How much does a bookkeeper cost in Australia?
Jamee White, CPA7 min readThere's no rate card for bookkeeping. What you pay comes down to how messy your books are and how much of the job you're prepared to hand over. Billed hourly, you're generally looking at $60 to $120. On a package, it might be a few hundred dollars a month, or a few thousand, depending on scope. Three things swing that number more than anything else: transaction volume, complexity, and how much of the finance function you actually want off your plate. This guide pulls those apart so you can compare quotes properly instead of guessing.
What bookkeepers actually charge
Rates track experience, registration and location, sure, but most quotes still land in one of a handful of familiar bands. A junior bookkeeper, or one working with an offshore team, sits at the bottom. A senior local bookkeeper, or a registered BAS agent who can legally prepare and lodge your BAS, costs more. Add CPA or CA oversight to the file and you're paying for a strategic layer that basic bookkeeping simply doesn't include.
| Service level | Typical range (2026) | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| Basic transaction coding | $60 to $80 per hour | Data entry, bank reconciliation, records that are genuinely tidy |
| Senior bookkeeper or BAS agent | $80 to $120 per hour | Reconciliations, payroll, BAS and IAS prepared and lodged |
| Managed monthly engagement | $500 to $2,500+ per month | A defined scope: bookkeeping, payroll, a compliance calendar, reporting |
| Outsourced finance function | $2,000 to $6,000+ per month | Everything above, plus accounts management, reporting and strategic input |
These are market ranges, not a quote for your business specifically. A five-person trades outfit with one entity and simple payroll isn't in the same universe as a fifty-person group juggling multiple entities, progress claims and divisional reporting.
What actually moves the number
- How many bank lines, bills and invoices roll through each month.
- Payroll: headcount, pay frequency and award conditions all add work, and Single Touch Payroll means every run needs to be right, not roughly right.
- Entities: every extra company, trust or partnership brings its own reconciliation and its own lodgement.
- How clean the file already is. A Xero file that's drifted needs rescue work before anyone can settle into a monthly rhythm.
- Reporting: a bank-ready or board-ready report with real commentary takes skill, and skill takes time.
- Who's actually doing the work. BAS services can only legally be provided for a fee by a registered BAS agent.
Hourly billing versus a fixed monthly fee
Hourly billing feels safe right up until the invoice starts wandering around every month, punishing you for inefficiency you can't even see. A fixed monthly fee flips that: it rewards the bookkeeper for building clean systems and gives you a number you can actually budget against. For an established business, a defined monthly scope wins almost every time. What matters most is that the scope is written down: what's included, what isn't, and when you'll see it.
Cheap bookkeeping rarely stays cheap
The most expensive bookkeeping most owners ever buy is the cheap kind. GST gets miscoded, super goes out late, deductions get missed, and eventually an accountant charges year-end rates to untangle twelve months of drift. If a quote sits well below the market, something's being cut. Usually it's reconciliation quality, review and the compliance calendar. Which happen to be exactly what you're paying for.
How NextEra prices it
NextEra works on fixed monthly scopes, agreed after a Strategic Finance Review. That review looks at your transaction volume, payroll, entities, file health and the reporting you actually need, and the proposal spells out exactly what you'll get and when. CPA-led oversight sits across every file, so the books aren't just entered. They're checked.
Quick answers
Most sit between $60 and $120 an hour in 2026, with registered BAS agents and senior bookkeepers toward the top and basic transaction coding near the bottom.
This article is general information for Australian businesses, current at the published date. It is not financial, tax or legal advice. Speak to a registered agent or adviser about your circumstances before acting.
Jamee White, CPA
Founder of NextEra Bookkeeping. Jamee leads a team supporting established Australian businesses with strategic bookkeeping, reporting, payroll and Xero, and is a multiple national awards finalist across bookkeeping and finance.