How Much Does Bookkeeping Cost in the UK? A 2026 Price Guide for Small Businesses

If you've ever typed “how much does bookkeeping cost” into Google, you'll know the frustration: every firm seems to price differently, and nobody wants to give you a straight number. So let's give you one — or at least, the honest range, and what sits behind it.

We quote bookkeeping every single week, so this is based on what UK small businesses actually pay in 2026, not guesswork.

The short answer

Most UK small businesses pay somewhere between £30 and £150+ per month for ongoing bookkeeping. A straightforward sole trader with a handful of transactions a month sits at the bottom of that range; a VAT-registered limited company with payroll and hundreds of transactions sits at the top.

One-off jobs are priced differently: year-end accounts with a corporation tax return typically run into the low hundreds, and a proper catch-up (a year of neglected books brought up to date) is usually quoted as a fixed project fee once someone's seen the mess.

The single biggest piece of advice in this whole article: get a fixed monthly price, agreed up front. Hourly billing for bookkeeping is how £40 jobs quietly become £400 invoices.

What actually drives the price up (or down)

When we quote, we're really pricing five things:

• Transaction volume. 30 transactions a month vs 500 is a completely different job. This is the number-one cost driver.
• VAT. Quarterly VAT returns mean quarterly deadlines, reconciliations and Making Tax Digital submissions. Expect VAT to add a meaningful chunk to any quote.
• Payroll. Even one employee means monthly payslips, RTI submissions to HMRC and pension admin. More staff, more cost.
• How tidy your records are. A client with a connected bank feed in Xero costs us far less time than a shoebox of receipts — and the quote reflects it.
• Catch-up work. If your books are a year behind, the first invoice covers bringing everything up to date. After that, the monthly price drops to the normal ongoing rate.

Typical prices by business type

Sole traders

Usually pay the least. With modest transactions and no payroll, monthly bookkeeping plus the annual Self Assessment return is the standard package. If you're VAT-registered (the threshold is £90,000 of taxable turnover — check the official guidance on GOV.UK), budget more for the quarterly returns.

Limited companies

Pay more because there's more to do: monthly bookkeeping, VAT, payroll, year-end accounts filed at Companies House, and the CT600 corporation tax return. A proper fixed-fee package bundles all of it so you're never surprised. See exactly what's included in our bookkeeping and accounting services.

Contractors and freelancers

Often land in the middle — usually a small number of invoices, but with dividend paperwork and a director's Self Assessment to handle.

Hourly rates vs fixed monthly fees

You'll still see bookkeepers charging £25–£60 an hour. It sounds cheap until the invoice arrives. The problem with hourly billing isn't dishonesty — it's that you can't budget around it, and there's no incentive for efficiency.

A fixed monthly fee flips that around: the bookkeeper is motivated to set up clean systems (bank feeds, rules, automation) because their margin depends on it, and you know exactly what leaves your account each month. When you're comparing quotes, compare fixed fees like-for-like — and check what's actually included. A cheap quote that excludes VAT returns isn't cheap.

Red flags: how to tell you're overpaying

• You're charged extra every time you ask a question. Advice should be part of the service, not a meter running.
• The fee keeps creeping up with no change in your business. Your price should track your transaction volume, not your bookkeeper's rent.
• You're paying for software twice — once for Xero or QuickBooks, and again buried in the bookkeeping fee. Ask what's included.
• You never see proper monthly reports. If you're paying monthly, you should get monthly numbers you can actually read. Messy books cost real money — we wrote about the bookkeeping mistakes that cost UK SMEs the most on our blog.

How to get an accurate quote (a 5-minute checklist)

Any good bookkeeper can give you a fixed price from these five answers:

1. Sole trader, partnership or limited company?
2. Roughly how many bank transactions per month?
3. VAT-registered, or approaching the £90,000 threshold?
4. Any employees on payroll?
5. Are the books up to date, or is there catch-up work to do?

Have those ready and the quote you get back should be specific, fixed, and in writing. Vague quotes (“it depends, let's start and see”) are a warning sign.

Still have questions? Our bookkeeping FAQs cover the ones we hear most — or get a free fixed quote and we'll reply within one working day with a clear monthly price. No hourly billing, no surprises.