How much does bookkeeping cost, and when should you outsource it?

Short answer: the cost depends far more on your situation than on a standard rate: how many transactions you have, how many accounts, whether you run payroll, how often you file GST/QST and how far behind the books are. Doing it yourself saves cash but costs time and carries the risk of errors. It's usually time to outsource when the books are months behind, deadlines slip, or you no longer trust your numbers.

What drives the cost?

When a bookkeeper quotes, these are the things that actually move the price:

  • Transaction volume. Fifty transactions a month and five hundred are different jobs.
  • Number of accounts. Each bank account, credit card, loan and payment processor needs its own reconciliation.
  • Payroll. Pay runs, source deductions, and T4 and RL-1 slips add regular work.
  • GST/QST filing frequency. Monthly filers need clean books every month; annual filers once a year.
  • The state of the books. Catching up a year of missing entries is a separate project from keeping current books up to date (see our catch-up guide).
  • How documents arrive. Receipts in an app and bank feeds connected cost less to process than a shoebox in April.
  • Inventory, multiple currencies or several companies. Each adds steps.

We don't publish a price list here, because two businesses of the same size can need very different work. A free first conversation is the honest way to get a number.

Your three options

  1. Do it yourself in a spreadsheet. The cheapest in dollars. It works for a very small, simple business, but GST/QST and reconciliations are easy to get wrong.
  2. Do it yourself in accounting software. Bank feeds and receipt capture remove most of the typing. You still decide how each transaction is coded, and that's where most errors happen.
  3. Hire a bookkeeper. You pay for the hours, and you get the time back plus someone who knows Québec's GST/QST and payroll rules. Many businesses mix it: they snap receipts, the bookkeeper does the rest.

What doing it yourself really costs

The software subscription is the visible cost. The hidden ones are bigger:

  • Your hours, often evenings, at the rate you could bill a client instead.
  • Catch-up work when a busy season leaves months untouched.
  • Penalties. Revenu Québec charges $100 for each piece of required information missing from an RL slip, and the CRA charges $125 for filing 6 to 50 slips on paper when they had to go online.
  • Missed deductions and tax credits from receipts that never got entered.

Remember that the CRA expects records to be kept for at least six years. Books you can't explain later are a real cost in an audit.

Signs it's time to outsource

  • You're three months or more behind, and every month makes it worse.
  • GST/QST returns are filed late, or filed with estimates.
  • You hired your first employee and payroll deadlines are new to you.
  • Your accountant sends the books back at year-end with a list of questions.
  • You don't know your real profit or how much tax to set aside.
  • Bookkeeping takes more than a few hours a week you'd rather spend on clients.

How to compare quotes

Ask each bookkeeper the same questions so the prices are comparable:

  1. What exactly is included: reconciliations, GST/QST returns, payroll, slips?
  2. How often will the books be updated?
  3. Is catch-up work priced separately?
  4. Who pays for the software?
  5. What do you need from me, and by when?
  6. Who prepares the year-end and tax returns, and how is the hand-off done?

It also helps to know what a bookkeeper does compared with an accountant before you compare.

Want a quote for your books?

Book a free 30-minute session at soleraaccounting.ca/rendez-vous or call 450 612-7223. We'll look at your volume, accounts and deadlines and tell you clearly what keeping your books would involve. Service in French, English and Arabic.

This article is general information, not personalized accounting or tax advice.

Frequently asked questions

Is bookkeeping software enough on its own?

For a simple business, often yes, if you review and code transactions every month. Software automates the typing, not the judgment: the GST/QST codes and categories still have to be right.

Why can't you give a price without seeing my books?

Because the work depends on transaction volume, number of accounts, payroll, GST/QST frequency and how current the books are. Two businesses with the same revenue can need very different amounts of work.

Can I outsource only part of the bookkeeping?

Yes. Many owners capture receipts and send invoices themselves and have a bookkeeper handle reconciliations, GST/QST returns and payroll.

Sources

Explore more

Book a call · (450) 612-7223