiate the functions of an accountant and a bookkeeper, especially if you plan to extend your accounting team.
• When it comes to procuring a bookkeeper, there are several different options you can choose from, and each comes with its own pricing structure.
• There’s a lot of different information floating around on cost, and it’s not always clear what might apply to your particular situation.

Cheaper bookkeepers are often part time and work on the weekends or night, often making it difficult to communicate with them and train them. The freelance bookkeeper hourly rate in 2021 averages out to be about $20.17, but a business that is looking for a reputable and consistent freelancer may struggle to find someone at this price. This is likely because of a high number of part-time bookkeepers and overseas freelance bookkeepers. Regardless of location, a freelance bookkeeper with the proper credentials will likely cost $40 an hour or higher. The majority of freelance bookkeepers charge their customers on an hourly basis.

Level of Education

Instead of graduate degrees, bookkeepers can earn professional certifications that indicate greater ability. These include the certified bookkeeper designation offered by the American Institute of Professional Bookkeepers. Depending on the employer, bookkeepers may qualify for other forms of compensation, such as performance bonuses. SalaryExpert, powered by ERI, provides verified salary and cost of living data to the public with a comprehensive platform for evaluating compensation, career, relocation, and education decisions. Now that you understand bookkeeping services and what goes into the cost of bookkeeping, let’s explore bookkeeping packages. Before selecting a bookkeeper, business owners should first understand what services they need and find a package that fits the bill.

Finally, over 20 years of experience in bookkeeping bring an average total compensation of $21. An accountant can perform bookkeeping functions, but a bookkeeper needs certification to become an accountant. This situation is only natural due to an increase in retirement of those professionals who were born between 1946 and 1964. A good and competitive compensation would range anywhere between 1,320 EUR and 1,510 EUR.

Career Path for Bookkeeper

An period costs standard would be to charge about 1-3% of your client’s gross income, and that is about what they should spend on a monthly bookkeeper . If they have an office worker designated to some of those other tasks, not all of the 1-3% would be distributed directly to you. A client with a higher income is going to be able to afford a higher price tag for a bookkeeper, and your workload will be quite a bit higher than a small or medium client. This is the benefit to charging based on a percentage of your client’s revenue. It’s reasonable for a new bookkeeper to charge around $40 an hour, but you’ll need to do some research in your area to make sure that is a good starting point. From there, you can raise your rates as you gain more experience, and many top out around $80 or more an hour.

Not all compensation increases are reflected directly in the salary. Some companies offer upgraded packages to their staff instead of cash money. The figures displayed here account only for direct increments to the base salary.

In-House Professional

Many clients may be willing to pay a little more in exchange for trustworthy knowledge and training. At some point or another, you may have clients of all sizes—aka small, medium, and large clients. And when one client’s size is larger than another client, you’re going to want to price services accordingly. I will end this by saying that if you are a bookkeeper in New Zealand, outsourcing directly to clients, and you’re charging less than $50/hour then you aren’t charging enough. All these you would get paid for but as a self-employed bookkeeper, your rate needs to include enough to compensate for this so you can still get paid for these days off.

There are three types of certifications for bookkeepers that we recommend. Tim is a Certified QuickBooks Time Pro, QuickBooks ProAdvisor, and CPA with 25 years of experience. He brings his expertise to Fit Small Business’s accounting content.

How Much Do Bookkeepers Make In Different Industries?

Many google results will talk about single entry and double entry bookkeeping. In reality, any functioning small business that pays taxes and has at least one employee should be using a double entry system and at least quickbooks online to manage their bookkeeping. The first point of contact with customers should be conversational. Schedule a call with your customer to explain why you’ve chosen to move from hourly billing to flat-rate billing, as well as the new billing price and when it’ll go into effect. It’s also crucial to convey the advantages that this shift will bring to your consumer. We’ve got some terrific advice on how to gain additional customers if you already have a bookkeeping firm up and running.

New York pays Bookkeepers the most in the United States, with an average salary of $48,148 per year, or $23.15 per hour. Bookkeepers may want to avoid working in the hospitality industry as it offers the lowest average salary of $37,930. Hourly rates for bookkeepers in the US typically range between $14 and $25 an hour. The average bookkeeper salary ranges between $30,000 and $52,000 in the US. Otherwise, you may wind up missing out on profits or scaring off clients with high rates.

Whether or not you’re self-employed is a major factor in how much you make as a bookkeeper. For W2 workers, the average hourly rates are closer to $20/hour, while self-employed bookkeepers earn closer to $30/hour. One of the most important considerations if you’re interested in becoming a bookkeeper is how much you can make per hour as a bookkeeper. We get it — you need to know if this is going to help you meet your financial goals! Hourly rates for bookkeepers vary by location, education, experience, type of service, and more.

Learn more about where to discover bookkeeper positions, as well as the typical hourly salary, in our Bookkeeper Salary guide. Continue reading to find out more about the bookkeeper certification programs that we suggest. As you can tell, how much you should charge as a bookkeeper can vary based on a lot of factors. So, you need to take your time when setting prices for your services. Do your research ahead of time to find average rates for services in your state. If needed, make adjustments to your pricing to reflect costs in your locality or state.