How much does a church bookkeeper cost?

It depends on the work, and a figure quoted without seeing the books is a guess. The fee follows the number of bank accounts and funds, the volume of transactions, whether payroll and giving records are included, the condition of the books and the reports the board needs. Ask for a written scope with the fee attached, so you can compare proposals that cover the same work.

Is hourly or fixed monthly pricing better for a church?

Each has a use. Hourly pricing suits occasional or unpredictable work, but the bill varies and is hard to budget. A fixed monthly fee suits steady monthly bookkeeping and fits a church budget line, provided the scope says exactly what is included. Cleanup is often priced separately as a project because its size is not known until the records are reviewed.

Why does a bookkeeper want to review our records before quoting?

Because the condition of the books is the largest unknown. Two churches of the same size can need very different amounts of work if one is reconciled through last month and the other has a year of uncoded deposits. A records review lets the bookkeeper price the actual work rather than pad the fee to cover what might be found.

Does Danielson Bookkeeping publish its prices for churches?

No. Danielson Bookkeeping & Consulting sets the fee in a written scope after a consultation and a review of the church's records. The scope states what is included, what is not, the schedule and the fee, and it is agreed in writing before any work starts. No fee is quoted in this guide.

Is volunteer bookkeeping really free?

It has no fee, but it has costs. The volunteer gives hours every month, and the church depends on that one person staying available. If the work falls behind, the cost shows up later as cleanup, late reports or a difficult handoff. For many small churches those costs are low and volunteer bookkeeping is the right choice. It is worth naming them when comparing.

What Church Bookkeeping Costs and Why

A finance committee asked to consider outside bookkeeping wants one number, and most articles on the subject offer a range wide enough to be useless. This guide does not print price ranges. It explains how church bookkeeping is priced and what makes one church's fee different from another's, so that you can read a proposal and judge whether it fits the work.

Three pricing models

Hourly. You pay for time spent. It is simple and suits occasional help, such as a few hours of training or a one-time question. The drawback is that the bill moves from month to month, and the church carries the risk of anything taking longer than expected.
Fixed monthly fee. A set amount for a defined list of monthly work. It fits a budget line and gives the bookkeeper a reason to work efficiently. It depends on a scope that is specific. If the scope is vague, the two sides will disagree about what "monthly bookkeeping" includes.
Project fee. A set amount for a defined one-time job: a cleanup, a catch-up of missing months, a software setup or migration. It is usually quoted after the records have been looked at.

Many engagements combine them: a project fee to get the books current, then a fixed monthly fee to keep them that way, with anything outside the scope billed hourly by agreement.

What drives the fee

These are the things a bookkeeper is assessing during a records review:

Bank accounts and funds. Every bank, card and loan account is reconciled monthly. Every fund is another balance to track and report. Six accounts and twelve funds take more time than one and three.
Transaction volume. The number of deposits, payments, card charges and reimbursements in a typical month.
Payroll. Whether it is included, how many people are paid, and whether a pastor's compensation and housing allowance have to be set up and recorded.
Giving-record work. Whether the bookkeeper records gifts by giver, matches the giving system to deposits, and prepares year-end statements, or receives totals from someone who does.
Condition of the books. Reconciled and current, or months behind with balances nobody can explain. This is the largest variable and the reason for a records review.
Reporting needs. A standard monthly package costs less to produce than custom reports for several committees, a lender and a denomination.
Software. What the books are kept in, whether it is set up properly for funds, and whether a move is planned. See QuickBooks or church accounting software.

Cleanup is priced separately

If the books are behind or wrong, expect that work to be quoted apart from the monthly fee. It is a one-time effort, and its size depends on how many months are affected and how good the supporting records are. A bookkeeper who folds unknown cleanup into a monthly fee is either guessing high or will come back to renegotiate. What a cleanup covers describes the work.

What a volunteer-run setup costs

Volunteer bookkeeping has no fee, and for many churches it is the right arrangement. It is still worth listing what it costs in other terms, so the comparison is fair in both directions.

Hours. Someone is giving evenings to this. That is time not given to another ministry, and it is a common reason treasurers step down.
Dependence on one person. Illness, a move or a new job can stop the bookkeeping overnight.
Deferred work. When a volunteer falls behind, the cost appears later as a cleanup, a delayed loan application or a January spent correcting giving statements.
Exposure. A volunteer who handles every step alone has nobody to confirm their work if a question is raised.

Outside bookkeeping has non-money costs too. Someone at the church still has to send documents on time and answer questions, the board has to review a proposal and a scope, and the treasurer still has to read the reports. A staff bookkeeper adds payroll taxes, supervision and backup to arrange. The three options are compared in treasurer, staff bookkeeper or outside bookkeeper.

How to compare proposals

Is the fee tied to a written list of what is included and what is not?
How many accounts and funds does it assume?
Is payroll in or out, and which payroll tasks exactly?
Are year-end giving statements included?
Is cleanup quoted separately, and on what basis?
What happens, and at what rate, when something falls outside the scope?
How and when can either side end the arrangement, and who keeps the records?

Two proposals with different fees are often describing different work. Line them up item by item before comparing the totals.

Lowering the fee honestly

A church can reduce the work, and so the fee, without cutting corners: close bank accounts that are no longer needed, retire funds that have served their purpose, send count sheets and receipts on a regular day each week, and keep some tasks in-house, such as entering gifts by giver. Tell the bookkeeper what you would like to keep doing yourselves.

How the fee is set here

Danielson Bookkeeping & Consulting does not quote from a price list. After a consultation and a records review, the church receives a written scope stating what is included, what is not, the schedule and the fee, agreed before work starts. The steps are on the how we work page. For what a scope should contain whoever you hire, see what a church bookkeeping scope of work should spell out.

This guide is general information about bookkeeping practice. It is not tax, legal or investment advice, and it does not take account of your situation. For decisions in those areas, work with your CPA, tax adviser or attorney — see what we do and don't provide.

What Church Bookkeeping Costs, and What Drives the Fee