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Best Online Bookkeeping Services

Advertiser Disclosure Updated: Mar 18, 2024, 8:38pm

9 Best Online Bookkeeping Services (2024)

Katherine HaanContributor

Katherine Haan is a small business owner with nearly two decades of experience helping other business owners increase their incomes.

Kelly MainStaff Reviewer

Kelly Main is a Marketing Editor and Writer specializing in digital marketing, online advertising and web design and development. Before joining the team, she was a Content Producer at Fit Small Business where she served as an editor and strategist covering small business marketing content. She is a former Google Tech Entrepreneur and she holds an MSc in International Marketing from Edinburgh Napier University. Additionally, she is a Columnist at Inc. Magazine.

Katherine Haan,

Katherine HaanContributor

Katherine Haan is a small business owner with nearly two decades of experience helping other business owners increase their incomes.

Kelly Main

Kelly MainStaff Reviewer

Contributor, Staff Reviewer

Cassie Bottorffeditor

Cassie is a deputy editor collaborating with teams around the world while living in the beautiful hills of Kentucky. Focusing on bringing growth to small businesses, she is passionate about economic development and has held positions on the boards of directors of two non-profit organizations seeking to revitalize her former railroad town. Prior to joining the team at Forbes Advisor, Cassie was a content operations manager and copywriting manager.

Reviewed

Cassie Bottorff

Cassie Bottorffeditor

editor

Reviewed

Updated: Mar 18, 2024, 8:38pm

Editorial Note: We earn a commission from partner links on Forbes Advisor. Commissions do not affect our editors' opinions or evaluations.

Online bookkeeping services can save business owners both time and money. However, with hundreds of options, it can be daunting to sort through them all and find the best service for your business. We’ve analyzed the best bookkeeping services to help you find the right solution quickly and easily. Forbes Advisor selected these services based on their service options, pricing, customer service, reputation and more.

Best of

Show Summary

Featured Partners

Bookkeeper360

Starting at $49 per month

Yes

Bookkeeper360

On Bookkeeper360's Website

1-800Accountant

$139 per month

Yes

1-800Accountant

On 1-800Accountant's Website

QuickBooks

$15 per month (for the first 3-months, then $30 per month)

30 days

Expert help, Invoicing, maximize tax deductions, track mileage

QuickBooks

On QuickBooks' Website

H&R Block

Self-Serv: $39/month; Full-service: $75/month; Premium: $299/month

Yes

Expert help, invoicing, income and expense management

H&R Block

On H&R Block's Website

Best Online Bookkeeping Services

1-800Accountant: Best for full-service bookkeeping
QuickBooks Live: Best for cleanup bookkeeping
Botkeeper: Best for accounting firms
Ignite Spot Accounting: Best for hiring certified bookkeepers
Bookkeeper 360: Best for bookkeeping services by the hour
FinancePal: Best for small businesses
Bookkeeper.com: Best for unlimited support
Decimal: Best for on-demand reports
Pilot: Best for startups

Why You Can Trust Forbes Advisor Small Business

The Forbes Advisor Small Business team is committed to bringing you unbiased rankings and information with full editorial independence. We use product data, strategic methodologies and expert insights to inform all of our content and guide you in making the best decisions for your business journey.

We reviewed multiple accounting software options using a detailed methodology to help you find the 9 best online bookkeeping services for small businesses. Our ratings considered everything from pricing and customer reviews to the number and quality of features available and what our panel of experts thought about the services available. All ratings are determined solely by our editorial team.

Best for Cleanup Bookkeeping

QuickBooks Live

Starting Price

$200 per month

(plus custom-priced cleanup fee for the first month)

Payroll

For a fee

Invoicing

Yes

On QuickBooks' Website

$200 per month

(plus custom-priced cleanup fee for the first month)

For a fee

Yes

Editor's Take

QuickBooks Live is our top pick for online bookkeeping services because it offers cleanup bookkeeping services that vary based on your company’s needs for your first month. Subsequent months are for upkeep and costs $200 per month. This service is ideal for business owners who want to get their bookkeeping in order but don’t have the time or resources to do it themselves.

