Outsource the books or hire a bookkeeper: count the hours first
Updated 16 October 2026
An owner has three ways to get the books done. The owner or an office manager can do them, the company can hire a bookkeeper onto its payroll, or an outside firm can do them for a monthly fee. Each choice has a cost in money, in time and in risk to the accuracy of the numbers. This article sets out a way to compare the three with the company's own hours and costs. The worked examples use round figures, and the figures are an illustration.
The three options side by side
Doing the books in-house without a specialist costs the least in cash. It costs the owner's hours, and errors go unchecked because nobody reviews the work. It fits a company in its first months, with one bank account and few transactions. Payroll, inventory or a second account add work that a non-specialist may post wrong.
A bookkeeper on payroll gives the company one dedicated person. The company pays salary, payroll taxes, benefits, software and training, and the owner spends time managing the role. When that person is on leave or quits, the books stop.
An outside firm charges a set monthly fee for a written list of tasks. A second person at the firm reviews the work, and the firm covers absences from its own staff. The firm works from the cloud copy of the books, so it is usually away from the office.
The figures are an illustration. The owner spends 25 hours a month on the books, which is 300 hours a year. A bookkeeper on payroll would cost $60,000 in salary, $15,000 in payroll taxes and benefits, and $1,200 in software, for $76,200 a year. The owner sets that $76,200 next to 12 months of an outside firm's written monthly quote. The difference between the two yearly totals is the extra cost of keeping the work on payroll.
Signs the owner has outgrown doing it alone
The books run weeks or months behind, or they catch up only when the tax return is due. The owner makes decisions without trusting the figures. The books take hours the owner needs for customers and staff. The company has had a surprise tax bill, a missed filing or an account that would not reconcile. Payroll, inventory or a new bank account has made the work more involved. Two or more of these signs together mean the company needs outside help, and the remaining choice is which kind.
The figures are an illustration. A company's books are three months behind. The owner spends 25 hours a month on them. The company added payroll for its first 6 employees this year. That is three signs, one more than the two that call for help.
Count the hours before choosing
List each task the books need every month: reconciliations, bills, invoices and collections, payroll and reports. Next to each task, write the hours it takes. Compare the total with the hours a full-time employee works in a month. A full-time employee at 40 hours a week for 52 weeks works about 173 hours a month.
The result is a utilization figure, the share of a full-time bookkeeper's month the work would fill. A low figure means a full-time hire would sit idle for much of the month, and the company would pay for those idle hours.
The figures are an illustration. Reconciliations take 6 hours, bills 8, invoices and collections 6, payroll 4 and reports 6. The total is 30 hours a month. Against 173 hours of full-time work, that is 17.3% utilization. A full-time hire would spend about 143 hours a month on other tasks or waiting for work.
When a hire on payroll fits
A bookkeeper on payroll fits a company whose transaction volume fills most of a full-time month. It also fits a company that needs someone in the building, for example to handle cash or to collect paper documents each day. A company with unusual operations, where daily knowledge of the business shapes how items are posted, can also gain from a person on site.
The figures are an illustration. A distributor posts thousands of invoices and receives paper delivery slips at its warehouse each day. Its books take 150 hours a month, which is 86.5% of a full-time month. Someone also needs to collect the slips on site. That company fills a full-time seat and hires a bookkeeper onto its payroll.
The risk side of each option
Every option carries a risk to the accuracy of the books. The owner working alone has nobody checking the entries. A single hire is the only person who knows the books, and the work stops when that person is away. An outside firm puts a second reviewer on the work and moves the coverage risk to the firm's own staff.
The figures are an illustration. A single in-house bookkeeper takes two weeks of leave at month end. The close slips from the 15th to the 29th, and the owner reviews the month two weeks late. Under a firm's scope, a second staff member closes the month on the 15th as written.
What this means for an owner
Count the monthly hours the books need and divide by about 173. Price each option with every cost included: salary, taxes, benefits, software, training and management time for a hire, and the monthly fee for a firm. Add the owner's own hours to the do-it-yourself option. A hire fits when the hours fill most of a full-time month or the work needs someone on site. A firm fits when the hours fill a small share of a month and the company wants a reviewer on every close.
Ask Averan for a scope
Averan Advisors keeps books for a set monthly fee with a second reviewer on each close. See bookkeeping and monthly close for what the scope covers. On the first call, Averan also tells an owner when the company is still small enough to keep its own books.
The monthly close page explains what closing the books on a set date each month involves.
If you want this done for you
What happens next
Reading about it and having it done are different things. Here is exactly what happens if you want the second one.
- The call takes thirty minutesYou describe the business and where the numbers are letting you down. We give you an expert view of your situation, and what we would start with. There is no pitch deck.
- We look at the fileYou give us read access to the books as they are. We come back with what is wrong, what it will take to fix, and whether the answer is bookkeeping, controller work, or something else.
- We send a written scope and a priceIt lists what we do each month, what you get, the date it lands and the fee. We agree it before anything starts, and it does not change unless you agree.
- We take over the books and close the first monthWe set up access and systems and enter the opening balances. The first close lands on the date in the scope, and every one after it does too.