2026 · Bookkeeper
Bookkeeper freelance rate
The floor rate a freelance bookkeeper needs, with this field's overhead and billable reality built into the math, not a generic salary split.
What shapes a bookkeeper's rate
Overhead. Accounting software seats (QuickBooks, Xero), secure document handling, and professional insurance. Overhead is low and predictable.
Billable reality. Client onboarding and cleanup are often underpriced; recurring monthly fees per client stabilise the billable picture better than hourly.
Not hours worked, hours you can actually invoice.
Holidays, sick days, gaps between clients.
What your employer used to cover. From the COBRA/marketplace tool if you have it.
Software, equipment, insurance, accounting.
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The floor, worked out
At 28 billable hours a week and $80,000 of target take-home, the floor here is about $91/hr, 1.52× the $60/hr you'd get dividing take-home by hours. You'd gross $121,931 over 1344 billable hours. Adjust the inputs above to your own numbers.
Get your market number
This is the rate you need, not the going rate. For the market, look up Bookkeeping, Accounting, and Auditing Clerks (43-3031) on the BLS OES and convert the salary to an hourly benchmark. If your floor sits above the market, something, the target, the hours, or the overhead, has to move. No going rate is invented on this page.
Questions about bookkeeper rates
What hourly rate should a bookkeeper charge?
The rate you need depends on your target take-home, costs, and billable hours, for an $80,000 take-home at 28 billable hours a week, the floor here lands near $91/hr ($726/day). Compare that to the market for Bookkeeping, Accounting, and Auditing Clerks (43-3031) on the BLS. This page never invents a going rate.
How much can a bookkeeper actually bill in a week?
Client onboarding and cleanup are often underpriced; recurring monthly fees per client stabilise the billable picture better than hourly.
What overhead does a bookkeeper carry?
Accounting software seats (QuickBooks, Xero), secure document handling, and professional insurance. Overhead is low and predictable. It's deductible against your income, but it still has to be covered by the rate.
Related
An estimate for 2026. Tax math from the site's engine; market wages not included, bring your own from BLS. Nothing stored. Not financial advice.