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Eight questions I’d ask any bookkeeper before handing over your books — including me.
I run Steingard Financial, a bookkeeping firm in California, and I’m a QuickBooks ProAdvisor. Most owners I talk to have hired a bookkeeper before. What usually went wrong wasn’t skill. It was that nobody agreed up front what “done” looked like each month.
These are the questions worth asking before you hire anyone.
1. What exactly happens every month?
A good answer names the steps: every bank and card account reconciled to the statement, transactions categorized, a monthly close, and a set of financial statements delivered by a specific day. “We keep your books up to date” is not an answer.
2. When do I get my financial statements, and which ones?
At minimum, a profit and loss statement and a balance sheet every month. Ask for the delivery day in writing. If the statements arrive quarterly, you’re making decisions on numbers that are months old.
3. Whose software are the books in, and can I leave with them?
Your books should live in an account you own, usually QuickBooks Online or Xero, with you as the primary admin. Some services keep the books in their own platform. That’s fine until you leave and find out what an export actually contains.
4. Are you certified in the software you’ll use?
Intuit’s QuickBooks ProAdvisor program has exams for each level and the results are public. A certification doesn’t make anyone good, but it tells you they’ve been tested on the tool your books live in. Ask for the verification link.
5. What’s included in the monthly fee, and what costs extra?
The usual add-ons are payroll, sales tax filings, 1099s, catch-up work and tax preparation. Get the list. A low monthly price that excludes half of what you need isn’t low.
6. What if my books are behind?
Catch-up or cleanup work should be quoted separately, after someone has actually looked at the file. Anyone who quotes a cleanup without seeing your books is guessing.
7. Who will I actually talk to?
A named person who knows your business, or a support queue? Neither is wrong, but you should know which one you’re buying.
8. Do you file my taxes, or work with my CPA?
Bookkeeping and tax preparation are different jobs. Many bookkeepers, including us, hand clean year-end books to your CPA or enrolled agent. Know who is responsible for the return before tax season, not during it.
What it should cost
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics puts the 2025 median pay for bookkeeping clerks at $24.36 an hour, about $4,200 a month in wages before taxes and benefits. Outsourced monthly bookkeeping for a small business typically costs a fraction of that. At Steingard it’s $199 to $999 a month depending on volume. Whatever you pay, the price should be agreed in writing before any work starts.
If you want a second opinion on a quote or a proposal you’ve received, send it my way. I’m happy to look.
Adam Cortez is the founder of Steingard Financial and an Intuit-certified QuickBooks ProAdvisor.
This article was also published on LinkedIn.