# How Much Does a Bookkeeper Cost in 2026? $99 to $599 a Month, or $72,500 to Hire

**By Justin McKelvey** · Published September 17, 2026 · Updated September 17, 2026 · 8 min read

> A bookkeeper costs $99 to $599 a month through an online service as of September 2026 — Pilot Essentials $99, Bench from $199, 1-800Accountant's bookkeeping-plus-tax plan $469 — or about $50,670 a year in wages to hire, roughly $72,500 loaded. Every published price read today, the hourly math at the $24.36 median wage, and the document hours that decide which one you actually need.

**Category:** Guides
**Tags:** Buyer's Guide, Pricing, Finance Operations, Bookkeeping
**Canonical URL:** https://superdupr.com/blog/how-much-does-a-bookkeeper-cost

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## How much does a bookkeeper cost?

**As of September 2026, a bookkeeper costs $99 to $599 a month through an online bookkeeping service, or about $50,670 a year in wages to hire one full-time ($24.36 an hour, the 2025 median O*NET lists from Bureau of Labor Statistics data). With benefits and payroll taxes the full-time seat runs about $72,500 a year.** The published monthly prices, all read September 17, 2026: Pilot Essentials $99 (AI-run books, no dedicated bookkeeper), Bench Grow from $199 and Bench Core from $399, Bench Core + Tax from $599, and 1-800Accountant Business Complete at $469 billed annually with bookkeeping, tax, and payroll in one plan.

The spread is not about quality. It is about what you are buying: software that closes the books, a person who closes them for you, or a person who also files your taxes. Most small businesses overpay by buying a full seat for a part-time job.

## Bookkeeper cost at a glance, 2026

| Option | Published price | Per year | What you get |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Pilot Essentials | $99/month | $1,188 | AI categorizes transactions, reconciles accounts, and closes the books monthly; cash basis; year-end package for your tax preparer; in-app messaging support; up to $100,000 in monthly expenses |
| Bench Grow | From $199/month, or $1,910 billed annually | $1,910 to $2,388 | Dedicated bookkeeping team, monthly books, year-end tax-ready financials, P&L, balance sheet, 1099 reporting; for businesses under $250,000 a year |
| Bench Core | From $399/month, or $3,830 billed annually | $3,830 to $4,788 | Same books, unlimited communication with your bookkeeping team |
| Bench Core + Tax | From $599/month | $7,188 | Bookkeeping plus income tax filing and advisory |
| 1-800Accountant Business Complete | $469/month, billed annually | $5,628 | Dedicated bookkeeper (starting at 75 monthly transactions), tax filing for one entity, payroll, quarterly estimated taxes |
| Part-time employee, 20 hours a week | $24.36/hour median | About $25,300 in wages | Someone in your office, on your schedule; benefits and payroll taxes extra |
| Full-time employee | $50,670/year median wage | About $72,500 loaded | A full seat: books, payables, receivables, and whatever else lands on the desk |

Service prices are from pilot.com/pricing, bench.co/pricing, and 1800accountant.com/pricing, each read September 17, 2026. Wage figures are the 2025 median O*NET OnLine publishes for bookkeeping, accounting, and auditing clerks (43-3031.00). The loaded figure applies the 30.1% share of compensation that benefits make up for private-industry workers in BLS Employer Costs for Employee Compensation (March 2026): $50,670 divided by 0.699.

## How much does a bookkeeper cost per month?

For an outsourced service, $99 to $599 a month at the published entry prices above. The cheapest line is software doing the work: Pilot's $99 Essentials plan has AI categorize and reconcile, with support through messaging rather than a named bookkeeper. Pilot's Core plan adds a US-based bookkeeper who handles and reviews the books, but its price only renders in a browser session, so it is not quoted here. The first price that includes a human team is Bench Grow at $199 a month, or about $159 a month on annual billing.

