How much does it cost to outsource bookkeeping for a US business?

The number moves almost entirely with transaction volume and complexity, not with how big the business looks on paper. Here's how it typically breaks down by stage:

These are directional market ranges for planning purposes, not a quote. Actual pricing depends on the provider and your specific transaction volume — request a scoped estimate before budgeting.

What actually moves the price up or down

• Transaction volume: the single biggest driver. Doubling monthly transactions doesn't double the cost, but it does move you into a higher tier.
• Number of bank/credit-card accounts and entities: each additional account or legal entity adds reconciliation work, even at similar transaction counts.
• Cash basis vs. accrual: accrual accounting requires adjusting entries, accruals, and deferrals every period — more skilled hours than pure cash-basis coding.
• Cleanup vs. ongoing maintenance: if your books are behind or messy, expect a separate one-time cleanup cost before monthly maintenance pricing applies.
• Turnaround expectations: weekly reporting and same-week close costs more than standard monthly turnaround.

Outsourced vs. in-house: the comparison that actually matters

A full-time in-house bookkeeper's advertised salary is only part of the real cost. Add payroll taxes, benefits, software licenses, onboarding time, and the cost of a gap if that person leaves — and the fully loaded cost of one in-house hire regularly runs well above what it appears to be on a job posting.

Outsourcing replaces that single point of failure with a team — meaning sick days, vacations, and turnover don't stop your books from closing on time. You're paying for continuity and a defined output, not a seat.

The cheapest outsourced bookkeeping quote and the best one are rarely the same quote. A price that looks unusually low is a signal to ask exactly what's included per month — reconciliation frequency, review by a senior accountant, and turnaround time are the details that separate a real service from a rebilled data-entry job.

For CPA firms specifically

Pricing for firms usually works differently from pricing for a direct business client — it's structured per client file or per seat, so the cost scales with how many client books you're running through the pipeline, not with a fixed headcount. That's what makes it useful for absorbing tax-season volume: you add capacity for the months you need it, without a year-round salary commitment.

Pricing bands above are illustrative and directional. Actual cost depends on the provider, scope of work, and current state of your books — request a scoped quote based on your transaction volume before budgeting.