What should be optional in a bookkeeping proposal?

In this template: Catch-up ($300.00 USD per month), Sales tax filing ($120.00 USD per month), Payroll ($200.00 USD per month). Optional lines sit next to the base price with a switch, so clients choose them without a follow-up email.

How much to charge for bookkeeping

Updated September 19, 2026. Example prices in US dollars from the bookkeeping proposal template.

Short answer: Price bookkeeping as one fixed line (monthly bookkeeping at $450.00 USD) with a starting total of $1,470.00 USD, then 3 optional lines (catch-up, sales tax filing, payroll) the client can switch on, and a quantity the client sets within your limits. Set your own numbers; the structure is what gets accepted.

A worked example for bookkeepers and accountants: the pricing lines from our bookkeeping proposal, what is fixed, what the client can switch on, and how to present it so the total gets accepted rather than negotiated.

The example pricing

Line	Example price	How it is sold
Monthly bookkeepingUp to 150 transactions a month, reconciled and reported	$450.00 USD per month	Included
Catch-upBring the current year up to date, per month behind	$300.00 USD per month	Optional, on by defaultClient picks 0 to 12
Sales tax filingQuarterly returns prepared and filed	$120.00 USD per month	Optional, on by default
PayrollUp to five employees, twice a month	$200.00 USD per month	Optional, off by default

Starting total with the defaults on: $1,470.00 USD, before the client chooses among 3 optional lines, with 1 quantity the client sets within your limits. Example prices in US dollars; the template works in 16 currencies and every number is yours to change.

How to present it

Advisory and back-office work is bought for peace of mind, so the proposal should read like a plan: what you look at first, what the client receives, and how often. A monthly or yearly figure with a named deliverable beats an hourly rate.

Fix the recurring core and make the rest optional: director returns by the number, extra hours, a training day. The core is easy to say yes to; the options let the client size the engagement without a second call.

Say what you need from the client and by when. Missing receipts and late answers are where these engagements go wrong, and a proposal that says so is a proposal that gets respected.

Questions people ask

How much should I charge for bookkeeping?: Price bookkeeping as one fixed line (monthly bookkeeping at $450.00 USD) with a starting total of $1,470.00 USD, then 3 optional lines (catch-up, sales tax filing, payroll) the client can switch on, and a quantity the client sets within your limits. Set your own numbers; the structure is what gets accepted.
What should be optional in a bookkeeping proposal?: In this template: Catch-up ($300.00 USD per month), Sales tax filing ($120.00 USD per month), Payroll ($200.00 USD per month). Optional lines sit next to the base price with a switch, so clients choose them without a follow-up email.
How do I present bookkeeping pricing so it gets accepted?: Advisory and back-office work is bought for peace of mind, so the proposal should read like a plan: what you look at first, what the client receives, and how often. A monthly or yearly figure with a named deliverable beats an hourly rate.

Why this structure gets accepted

One fixed line the client can say yes to. Monthly bookkeeping is priced as a whole, so the conversation is about the result, not the hours.
Options on the page, not in follow-up emails. Catch-up, Sales tax filing, Payroll sit next to the base price with a switch. People choose what they can see.
The total moves as they choose. On a Quote and Sign page the client toggles lines and sets quantities, watches the total update, and signs with their name. What they chose becomes part of the signed record.

Put it in front of a client

Open this pricing as a real proposal, change the words and numbers, and send the link. Your client reads it on their phone, adjusts the options, and accepts with one tap. Both of you get the signed PDF.

Try it in the editor, no account See the bookkeeping proposal template