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Our rate
One rate. $35.00 an hour.
Every service we offer is billed the same way: by the hour, at $35.00. There is no plan to choose, no package to outgrow, no retainer and no minimum. You pay for the hours the work actually takes — and we estimate those hours in writing before anything starts.
Bookkeeping, accounting and statements, payroll and tax coordination, financial management — all the same rate, billed to the nearest quarter hour.
- No plan, package or tier
- No retainer and no minimum
- Nothing recurring — a quiet month costs less
- Hours estimated in writing before work starts
- An itemised invoice showing what the hours went on
How it is billed
You buy hours, not a subscription.
We log time against your work in quarter-hour increments and invoice in arrears for the hours actually worked. If your books are quiet one month, the invoice is smaller. If a deadline means a heavier month, we tell you before the hours are spent — never after.
- We review your books first, at no cost and no obligation
- You get a written estimate of the hours before we begin
- If the estimate is going to be exceeded, we ask you first
- You can stop at any time — there is nothing to cancel
What the work usually takes
Typical hours, by size of business.
Indicative only — your own estimate comes after we have seen the books. Hours follow transaction volume and the number of accounts we reconcile, not your revenue.
| Business | Transactions / month | Accounts reconciled | Typical hours / month | At $35.00 / hour |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Owner-operator, books current | Up to 90 | 1–2 | 7–11 | $245–$385 |
| Established small business, accrual basis | 90–200 | 3–5 | 14–22 | $490–$770 |
| Higher volume or multi-entity | 200–400 | 5–12 | 24–40 | $840–$1,400 |
| Adding payroll & tax coordination | — | — | +2–4 | +$70–$140 |
| Adding a fractional controller | — | — | +12–20 | +$420–$700 |
| Catch-up or clean-up | — | — | One-off, quoted | Estimated in advance |
These are illustrative ranges drawn from typical engagements, not a quote or an offer. Your written estimate follows the free books review.
Hours estimator
How many hours would your books take?
Move the sliders to match your business. The estimate updates live, at $35.00 an hour.
An estimate, not a quote. The in-house comparison uses a $58,000 salary loaded at 1.28× for taxes, benefits and software — a cost you carry every month whether the hours are needed or not. Your written estimate follows a free review of your books.
Get a written estimateCommon questions
About the rate.
Yes. Bookkeeping, accounting and statements, payroll and tax coordination, catch-up work and financial management are all billed at $35.00 an hour. There is no separate rate for “advisory” time, no premium for a senior reviewer, and no plan that unlocks a better rate.
We review your books first, at no cost, then give you a written estimate of the hours for each piece of work. If we are going to exceed it, we come back and ask before spending the time — not afterwards on the invoice.
Transaction volume and the number of accounts we reconcile, first and foremost. After that: accrual versus cash basis, multiple entities, inventory, multi-state sales tax, and how tidy the source records are. Revenue itself is not an input — a high-revenue business with few, large transactions takes fewer hours than a low-revenue one with hundreds of small ones.
No minimum, no retainer and nothing recurring — so there is nothing to cancel. You are billed for hours worked and no more. Your books and records remain yours; if you stop, we hand over a clean file and a closing package.
To the nearest quarter hour, logged against the specific task. Invoices are issued in arrears for hours actually worked and itemise what the time went on, so you can see the reconciliation work separately from the close, the reporting or the clean-up.
Yes — at the same $35.00 an hour. We prepare and file federal and state income-tax returns as a California Registered Tax Preparer signing under an IRS PTIN. Because we already keep the books, the return usually takes fewer hours than a reconstruction would. We are not a CPA firm and do not perform attest work or represent clients before the IRS or the Franchise Tax Board. See our Disclaimer.
Get a written estimate of the hours.
Send us the books. We review them at no cost and come back with the scope, the hours each piece will take at $35.00 an hour, and a start date.