A useful way to read those numbers: at the $24.36 median wage, $199 buys about 8 hours of an employee's time and $399 buys about 16. If your books take more than that every month, a service is cheaper than the hours. If they take less, you are paying for a minimum.

## How much does a bookkeeper charge per hour?

An employed bookkeeper earns a median of $24.36 an hour as of O*NET's 2025 wage data, which works out to about $35 an hour once benefits and payroll taxes are counted. A freelance bookkeeper charges more than the wage, because they carry their own self-employment tax, software, insurance, and unbilled time. There is no single published freelance rate, so ask for a flat monthly quote based on your transaction count instead of an hourly one. A flat quote puts the risk of a messy month on them, and it is how every service on this page prices.

## Bookkeeper vs online bookkeeping service: which is cheaper?

For almost every business under a few hundred transactions a month, the service. A part-time employee at 20 hours a week costs about $25,300 a year in wages alone. The most expensive published plan here that includes bookkeeping, tax filing, and payroll, 1-800Accountant Business Complete, is $5,628 a year. Bench Core on annual billing is $3,830.

An employee wins on three things a service does not sell: being in the room, doing work outside the books (answering vendor calls, running payroll questions, filing), and turning around a same-day answer. If what you actually need is an office manager who also does the books, price that job, not the bookkeeping.

## How much does a bookkeeper cost compared to an accountant?

About $31,000 a year less at the median for a full-time hire: the BLS median for accountants and auditors was $81,680 in May 2024, against the $50,670 bookkeeper median O*NET lists for 2025. The two jobs are different purchases. A bookkeeper records and reconciles; an accountant interprets, plans, and files. The full accountant breakdown, including retainers and hourly CPA rates, is in [how much does an accountant cost](/blog/how-much-does-an-accountant-cost), and if you need the license specifically, [CPA fees by service](/blog/how-much-does-a-cpa-cost) covers it.

## What drives the price up

- **Transaction volume.** 1-800Accountant's bookkeeping starts at 75 monthly transactions, and Pilot's Essentials plan caps at $100,000 in monthly expenses. More volume means a higher tier.
- **Accrual accounting.** Pilot's Essentials plan is cash basis only; accrual books sit on higher plans.
- **Revenue.** Bench's Grow plan is limited to businesses doing less than $250,000 a year.
- **Tax filing bundled in.** Bench adds $200 a month from Core to Core + Tax; Bench also sells personal filing for one partner or shareholder at $59 a month billed annually or $69 billed monthly.
- **Catch-up work.** Bench and 1-800Accountant both sell catch-up bookkeeping separately for books that have fallen behind. Neither prints a price for it, so get the quote before you sign the monthly plan.

## Where the bookkeeping hours actually go

Most of a bookkeeper's month is document handling: receipts, bank and card statements, vendor invoices, and matching payments to them. Keying a single document by hand takes 10 to 15 minutes. At the $24.36 median wage that is $4 to $6 of labor per document, and a business with 200 documents a month spends 33 to 50 hours on typing before anyone reconciles anything.

That is the part AI is already doing, as of 2026. Document extraction reads a statement or invoice in 60 to 90 seconds at 95 to 99% accuracy, and AI document processing runs $200 to $800 a month. It does not replace the person who knows that a "contractor payment" was really a loan. It removes the hours that person spends typing, which is why the cheapest plan on this page is AI-run. What that shift means for bookkeepers themselves is covered in [AI for bookkeepers](/blog/ai-for-bookkeepers).

The employment data points the same direction. O*NET lists 1,613,400 bookkeeping, accounting, and auditing clerks employed in 2024, a projected decline in employment through 2034, and 170,000 projected job openings, which are replacements for people leaving rather than new seats.

