I'm new to the forum so a warm hello to everyone. I've recently started my own book-keeping services but not very sure about how to price for my services.
I'm a part-qualified ACCA along with a Masters degree in Finance. I've been a salaried person but I decided to do something on my own recently. I also do the book-keeping and accounting of my own (my husband's) ltd company and file accounts online. But I haven't provided any accounting services to any clients.
I would appreciate if anyone could give me any leads about how to price or how much to price for my services. I have had a look at some accounting websites but they haven't given a clear idea of their rates. Some of them are quoting £20 to £25 an hour for book-keeping.
By quoting per hour how does a book-keeper determine how much time he would need to update books of accounts in a particular day?
As with all things the rate that we charge is a matter of supply and demand.
Accountants will often charge £20 to £25 for bookkeeping work as part of the overall service to their clients. However, where one is only able to offer more restricted services and are not able to use the letter after ones name you really need to be knocking around £10 per hour off those quoted rates (A bettter estimate would be £10 to £18 per hour although there are bookkeepers who work outside those ranges... in both directions!!!).
Also, note that accountants will often charge higher rates for bookkeeping work and then subcontract to bookkeepers.
And don't forget that regulation 8 is going to place severe restrictions upon the services that you are able to offer.
kind regards,
Shaun.
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Shaun
Responses are not meant as a substitute for professional advice. Answers are intended as outline only the advice of a qualified professional with access to all relevant information should be sought before acting on any response given.
The hourly rate varies from region to region. As a freelancer and working within the suburbs of London, i'm able to charge £25 to £30 per hour depending on what your client requires.
This is based on obtaining your work yourself, if an Accountant subscontracts the book-keeping then you may want to reduce it by £10 per hour. So i would prefer to find the work myself.
Thanks for your response. Do you mean to say by £25 to £30 per hour, you get client's interested? I read in some posts that clients normally prefer a fixed rate. What do you think?
All my clients are happy with the hourly rate, as work varies on each visit it's easier to budget. In 7 years as a freelancer, i have not asked for a fixed rate.
By visit, do you mean the client visits you or you visit the client? I mean can the work not be exchanged online through email or other means like dropbox? Or does one have to visit the client for which reason you charge a hourly rate?
For very small businesses I do a fixed rate - non VAT registered, one person, part time/low income doing something they love type jobs - as they only need someone to sort things once a year, and it amounts to a day or half a days work so easy to price up.
For clients who need regular weekly/monthly work, VAT returns, entering payroll into accounts, ie the full day to day works, then I charge hourly and it depends on the client as to how much I charge.
I have a separate price list for payroll which is done per transaction.
I would speak to the client first and then propose a visit. In my experience, most clients require the work to be done in the office but as more and more web-based software is becoming more popular, then that could change.
I'll say the same thing, the other way from Phillip. I offer only fixed rate and I've never once had a client ask me for hourly.
My hourly rate equivalent right now is about £35 per hour. I would find it difficult to ask for that an hour where I am. Equally I'd find it difficult to ask clients to pay me hourly when I could only guess at how long it would take. For me it's all about risk. With hourly rate it's about making the client solely responsible for the risk. With fixed fee it's about the bookkeeper taking the full risk, but with a greater reward.
Responses are not meant as a substitute for professional advice. Answers are intended as outline only the advice of a qualified professional with access to all relevant information should be sought before acting on any response given.
