The best online bookkeeping service helps businesses get bookkeeping support weekly or monthly at an affordable price. The bookkeeping service must offer businesses valuable support by keeping books organized and updated. As much as possible, your business must have a dedicated bookkeeper who will handle your bookkeeping, answer questions, provide tax advice, and share insights about your business’ performance.
Best online bookkeeping service comparison table
This comparison table aims to help you decide which bookkeeping service best suits your needs. This table highlights your bookkeeping needs:
| Bookkeeping frequency | Dedicated bookkeeper | Tax assistance | Catch-up bookkeeping | Pricing | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bench | Monthly | Yes | Yes | Yes | Starts at $299 per month |
| Bookkeeper360 | Weekly or Monthly | Yes | Add-on | Yes | Starts at $549 per month |
| Merritt Bookkeeping | Monthly | Yes | No | Yes | Fixed at $190 per month |
| Pilot | Monthly | Yes | Add-on | Yes | Starts at $5,988 per year |
| 1-800Accountant | Monthly | Yes | Yes | Yes | Starts at $4,788 per year |
| QuickBooks Live | Monthly | Yes | No | Yes | Starts at $300 per month |
| Bookkeeper.com | Monthly | Yes | Add-on | No | Starts $399 per month |
| Xendoo | Weekly | Yes | Add-on | Yes | Starts at $395 per month |
Bench: Best overall including catch-up bookkeeping and tax filing
Bench is an online bookkeeping service platform that uses proprietary software to handle your business’ books. It also includes tax services in the bookkeeping plan, making it a bundled service for businesses that want tax and bookkeeping. It offers catch-up bookkeeping for businesses with delayed bookkeeping for more than two years.
Pricing
- Essential: $299 per month or $249 per month if billed annually.
- Premium: $499 per month or $399 per month if billed annually.
- Catch-up bookkeeping: Starts at $299 per month.
- Specialized bookkeeping: $100 per month.
Pros
- Offers catch-up bookkeeping for two years or more.
- Includes tax assistance in the bookkeeping plan.
- Has no revenue or expense limits for each plan.
- Has a dedicated bookkeeper.
Cons
- Uses proprietary software for bookkeeping.
- Doesn’t integrate with third-party accounting software like QuickBooks or Xero.
Features
- Catch-up bookkeeping: If your bookkeeping is delayed, Bench can go back in time to fix your books and bring them up to date. Even if you’re delayed for several years, Bench will do the work for you and get your books ready before tax season. It will also take charge of providing you with the necessary support to file back taxes with the IRS.
- Tax filing: In the Premium plan, Bench will handle and file your federal and state tax returns. In addition to bookkeeping professionals, a team of dedicated tax professionals will also be available for your tax needs.
Why we chose Bench
Bench is an affordable online bookkeeping service that offers tax preparation and filing assistance to Premium plan users. If you’ve fallen behind your books, Bench’s catch-up bookkeeping service will update your books even if they’re several years behind. We recommend Bench for businesses that are behind on their bookkeeping because Bench will not only help in updating the books but also provide tax filing assistance for back taxes.
Bookkeeper360: Best for bookkeeping with built-in KPI analytics app
Bookkeeper360 assigns an experienced U.S.-based bookkeeper to handle your books. These bookkeepers have years of experience in different industries and in using different kinds of accounting platforms. Besides that, Bookkeeper360 offers an exclusive KPI analytics app that uses your accounting data to provide insights about your business’ performance. By integrating Bookkeeper360 with QuickBooks or Xero, it extracts data from your accounting software and converts it into useful data visualizations to help you see how your business is doing.
Pricing
Bookkeeping Services
- Pay-as-you-go: $49 per month plus $125 per hour of support.
- Monthly: Starting at $549 per month for accrual-basis accounting or $399 per month for cash-basis accounting.
- Weekly: Starting at $749 per month for accrual-basis accounting or $549 per month for cash-basis accounting.
Additional Solutions
- CFO Advisory: Starting at $1,000 per month.
- Tax: Starting at $800 per filing for businesses or $300 per filing for individuals.
- Payroll & HR: Starting at $46 per month.
- Back-Office: Starting at $150 per month.
Pros
- Includes an outstanding KPI analytics app.
- Integrates with QuickBooks, Xero and Gusto.
- Handles either cash or accrual accounting.
- Has a dedicated bookkeeper.
Cons
- Is costly for small businesses or businesses on a tight budget.
- Has no free trial.
- Charges a higher price if you reach a monthly expense cap.
Features
- KPI analytics app: The app highlights graphs and charts that show your business’ overall performance. It shows actual figures besides goals, trends and breakdowns of different income and expense classes. There are also progress indicators that show you how far or close you are from or to the goal.
- Payroll and human resources (HR) via Gusto: If you’re a Gusto user, Bookkeeper360 can use payroll information from Gusto for its KPI analytics app. Moreover, it can also handle your payroll via Gusto for only $46 per month.
