Bookkeeper Invoice Template — Retainer, Cleanup
Monthly retainer for ongoing books, hourly for catch-up and cleanup, year-end close, software pass-throughs. The template makes the engagement scope visible.
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Line items that show up on a bookkeeping bill
●Monthly bookkeeping retainer. Defined scope: # of accounts, transaction volume.
●Hourly catch-up / cleanup. For new clients or backlog work.
●Year-end close. Often a separate fixed-fee project.
●Software subscription (QBO, Xero) pass-through. Or wrapped — state which.
●Special reports / analysis. Custom reporting outside scope.
●Tax-prep coordination. If you work with the client's accountant.
How bookkeepers usually structure billing
Retainers: monthly in advance; auto-pay common via ACH.
Cleanup work: estimated hourly with cap; invoice on completion or in milestones.
Year-end: invoice on engagement signing or in two milestones (start + delivery).
Tax notes
Bookkeeping services are typically fully taxable. State your registration number on the invoice (where required by your jurisdiction). For US bookkeepers operating across state lines, check nexus rules.
Frequently asked questions
Should I bill clients monthly or quarterly?
Monthly — keeps your cash flow steady and the client's books current. Quarterly invoices accumulate too much owed and slow your collections.
How do I price a cleanup project?
Estimate hours based on number of months behind × transaction volume. Quote a range with a cap; invoice actual hours up to the cap. State the methodology in writing.
Do I invoice software subscriptions through me?
Either way works. Pass-through (with admin %) or have the client own the subscription directly. Direct ownership is cleaner if the relationship ends.
How do I bill for ad-hoc requests?
Track time separately; invoice quarterly as 'Out-of-scope work — Q[X]' with a brief description per item. Don't bury it in the monthly retainer invoice.
What a bookkeeping invoice looks like
Realistic, copy-and-paste-ready line items bookkeepers typically use. These figures suit a mid-cost US market; set your own against local rates.
●Monthly bookkeeping retainer — full-service, single entity (15-20 hrs/month at $85/hr): $1,500
●Monthly close — reconcile all accounts, post journal entries, deliver statements (included in retainer): no overage
●Payroll processing — Gusto run, 12 employees, semi-monthly (10% overage: 2 hrs at $85): $170
●Sales-tax filing — quarterly state sales-tax (1 state) (per filing): $185
●1099 prep — year-end (15 vendors, e-filed) (annual project, 6 hrs at $85): $510
●Software subscription pass-through — QuickBooks Online + Bill.com (monthly, at cost): $145
●Annual catch-up — 4 months of historical reconciliation discovered at engagement (35 hrs at $85): $2,975
Notes: Retainer invoiced 1st of month, due Net 15 via auto-draft. Overages billed monthly on the same invoice. Software passed through at cost. Closed books delivered by 10th of following month per engagement. 30-day notice for retainer change. Late-payment fee 1.5%/month.
Payment timing in bookkeeping work
Bookkeeping at its best is auto-drafted monthly retainer revenue: client signs up at $800-3,500/month depending on transaction volume and complexity, you bill 1st of the month, money's in your account by the 5th. The fee model is what separates a profitable bookkeeping practice from one that barely covers the time. Hourly bookkeeping tends to be a downward spiral, because clients only see the hours, never the systems and close discipline and catch-up risk behind them.
Catch-up work, when a new client arrives with 8 months of unreconciled books, is its own engagement and pays differently. Project-fee or hourly-with-cap, paid 50% upfront, 50% on completion. Don't bundle catch-up into monthly retainer; you'll work 80 hours one month and be 'behind' on the retainer fee. Tax-season cleanup (Feb-Apr) is the busiest period — many bookkeepers run waitlists for new clients during this window.
Five billing errors that stall bookkeeper payments
●Quoting per hour instead of monthly retainer. Hourly bookkeeping pricing trains clients to monitor every minute. Retainer pricing locks in revenue and lets you optimise the workflow. The 'efficient' bookkeeper who shaves a month from 18 hours to 12 hours doesn't get penalised — they pocket the gain. Always quote retainer with the deliverables (monthly close, financial statements, etc.) listed.
