Cost to Outsource Accounting: Compare the Full Scope

Taxstra monthly accounting engagements start around $750 per month and scale with the work included. This is an accounting starting point, not a price for a complete accounting, business and owner tax preparation, and planning engagement.

A useful quote identifies the accounts and entities, monthly close and review, reporting needs, named returns, and planning cadence. Historical cleanup and special projects should be distinguishable from the recurring fee. Your proposal determines the scope and billing schedule.

Bookkeeping

Record and reconcile agreed transactions and accounts.

What changes scope: Accounts, transaction volume, and source-data quality.

Monthly accounting

Own the close, supporting schedules, and financial statements.

What changes scope: Entities, reporting dimensions, timing, and complexity.

Controller oversight

Review the close, resolve exceptions, and define reporting responsibilities.

What changes scope: Number of preparers, review depth, and reporting requirements.

Tax preparation and planning

Prepare named returns and coordinate agreed planning work.

What changes scope: Entities, states, owner returns, meeting cadence, and implementation scope.

Optional CFO support

Forecast cash and model specific business decisions.

What changes scope: Forecast cadence, scenarios, and management decisions.

You can combine accounting and tax without buying CFO services. For simpler needs, bookkeeping or tax preparation alone may be appropriate.

Two firms with the same revenue can require different amounts of accounting work. One may have recurring invoices and one bank account. Another may have several entities, locations, payment processors, payrolls, loans, and project reports.

• Accounts, transactions, billing systems, and payroll coordination.
• Entities, locations, owners, and reporting dimensions.
• Who prepares records, who reviews them, and who follows up on exceptions.
• Business and owner tax returns, states, planning meetings, and implementation tasks included.
• The condition of the books and the records needed for the first close.

A new entity, additional reporting, or a special transaction can require a scope change. Agree on how that change is approved before the work starts.

For an internal team, count compensation, employer costs, recruiting, software, supervision, and backup coverage. For outsourcing, count recurring fees, retained staff time, implementation, and separately priced projects. Keep taxes and planning in both comparisons if you need them in both models.

Illustrative fee arithmetic, not a Taxstra quote: $1,500 per month for accounting plus $6,000 per year for preparation and $4,000 for planning equals $28,000 in recurring annual fees. A separate $3,000 cleanup project makes the first-year total $31,000; it does not make the annual recurring relationship $31,000. Compare deliverables before concluding that either price is good value.

Outsourcing can supplement your staff. It need not replace an office manager who handles invoicing, customer questions, and approvals.

1. Name every entity and return included, including owner returns if applicable.
2. List the monthly deliverables, supporting schedules, and review responsibilities.
3. Specify planning meetings, projections, follow-up, and implementation work.
4. Separate setup, cleanup, and additional projects from recurring fees.
5. Document client inputs, approvals, communication, and how scope changes.

Use our CPA hiring guide to compare providers. If your immediate gap is unreliable reports, compare controller and CFO responsibilities before buying a broader engagement.

We discuss your business, current accounting setup, entities, and the services you need. A combined proposal distinguishes monthly accounting from annual preparation and ongoing planning, then identifies any controller oversight or optional CFO work.

Detailed document review, calculations, advice, and action plans require a paid engagement. The free 30-minute consultation is with our team about needs, services, fit, and next steps.

See the outsourced accounting service for the monthly, planning, and annual responsibilities. Smaller bookkeeping and preparation engagements remain available.