The honest answer is "it depends," but that's a cop-out, so let me give you real ranges. For most small businesses, ongoing bookkeeping runs a few hundred dollars a month, and a one-time cleanup is priced per project. Here's what actually moves that number.
Two different things you might be buying
People say "bookkeeper" to mean two pretty different jobs, and they're priced differently:
- Ongoing monthly bookkeeping. Someone keeps your books current every month: categorizing transactions, reconciling accounts, and handing you reports. This is a recurring monthly fee.
- A one-time cleanup or catch-up. Your books are behind or a mess, and someone gets them back to clean and current. This is a one-time project price, and it usually comes before monthly service starts.
What monthly bookkeeping runs
For a typical small business, ongoing monthly bookkeeping generally lands somewhere in the few-hundred-a-month range. Where you fall depends mostly on how much activity there is to keep up with:
- Simple and low-volume. One or two accounts, a manageable number of monthly transactions, basic monthly reports. This is the low end.
- Growing, a few accounts. Multiple bank and card accounts, more transactions, and you want a review call now and then. Middle of the range.
- Busy and fuller-service. Higher transaction volume, accounts payable and receivable, a custom dashboard, a monthly call. The higher end.
For what it's worth, my own bookkeeping plans are laid out plainly on the pricing page, so you can see roughly where you'd land before you ever reach out.
What a cleanup costs
Cleanups are priced per project, not per month, because the work varies wildly. A two-month catch-up where the records are mostly fine is a small job. Untangling two years of miscategorized transactions across several accounts is a big one. The honest way to quote it is to look at the actual file first, which is why any good bookkeeper should give you a free look before naming a price.
What actually drives the price
Three things do most of the work here.
- Transaction volume. More transactions means more to categorize and reconcile every month. This is the single biggest driver.
- How many accounts are involved. Each bank account, credit card, and payment processor is another thing to reconcile and tie out.
- How far behind you are. For a cleanup, the size of the backlog and how tangled it is decides almost everything.
What you're actually paying for
Cheap-and-automated software-only services exist, and for a very simple business they can work. But what you give up is judgment: a real person who notices the deposit that's in the wrong category, the duplicate that's inflating your expenses, or the slow month worth flagging before it hurts. Clean books let you price jobs on real margins. They also save you from dropping a shoebox of receipts on your accountant in April.
One thing to be clear on: bookkeeping is not the same as tax filing or CPA work. A bookkeeper keeps your records clean, current, and tax-time ready, and works alongside your accountant or tax preparer. Those are two different roles, and you generally want both.
My honest take
For most Pittsburgh small businesses, a few hundred dollars a month buys back hours of your own time and the peace of mind of knowing your numbers are real. If you're behind, start with a one-time cleanup to get to a clean baseline, then keep it there with a simple monthly plan. The worst option is the one most owners pick by default: doing it yourself at 11pm, never quite sure it's right.
Every quote I send is detailed. You see exactly what it covers, and nothing gets added to your bill without your okay. If you're not sure where you'd land, the free books review is the easiest way to find out.