How Much Does Bookkeeping Cost in Canada? Pricing Explained
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The Short Answer, and Why It Varies
For a typical Canadian small business, outsourced monthly bookkeeping usually costs $300 to $1,500 a month. Very simple businesses sit at the bottom of that range. Businesses with payroll, sales tax in several provinces, inventory or more than one company sit at the top of it or above. Billed by the hour, freelance bookkeepers often charge $30 to $60 and firms $60 to $110.
Those ranges are wide because “bookkeeping” covers very different amounts of work. A consultant with one bank account and a credit card is a different job from a restaurant with two locations, daily sales, tips, payroll and suppliers. This guide explains the pricing models, what drives the price, what a fair quote should include and the hidden costs of cheap bookkeeping. For what bookkeepers actually do, see our guide to bookkeeper vs accountant.
Key Takeaways
- Most providers price by monthly package or by the hour. Fixed monthly fees are easier to budget.
- The biggest cost drivers are transaction volume, the number of accounts, payroll, sales tax filing, inventory and the state of your books.
- Catch-up and cleanup work is priced separately, usually per month of backlog.
- Year-end financial statements and tax returns are normally not included in a bookkeeping fee.
- Compare quotes on scope, not price: reconciliations, sales tax returns, reporting and response times.
Typical Bookkeeping Costs in Canada
These are broad market ranges for outsourced bookkeeping, not quotes. Your price depends on the factors in the next section.
| Business profile or model | Typical range |
|---|---|
| Micro business: one or two accounts, under about 100 transactions a month, no payroll | $300 to $600 a month |
| Small business: payroll, GST/HST filing, several bank and card accounts | $600 to $1,500 a month |
| Growing business needing monthly reporting, forecasting or controller-level support | $1,500 a month and up |
| Freelance bookkeeper, billed hourly | $30 to $60 an hour |
| Bookkeeping firm, billed hourly | $60 to $110 an hour |
For comparison, an in-house full-time bookkeeper typically costs a salary of $50,000 to $70,000, plus roughly 15% for employer CPP, EI, benefits and vacation, before software and the time spent managing them. Outsourcing is usually cheaper until a business needs someone on site every day.
The Three Pricing Models
Hourly. You pay for the time spent. It is common with independent bookkeepers and for irregular work. It is fair when the work is unpredictable, but it makes costs hard to budget and gives the bookkeeper no reason to work faster.
Fixed monthly package. A set fee covers a defined scope, often tiered by transaction volume. It is the most common model for ongoing bookkeeping. You know what you will pay, and the provider absorbs the risk of a busy month. Read the scope carefully, because packages differ mainly in what they leave out.
Per project. Used for one-off jobs such as catching up a year of books, cleaning up a messy file, or setting up a new accounting system. Most providers quote a fixed price after seeing the books.
What Drives the Price
- Transaction volume. More bank and card transactions mean more coding and reconciling. This is the single biggest factor.
- Number of accounts. Each bank account, credit card, loan and payment processor such as Stripe, Square or Shopify Payments needs its own monthly reconciliation.
- Payroll. Running payroll, remittances, T4s and Records of Employment adds cost per employee or per pay run.
- Sales tax. Preparing and filing GST/HST returns, and PST or QST where it applies, is often priced as an add-on. Filing monthly costs more than filing annually.
- Receivables and payables. Invoicing customers, chasing payments and paying suppliers are bookkeeping-adjacent services that many owners assume are included and often are not.
- Inventory, job costing and classes. Tracking stock, projects or locations adds work every month.
- Frequency and turnaround. Monthly books closed by the 15th cost more than quarterly catch-ups.
- State of the books. Clean, current books with bank feeds and receipt capture cost less to maintain than shoeboxes and spreadsheets.
Catch-Up and Cleanup Bookkeeping
If your books are behind, expect a separate charge to bring them current before monthly service starts. Catch-up work is usually priced per month of backlog, often at a similar or slightly higher rate than ongoing monthly work, because the bookkeeper has to reconstruct transactions without the benefit of fresh memory.
Cleanup is different: the books exist, but they are wrong. Duplicated transactions, unreconciled accounts, personal expenses mixed in and sales tax that does not tie to filed returns all take time to unwind, and the cost depends on how far back the problems go. A good provider will review the file before quoting a cleanup rather than guessing.
Both are one-off costs. Once the books are current and set up properly, the monthly fee should be stable.
What Should Be Included
When comparing quotes, ask each provider to confirm in writing whether these are included:
- coding every transaction and reconciling every bank, credit card and loan account monthly;
- a monthly or quarterly profit and loss statement and balance sheet;
- preparing and filing GST/HST returns;
- payroll, if you have employees;
- accounts receivable and payable, if you want them handled;
- a named contact and a response time for questions;
- year-end support: handing a clean, reconciled file to your accountant.
Year-end financial statements, corporate tax returns and personal tax returns are accounting work. They are usually billed separately, even when the same firm does both. Our guide to bookkeeper vs accountant explains the split.
Software Costs on Top
Most bookkeepers work in cloud software you subscribe to, such as QuickBooks Online or Xero. Subscriptions run from roughly $30 to well over $100 a month depending on the plan, payroll add-ons and number of users. Some firms include the subscription in their fee, often at a discount. Receipt capture, bill payment and payroll tools can add more.
The software is usually worth the cost because it cuts the bookkeeping time through bank feeds and automation. Our guide to accounting software for small business in Canada compares the options.
The Real Cost of Cheap Bookkeeping
The lowest quote is often the most expensive one by year end. Common problems with bargain bookkeeping include unreconciled accounts, sales tax returns that do not match the books, personal and business expenses mixed together, and no one who understands CRA rules. Each of these turns into cleanup fees, a higher accounting bill at year end, or reassessments with interest.
Red flags when you are getting quotes:
- a price given without asking about your transaction volume or accounts;
- no mention of monthly bank reconciliations;
- no experience with Canadian sales tax or payroll;
- no written scope of work.
A good bookkeeper should save you more than they cost, in time, missed deductions avoided, penalties prevented and a lower year-end accounting fee. If you want a quote to compare, our virtual bookkeeping services page is a good place to start.
Want a Quote for Your Books?
Tell us how many accounts you have, roughly how many transactions a month, and whether you run payroll. We will put together a quote with the scope set out clearly, plus an estimate for any catch-up work needed first.
