Guide
How much does a bookkeeper cost? Salary, benefits, and the full cost to hire
Direct answer
A full-time, in-house bookkeeper costs a US employer about $66,400 a year at the national median, before recruiting and software. That's the BLS median salary of $50,670 ($24.36 an hour, May 2025) plus about 31% for benefits and payroll taxes, worked out from BLS employer cost data. Pay runs from $36,000 at the 10th percentile to $74,550 at the 90th. Outsourced bookkeeping firms publish plans starting around $99 to $599 a month, as of October 2026, depending on how much they do.
Bookkeeper salary: what BLS reports
The Bureau of Labor Statistics tracks bookkeepers under SOC code 43-3031, "bookkeeping, accounting, and auditing clerks." Its Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) page for the occupation covers wage and salary employees nationwide. The latest figures are for May 2025.
| Measure (May 2025, national) | Hourly | Annual |
|---|---|---|
| 10th percentile | $17.31 | $36,000 |
| Median | $24.36 | $50,670 |
| Mean | $25.75 | $53,560 |
| 90th percentile | $35.84 | $74,550 |
About 1.37 million people held this job in May 2025, per OEWS. BLS annual figures assume a full-time year of 2,080 hours. Self-employed bookkeepers aren't in these numbers, so freelance rates can sit well above or below them.
If you're looking for work, the median is the honest midpoint. Half the people in this job earn less and half earn more. Experience, industry, and local cost of living move you along that range more than the title does.
What a bookkeeper costs an employer
Salary is the number on the offer letter. It isn't what the job costs you. Employers also pay for health insurance, retirement contributions, paid leave, bonuses or overtime, and legally required items like Social Security, Medicare, unemployment insurance, and workers' compensation.
BLS measures this in its Employer Costs for Employee Compensation (ECEC) survey. In the latest data, for June 2026, benefits made up 31.3% of total compensation for private-industry workers in office and administrative support jobs, the BLS group that includes bookkeepers. Wages were the other 68.7%.
One adjustment matters. ECEC counts paid leave as a benefit, but the OEWS annual salary already pays for vacation and holiday hours. So we add only the other benefit costs (supplemental pay, insurance, retirement, and legally required benefits). Those came to $8.74 an hour, or about 31% of wages plus paid leave ($27.99 an hour) for this group. We apply that 31% to the OEWS salary.
Worked total-cost table
| Line | Amount | Basis |
|---|---|---|
| Median salary | $50,670 | BLS OEWS, May 2025 |
| Benefits and payroll taxes (31%) | about $15,700 | Derived from BLS ECEC, June 2026 |
| Employment cost per year | about $66,400 | Sum of the two lines above |
| Recruiting (one time) | $1,000 to $5,000 | Assumption: job ads, background check, interview hours |
| Software and equipment | $500 to $2,000 a year | Assumption: computer, accounting software seat, other tools |
| Ramp-up | 1 to 2 months at partial output | Assumption: learning your chart of accounts and vendors |
| First-year total | about $68,000 to $73,000 | Employment cost plus the assumptions |
At the 10th percentile salary, the same 31% load gives about $47,200 a year. At the 90th percentile it's about $97,700. The recruiting, software, and ramp-up lines are our estimates, not BLS figures. Swap in your own numbers.
Part-time help changes the math. A bookkeeper working 20 hours a week at the median hourly rate earns about $25,300 a year. Benefit costs for part-time staff are often lower, though, and the ECEC figure above is for all workers in the group, so treat a straight half as a rough guide only.
In-house vs outsourced bookkeeping
Not every business needs an employee. Outsourced firms post their prices, and as of October 2026 these are two examples:
- Pilot lists an Essentials bookkeeping plan at $99 a month. Larger plans are quoted by sales.
- Bookkeeper360 lists a Monthly plan starting at $399 a month and a Weekly plan starting at $599 a month, plus onboarding and catch-up work starting at $1,000 per project.
Even the $599 plan is about $7,200 a year, far below an employee. What you give up is presence. An outside firm works on its schedule, usually closes your books monthly or weekly, and won't walk to the mailbox or chase the office manager for a receipt. An in-house bookkeeper is worth it when the volume is high, the work is daily, or someone has to handle paper, cash, and people in the building.
Job outlook for bookkeepers
BLS employment projections expect bookkeeping, accounting, and auditing clerk jobs to shrink by 5.6% from 2025 to 2035. BLS still projects about 144,100 openings a year, mostly from people retiring or changing careers. The typical entry path is some college with no degree, plus moderate on-the-job training. The Occupational Outlook Handbook has more on the work and training.
For job seekers, the reading is plain. Routine data entry is the part of the job most likely to shrink. Reconciliation, cleanup, catching errors, and explaining the numbers to an owner hold up better.
What software and AI can take, and what needs a person
A lot of bookkeeping is repetitive. Matching bank lines to transactions, chasing missing receipts, nudging customers about overdue invoices, and preparing month-end checklists all follow patterns that software handles well.
TeamShift's Finance worker does that kind of work inside QuickBooks and your email. It drafts invoice follow-ups, works through QuickBooks cleanup and reconciliation, sorts bills and receipts, and prepares month-end. Anything that sends to a customer, moves money, or posts an accounting entry waits for your OK first, and every step is recorded. If your books need a reset first, the QuickBooks cleanup checklist is a good place to start. Pricing is by usage, at 3x the compute cost of the work, with a maximum quoted before a job starts and daily and monthly spend caps. Creating a workspace is free (see pricing).
What still needs a person:
- Judgment on unclear items. Is that charge a repair or an improvement? Is a payment a loan or income? Someone has to decide and own the answer.
- Paper, cash, and the building. Deposits, physical checks, and the receipt in someone's truck.
- Relationships. Calling a vendor about a disputed bill, or talking a long-time customer through a past-due balance.
- Tax and compliance sign-off. A CPA or enrolled agent should review filings. Neither software nor a bookkeeper replaces that.
For many small businesses, the realistic setup is a part-time bookkeeper or an outside firm, with software doing the repetitive prep in between. For accounting firms thinking about this for their own clients, see TeamShift for accountants.
Sources and method
Salary figures are national OEWS estimates for SOC 43-3031, May 2025, the latest BLS published. The benefits load comes from ECEC private-industry data for office and administrative support occupations, June 2026. We excluded paid leave from the load because the OEWS salary already covers paid hours. Recruiting, software, and ramp-up lines are labeled assumptions. Outsourced prices were checked on each vendor's pricing page in October 2026.
FAQ
How much does a bookkeeper cost per hour?
The BLS median wage is $24.36 an hour (May 2025). Add about 31% for benefits and payroll taxes and an employee costs roughly $31.90 an hour. Freelancers and firms set their own rates, which BLS doesn't track.
What is the average bookkeeper salary?
The BLS mean is $53,560 a year and the median is $50,670 (May 2025). The median is the better guide because a few high earners pull the average up.
Is it cheaper to outsource bookkeeping?
Usually, for a small business. Published plans from firms like Pilot and Bookkeeper360 start between $99 and $599 a month as of October 2026, compared with about $66,400 a year for a median employee with benefits. You trade daily presence for the lower price.
Do I need a full-time bookkeeper?
Not until transaction volume, payroll, or paper handling fills most of a week. Many businesses under that point use a part-time bookkeeper or an outside firm and bring in a CPA at tax time.
Will AI replace bookkeepers?
BLS projects a 5.6% decline in these jobs from 2025 to 2035, but still about 144,100 openings a year. Software takes over matching, chasing, and prep. People are still needed for judgment calls, cleanup, and explaining the numbers.