Book Keeper rates

[Argeo]

Hi,

I am trying to get an idea of what small business typically pay per hour for a book keeper. I am considering but am not sure it is economically feasible.

Is there a better question I should be asking?

Any thoughts appreciated.

Thanks.

[GH85Carrera]

That is a pretty wide open question. Do you need a full blown CPA to do payroll & taxes for 40 people and do all the cash flow or just someone to enter some invoice and into QuickBoolks?

[LeeH]

Originally Posted by GH85Carrera

That is a pretty wide open question. Do you need a full blown CPA to do payroll & taxes for 40 people and do all the cash flow or just someone to enter some invoice and into QuickBoolks?

+1

Just be aware that anyone can call themselves a bookkeeper. I frequently get brought in to clean up messes made when a business owner tries to save money by hiring someone off of Craigslist for $12/hour to take care of the books. Some of the stories I've heard have been shocking.

The worst case being an attorney whose bookkeeper stole $100K in the course of a year. Their CPA asked me to help them out when the Craigslist bookkeeper was out sick a couple of years ago. My first impression was that the bookkeeper was charging the attorney a huge amount for the work she was doing and even though my hourly rate was higher that he would save money by using me. But, the attorney was loyal to his old contractor and kept using her. Admirable for sure, but 2 years and $100K later he's regretting that decision. I'm doing his bookkeeping now and it's costing him about 1/6 what he was paying her (and I'm not writing myself those "extra" checks like the previous bookkeeper).

I've seen "bookkeepers" with rates of $8/hour all the way up to $80/hour. At the low end you may have someone who learned a little about accounting at a previous job. At the high end you may have someone with an accounting degree who's been in the industry for many years. I tend to be between the two in both experience and hourly rate. Your best bet is to call a CPA office and ask who they would recommend. The CPAs have to deal with results of the bookkeeper's work. They won't recommend someone who creates a lot of issues/clean up work (at CPA rates!) for their clients.

[Argeo]

Thanks for your response. I have been doing accounting for 15 years in a corporate environment. Been in tax the last four years doing C corp, partnerships, & Scorps. I just don't want to do tax anymore. The hours stink and the stress is more than I want at this stage in my life. Bookkeeping seems a better route for me because it is not seasonal but steady throughout the year as well as interesting without the liability related to doing taxes. I do not get a high reading tax code either. Don't mind making less.

Any suggestions? I was thinking I could maintain the books in Quickbooks (I'll get certified, need the CPE's anyhow), process AP and AR, provide payroll, Book/Tax reporting, and ad hoc reporting as desired. Stick with clients that are mostly cash basis. I need to read up on a few things but I think I have a solid foundation.

Thanks again.

[dafischer]

My wife has run a tax and accounting practice from our home office for the last 16 years. She's an EA with the IRS, and has approximately 300 tax clients. Throughout the year, she does bookkeeping and accounting for a good number of small businesses using Quickbooks.

I have 30 years corporate accounting experience, the last 20 being in manufacturing cost accounting. This past January, I lost my job due to the scaling down of our division by the Swiss parent company. Since my wife was limited in the amount of new clients she could take on, I joined her to help grow the business (as well as the fact the employment market for 55 year olds just plain sucks). Also, it saved her some money, as she let go the two part time "morons" that she had employed prior.

We charge $50 per hour for accounting services, and have not had one complaint about the price, in fact we could probably charge more. If you have a good accounting background, which it sounds like you do, you should be able to get about that rate, seeing what a CPA firm gets for the same basic stuff. Also, if you go this route, I'd recommend talking to your insurance guy about a good E&O policy, in case there's ever an expensive whoops.

[LeeH]

Originally Posted by Argeo

Thanks for your response. I have been doing accounting for 15 years in a corporate environment. Been in tax the last four years doing C corp, partnerships, & Scorps. I just don't want to do tax anymore. The hours stink and the stress is more than I want at this stage in my life. Bookkeeping seems a better route for me because it is not seasonal but steady throughout the year as well as interesting without the liability related to doing taxes. I do not get a high reading tax code either. Don't mind making less.

Any suggestions? I was thinking I could maintain the books in Quickbooks (I'll get certified, need the CPE's anyhow), process AP and AR, provide payroll, Book/Tax reporting, and ad hoc reporting as desired. Stick with clients that are mostly cash basis. I need to read up on a few things but I think I have a solid foundation.

Thanks again.

Ah... thought you were LOOKING for a bookkeeper, not thinking about becoming one. I don't know about where you are, but in AZ I've had a fairly easy time gathering new clients. Always wondered what business would be like if I really put some effor into it!

Yes, you will need to be a QuickBooks master. It's just how accounting is done for small business these days. I've been a Certified Pro Advisor through Intuit, and though it does give a bit of credibility, I've always felt it was way overpriced for what you get... the certification does include this year's and next year's accountant's version of QB so that alone is almost worth the price.

For me the key to building my business has been CPAs, referrals, the Chamber of Commerce, and Craigslist.

CPA's end up with small business tax clients who can't afford CPA firm staff rates for bookkeeping. Once the CPAs know you do good work they happily funnel their smaller clients to you. I'm the only bookkeeper in my local Chamber of Commerce. Doesn't take a rocket surgeon to figure out that many new small businesses rely on their COC for guidance. It's harder to get business from Craigslist than it used to be. Too many people there selling their services. But, a well written ad that's refreshed regularly will yield new clients. One of my largest clients came from a Craigslist ad.

[red-beard]

If you can master Quickbooks, you can make some decent money cleaning up Business owners crummy installs/setups.

[Argeo]

Thanks everyone for your input. I'll let you know what happens.