Bookkeeping Packages and Pricing: What to Compare

Bookkeeping packages group recurring tasks, deadlines, reports, and support into a defined service level. Pricing should follow the actual scope: entities, accounts, volume, complexity, responsibilities, cleanup, close timing, and review. A package name alone does not reveal what the client will receive.

Steady does not publish fixed package prices. The current process is to review the books, define the work, and quote a flat monthly fee in writing. This guide explains how to compare packages without inventing a universal market number.

Common package structures

Structure	Typical use	Main question
Basic monthly close	Simple business with limited accounts	Which accounts and reports are included?
Full recurring bookkeeping	More accounts, payroll, receivables, payables, or integrations	Who performs operational tasks and who reviews?
Bookkeeping plus reporting	Owner needs KPIs, variance explanations, or meetings	What analysis is delivered and how often?
Cleanup or catch-up	Historical periods are incomplete or unreliable	Which dates, sources, and corrections are in scope?
Custom industry package	Construction, ecommerce, property, nonprofit, or other complexity	How are subledgers and integrations reconciled?

Core monthly deliverables

• Transaction review and classification.
• Bank and credit-card statement reconciliation.
• Balance-sheet schedules for material accounts.
• Month-end adjustments within the agreed scope.
• Balance sheet and profit and loss statement.
• Questions, missing support, and unresolved-item list.
• Preparer and reviewer completion under the service process.

Some providers call bank-feed categorization a complete package. Ask whether statements are reconciled, liabilities and clearing accounts are proved, and reports receive review.

Services that may be separate

Payroll processing, sales-tax filing, bill payment, customer invoicing, collections, contractor forms, income-tax preparation, cash forecasting, budgeting, inventory, controller review, and CFO advice may be optional or separate. Clarify whether the provider prepares, files, pays, approves, or only records each item.

Payment authority deserves explicit control. Bookkeeping access should not automatically include the ability to release cash.

What drives the quote?

• Number of legal entities and reporting combinations.
• Bank, savings, credit-card, loan, and merchant accounts.
• Monthly transactions, invoices, bills, payroll runs, and documents.
• Sales channels, payment processors, and integrations.
• Inventory, jobs, properties, grants, classes, or departments.
• Cash or accrual reporting and required close entries.
• Condition of opening balances and historical records.
• Close deadline, report complexity, meetings, and response time.

Transaction count is only one driver. Ten complex processor settlements can require more control than hundreds of simple bank transactions. A quote should reflect the real workflow.

Fixed monthly versus hourly

A fixed monthly fee gives budget certainty when recurring scope and volume are understood. It should state assumptions and triggers for a revised quote. Hourly pricing can fit uncertain cleanup, investigation, training, or occasional support where the effort cannot be predicted responsibly.

A hybrid arrangement may use a fixed recurring package after a separately priced diagnostic and cleanup project. The important point is transparent scope, not the billing unit.

Why providers need a discovery review

A responsible quote looks at the accounting file, latest reconciliations, account list, transaction volume, payroll, tax workflows, outstanding questions, and reporting needs. Without that review, the provider may underprice and cut corners or later issue unexpected changes.

Prepare read-only access or reports, but protect credentials. Share statements and sensitive data through an approved secure process.

How to compare proposals

1. Give each provider the same business profile and required outcomes.
2. List every entity, account, integration, payroll, filing, and report.
3. Request inclusions, exclusions, assumptions, deadlines, and responsibilities.
4. Confirm who prepares, reviews, and communicates the work.
5. Ask how cleanup, extra volume, and scope changes are priced.
6. Review software, payment, tax, and third-party charges.
7. Compare security, access, handover, and termination terms.

Create a comparison grid. A lower fee may exclude reconciliations, balance-sheet schedules, review, or support. A higher fee may bundle services the business does not need.

Package assumptions

Useful assumptions include a maximum number of entities, bank and card accounts, monthly transactions, payroll employees, invoices, bills, and integrations. Also define how quickly the client supplies documents and answers questions.

Write the change triggers: new entity, acquisition, new platform, inventory, payroll growth, late records, shortened close, historical cleanup, audit support, or major financing. A change does not automatically justify a higher fee, but it requires a scope review.

Cleanup pricing

Historical work should identify the period, last reliable reconciliation, missing statements, source availability, tax returns already filed, payroll or sales-tax issues, opening balances, and required deliverables. A diagnostic can reduce uncertainty before a full project quote.

Do not accept a vague promise to “fix everything.” State which balances will be reconciled, which records will be rebuilt, how unsupported items are handled, and who approves final corrections.

Software and third-party fees

Clarify who owns and pays for accounting software, payroll, receipt capture, bill payment, integrations, storage, tax filing, and payment processing. Temporary promotions should not be treated as the ongoing package cost.

The client should retain administrative access and a usable export. Avoid arrangements that make the accounting file inaccessible when the relationship ends.

Service-level questions

• What is the monthly cutoff and report delivery date?
• How are urgent questions handled?
• How many meetings or support hours are included?
• What happens if the client is late with documents?
• How are closed-period changes managed?
• What is the response and escalation process?
• What does completion mean for each deliverable?

Red flags

Be cautious with a price offered before any scope review, unlimited promises with hidden exclusions, shared passwords, no reconciliation deliverables, unclear tax authority, unexplained balancing adjustments, or fees that depend on restricting access to your own records.

Evaluate value without vague promises

Value can include a shorter close, fewer tax-season corrections, faster invoices, better collections, reliable cash information, cleaner lender reporting, and less owner time spent reconstructing records. Define the desired outcome and how it will be observed.

Do not accept a claim that the service “pays for itself” without a basis. Measure close days, unresolved items, late filings, duplicate transactions, owner hours, and report use before and after implementation. Some benefits reduce risk rather than create immediate revenue.

Annual package review

Review the agreement at least annually and when the business adds an entity, location, payroll, inventory, financing, a sales channel, or a new reporting requirement. Confirm the package still matches real work and remove services that no longer provide value.

Steady’s pricing approach

Steady’s site explains that every business is different. The business receives a flat monthly fee after a free discovery call and a look at the books, with the exact fee confirmed before commitment. The proposal should reflect transaction volume, payroll, complexity, and agreed deliverables.

Review how much bookkeepers charge and virtual bookkeeping services. To request a scoped quote, visit bookkeeping services.