Bookkeeping services pricing: What to expect

The price you pay to outsource your bookkeeping can end up being an expensive surprise each month—but it doesn’t have to be. To ensure you get the level of service you need and the value you were expecting, consider how different solutions calculate their bookkeeping prices, and what the fee includes before you sign up.

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As you’re evaluating bookkeeping service packages, we’d like to show you what makes Zeni’s price packages different from other bookkeeping solutions. We are not a traditional finance firm, and our service plans aren’t traditional either. Zeni is a full-service finance automation platform that offers bookkeeping and accounting services for startups and small businesses. In addition to accurate, fast, daily bookkeeping to GAAP standards, you get a dedicated finance concierge and access to a real-time finance dashboard displaying your financial data in intuitive, easy-to-understand reports. Keep reading to learn more about Zeni’s pricing structure and the value we deliver—and how it stacks up to traditional bookkeeping price packages and services.

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How do bookkeeping price packages and services usually work?

Each bookkeeping solution includes a slightly different range of services, but any bookkeeping expert you work with should maintain accurate, up to date records of all your company’s financial activities using accounting software, including daily transactions, income, and expenses.

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‍A bookkeeper may also take care of day-to-day financial functions like accounts payable and receivable, handle the reconciliation of your payroll and bank accounts, and produce monthly financial statements. Most traditional bookkeeping services, however, only provide this information to you weeks after the end of the month. You will be able to see the details of your transactions and expenses retroactively after all financial decisions for the month have already been made.

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If you wanted to see, for example, why your expenses have gone up before your bookkeeper hands you the official month-end report, you would need to request specific details, wait for someone to respond, and then pay for the time it takes your bookkeeper to find and send you the information.

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Traditional bookkeeping can lead to unpredictable fees

Standard bookkeeping services pricing is based on a predetermined hourly rate. The total amount you end up paying each month is calculated from the number of hours the bookkeeper spends managing your finances.

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In general, you can expect your monthly bill to fluctuate based on the following factors:

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• The number of accounts your bookkeeper must manage—Each account—credit cards, bank accounts, and other financial accounts connected to your business—creates an additional layer of complexity for your bookkeeper and requires more time to manage. Some firms charge an additional fee for every additional account on your plan.
• The number of transactions you’ve made during the month—Some months may have more invoices, bank account or credit card transactions than other months. During times of
• The current month’s business expenses—Any services and regular monthly payments your business makes contribute to the load your bookkeeper must process.
• How you receive your revenue—Do you have automated, recurring charges or do you use manual invoicing? The more unpredictable your income, the more time it will take to sort through.

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During peak months, it could take many billable hours to make sure everything is properly categorized, reconciled, and entered into your accounting software. In practical terms, this means that you’ll be paying more for traditional accounting services during the months when you most need a break.

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Most bookkeeping services give you a ballpark estimate of your monthly cost based on a scope of work, but it’s only that—an estimate. Since you won’t know in advance how many hours of bookkeeping service will be needed to manage your finances, it’s hard to predict exactly what your monthly bill will be with this kind of price package.

Zeni’s bookkeeping pricing structure

Instead of a fluctuating monthly bill based on hourly rates, with Zeni you pay a fixed fee for your monthly bookkeeping package, no matter how complex your finances are, the volume of transactions you have or how many bank or credit card accounts you use. Zeni supports unlimited transactions from unlimited accounts for a flat monthly fee. The price you pay is based on how much you spend to run your business each month, so whether you’re a small startup spending $20,000 per month, or you’re a growth stage startup spending an excess of $1 million each month, we’ll calculate a flat fee that is proportionate to your monthly business expenses.

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Having a set price makes it easier to budget for your bookkeeping costs; with the Zeni pricing structure you’ll always know your monthly fee in advance, even as your business grows and your operating costs change. You can choose a monthly, quarterly, or annual subscription, whichever suits your business best.

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Why a flat monthly fee?

We charge a set monthly subscription fee rather than billing on an hourly basis because, unlike other finance and accounting firms, we don’t spend time doing repetitive tasks manually. Instead, we use artificial intelligence and machine learning to help automate bookkeeping processes. This means we can complete your bookkeeping tasks up to ten times faster than firms that handle everything manually. And although our processes are powered by AI, you’ll still get the benefits of human expertise; our team of finance experts bring 100+ years of experience to Zeni and oversee everything from data entry, to monthly reporting, to bill pay and invoicing, and more. Working with Zeni gives you 24/7 access to our team of experienced bookkeepers, accountants, tax advisors, CFOs, and financial planning and analysis experts.

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Zeni’s service packages: What’s included?

We offer three price plans to choose from depending on the level of service required to fit your business’ needs: Full Service, Professional, or Enterprise. For each of these plans, the price you pay will be calculated based on your monthly business expenses.

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Zeni vs. traditional bookkeeping packages: How does it stack up?

Around 70% of the startup founders and business owners we work with previously used a traditional finance firm to handle their bookkeeping and accounting. Many of these startups find that their monthly bill with Zeni is only 30-50% of what they were paying for bookkeeping billed by the hour. But choosing a bookkeeping service isn’t just about picking the lowest price. Startup customers switch to Zeni because of the extra value and benefits provided by our automated platform.

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If you’re comparing bookkeeping services and trying to decide which plan is best for your startup, start by determining which benefits are most important for your business.

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With some basic bookkeeping solutions, you may find that you still have to supplement their services with a lot of founder oversight or in-house admin support. That’s not the case with Zeni. Zeni helps you unlock the value of your team by taking all the finance tasks off their plate. We handle time-consuming functions like invoicing, bill payment, and receipt management, freeing up your team members to focus on key projects instead of bookkeeping paperwork.

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Customers find our service 10x faster and more convenient than other outsourced bookkeeping options thanks to our AI-powered process and self-service finance dashboard. The Zeni dashboard gives you 24/7 access to real-time data, including vital metrics like your startup’s net burn, cash on hand, operating expenses, and cash zero date. Not only do you get a granular view of where your money is going, but you can get key insights within seconds.

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Compare this with the industry standard of handing off your financial information to a third party and waiting weeks to see the report. With Zeni, you can log in to your dashboard and get a clear picture of your finances on a day to day basis because your financial information is updated constantly.

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Track your expenses as they happen rather than discovering the totals (and experiencing sticker shock) after the month is already over. With these tools, you can remain actively engaged in your own financial decisions every day.

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If you take the time to do an in-depth comparison of services, you might be surprised by how much value you could gain from Zeni’s options at a much more affordable price than you’d pay for traditional accounting.

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Does one of Zeni’s service plans sound like the right fit for your startup? If so, reach out to our team. We’d love to discuss our services in more detail and provide a quote for your business.