By Ana Lee Malongayon, CPA | Entrepreneur
A monthly bookkeeping fee should buy a clearly defined routine: transaction review, reconciliation of agreed accounts, a review of relevant balances, financial reports and a process for resolving questions. Your proposal should identify what is included, when it will be delivered, what you must provide and which tasks cost extra.
If you are comparing bookkeepers for your US small business, a price alone tells you very little. One quote may cover two bank accounts and monthly reports. Another may also cover customer invoices, supplier bills and payment-processor activity. Start with the work your business needs, then compare the fees for that work.
What should monthly bookkeeping services include?
Use the following checklist to discuss your needs. These are items to confirm in a proposal, not a promise that every provider includes every task.
1. Transaction review and classification
Ask who checks imported transactions, identifies possible duplicates, matches supporting documents and follows up on unclear items. A bank connection can bring activity into the software; it does not explain whether a deposit is a customer payment, an owner contribution or a transfer.
Your agreement should name the accounts and systems covered. If your sales run through a payment processor, confirm whether the work includes reviewing sales, fees, refunds and payouts rather than treating every net deposit as sales.
2. Reconciliation to account statements
Confirm which bank and credit-card accounts will be reconciled and how outstanding differences will be investigated. Ask whether reconciliation reports will be available to you. Intuit’s QuickBooks Online reconciliation guidance recommends doing this monthly after receiving the statement.
A useful question is: “How will you tell me which accounts and periods are finished, and which still need information?” That is more informative than asking whether the bank feed is up to date.
3. Balance review and agreed adjustments
Clarify which balances the bookkeeper will review beyond cash and cards. Depending on your business, this may include loans, customer balances, unpaid bills or clearing accounts. Ask how supporting schedules and adjustments are documented, and when an issue is referred to you or your accountant.
Do not assume that an entry described as an “adjustment” settles its tax treatment. Questions outside the bookkeeping scope should go to the appropriate professional.
4. Reports you can use
Ask for the report names, periods covered and delivery format. A profit-and-loss report and balance sheet are sensible starting points to discuss. You may also need receivables, payables or property-level reporting. Confirm these before signing rather than assuming they are part of the base fee.
Ask whether the fee includes a review call or written explanation of unusual movements. Receiving a PDF and having someone help you understand it are different deliverables.
5. A dependable questions and review process
Agree where document requests and questions will be kept, who responds and when reports can be finalized. For remote bookkeeping, also confirm communication hours and the contact person responsible for your account. A clear handoff matters more than a vague promise of “unlimited support.”
What may need a separate fee?
Ask specifically about the following items. They may be included, separately priced or outside the provider’s services:
- Historical cleanup, catch-up work and correcting opening balances.
- Payroll processing, sales-tax filings and US income-tax preparation.
- Customer invoicing, collection follow-up, bill payment and payment approval.
- Inventory, additional entities, properties, currencies or sales channels.
- Software subscriptions, migration and initial setup.
- Forecasting, budgets, lender requests and additional meetings.
At BA, historical cleanup and catch-up work is separately scoped. Ongoing monthly bookkeeping is an optional next engagement. Confirm your own proposal’s inclusions and exclusions before work starts.
Compare two quotes using the same scope
Imagine two proposals for the same business. The first covers transaction classification and bank reconciliation. The second also includes reviewing payment-processor activity and tracking unpaid customer invoices. The second fee may be higher because the work is broader. Neither proposal can be judged fairly until you know which tasks you need.
Send each provider the same account list, approximate transaction volume, software, last reconciled month and reporting needs. Then ask:
- Which accounts, entities and systems does this fee cover?
- What reports and completed work will I receive each month?
- What documents must I provide, and by when?
- What happens to the reporting deadline if information is late?
- What changes trigger a new quote or additional charge?
- Who answers questions, and is a review meeting included?
- What records and access will I retain if the engagement ends?
Your responsibilities should be written down too
Outsourcing bookkeeping still requires owner input. You may need to supply statements, receipts, invoices and explanations of unusual transactions. Decide who approves payments and who can authorize changes to the scope. Use appropriate account permissions and retain control of your business records.
A practical reporting timetable connects three steps: your document deadline, the bookkeeper’s questions deadline and the target report date. Agree on a timetable that fits your business rather than accepting a date that assumes documents you cannot provide.
Questions to ask before you commit
Does a monthly fee include cleaning up old books?
Only if the proposal expressly includes it. Establish the last reliable period and agree how historical issues will be handled before treating the new monthly routine as settled.
Can I outsource only part of the bookkeeping?
You can discuss a shared arrangement, such as keeping invoicing in-house while outsourcing reconciliations and reports. Document the division of work so transactions are neither missed nor entered twice.
Does monthly bookkeeping include filing US tax returns?
Do not assume it does. Confirm tax preparation or filing through a separate, explicit scope with the appropriate provider. Monthly records can support your US tax professional’s work, but bookkeeping completion is not tax-return approval.
Find out what monthly support would look like for your business
Explore BA’s monthly bookkeeping services for US businesses, or book a free 30-minute discovery call with Ana Lee. Bring your software name, account count, approximate activity and the last month you trust. We can discuss the work you want handled and the information needed for a tailored proposal.
