How Much Does Bookkeeping Cost for an LLC, S-Corp, or C-Corp?
If you are pricing out bookkeeping for your company, your entity type affects the quote less than most owners expect. Transaction volume, payroll, and the reporting your tax return needs move the price more than whether you are an LLC, an S-corp, or a C-corp.
At Inkle, monthly bookkeeping starts at $49 per month for up to 30 transactions when your books are kept on Inkle Books, and $79 per month for up to 30 transactions when your books stay on your own software, such as QuickBooks, Xero, Zoho Books, or Mercury. Across the market, a simple single-member LLC with low volume sits at the low end of any provider's pricing, and a C-corp with investors, payroll, and accrual books sits at the high end.
Inkle's bookkeeping pricing
| Plan | Where your books live | Starting price | Transactions included |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monthly bookkeeping on Inkle Books | Inkle Books | $49 per month | Up to 30 per month |
| Bookkeeping on your software | QuickBooks, Xero, Zoho Books, or Mercury | $79 per month | Up to 30 per month |
Every Inkle bookkeeping account has one dedicated bookkeeper, not a rotating pool. The bookkeeper works in whichever system your books live in, so a company already on QuickBooks or Xero does not have to migrate to get monthly bookkeeping done.
Transaction volume is the main price driver
Most bookkeeping providers price monthly work by volume, because each transaction has to be categorized, matched, and reconciled. A company with 25 bank and card transactions a month needs far less work than one with 400, regardless of entity type.
Volume rises with the number of bank and card accounts, the number of payment processors, and how many small purchases the company makes. Consolidating spending onto fewer accounts is one of the few ways to lower a bookkeeping bill without reducing the quality of the work.
What each entity type adds to the work
Entity type changes a handful of specific tasks. Those tasks are where the price difference between entities comes from.
| Entity | Work beyond the core monthly close |
|---|---|
| Single-member LLC | Owner contributions and draws. Very little else. |
| Foreign-owned single-member LLC | Complete records of every transaction with the foreign owner, because they feed Form 5472 |
| Multi-member LLC | A capital account per member, allocations under the operating agreement, guaranteed payments, and K-1 support |
| S-corp | Owner payroll, separating salary from distributions, retained earnings, and the inputs for AAA and shareholder basis |
| C-corp | Accrual entries where required or expected, stock and paid-in capital, SAFEs or convertible notes, income tax accounts, and often investor reporting |
Single-member LLCs are the least work. Schedule C needs only a profit and loss statement, and the equity section is one owner's balance.
S-corps add payroll. An S-corp owner who works in the business has to be paid a reasonable salary through payroll. Payroll entries, owner health insurance, and the split between salary and distributions all need to be recorded correctly each month.
C-corps add the most. Funded C-corps usually keep accrual books for investors, which means recognizing revenue when earned, recording prepaid expenses and accrued liabilities, and closing the month on a set schedule. Equity rounds, stock compensation, and income tax accounts add more.
Where your books live changes the price
Keeping books on a provider's own platform is usually the lowest-cost option, because the provider controls the bank feeds, categorization rules, and close workflow. Keeping books on your own software, such as QuickBooks or Xero, means the bookkeeper works inside a system you own and have configured.
Inkle offers both. Bookkeeping on Inkle Books starts at $49 per month, and bookkeeping on your own software starts at $79 per month, each for up to 30 transactions.
Cleanup and catch-up are separate from the monthly fee
A monthly bookkeeping price assumes the books are current. Companies that are months or years behind, or whose books have miscategorized owner payments or unreconciled accounts, need catch-up or cleanup work first.
Across most providers, this is quoted separately from the monthly fee, often based on the number of months involved and the condition of the existing records. An entity change that was never reflected in the books, such as an LLC that elected S-corp status without moving the owner to payroll, is a common reason cleanup is needed.
Some services are commonly priced separately
What a monthly bookkeeping fee includes varies by provider. Payroll processing, sales tax filings, income tax return preparation, and financial statements prepared for lenders or investors are often priced as separate services. When comparing quotes, check which of these are included, and whether the quote covers monthly reconciliation of every account or only categorization.
The bookkeeping fee is also a small part of the cost of bad books. A return built on books with owner payments coded as expenses, or an S-corp with no owner payroll, costs more to fix than to keep correctly from the start. For how entity type changes the books themselves, see our guide, Bookkeeping for an LLC vs S-Corp vs C-Corp: What Changes on Your Books.
The bottom line
Bookkeeping cost tracks how much work your books take, and entity type is only one input. A single-member LLC with low volume is inexpensive to keep almost anywhere. An S-corp adds owner payroll, and a funded C-corp adds accrual entries, equity accounts, and investor reporting. With Inkle, a company with up to 30 transactions a month pays $49 per month on Inkle Books or $79 per month on its own software, with one dedicated bookkeeper either way.
Frequently asked questions
How much does bookkeeping cost for a small LLC?
At Inkle, monthly bookkeeping starts at $49 per month for up to 30 transactions on Inkle Books, or $79 per month for up to 30 transactions on QuickBooks, Xero, Zoho Books, or Mercury. A single-member LLC with low volume is typically at the low end of any provider's pricing.
Is bookkeeping more expensive for an S-corp than an LLC?
Usually somewhat, because an S-corp has to run payroll for working owners and keep salary separate from distributions. The difference comes from that extra work, not from the entity label.
Is bookkeeping more expensive for a C-corp?
A C-corp with investors usually costs more to keep, because it often needs accrual books, equity and SAFE accounting, income tax accounts, and investor-ready financial statements. A small C-corp with simple activity can cost about the same as an LLC.
Can I keep using QuickBooks or Xero and still hire a bookkeeper?
Yes. Inkle offers bookkeeping on your existing software, including QuickBooks, Xero, Zoho Books, and Mercury, starting at $79 per month for up to 30 transactions, with one dedicated bookkeeper.
What counts toward the monthly bookkeeping price?
Most providers price monthly bookkeeping by transaction volume across your bank, card, and payment accounts. Catch-up work for months that are behind, payroll processing, and tax return preparation are commonly priced separately.
