As a business owner, have you ever gone looking for a bookkeeper? Unless you got a referral from a trusted colleague or friend, you may have ended up hiring your spouse, a family member, or a neighbor… just because they were willing. Or perhaps even worse? You end up doing it yourself at night and on the weekends.
That’s exactly why we believe bookkeeping and accounting pricing should be easier to understand. At Luma Accounting, headquartered in Portland, Oregon, we help business owners get financial clarity before they choose the kind of support they need.
Before we get to actual numbers, let’s start with the question that shapes everything else.
Are All Bookkeepers the Same? (Spoiler: No.)
Not even close. Bookkeeping firms come in a few different shapes:
- Solopreneurs — one person doing everything, start to finish
- Small firms — an owner plus a handful of bookkeepers and accountants
- Medium-sized firms — a full team, often with some admin and operations support
- Large firms — teams, departments, often a tax side too
Bookkeeping, accounting, and project cost accounting support can look very different from one firm to the next, which is why it helps to understand what is actually included before you compare prices.
Generally, the bigger the firm, the higher the rate, because you’re paying for credentials and operational overhead. But here’s the maddening part: even firms of the exact same size and type can quote you three wildly different prices. Comparing “apples to apples” is harder than it sounds.
Two other things are reshaping the bookkeeping and accounting world right now, and you deserve to know about both before you sign anything.
Is your bookkeeper or accountant actually offshore?
A large share of the bookkeeping and accounting industry has shifted to offshore labor… think the Philippines, India, South America. Offshore talent costs significantly less than US-based labor, which means firms using it can dramatically increase their margins.
That’s not automatically a bad thing. But it’s information you deserve to have upfront, not something you find out after you’ve signed a contract. Ask directly: where is my bookkeeper or accountant located?
Have you heard of “AI-native ledgers”?
We watched one of the first AI-driven platforms, Digits, in action at the 2024 Scaling New Heights conference… a new account connected to a client’s bank and credit card allowed it to start building the chart of accounts in real time, live on the big screen… with no human assistance. There are now at least four AI-native ledgers promising you can sign up, sit back, and let the tech do the bookkeeping with virtually no human involvement.
We think there’s real promise in that technology, and we’re paying close attention to where it’s headed. But we’d push back a little on “virtually no human intervention” as the selling point. The tech is great at speed and pattern recognition, but it’s a person who actually knows your business, catches and identifies “something doesn’t fit this pattern” and asks the right questions. That’s why we believe in “human in the loop”, not “human instead of the loop”.
Now that you know the landscape, let’s talk about how firms actually charge for their work.
What Are the Different Ways Bookkeepers Charge?
Before you can evaluate any quote, you need to know what pricing model you’re even looking at. Here are the four you’ll likely run into.
By the Hour
The old-school model. You pay for the actual hours worked, multiplied by the bookkeeper’s rate.
Pros: You only pay for what you use, so a slow month costs less.
Cons: The incentive runs backward… the longer the work takes, the more the bookkeeper makes. And your bill can swing wildly month to month. Picture a contractor closing out three projects in one month versus a month with just one project. That’s a lot more transactions to enter, review and reconcile, and a much bigger invoice to match.
Flat Monthly Rate
You pay the same amount every month, no matter how many hours the work actually takes.
Pros: Simple to budget. No surprises, even in a heavy month.
Cons: It’s hard to know if the flat rate you’re quoted actually matches the amount of work involved.
Value Pricing
Instead of pricing around time, the firm prices around the outcome or transformation the work creates for you. Two clients doing similar volume might pay very different rates because of the strategic value involved.
Pros: It aligns the bookkeeper’s incentive with your results, not just the clock.
Cons: It’s the hardest model to evaluate from the outside. If the firm can’t clearly explain the dollar value you’re getting, you’re trusting their judgment… which means you need to trust the firm first.
Packages
Most modern bookkeeping and accounting firms, Luma included, now offer tiered packages, often a bronze/silver/gold style structure with increasing features. You pick the tier that fits, and adjust as your needs change. Pricing within each tier usually flexes based on things like transaction volume, meeting frequency, and add-ons like payroll or sales tax support.
Pros: Easy to match your needs to a price point upfront.
Cons: Not every “package” is scoped the same way, so you still have to compare what’s actually included.
So which one does Luma use? We start with the right package and then determine a flat rate based on your needs… here’s exactly how it breaks down.
How Much Does Bookkeeping Cost at Luma?
Okay, let’s actually answer the question you came here for.
Luma’s pricing is built on three “levers”: your package, how often we’re touching your books, and how often we meet for Glow Sessions (meetings with your Lantern Leader). Here’s what that looks like in real numbers.