## What should a small business spend on bookkeeping?

1. **Under about $250,000 in revenue with simple books:** an online service in the $99 to $199 a month range, plus a tax preparer at year end.
2. **Payroll, a few employees, and a need for regular reports:** a $399 to $599 a month plan with a human team, or a bundle like 1-800Accountant's $469 that includes tax and payroll.
3. **Hundreds of documents a month:** automate the document layer first, then decide whether you still need more hours from a person. The software underneath matters too; [QuickBooks vs Xero](/blog/quickbooks-vs-xero) covers the choice most owner-led businesses make.
4. **A full-time finance workload:** the roughly $72,500 loaded hire, usually alongside an accountant for tax and planning.

The honest test before you hire anyone: count last month's receipts, statements, and invoices, and multiply by 12 minutes. If that number is most of the job, the cheapest bookkeeper is the one who never has to type. That is the work [AI document processing](/solutions/ai-document-processing) takes off the desk, whether your books are done in-house or by a service.

## Frequently Asked Questions

### How much does a bookkeeper cost for a small business?

As of September 2026, $99 to $599 a month through an online bookkeeping service, or about $50,670 a year in wages to hire one full-time. From the vendors' own pricing pages read September 17, 2026: Pilot Essentials is $99 a month with AI doing the categorizing and reconciling, Bench Grow starts at $199 a month (or $1,910 billed annually) with a dedicated bookkeeping team, Bench Core starts at $399, Bench Core + Tax at $599, and 1-800Accountant's Business Complete plan is $469 a month billed annually with bookkeeping, tax filing, and payroll together.

### How much does a bookkeeper charge per hour?

An employed bookkeeper earns a median of $24.36 an hour, per the 2025 wage data O*NET publishes for bookkeeping, accounting, and auditing clerks — about $35 an hour once benefits and payroll taxes are counted, using the 30.1% benefits share BLS reports for private-industry workers. A freelance bookkeeper charges above the wage because they carry their own self-employment tax, software, and unbilled time, and no freelance rate is published nationally. Ask for a flat monthly quote based on your transaction count instead, which is how every online service prices.

### How much does a bookkeeper cost per month?

$99 to $599 a month at the published entry prices as of September 2026. The $99 tier is software doing the work; the first plan that includes a human team is $199 a month, or about $159 a month on annual billing. A useful conversion at the $24.36 median wage: $199 buys about 8 hours of an employee's time and $399 buys about 16. If your books take longer than that every month, the service is cheaper than the hours.

### Is it cheaper to hire a bookkeeper or use an online bookkeeping service?

The service, for almost any business under a few hundred transactions a month. A part-time bookkeeper at 20 hours a week costs about $25,300 a year in wages alone at the median rate, and a full-time seat runs about $72,500 fully loaded. The most expensive published plan here — bookkeeping, tax filing, and payroll bundled — is $5,628 a year. Hire the person when you need someone in the room who also handles work beyond the books, and price that job rather than the bookkeeping.

### How much does a bookkeeper cost compared to an accountant?

About $31,000 a year less at the median for a full-time hire: BLS put the median accountant at $81,680 a year (May 2024) against the $50,670 bookkeeper median O*NET lists for 2025. They are different purchases. A bookkeeper records and reconciles; an accountant interprets, plans, and files. Most small businesses buy monthly bookkeeping cheaply and buy accountant hours by the slice — hourly CPA work runs $150 to $400 an hour, and a retainer $250 to $900 a month.

### Can AI do bookkeeping instead of a bookkeeper?

It already does the typing. Document extraction reads a statement or invoice in 60 to 90 seconds at 95 to 99% accuracy against 10 to 15 minutes of manual keying, and AI document processing runs $200 to $800 a month — which is why the cheapest plan on this page is the AI-run one. What it does not do is judgment: knowing that a "contractor payment" was actually a loan, or explaining what the numbers mean. The realistic 2026 setup is AI on the documents and a person on the exceptions, and O*NET's projections point the same way, with employment for bookkeeping clerks projected to decline through 2034.


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*Originally published at [https://superdupr.com/blog/how-much-does-a-bookkeeper-cost](https://superdupr.com/blog/how-much-does-a-bookkeeper-cost) by SuperDupr.*