Who should use it:

QuickBooks Live is best for business owners who want to get their bookkeeping in order but don’t have the time or resources to do it.

Read more:

Read our full QuickBooks Live review.

Pros & Cons

Will update profit and loss (P&L) and balance sheets
Offers full-service bookkeeping
Includes an accuracy guarantee

It’s expensive
Doesn’t include tax filing services—you’ll need to book this separately

Best for Accounting Firms

Botkeeper

Starting Price

$155 per month

Payroll

Yes

Invoicing

Yes

$155 per month

Yes

Editor's Take

Botkeeper is our top pick for bookkeeping services for accounting firms because it’s built specifically for accounting firms. It automates bookkeeping tasks so that your staff can focus on providing value to your clients. Features include white-glove support, a resource library, workflow tools and omnichannel communication. For prices, you’ll need to complete a lead form about your business to receive a custom quote.

Who should use it:

Botkeeper is best for accounting firms that want to scale by automating bookkeeping tasks.

Pros & Cons

Unlimited email and phone support
Offers white-glove service
Automates your manual entry tasks

Pricing isn’t transparent
It’s expensive

Best for Hiring Certified Bookkeepers

Ignite Spot Accounting

Starting Price

Custom quote

Payroll

Yes

Invoicing

Yes

Custom quote

Yes

Editor's Take

When you work with Ignite Spot Accounting, you’ll get bookkeepers certified in a variety of popular programs, such as QuickBooks and TSheets. If you choose its chief financial officer (CFO) services, your CFO will be a certified public accountant (CPA) at a minimum. Its features include automation of tasks, Gusto payroll processing, balance sheet production, income statements, accuracy checks and transaction databases.

Who should use it:

Ignite Spot Accounting is best for businesses that want bookkeepers who are certified in popular bookkeeping programs.

Pros & Cons

An affordable alternative to hiring an in-house bookkeeper
No contract required
Flexible payment options
Can record invoices, bills, expenses and deposits

Its minimum fee is $1,750 per month
Limited support hours

Best for Full-service Bookkeeping

1-800Accountant

Starting Price

Free; $179 per month

(billed annually)

Payroll

Yes

Invoicing

Yes

On 1-800Accountant's Website

Free; $179 per month

(billed annually)

Yes

Editor's Take

1-800Accountant is our top pick for full-service bookkeeping because it offers a wide range of bookkeeping services, including standard bookkeeping, cleanup bookkeeping, advisory services, financial reporting, entity formation and tax and payroll services. Its bookkeeping service comes with its Enterprise plan, which costs $399 per month when billed annually. You’ll get a dedicated accountant, year-round tax advice, tax prep, bookkeeping and financial reports.

Who should use it:

1-800Accountant is best for businesses that want full-service bookkeeping, including advisory services, financial reporting and tax and payroll services.

Pros & Cons

Dedicated accountant
Can provide tax advice year-round
Automation saves you time

Some users complain about billing issues
Service quality varies

Best for Bookkeeping Services By the Hour

Bookkeeper360

Starting Price

$49 per month plus $125 per hour for support

or $399 per month

Payroll

For a fee

Invoicing

For a fee

On Bookkeeper360's Website

$49 per month plus $125 per hour for support

or $399 per month

For a fee

Editor's Take

Bookkeeper360 integrates with third-party tools, such as Bill, Gusto, Stripe, Shopify, Xero, Brex, Square, Divvy and ADP. These integrations make it easy to track your bookkeeping and accounting data in one place. It also offers full-service bookkeeping, meaning that its team will do the bookkeeping for you. If you only need periodic help, pay as you go for $49 per month plus $125 per hour for support. Otherwise, monthly pricing starts at $399 and weekly pricing starts at $549 per month.

Who should use it:

Bookkeeper360 is best for businesses that occasionally need bookkeeping services as well as those that want integrations with third-party tools.

