B E N C H S M A L L B U S I N E S S G U I D E S

The ROI of Hiring a Bookkeeper

Hiring a bookkeeping is an investment—so, what’s the return?

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You’re still nursing paper cuts from tracking down receipts during tax

season. When you close your eyes at night, you see a spreadsheet

grid. Just the thought of QuickBooks help documentation throws

you into a cold sweat.

You’ve got a case of DIY bookkeeping. And you know the cure: hire a

bookkeeper. But when you run your own business, every penny you

spend is a penny that could be reinvested in your company. So—is

hiring a bookkeeper worth it? How do you justify the expense?

This guide will show you what you get in return when you pay to

hire a bookkeeper—like financial statements that can help you

secure a loan, or up-to-date records that make tax filing easy. More

importantly, though, it will show you how much you’re really paying

to do your bookkeeping yourself.

Once you’ve had a chance to see the costs and the benefits, you’ll

be ready to decide whether hiring a bookkeeper is the right choice

for your business.

Intro- duction

T H E R O I O F H I R I N G A B O O K K E E P E R

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T H E R O I O F H I R I N G A B O O K K E E P E R

Let’s get this out of the way ASAP. How

much will a bookkeeper set you back?

Freelance bookkeeper: Average cost of $335 per month

• For six hours of bookkeeping per month

• Most bookkeepers charge $20–50, with a $100–150

monthly minimum

Bench: $119 per month

• The starting flat rate for Bench

• Get a dedicated bookkeeping team to do your books

• Track your financials with an intuitive app

Naturally, we’re biased—but for now, we’ll treat Bench’s price as

the baseline for hiring a monthly bookkeeper.

The price of hiring a bookkeeper

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T H E R O I O F H I R I N G A B O O K K E E P E R

If you’re going to fork over the cash for a bookkeeper, the

investment better pay off. Here are the three most significant

ways a professional bookkeeper benefits your pocketbook.

TAX SAVINGS

Two ways a bookkeeper can help you pay less than you would

otherwise.

1. Reducing your tax burden. When your books are

organized, all of your expenses are tracked. So, come tax

season, you or your accountant can find all your deductible

expenses, easily claim them, and cut back your tax

obligation.

2. Saving you from IRS fines. You use your bookkeeping

records to file taxes. If those records include errors, you

make filing mistakes. Get caught, and the IRS could fine

you. The more accurate your bookkeeping records, the

less likely you are to get penalized.

How a bookkeeper saves you money

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H O W A B O O K K E E P E R S A V E S Y O U M O N E Y

ACCOUNTING FEES

A lot of small business owners do their bookkeeping

haphazardly—or not at all. Then, come tax time, they hand off

their transaction records, receipts, and other documents to their

accountant.

Problem is, your accountant needs organized bookkeeping

records to file your taxes. If they have to play catch-up and

organize your books for you, you’ll have to pay extra.

$20 – 50 per hourFor a freelance bookkeeper

$150 – 400 per hourFor an accountant

In other words, an accountant is 200–700% more expensive for

bookkeeping than a bookkeeper.

200 – 700%

Note: We didn’t include Bench’s hourly catch-up rate, because we don’t

charge hourly. We pick a fair flat rate up front, and honor that price, no

matter how long it takes us.

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H O W A B O O K K E E P E R S A V E S Y O U M O N E Y

BURNOUT

You’re already spending 50–60 hours a week helping your

business succeed. Add bookkeeping to that, and you’re dealing

with stress and mental fatigue.

The effects are far-ranging. Stress can weaken your immune

system, and turn cold season into a snot-filled nightmare—

complete with missed work days. More importantly, overwork

(and busywork) means you’re not enjoying what you’re doing

anymore, and you’re not spending your time on activities that

make you money.

It’s hard to put an exact price on your well-being. But take it into

account when it’s time to decide about hiring a bookkeeper.