Our three packages, priced as a percentage of your gross revenue:
| Package | Starting % of Gross Revenue | 2026 Minimum Monthly |
| Reflect on the Past | 0.8 – 1.0% | $550/mo |
| Focus on the Present | 1.2 – 1.4% | $825/mo |
| Illuminate the Project | 1.5 – 2.0% | $1,650/mo |
So if your business brings in $75,000/month in gross revenue and you’re on Focus on the Present, you’d land right around $900/month… give or take, once we factor in your specific complexity.
How does that stack up against the industry?
As of 2026, outsourced bookkeeping nationally runs anywhere from $300 to $2,500+ a month, with most small businesses landing somewhere between $500 and $1,500. Higher-touch, CFO-style advisory support can climb to $4,000 or more.
Luma’s Reflect on the Past tier sits right in that everyday small-business range. Illuminate the Project, our most hands-on package (weekly updates so you can actually see how your projects are performing in real time) lands in that higher-touch bracket… which makes sense, because it’s doing more work for you.
We tell you this upfront because we’d rather you know exactly what you’re paying for than wonder if you got a “good deal” three months in.
What Questions Should You Ask a Bookkeeping or Accounting Firm Before You Hire Them?
Here’s the thing about a bookkeeper or an accountant… they’re going to know things about your business that even your spouse or family might not. This isn’t a relationship to enter casually.
The best way solution is often a referral from someone who’s actually used the firm in question… a fellow business owner, your attorney, your tax preparer, your wealth advisor. Someone who can personally vouch for the experience. But even a great referral isn’t a guarantee of fit. What worked for your buddy’s electrical contracting business might not work for your legal firm.
So whether you’re working off a referral or starting cold, ask every firm you’re evaluating:
- What pricing model do you use, and why?
- What happens to my rate if my business grows or my needs change?
- Is anything billed separately, outside the quoted rate?
- How often is pricing reviewed or adjusted?
- Do you plan automatic rate increases? If so, how often, and by what percentage?
- What’s the average length of time clients stay with you?
- Do you have a team? What happens if the person working on my books goes on vacation, gets sick, or leaves?
- Do your team members hold any certifications?
- Where is your team located? Is any part of it offshore?
A firm that’s proud of how it prices will answer every one of these without flinching. If you get vague answers, deflection, or a hard sell instead… that’s useful information too. Now you know what to do with it.
So How Does Luma Answer Those Questions?
We’d rather show you than tell you. Here’s exactly where we land on the list above.
Our pricing model, and why
We have packages to suit different needs that start with a percentage of your gross revenue. Why? Because a business doing $2M a year and a business doing $200K a year need genuinely different levels of support, and a flat rate doesn’t reflect that. Percentage-of-revenue does. And our packages address the different levels of support that clients need.
What happens if you grow or your needs change
Your rate adjusts with your revenue, and you can move between packages (Reflect on the Past, Focus on the Present, Illuminate the Project) any time your needs shift. We review clients annually for changes – no surprise renegotiation unless things change drastically in a short period of time.
What’s billed separately
We’ll always be upfront about any clean-up/catch-up work after your Shine a Light review of your current books, before you sign anything. No hidden line items showing up three months in.
Average client tenure
Long. 36% of our clients have been with us for 5 or more years – several have been with us for 10+ years. Heather and Kim built Luma on the idea that relationships outlast projects… and it shows in how long our clients stick around.
What happens if your Lightkeeper is out
Nothing lapses. Every client has at least two people who know their books inside and out – your Lantern Leader and your assigned Light Keeper. Vacation, illness, life happening… you’re covered either way. And because every client gets a Luma-specific email address, the whole Lantern has visibility into your correspondence. Nothing sits in limbo waiting for one person to get back online.
Certifications
Every team member doing bookkeeping work pursues ongoing certification through the platforms we use… QuickBooks Online, Gusto, Ramp, JobTread, and more.
Where our team is located
100% US-based. Every single person on your Lantern. No offshore labor, full stop.
And even though we have Portland, Oregon headquarters, Luma Accounting serves small businesses across the U.S.
We’re not saying our answers are the only right ones. We’re saying you should get answers this specific from anyone you’re evaluating… including us.
Your Business, Illuminated
At the end of the day, you need a bookkeeping and accounting partner you trust, one with the skills your industry actually demands, coverage that won’t leave you stranded, and pricing that makes sense to you on paper and in practice.
If you’re a contractor, subcontractor, trades business or legal firm owner trying to make sense of your options… we’d love to talk. No pressure, no sales pitch. Just an honest conversation about what would actually work for you.
BEST. EXPERIENCE. EVER. That’s the whole point.
Need reliable bookkeeping, accounting, job costing, and financial clarity support for your Portland or U.S.-based business? Contact Luma Accounting today to connect with our team and schedule your free consultation.
