An outsourced bookkeeper is a remote professional or firm that records your transactions, reconciles your accounts and sends monthly reports, working inside your own accounting software. To hire one well, write down your scope first, compare providers on scope, price and security, check their work on a short trial, and give them a limited user login. Never give them your own login.
When outsourcing pays off, and when it doesn’t
Outsourcing usually pays off when:
- Your books are behind, or you only catch up at tax time.
- Your time is worth more than the monthly fee.
- You have too much work for yourself but not enough for a full-time hire.
- Your CPA spends billable hours cleaning up the books every year.
It may not pay off when:
- You have only a handful of transactions a month and enjoy doing them.
- Your volume is high and steady enough to keep a full-time employee busy.
- Your business needs someone on site every day, for example to handle physical inventory or cash.
Firm, freelancer or in-house?
| Bookkeeping firm or service | Freelance bookkeeper | In-house employee | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Typical cost shape | Fixed monthly fee by volume | Hourly or monthly | Salary plus payroll taxes, benefits and software |
| Coverage when someone is sick or leaves | A team covers | Gap until they return | Gap until you rehire |
| Process and review | Usually written procedures and a second check | Depends on the person | Depends on the person and your oversight |
| Personal attention | Varies by firm | Often high | High |
| Best fit | Most small businesses with steady monthly work | Simple books and a trusted referral | High, constant volume |
The 7-step hiring checklist
1. Write down your scope
List your bank, card and loan accounts, your software, roughly how many transactions you run a month, whether you have payroll or sell taxable goods, and how many months are behind. A clear scope gets you comparable quotes. Our monthly bookkeeping checklist shows what a full monthly close includes.
2. Shortlist three providers
Ask your CPA first. CPAs often know who keeps clean books because they see the results. Then look at providers who publish their scope and prices. Three quotes are enough to see the range.
3. Ask the vetting questions
- What exactly is included each month, and what is billed separately?
- Which software do you work in? Do you hold any software certifications?
- Who does the work, and who checks it before it reaches me?
- How many business days after month end do I get the reports?
- How do you send questions, and how quickly do you reply?
- How do you access my accounts, and what will you never ask for?
- Will you sign a confidentiality agreement? Where is my data stored?
- What happens to my data and access if we stop working together?
- Do you work with my CPA, and in what format do you hand over year-end files?
- Can I see a sample monthly report or reconciliation, with client details removed?
4. Score the answers
| Criterion | Weight | What a strong answer looks like |
|---|---|---|
| Clear written scope | 25% | A list of what is in and out, with a transaction limit |
| Quality checks | 20% | A named second check before delivery, and reconciliations sent with the reports |
| Security and access | 20% | A named user in your software, no shared passwords, no banking credentials, a confidentiality agreement |
| Turnaround and communication | 15% | A stated delivery day and one list of questions per month |
| Price and terms | 10% | A fixed monthly price, no long lock-in, clear catch-up pricing |
| CPA fit | 10% | Willing to work to your CPA’s chart of accounts and year-end needs |
Score each provider from 1 to 5 on each line, multiply by the weight, and compare totals. The cheapest quote rarely wins on this scorecard. The vaguest one usually loses.
5. Watch for red flags
- They ask for your online banking username and password.
- They want to work in their own copy of your books rather than your file.
- The quote has no transaction or account limits (“unlimited” usually means “unclear”).
- They promise tax savings or offer to sign your tax return without being a CPA, enrolled agent or attorney.
- They can’t tell you who will actually do the work.
- They won’t put the scope or confidentiality in writing.
6. Set up access safely
- In QuickBooks Online or Xero, invite the bookkeeper as a named user with the role they need. In QuickBooks Online you can invite them as an accountant user.
- Do not share bank passwords. Bank feeds connect through your software. If statements are needed, download them yourself or give read-only access where your bank offers it.
- Use a shared folder for receipts and statements, not email attachments.
- Keep the admin role yourself. You can remove the bookkeeper’s access at any time from user settings.
Read more in how client financial data should be handled.
7. Run a trial and review the first two months closely
| When | What to check |
|---|---|
| Week 1 | Access works; the bookkeeper sends the first list of questions |
| End of month 1 | Reports arrive on the promised day; every account is reconciled to zero difference |
| Month 2 | Questions shrink as the bookkeeper learns your business; categories match your CPA’s needs |
| After month 2 | Decide to continue, adjust the scope, or switch |
Spot-check five transactions each month against your receipts. If the reconciliations balance and the categories make sense, you can start trusting the reports.
What it costs
Prices depend on transaction volume, the number of accounts, and whether payroll or sales tax work is included. RazaPro’s bookkeeping-only plans are $75 a month up to 150 transactions, $100 up to 300 and $120 up to 500, each covering up to 5 accounts. Traditional bookkeeping and CPA firms commonly start around $250 to $750 a month. For the full comparison, see what outsourced bookkeeping includes and costs and how much small business bookkeeping should cost.
An in-house bookkeeper costs more than the wage alone. The median US wage for bookkeeping, accounting and auditing clerks was $50,670 a year in May 2025, before payroll taxes, benefits, software and management time, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. See our bookkeeper salary by state table for your state.
Common questions
Do I still need a CPA? Yes, for income-tax returns and tax advice. A bookkeeper keeps the records your CPA works from.
Can a bookkeeper outside my state, or outside the US, keep my books? Yes. The work happens in cloud software. What matters is the access model, the written confidentiality terms and the quality of the work. RazaPro, for example, is based in Pakistan and works inside clients’ own QuickBooks or Xero files.
How long does it take to switch bookkeepers? Usually one month-end cycle, once the new bookkeeper has access and the prior months are reconciled.
What if my books are years behind? Expect a separate catch-up quote first. Monthly work only makes sense once the books are current.
Book a free consultation to get a quote for your volume.
This article is general information, not tax, legal or accounting advice.
Last updated October 3, 2026. Prices are RazaPro’s published plan prices on that date.