●Not raising the retainer when transaction volume grows. Client growth means more transactions, more reconciliations, more decisions. A retainer set at startup-scale becomes underwater at series-A-scale. Build in an annual review clause: 'Retainer reviewed annually based on transaction volume; adjustments require 30-day notice.'
●Forgetting to bill year-end project work. 1099 prep, sales-tax filings, year-end close, financial-statement compilation — these aren't included in monthly retainer. Itemise: '1099 prep — 15 vendors, e-filed: $510 (annual project).' Otherwise the retainer feels too high during slow months and too cheap during year-end.
●Letting clients run their books in QuickBooks Desktop on a laptop. QuickBooks Online or cloud-based access is non-negotiable for modern bookkeeping. Desktop books mean you can't reconcile real-time, integration with banks breaks, and the 'send me the QBB file' workflow is a productivity sink. State on engagement: 'Engagement assumes cloud-based accounting (QBO, Xero, Wave); migration billed separately.'
●Treating payroll as 'just included'. Payroll has its own risk profile (940/941 filings, W-2 prep, multi-state issues, 1099 vs W-2 classification). Either include it in retainer with explicit scope ('Payroll processing for up to 10 employees, semi-monthly') or bill it as a separate add-on. Don't make it invisible.
US tax notes for bookkeepers
Bookkeeping services are non-taxable in nearly every state (professional service), with the usual exceptions being Hawaii's GET, New Mexico's GRT, and Washington's B&O. Most bookkeepers never trigger sales tax obligations themselves. The unique tax issue: bookkeepers see their clients' sales-tax obligations daily — but cannot give legal advice on whether to register, which states to file in, or how to handle multi-state nexus without crossing the line into unauthorised practice of accounting (in most states) or unauthorised practice of law. Hand those questions to the client's CPA.
Federal: Most bookkeepers are 1099 contractors or S-corp owners. Bookkeeper deductibles: software subscriptions (QBO ProAdvisor, Xero Partner, Bill.com Advisor — the partner/advisor tier is fully deductible), certifications (QBO ProAdvisor Advanced, Xero Advisor, certified payroll professional credentials), continuing-ed (online courses, NACPB membership), business-use portion of home office, and the under-claimed line — client-shared software seats (Zapier, Loom, Notion seats for client workflow) which are all deductible as business operations.
Not tax advice — confirm specifics with your CPA or state department of revenue.
Other questions bookkeepers ask
How do I price monthly bookkeeping?
Tiered by transaction volume + complexity. Simple SMB (50-150 transactions/mo, single bank, no payroll): $400-800. Active SMB (200-500 transactions, payroll, multi-state sales tax): $1,200-3,000. Multi-entity or e-commerce with inventory: $2,500-6,000+. Adjust for industry complexity (medical, restaurant, e-commerce inventory). Re-evaluate annually as the business scales.
Should I do bookkeeping for clients in industries I don't know?
Cautiously. Restaurants need food-cost accounting and tip allocation; construction needs WIP schedules and job cost; e-commerce needs inventory and platform reconciliation. State on engagement: 'Industry-specific accounting (e.g., GAAP construction WIP) is outside engagement scope; client's CPA will provide industry-specific guidance.' Or learn the industry and charge a premium for the specialisation.
Can I refuse a client who's behind on their books?
You can — and many bookkeepers do — by requiring catch-up engagement first. Quote the catch-up as a project: 'Reconstruction of records, 8 months @ ~12 hrs/month: $8,160 paid 50% upfront, 50% on completion. Monthly retainer of $1,500 begins after catch-up.' Most clients accept; the ones who don't are the ones who'll keep falling behind on the retainer.
How do I structure year-end financial-statement compilation differently?
Year-end financial statements (P&L, balance sheet, cash-flow) for the tax-prep CPA are usually included in monthly retainer if you've closed every month diligently. Reviewed or audited statements are a separate professional engagement, typically performed by a CPA firm with appropriate independence — refer those out and don't try to provide them as a bookkeeping firm.
Other professions
→ Contractors → Electricians → Plumbers → Photographers → Graphic designers → Web developers
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