- Research and development tax credits: Bookkeeper360 will help you maximize research and development (R&D) tax credits for up to $250,000 per year. If you’re a company investing in R&D, you can maximize these tax credits with the help of Bookkeeper360’s tax professionals.
Why we chose Bookkeeper360
We chose Bookkeeper360 because of its outstanding bookkeeping service coupled with its KPI analytics app. The app works with QuickBooks, Xero, and Gusto, which pulls data from these platforms and reports it in its KPI dashboards. The dashboards will show users relevant graphs and figures, making it an on-the-spot reporting tool for managers who want real-time figures. Aside from the app, Bookkeeper360 also offers weekly bookkeeping for businesses that need updated books every week. In case you’re behind in bookkeeping, Bookkeeper360 has catch-up bookkeeping as well.
Merritt Bookkeeping: Best for business on a budget
Merritt Bookkeeping offers a straightforward bookkeeping service to your business. It requires you to send bank statements and business documents, and it will handle the rest. It also uses QuickBooks for bookkeeping but will provide an alternative interface where you can access reports without accessing QuickBooks directly.
Pricing
- Monthly bookkeeping: Fixed price of $190 per month.
- Catch-up bookkeeping: This can bring your books up to date depending on if you have or don’t have a QuickBooks file.
- Without a QuickBooks file: $140 per month for each month behind.
- With a QuickBooks file: $140 per month for each month behind or $70 per month for months that are almost complete (less than 10 transactions required to update).
Pros
- Has straightforward pricing.
- Offers affordable catch-up bookkeeping services.
- Works with QuickBooks.
- Has a dedicated bookkeeper.
Cons
- Doesn’t offer tax assistance.
- Accepts limited new clients each month.
Features
- Custom portal for clients: Instead of accessing reports directly from QuickBooks, Merritt Bookkeeping will provide an alternative portal where you can access financial reports more easily and faster.
- Direct communication with CPA: Upon your request, Merritt Bookkeeping can send your CPA all work accomplished and updates regarding your business’ bookkeeping. This feature makes tax preparation faster since Merritt communicates directly with your CPA instead of Merritt communicating with you and then you relaying information to your CPA.
Why we chose Merritt Bookkeeping
Merritt Bookkeeping is our pick for businesses on a budget because it offers the most affordable rates in this guide. It has a fixed pricing model with no monthly revenue or expense caps. It also issues 1099s for your independent contractors and directly sends updates to your certified public accountant (CPA) during tax season. If your books are outdated, Merritt’s catch-up bookkeeping is affordable at $140 per month.
Pilot: Best for startups
Pilot offers bookkeeping services for all businesses, but we recommend them highly for startups. It also offers tax services that must be bundled with bookkeeping services and CFO services. It provides bookkeeping services in QuickBooks, making Pilot accessible to many businesses using QuickBooks. Also, Pilot’s chief financial officer (CFO) services are ideal for businesses that want to scale strategically and gain expert business insights. Pilot also has catch-up bookkeeping but pricing isn’t disclosed on its website.
Pricing
Bookkeeping Services:
- Starter: Starts at $499 per month, billed annually.
- Core: Starts at $699 per month, billed annually.
- Plus: Custom priced.
Tax Services (must be purchased with Bookkeeping services):
- Essentials: Starts at $2,450 per year.
- Standard: Starts at $4,950 per year.
CFO Services
- Basic: $2,250 per month, billed annually.
- Essentials: $4,050 per month, billed annually.
- Custom: $6,750 per month, billed annually.
Pros
- Offers discounts to prerevenue startups.
- Has experienced bookkeepers.
- Does bookkeeping via QuickBooks Online.
- Provides a dedicated bookkeeper.
Cons
- Doesn’t offer monthly plans.
- Has costly annual plans.
Features
- Stock administration: C corporations (C-corps) that issue equity through Carta can get Pilot as the equity management platform manager. Pilot can help reduce your lawyer’s administrative tasks in managing stock transactions.
- Financial reports: Pilot will send monthly financial reports to you as part of the bookkeeping service.
Why we chose Pilot
We picked Pilot for startups because it provides a $200 monthly discount for prerevenue startups. The Pilot team also has professionals who are experts in helping startups scale up and grow. If you’re a startup, we highly recommend Pilot for its expertise and experience in handling startups. Although the plans are billed annually, Pilot’s pricing is still more affordable than most of the providers in this guide, especially if you consider the $200 discount.
1-800Accountant: Best for combined bookkeeping and full tax service
1-800Accountant primarily offers tax services. Its bookkeeping services are only available in the Enterprise plan. It has a team of CPAs who can help you with tax filing, employer identification number (EIN) application and tax calculations. It also offers an audit defense service in the event of an IRS audit of your business. It also offers catch-up bookkeeping but doesn’t disclose the pricing of this service.
Pricing
- Business: $179 per month, billed annually (no bookkeeping service).
- Corporation: $239 per month, billed annually (no bookkeeping service).
- Enterprise: $399 per month, billed annually (with bookkeeping service and dedicated bookkeeper).
Pros
- Offers full tax service that includes compliance, filing and tax planning.
