It is the first question everyone asks and the hardest one to get a straight answer to. Most bookkeeping websites will tell you it “depends on your needs” and invite you to book a call. Fair enough — it genuinely does depend — but you should still be able to walk in knowing roughly what the market charges.
So here is the honest version.
The short answer
For a South African small business in 2026, monthly bookkeeping typically falls into these bands:
| What you need | Typical monthly fee |
|---|---|
| Very low volume — a side business or new sole proprietor, under ~30 transactions a month | R400 – R900 |
| A typical small business, up to ~60 transactions | R1 100 – R1 600 |
| Busier books, up to ~90 transactions | R2 100 – R2 500 |
| Full service — bookkeeping, VAT, payroll and tax compliance | R3 000 – R7 500+ |
| Ad-hoc work billed hourly | R100 – R400 per hour |
One-off jobs are priced separately. A personal income tax return (ITR12) usually runs between R600 and R2 500 depending on complexity, and a provisional tax return (IRP6) is commonly around R800 to R1 000 per period.
These are published market ranges, not our invented numbers. Our own packages start at R950 a month excluding VAT, which sits deliberately toward the lower end of that market — you can see exactly what is in each one.
What actually moves the price
This is the part most quotes do not explain, and it is why two businesses with identical turnover can get wildly different numbers.
1. Transaction volume, not turnover
This is the big one. Bookkeeping is priced by how much work there is, and work means transactions.
A consultancy invoicing four clients a month at R80 000 each has thirty-odd transactions to process. A small coffee shop with the same turnover might have two thousand. The coffee shop costs several times more to service, despite the identical revenue.
When you ask for a quote, the single most useful thing you can share is a recent bank statement — or just the number of lines on it.
2. Whether you are VAT-registered
VAT registration adds a monthly reconciliation and a VAT201 submission, and it raises the bar on accuracy considerably. Every expense now needs a valid tax invoice, and SARS is entitled to ask for it. Expect VAT to add meaningfully to a monthly fee.
3. Payroll, and how many people
Payroll is its own workstream: payslips, PAYE and UIF calculations, monthly EMP201 submissions and the bi-annual EMP501 reconciliation with IRP5 certificates. Managed payroll in South Africa is commonly quoted per employee per month, and rates vary enormously — anywhere from around R150 for straightforward processing up to R1 200 or more for a fully managed service with HR support attached.
4. How far behind you are
Catch-up work is priced separately from ongoing work, usually per month of backlog. It is more expensive per month than current bookkeeping because reconstructing history from bank statements is slower than capturing invoices as they arrive.
The good news is that it is a one-off cost, and once you are current the monthly fee drops to the normal rate.
5. How organised your paperwork is
Not to be underestimated. A client who shares a tidy cloud folder costs less to service than one who sends photographs of crumpled slips in six separate WhatsApp messages. Most bookkeepers will not itemise this, but it is quietly priced in.
How to compare quotes properly
Three fees that look similar can cover very different amounts of work. Before you compare numbers, make sure you are comparing scope. Ask each provider:
- What transaction volume is this fee based on, and what happens if I exceed it? A cheap quote with a low cap can become an expensive one very quickly.
- Are statutory submissions included, or billed separately? VAT201, EMP201, EMP501, provisional tax and CIPC annual returns are the usual suspects.
- Is the annual tax return included? Often it is not.
- Who pays for the software subscription? Xero, Sage and QuickBooks licences are a real monthly cost, and it matters whether it sits in the fee or on your card.
- Do I own my own data? You should be the account owner on your accounting software, with the bookkeeper invited as a user. If leaving means losing your records, that is a red flag.
- What is the notice period? Month-to-month is normal for small businesses. Long lock-ins are not.
Is it actually worth it?
Run the numbers on your own time before deciding it is a grudge purchase.
If bookkeeping takes you six hours a month — a conservative estimate once you include chasing slips, reconciling and second-guessing yourself — and your own work bills out at R400 an hour, that is R2 400 of your capacity going into admin. That is before the cost of getting something wrong.
And the cost of getting it wrong is not theoretical. SARS penalties and interest accrue automatically, with no one needing to notice. Late EMP201 submissions attract penalties. Unfiled returns block your tax clearance certificate, which blocks tenders and financing.
There is also a quieter cost. Owners without current books make decisions on gut feel — whether they can afford to hire, whether that big client is actually profitable, whether there is enough cash for stock. Sometimes the gut is right. It is an expensive way to find out when it is not.
The one thing to avoid
Choosing purely on price.
The cheapest quote is often cheap because the scope is thin, the work is rushed, or the person is inexperienced. Bookkeeping errors compound: a misallocation in March is still wrong in November, and someone has to be paid to unpick it — usually your accountant, at a considerably higher rate.
Pay for someone who reconciles properly, asks you questions when something looks odd, and tells you before a deadline rather than after it.
Want a real number for your business? Send us a recent bank statement and tell us whether you are VAT-registered and how many people are on payroll. We will come back with a fixed monthly fee — get in touch or see our packages.