Your numbers
What a bookkeeper should include in expenses
Typical costs include accounting software licenses, security tools, insurance. Add your own and keep receipts for tax time.
Where unbilled time goes
Bookkeepers commonly lose billable hours to client onboarding, chasing documents and month-end follow-up. Count these when choosing your billable hours per week.
Pricing models
Common choices are monthly fixed fees by transaction volume, hourly for cleanup projects.
Tip: Quote cleanup work separately from monthly bookkeeping.
The math
Gross revenue = ($70,000 + $5,000) ÷ 0.72 = $104,167. Billable hours = (52 − 5) × 25 = 1,175. Minimum rate = $104,167 ÷ 1,175 = $89 per hour. See the methodology. Example inputs are illustrations, not market data.
General hourly rate calculator · Tax set-aside · Retainer pricing · All professions
Frequently asked questions
What should a bookkeeper charge per hour?
It depends on your target income, costs and billable time. With $70,000 take-home, $5,000 expenses, a 28% tax set-aside, 5 weeks off and 25 billable hours a week, the minimum comes to about $89 per hour. These are example inputs, so enter your own.
How many billable hours does a bookkeeper really have?
Many freelancers bill fewer hours than they work because of client onboarding, chasing documents and month-end follow-up. The example uses 25 billable hours a week; track your own time to find your number.
How should a bookkeeper price work?
Common models are monthly fixed fees by transaction volume, hourly for cleanup projects.
Is this the rate I should quote?
No. It is the minimum that meets your targets. Add margin for demand, specialty and risk.