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T H E R O I O F H I R I N G A B O O K K E E P E R

Just because you own your business doesn’t mean you work for

free.

Think about how much your time is worth. There are different

ways to calculate this. If you’re putting in time doing your

bookkeeping—or any other business task that can be

outsourced—it’s worth crunching some numbers.

For instance:

• If you’re a freelance graphic designer, how much do you

charge for a logo that takes ten hours to design and revise?

• If you spend 30 hours a week running your ecommerce

store, how much are you making in profits during an average

week—divide that by 30 and you have a simple hourly wage.

• If you have a part-time employee working at your brick and

mortar store, how much are they making per hour?

For instance, suppose you put in two hours a week to do

bookkeeping. You could spend that time:

• Planning new markets to move into

• Researching new products to carry

• Planning new ways to reduce expenses

• Taking a business management course, or other professional

classes

When you spend your time on bookkeeping, you’re missing out

on chances to reinvest in your business.

What is your time worth?

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T H E R O I O F H I R I N G A B O O K K E E P E R

Let’s do some quick back-of-envelope calculations.

Say you’re a registered massage therapist. Here’s some info

about your average week:

36 Hours spent giving massages

10 Hours spent on other tasks. (Answering emails, booking appointments, doing laundry and cleaning your workspace)

2 Hours spent on bookkeeping

48 Hours total worked per week

$90 Hourly rate for a massage

Taking that into account, we can calculate an hourly wage for

you.

36 x $90 = $3,240

Earned on massages per month

$3,240 / 48 = $67.50

Average wage per hour

Note the amount you earn during the week is applied across all

48 hours worked—not just the ones spent giving massages.

The cost of doing it yourself: an example

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T H E C O S T O F D O I N G I T Y O U R S E L F : A N E X A M P L E

Now that we know how much your time is worth by the hour, we

can figure out how much DIY bookkeeping is costing you:

$67.80 x 2 = $135.60

So, based on your hourly rate, you’re paying close to $135.60 per

week on bookkeeping. That’s $542.40 per month.

Compare that to having a bookkeeping team handle it for you.

When you hire Bench at $119 per month, you end up saving

$395.32 monthly—that’s $4,743.84 per year.

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T H E R O I O F H I R I N G A B O O K K E E P E R

1. By keeping your books up to date

When your books are up to date, it means your income and

expenses are all accounted for. So, no chasing down receipts

or digging through invoices in order to play catch-up during tax

season. Even if you are behind, a qualified bookkeeper can get

you caught up and ready to file.

2. By preparing financial reports for the year

Annual financial reports from your bookkeeper give you the

info you need to file—whether an accountant is filing for you,

or you’re doing it yourself. Your annual income statement and

balance sheet contain all the info you need to fill out your tax

forms.

3. By working with your accountant

Your bookkeeper should be able to deliver your financial records

directly to your accountant, and provide input if needed. Bench

works directly with your accountant, if you have one. If not, we

can get your taxes filed for you.

How a bookkeeper makes tax season easy

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T H E R O I O F H I R I N G A B O O K K E E P E R

There’s one more thing you need to know about bookkeeping.

The cost of bookkeeping for your small business is 100% tax

deductible. So, if you pay $119 per month for Bench, you can

write $1,428 off your taxes at the end of the year.

Even if hiring a bookkeeper may seem expensive up front,

remember—you’ll benefit from the tax deduction later on.

Hiring a bookkeeper is a tax write-off

$1,428 per year

That’s how much you can write off if

you pay $119 per month for Bench

B E N C H S M A L L B U S I N E S S G U I D E S

Bench is the online bookkeeping service that does your

small business’ bookkeeping for you.

Each month, a team of professional bookkeepers

gathers your data for you and turns it into

accurate financial statements. You also get simple

software that lets you view your financial reports, and

keep tabs on your finances.

Ready to dump DIY bookkeeping?

Refer friends.Get $150 and free bookkeeping.

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