Pros & Cons

Offers a pay-as-you-go hourly option
Weekly and monthly plans available
Integrates with tons of leading providers
Has an app
Provides a la carte options for more extensive CFO and advisory services

Doesn’t work with FreshBooks
Your price may be higher than what’s advertised based on business needs

Best for Small Businesses

FinancePal

Starting Price

Not disclosed

Payroll

For a fee

Invoicing

For a fee

Not disclosed

For a fee

Editor's Take

FinancePal provides an all-in-one bookkeeping solution that includes features, such as transaction reconciliation, bill pay, business projections, guidance, catch-up bookkeeping, financial statements and tax filing. It’s also ideal for brand-new businesses because FinancePal can help with entity formation. If you’ve fallen behind, it’ll help you get caught up.

Who should use it:

FinancePal is best for small businesses that need bookkeeping assistance, including catch-up bookkeeping, entity formation and tax filing.

Pros & Cons

Dedicated, U.S.-based team
Customizable services
Great for ecommerce companies
Available via mobile app

A la carte services add up
Pricing isn’t transparent

Best for Unlimited Support

Bookkeeper.com

Starting Price

$399 per month

Payroll

Yes

Invoicing

For a fee

$399 per month

Yes

For a fee

Editor's Take

When you have a Small Business Plus plan or higher, you get unlimited online support. With its base plan, support is limited. All plans come with onboarding, a dedicated bookkeeper and account manager, reconciliation at month-end, balance sheet, P&L, statement of cash flows and a portal with document storage. Higher-tiered plans unlock more transactions and a more frequent service level.

Who should use it:

Bookkeeper.com is best for businesses that want unlimited support from their bookkeeping service.

Pros & Cons

Dedicated bookkeeper and account manager
Transparent pricing with plans starting at $399 per month
Offers a la carte options to make it a full-service bookkeeping and accounting solution

No bill pay with Small Business plan
Onboarding can take a while

Best for On-demand Reports

Decimal

Starting price

$995 per month (plus onboarding fees)

Payroll

For a fee

Invoicing

Yes

$995 per month (plus onboarding fees)

For a fee

Yes

Editor's Take

Decimal’s bookkeeping service offers automatic transaction categorization, bank reconciliation and bookkeeping journal entries. You also get on-demand reports, so you can see how your business is doing at any time. Its monthly price starts at $295 per month, plus an onboarding fee and it doesn’t require a long-term commitment.

Who should use it:

Decimal is best for businesses that want on-demand reports and don’t mind paying a higher monthly price.

Pros & Cons

Includes receipt storage
Offers mileage tracking
Transparent pricing

Not as intuitive as some of its competition
Onboarding costs extra

Best for Startups

Pilot

Starting Price

$499 per month

Payroll

Invoicing

For a fee

$499 per month

For a fee

Editor's Take

If you’re a startup, Pilot is a good bookkeeping solution. That’s because it offers a prerevenue discount of $200 per month. Otherwise, plans start at $499 per month, paid annually. Each plan comes with a finance expert, automated transaction imports, P&L, balance sheet and cash flow statements. You’ll also get burn rate calculations, which is helpful for startups that need to closely track their spending.

Who should use it:

Pilot is best for startups that need bookkeeping assistance and burn rate calculations.

Pros & Cons

Pre-revenue discount of $200/month
Burn rate calculations
Provides a dedicated finance expert with each plan

Custom reporting isn’t a standard feature
Inventory tracking costs extra

Forbes Advisor Rating

Company	Forbes Advisor Rating	Starting Price	Payroll	Invoicing	Learn More CTA text	Learn more CTA below text
QuickBooks Live	4.5	$200 per month (plus custom-priced cleanup fee for the first month)	For a fee	Yes	Learn More	On QuickBooks' Website
Botkeeper	4.5	$155 per month	Yes	Yes	View More
Ignite Spot Accounting	4.3	Custom quote	Yes	Yes	View More
1-800Accountant	4.3	Free; $179 per month (billed annually)	Yes	Yes	Learn More	On 1-800Accountant's Website
Bookkeeper360	4.0	$49 per month plus $125 per hour for support or $399 per month	For a fee	For a fee	Learn More	On Bookkeeper360's Website
FinancePal	3.9	Not disclosed	For a fee	For a fee	View More
Bookkeeper.com	3.9	$399 per month	For a fee	For a fee	View More
Decimal	3.7	$995 per month (plus onboarding fees)	For a fee	Yes	View More
Pilot	3.5	$499 per month	No	For a fee	View More

