If you are trying to budget for a bookkeeper, the honest answer is that pricing in Australia varies widely, and most published figures are indicative rather than a quote for your business. What you pay depends far more on your transaction volume and the scope of work than on any headline hourly rate. This guide breaks down how bookkeepers price their work, what actually drives the number, and where the money goes, so you can compare quotes properly and keep the cost down as you grow.
All figures below are indicative ranges drawn from what is commonly seen across the Australian market. They are not quotes. Treat them as a way to sanity-check a proposal, not a price list.
The two ways bookkeepers price their work
Almost every bookkeeping engagement in Australia is priced one of two ways: by the hour, or as a fixed monthly package.
Hourly billing is simple and transparent. You pay for the time used, which suits businesses with low or irregular volumes. The risk is that the total is unpredictable, and a messy set of books can run up hours quickly.
Fixed monthly packages bundle an agreed scope, such as reconciliations, accounts payable, payroll and BAS, into one predictable fee. This is easier to budget and usually better value once your volume is steady, because the bookkeeper prices the whole job rather than the clock.
| Pricing model | Indicative range | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| Hourly (contract bookkeeper) | ~$40 to $100 per hour | Low or irregular volumes, ad hoc help |
| Hourly (registered BAS agent) | Upper end of the above | Businesses needing BAS lodgement |
| Fixed monthly package | ~$200 to $1,000+ per month | Steady, predictable volume and scope |
Again, these are indicative. A sole trader with a handful of monthly transactions and a multi-entity construction business will sit at very different points, even with the same bookkeeper.
What actually drives the price
The headline rate matters less than the factors that decide how many hours the work takes.
Transaction volume. This is the biggest driver. More supplier bills, sales invoices, bank lines and payroll runs mean more to code, reconcile and check. A business processing 30 invoices a month and one processing 300 are not in the same bracket, regardless of the hourly rate. Our Australian guide to AP automation explains how automation shrinks that coding workload.
Scope of services. Basic data entry and reconciliation is the floor. Add payroll, superannuation, BAS lodgement, accounts payable management, debtor chasing or management reporting, and the fee rises with each.
BAS agent registration. A registered BAS agent can legally prepare and lodge your activity statements and is bound by professional obligations. That expertise typically costs more than an unregistered bookkeeper doing data entry only. You can check whether someone is registered before you engage them.
The state of your books. If your accounts are behind or messy, expect an upfront cleanup fee or a block of hours before the ongoing work settles. Clean, regularly reconciled books cost less to maintain.
Software and add-ons. Xero and MYOB subscriptions, plus any apps, may be inside the fee or billed on top. Always ask.
In-house, outsourced, or software: the real comparison
The question is rarely just “what does a bookkeeper cost”. It is “what is the most efficient way to keep my books accurate”.
A part-time in-house bookkeeper gives you availability and control, but you carry the wage, superannuation and the cost of the software and training. An outsourced bookkeeper or BAS agent converts that into a variable monthly fee with no employment overhead, which is why most small and medium businesses start there.
The third factor, increasingly, is how much of the work is manual in the first place. A large share of a bookkeeping bill is time spent capturing and coding supplier invoices by hand. If that work is automated before it reaches the bookkeeper, the same package covers far more, or costs less. You can estimate your own manual processing cost with our invoice processing cost calculator.
How to lower the bill without lowering the quality
The most effective way to reduce bookkeeping cost is to reduce the manual work being paid for, not to cut corners on accuracy.
- Automate invoice capture and coding. When supplier bills arrive already read, coded to the right accounts and GST, and routed for approval, the bookkeeper reviews rather than re-types. Pulsify does exactly this and syncs the result into Xero or MYOB, so the hours a package needs to cover drop.
- Reconcile regularly. Little and often avoids the expensive year-end cleanup.
- Keep documentation organised. Missing invoices and unexplained transactions are where hours quietly disappear.
- Match the scope to the stage. Pay for BAS and payroll when you need them, not before.
For bookkeepers reading this, the same logic is a growth lever: automating AP across your clients lets you take on more of them without adding hours, which is the basis for productising AP as a service.
Bookkeeper or accountant?
Cost is one reason people confuse the two roles. A bookkeeper handles the day-to-day recording, reconciliation and compliance; an accountant focuses on tax, structure and advice, and usually charges a higher rate for that specialised work. Many businesses use both. We cover the distinction in detail in bookkeeper versus accountant.
Finding a bookkeeper near you
If you are ready to compare bookkeepers, you can browse registered practitioners by state, region and suburb in our bookkeeper directory, or look specifically for a construction bookkeeper if you work in trades or building. Ask each one how they price, what is included, and whether they use automation to keep your hours down. The answers will tell you as much about the eventual cost as the rate itself.