- Includes tax services in all plans.
- Has a dedicated bookkeeper and tax professional in the Enterprise plan.
- Has a dedicated bookkeeper.
Cons
- Requires the highest plan to get bookkeeping services.
- Has no monthly plans.
Features
- Full tax service: Whether you need to file taxes or to ask for help in an IRS audit, 1-800Accountant’s team of CPAs and tax professionals will help you through the busy tax season or a challenging audit.
- Dedicated tax advisory: If you have questions about taxes, you can call your dedicated tax advisor to offer strategic advice to your business. The advice that they give to you will be tailored to your business and industry.
Why we chose 1-800Accountant
We picked 1-800Accountant because it offers bookkeeping and tax services, which include tax planning. It is the only provider in this guide that offers full tax services that aren’t a separate plan from its bookkeeping service. If you want to stay on top of taxes while having a good set of books, 1-800Accountant’s Enterprise plan is a good value for money. Moreover, getting the Enterprise plan gives its users priority support and monthly financial statements.
QuickBooks Live: Best for QuickBooks users
QuickBooks Live is an online bookkeeping service offered exclusively for QuickBooks Online users. First-time clients will first go through one month of cleanup before starting with QuickBooks Live. The cleanup fee will depend on the business and industry, and after cleanup, regular monthly charges will apply depending on the monthly expense cap.
Pricing
Starts at $300 per month.
Pros
- Is offered directly by QuickBooks.
- Evaluates your bookkeeper’s work upon your request.
- Doesn’t require a contract.
- Has a dedicated bookkeeper.
Cons
- Doesn’t offer tax filing assistance.
- Is exclusive to QuickBooks users only.
Features
- Account cleanup: If you haven’t done bookkeeping for a while, QuickBooks Live will bring your books up to date before starting with the monthly bookkeeping process.
- Complete bookkeeping: Monthly bookkeeping from QuickBooks Live includes customer and vendor setups, chart of accounts setup, bank feed setups, expense classifications and bank reconciliations.
Why we chose QuickBooks Live
QuickBooks Live is our most recommended online bookkeeping service for QuickBooks Online users. It works seamlessly with QuickBooks Online. Moreover, if you’re unsatisfied with your QuickBooks Live bookkeeper’s work, you can ask QuickBooks to review the bookkeeper’s work for free.
Xendoo: Best for weekly bookkeeping
Xendoo does your business’ bookkeeping every week, and you can access financial reports via the customer portal. You’ll get the basic financial statements and other relevant data visualization, such as profit and revenue trend graphs and top expenses. If you get its tax services, Xendoo will also handle your filing for state and federal returns.
Pricing
- Essential: $395 per month.
- Growth: $695 per month.
- Scale: $995 per month.
- Tax: $1,200 per year.
- Catch-up Bookkeeping: $295 per month.
Pros
- Offers both annual and monthly payment plans.
- Has catch-up bookkeeping services.
- Has free consultation for potential clients.
- Has a dedicated bookkeeper.
Cons
- Offers cash-basis accounting only in the Essential plan
- Limits the number of bank accounts per plan.
Features
- Customer portal: Clients who want financial reports can access Xendoo’s customer portal via a web browser or mobile app.
- Tax plan: As an add-on that’s billed annually, Xendoo’s tax services include year-round support, a year-end financial package, and tax filings for partnerships, corporations and Schedule Cs.
Why We Chose Xendoo
Xendoo is the only provider listed here that strictly offers weekly bookkeeping services. Bookkeeper360 also offers weekly, but it’s far more expensive. Moreover, Xendoo’s tax service is only $1,200 per year or $120 per month, which is affordable given that this add-on includes year-round tax support and tax filing.
How do I choose the best online bookkeeping service for my business?
Outsourcing bookkeeping is a crucial decision since a third-party individual will handle your books. You should look at the following factors when choosing an online bookkeeping service:
- Cost: While cost depends on your ability to pay, you must pick the provider with the best value for your money.
- Bookkeeping experience in your industry: The bookkeeping service must know the ins and outs of your industry. It must be familiar with common accounting practices done within your industry so that it can handle your books professionally.
- Accounting advisory: The ideal bookkeeping service shouldn’t only settle for keeping your books in order. The best one should also help you understand your financial results and provide professional advice on how to improve or maintain your financial performance.
- Tax assistance: While not entirely part of bookkeeping, having tax services as part of bookkeeping is a convenient package. Since most businesses need accurate bookkeeping for taxes, it goes without saying that taxes and bookkeeping should always go hand in hand.
- Auxiliary services: Since your bookkeeper is already privy to your books, outsourcing other services to them, such as back office services, payroll and stock administration, would make it easier for them to handle your accounting.
Review methodology
We conducted in-depth research and evaluation of each online bookkeeping service in this guide — comparing feature sets, price levels and limitations. We also utilized information from our partners to enhance our understanding of what a good online bookkeeping service provider should be. Ultimately, we formulated our use cases with different industries and businesses in mind.
