what is the industry average hourly rate for employed bookkeeping - The Book-keepers Forum (UK)

rachel_mclean · Guru

what is the industry average hourly rate for employed bookkeeping

Amanda · Expert

HI Rachel,

I think it depends on where you live, I see oyu live in Cornwall, Bill will probably be on here later and he is in Cornwall and maybe able to shed some light on the prices quoted in your area.

£12.50 which is your rate is good, I would say an average could be about £13-£15 per hour, maybe more depending whether you are doing a fixed price per day/month. Some people on here get alot more than that.

Like I say I think Bill will be better at saying what the price is in Cornwall. I think £9 is abit low?

What do others think?

HTH
Amanda

semsley · Guru

Rachel, are you saying they are offering you £9 per hour employed or self-employed?

If self-employed it is very low, if employed it is not so low as it takes into account holiday and sick pay plus the employer has to pay the 12.8% employer' NI.

I have a small (6 hrs) employed job at £9.16 per hour.

Peasie · Expert

If you take into account holiday pay (5.6 weeks) that £9 is more like £10 an hour.

RobH · Expert

If the job was full time and taking into account holiday and Ers Ni I would say the cost to the company is closer to £11 per hour. However if this is part time as I assume then it wouldn't look like and (or very much ) ers ni would be payable. the holiday pay is still relevant though. Personally I think £9 an hour for employed work isn't bad, but I may be inclined to offer to work self employed and perhaps meet in the middle.
Rob

Marky65 · Guru

Hi Rachel

I am in Devon and I don't think £9 per hour is that bad for part time

If you go to this link on the reed employment agency website and complete the relevant details you can see what the average is for this role in your area. This is based upon jobs they have or have had advertised.

http://www.reed.co.uk/CareerTools/SalaryCalculator.aspx

Regards

Mark

remington · Veteran Member

-- Edited by remington on Tuesday 28th of September 2010 11:29:12 AM

-- Edited by remington on Tuesday 28th of September 2010 01:49:32 PM

-- Edited by remington on Tuesday 28th of September 2010 01:49:58 PM

Wella · Expert

Hi Rachel

I tend to agree with you on the self employed rate of £12.50/ hour.

You could weigh up the advantages of being an employee on PAYE and would say that any jobs I have seen advertised for bookeepers (employed) has been for less than that (in Cornwall). I have just researched a few in the area and they are all about £18K/ year, which is about £9/ hr.

HTH
Bill

-- Edited by Wella on Tuesday 28th of September 2010 01:48:07 PM

rachel_mclean · Guru

Thank you very much everyone for your help. I don't think I'll make a fuss about is as it is part time- about 2 days a week and I also do other work for them for £7.00 an hour. I think I'm just being a bit of a brat actually, but wanted to know what other people thought.

THANK YOU FOR YOUR HELP EVERYONE.

Rachel x

remington · Veteran Member

Hi Rachel

I attended an ICB seminar earlier this year and we were a told at the seminar a qualified bookkeeper should be earning between £18-£20 per hour, I have been working as a self employed bookkeeper for the last five years, I charge £18 per hour, I offer a professional service and expect to be paid as a professional, I would not work for anything less, window cleaners earn more than £10 per hour. Don't undersell yourself.

Remington

-- Edited by remington on Tuesday 28th of September 2010 06:52:20 PM

Alfred · Senior Member

Hi Remington

I understand your point of not underselling yourself but you also have to take into account other factors such as location, size of company, duties required to do etc. I work in london and some companies pay from £18k to £35K for very similar roles. I have seen sales ledger roles for really big companies thats pay loads and thats only because they have so many invoices to raise, very little knowlede to do the job but paid well because of the repitition and scale of the work.

Brewsie · Veteran Member

I'm with Remington

We are in N Bucks and our minimum rate would be £18/hr.

We provide a professional service with qualified bookkeepers and feel that we add real value to our customers.

However, as Alfred says, it depends on role - I sometimes think that we confuse someone who is proactive and adding value with someone who is working as directed, do we call both these roles a 'bookkeeper'?

semsley · Guru

Up here in Yorkshire I think the max you would be able to achieve would be £15/hr. Average salaries here are far lower than those "down south".

RobH · Expert

similar here in the Midlands Sheila. I rarely quote more than £15 but I do most of mine on fixed fee. i think it's unrealistic to expect to get the £18 to £20 an hour from most small clients but good luck if people can.

kjmcculloch · Guru

I don't quote hourly rates, I do everything fixed fee. I generally bill the equivalent of around £30 per hour. If I asked for this on an hourly rate I'd get laughed at, but because it's wrapped up in a fixed fee it works well.

Kris

attilabenko · Guru

Hi Kris,

I agree. Fixed fee works well for me,too. I always say any extra work (depending really on what it is) will be added on the fixed fee at £15/hour - that is in gloucestershire.