Discussion:Average bookkeeping prices
From TaxAlmanac
Discussion Forum Index --> Business Growth Community --> Average bookkeeping prices
| 2 October 2007 | |
| Okay, I know that getting prices out of people around here is hard. Yes, there are geographical differences and whatnot...I get that. I found some great intuit price averages by Country and Region which helped me figure out what I needed to target for HOURLY bookkeeping/accounting prices. Yet, that still leaves the conundrum of what the total billing will be. I plan to charge a flat rate to provide the customer with a budgetable amount but I don't a) want to short myself or b) overestimate and drive the customer away.
I received advice telling me to find out what the previous bookkeeper charged. That is fine assuming there was a previous bookkeeper and that the books I am looking at aren't doctored to lower that amount (i.e. modify the bookkeeping expense by $350 a month and increase some other expense by $350 to counteract that). So I thought that I would throw out a hypothetical client and see how much each of you would charge for their monthly bookkeeping and payroll services. I know it varies and pricing is a touchy subject for some but no one is going to take your business away if you post an anonymous post on this board. So here are the facts of our hypothetical: Sole Proprietor Electrician with three employees (the employees turnover often, say every couple of months each). The electrician bills both his hourly rate service as well as electrical supplies that he marks up 100% to the client. He performs 50 jobs a month and has approximately 75 invoices for his business expenses from various vendors. He needs his payroll, payroll returns, deposits, etc. done for him as well as his quarterly tax remittances. Year-end duties include the payroll functions (return, w-4's) as well as closing the books. For various lending activities, he requires quarterly interim financial statements to be prepared. What would you charge for all of that? Thanks, Michael | |
| 2 October 2007 | |
| Depends on the nature of the client's work. If it's a shoebox management client, I'd charge per hour. If the client is a tidy clean cat with quickbooks prepared, I charge retainers and a low hourly fee if work becomes excessive. | |
| 2 October 2007 | |
| Yeah, I forgot that part.
The client comes in with employees and vendors pre-loaded in quickbooks and is a low maintenance client. The bulk of your work would be the actual current month payroll and bookkeeping. Ballpark? Michael | |
| 2 October 2007 | |
| I do work for two companies that have more employees (20+) but less invoices and their fees run $800 and $1000 per month. Other than the tax return I do not charge extra for the quarterly & year end work. I prefer to set a price after the first few months so the client can budget & I can keep my billings simple. | |
| October 2, 2007 | |
| I'd go $500 also as an initial rate reviewable after 6 months. With the high employee turnover (and bookkeeper turnover) you've got to wonder just how "low maintenance" this client is going to be. | |
| 2 October 2007 | |
| Excellent, thanks all.
That gives me a range to look at. Michael | |
Bottom Line (talk|edits) said: | 3 October 2007 |
| Look at how many transactions the client has. Ask to see the last couple of months bank statements. Does the client use his debit card a lot? Don't forget to include these in the transaction count. I usually charge $2-3 per transaction and then round up to the nearest $25. With the high employee turnover, leads me to believe there may be some issues here. Personality problems, money problems? Does he overdraw his bank account a lot? As an FYI and since you are a computer expert - there's a company in Atlanta that charges $150/hr for QuickBooks training. Sounds like good money to me! | |
| 3 October 2007 | |
| <The bulk of your work would be the actual current month payroll and bookkeeping.>
ADP would charge around $1500 a year for payroll processing on a 4 person business like that. | |
| 7 October 2007 | |
| In the metro Atlanta area bookkeeping work is around $45 hour for a knowledgeable freelancer. Did you come up with some other figure in that Intuit breakdown you mentioned in the original post? I'd like to know. The truth is most clients do not like hourly billing, in their mind, they can't budget for it. I would charge by the hour to clean a matter up, then go with something like suggested by others. | |
Bottom Line (talk|edits) said: | 7 October 2007 |
| Agreed. By the hour works for reviews and clean up work. I generally charge a flat rate for weekly or monthly bookkeeping. | |
| 8 October 2007 | |
| Right.....in Atlanta I am targeting a price of $45 per hour.
My plan is to charge $45 per hour clean up (if necessary), a $100 new account setup fee for establishing a chart of accounts, vendors, employees, etc., and then target my average hourly price at $45 in a flat rate structure (I hope I am somewhat accurate in my estimations). In that regard, I plan on using what they were previously charged as a guide if I can get that. Of course, I am still trying to find my first bookkeeping client so time will tell. Michael | |
Wkstaxprep (talk|edits) said: | 11 October 2007 |
| I would say in NYC, for general bookkeeping i would charge $50 an hour. | |
| 23 January 2008 | |
| Will you also be preparing the Federal & State taxes for the client? Does the client ask you for advice where you can potentially add value?
I would probably charge $1,000 - $2,000 a month retainer for this service. I would keep the books and also be available to consult on whatever is needed. If client takes up a lot of my time, I would raise fee the next year. | |
| 18 April 2008 | |
| In my opinion, you should have a minimum charge for all clients since they will take up a considerable amount of your time on unbillable activities such as emails, phone calls etc. | |