How To Choose an Online Bookkeeping Service

There are many considerations to take into account when choosing an online bookkeeping service. These include:

Pricing: How much can you afford to spend on bookkeeping services
Features: What features do you need?
Support: How much support do you need from your bookkeeping service?
Ease of use: How easy is the bookkeeping service to use?
Service level: How often do you need bookkeeping services?
Integrations: What integrations does the bookkeeping service offer?

Methodology

Forbes Advisor analyzed 13 online bookkeeping services and considered 15 metrics such as price, features, customer service, ease of use, integrations and service level. We also looked at real customer experiences to determine if their expectations were met based on what each company promised. After assigning a weighted score to each category, we formulated rankings for each company.

Pricing

For pricing, we considered whether a service offers a free trial or a free version of its software as well as the affordability of its lowest and highest price tiers. Those that had pricing that we considered to be in the affordable or moderate range fared better in our rankings while companies that offer upfront pricing received higher ratings than those that did not disclose it immediately. Pricing accounted for 10% of our weighted scoring.

Features

We broke features down into two separate categories: general features and additional features. For general features, we considered these to be elements that the software should offer and we weighted them by whether they were part of the paid plan or were available as an add-on. These general features include providing a dedicated bookkeeper, offering bank reconciliation and offering tools, such as invoicing, payroll, bill pay and financial statements.

For additional features, these were elements that fell into the “nice-to-have” category that not all software providers offered, either as part of their regular plan or as a paid add-on. These included offering mobile apps and software integrations. Both kinds of features combined to account for 60% of our total score.

Expert Analysis

Based on our market research and customer reviews on popular third-party review sites, we also ranked additional criteria, such as ease of use, detailed or standout features, popularity and value for the price, ranking these on a graded scale from excellent to terrible. Together, these criteria make up 30% of the total score.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Do I need a bookkeeping service?

If you want your business to save time and money, then you should consider hiring a bookkeeping service. A bookkeeping service can help you stay organized and on top of your finances.

Can I do my own bookkeeping for my business?

A small business can likely do all its own bookkeeping using accounting software. Many of the operations are automated in the software, making it easy to get accurate debits and credits entered.

How much does a bookkeeping service cost?

The cost of bookkeeping services can vary depending on the size of your business and the features you need. Some bookkeeping services charge a monthly fee while others charge by the hour. You can find services for as little as $20 per month while others run thousands per month.

Do small businesses need bookkeeping?

Bookkeeping is an essential part of running a small business. Even if you aren’t planning on growing any time soon, you need to have a sense of how much money is coming in vs. what is going out. On top of that, you need the data used in bookkeeping to file your taxes accurately.

What kind of services do bookkeeping services provide?

Some bookkeeping services can provide a full suite of bookkeeping, accounting and tax services. Others may only offer bookkeeping services. Examples include bookkeeping journal entries, bookkeeping ledger, bookkeeping reconciliation and bookkeeping trial balance.

What is the difference between bookkeeping and accounting?

The main difference between bookkeeping and accounting is that bookkeeping focuses on recording financial transactions while accounting focuses on interpreting, classifying and reporting those transactions.

Next up in Business

Information provided on Forbes Advisor is for educational purposes only. Your financial situation is unique and the products and services we review may not be right for your circumstances. We do not offer financial advice, advisory or brokerage services, nor do we recommend or advise individuals or to buy or sell particular stocks or securities. Performance information may have changed since the time of publication. Past performance is not indicative of future results.

Forbes Advisor adheres to strict editorial integrity standards. To the best of our knowledge, all content is accurate as of the date posted, though offers contained herein may no longer be available. The opinions expressed are the author’s alone and have not been provided, approved, or otherwise endorsed by our partners.

Katherine Haan

Contributor

Katherine Haan is a small business owner with nearly two decades of experience helping other business owners increase their incomes.

Kelly Main

Staff Reviewer

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