Bookkeeping services for small business can include recording day-to-day transactions in your business accounting software, reconciling end-of-month bank statements, and producing monthly financial statements. Providers of bookkeeping services also often invoice clients’ customers, pay their bills, and process their payroll. A particularly skilled bookkeeper will also offer services like cash flow forecasting and management to their small business clients. Some business owners, for example, might want their bookkeeper to handle payroll, HR or other back-office jobs like invoicing, bill pay and inventory management on top of fielding basic bookkeeping tasks. Or, if it isn’t already included, you may be looking for tax support to take some of the pressure off when it’s time to file returns.

Bookkeeping Tools and Software

We’ll work with you to connect accounts and pull the data we need to reconcile your books. We use Plaid, which lets you securely connect your financial accounts to Bench in seconds. This feature saves you the time and effort of manually uploading documents. If you’re switching from QuickBooks, we’ll work from your closing balances to do your bookkeeping going forward. If you’re not sure whether your closing balances are accurate, we recommend chatting with one of our Onboarding Specialists about Catch Up bookkeeping. We don’t sync your financial data from any other bookkeeping software.

Pilot: Best for fast-growing startups

It also syncs with either QuickBooks Online or Netsuite (as opposed to syncing just with QuickBooks, like most virtual bookkeepers). Although the monthly cost of QuickBooks Live may seem high at first glance, it actually falls in-line with many of the other bookkeeping services on this list. With all of Bookkeeper.com’s online bookkeeping services, you receive access to a web-based platform that works with QuickBooks and Microsoft Office and is customized to your business model and accounting needs. As part of each of these plans, however, Bench offers professional bookkeepers to get you set up and work on your books.

Jason Ding is a seasoned accountant with over 15 years of progressive experience in senior finance and accounting across multiple industries. Jason holds a BBA from Simon Fraser University and is a designated CPA. Jason’s firm, Notion CPA, is an accounting firm with a business-first focus.

1. On the other hand, you might be able to find a bookkeeping service that simply works with you virtually, utilizing the system or platform you already have in place.
2. If getting your books caught up is your priority, our Catch Up and Retro bookkeeping teams will work with you to get your books in order, fast.
3. In addition to being one of the best online bookkeeping services around, FreshBooks offers 100% compliant tax preparation, taking the stress out of this important but time-consuming process.
4. Sunrise is a good bookkeeping services solution for sole proprietors and freelancers without employees, and it’s good for invoicing customers, income and expense tracking, and basic reporting capabilities.
5. Consider using one of the best bookkeeping services to make managing your books a breeze.

Merritt Bookkeeping: Best for businesses on a budget

Most other virtual bookkeeping services give you basic financial reports only, like income statements and balance sheets. In contrast, Merritt gives you more detailed reports like forecasting and quarterly comparisons. Bookkeepers and accountants both play a role in your business’s financial health, but business owners probably chat with their bookkeepers more frequently. Online bookkeeping services typically range from around $200 per month to well over $500 per month if you opt for more frequent reports or back-office add-ons.

The service you decide to use depends on the needs of your business and may include extra features such as payroll or tax documents. Expert Assisted is a monthly subscription service that requires a QBO subscription and provides expert help to answer your questions related to the books that you maintain full ownership and control. An nonrecurring items definition expert can guide you through QBO setup and answer questions based on the information you provide; some bookkeeping services may not be included and determined by the expert. For more information about Expert Assisted, refer to the QuickBooks Terms of Service. But Merritt Bookkeeping’s most stand-out feature might be its in-depth financial reports.

Bench is a popular small business choice because it’s an affordable bookkeeping service with an intuitive, easy-to-use platform. Bench gives you at-a-glance visual reports, which provide you with actionable insight that’ll help grow your small business. Another bonus is that you get to communicate with your bookkeeping service team via chat easily. In addition, Bench has raving online reviews and many integration options. If you find that you have a talent for and enjoy the process, you may consider starting your own bookkeeping business providing this service to others. There’s always a demand for experienced, efficient bookkeepers in nearly every industry.