What Does eCommerce Bookkeeping Cost? DIY, Software & Done-for-You
By the I&S Accounting teamReviewed by a licensed U.S. CPA
The Honest Version of the Pricing Page
"How much does bookkeeping cost?" earns evasive answers, so here's the straight version for sellers — including when not to pay anyone.
Option 1: DIY — Cheap Until It Isn't
Software runs $30–90/month; the real cost is your hours: payout reconciliations, fee categorization, inventory tracking, sales tax monitoring. Call it 5–15 hours a month at real volume — and the exponent problem is that eCommerce books punish lateness. A missed month of payout reconciliation doesn't wait patiently; it compounds into a quarter you eventually pay someone to excavate.
DIY is right for one channel, low volume, and simple stock. Past that, count your hours honestly and multiply by what an hour of yours is worth.
Option 2: A Bookkeeper — the Range Explains Itself
Freelance bookkeepers span a wide range, and for eCommerce the spread is the product. The cheap end typically records deposits as revenue — which we've spent this whole series explaining is wrong: fees invisible, 1099-Ks unreconcilable, margins fictional. Books that are wrong cost more than books that are absent, because you pay once to produce them and again to fix them.
A bookkeeper who genuinely handles channel reconciliation, inventory, and multi-state sales tax typically lands from several hundred to a couple thousand a month depending on volume — plus your accounting software subscription, plus a separate tax preparer.
Option 3: A Firm — What the Fee Should Buy
Our model, stated plainly since this is our pricing guide: flat monthly packages from $450/month, accounting software included — no separate QuickBooks bill — with every channel reconciled gross-first, inventory and COGS maintained, fee stacks itemized, and a licensed U.S. CPA reviewing the financials before you see them. Tax prep is quoted per form and discounted for monthly clients; the full fee schedule is public.
Whoever you hire, the eCommerce test is the same five questions: Do you reconcile payouts per channel? Record gross or net? Track inventory as an asset? Monitor nexus? Bridge the 1099-K? Anyone who hesitates is quoting you for generic books at eCommerce prices.
The Fourth Option Nobody Prices: Doing It Wrong
The most expensive bookkeeping is the kind that has to be done twice. Cleanup is hourly work — ours runs $65/hour, quoted up front — and a year of deposit-based books across three channels is real hours. Add the decisions made on bad numbers all year (scaling losing products, missing a nexus registration, tax-time surprises) and the cheap option's true price emerges.
The Bottom Line
Early and simple: DIY with discipline. Growing and multi-channel: pay for real eCommerce books — the flat fee is small against the margin errors it prevents. Want our number for your exact store? Build a quote in two minutes; the estimate comes from the same published rates you can read yourself.
Frequently asked questions
DIY costs software plus your hours. Freelance bookkeepers with real eCommerce experience typically run several hundred to a couple thousand a month depending on volume and channels. Our flat monthly packages start at $450/month with the accounting software included, scaling with transaction volume.
Because each channel adds work generic bookkeeping doesn't have: payout reconciliations, fee itemization, inventory and COGS tracking, sales tax across states, and 1099-K bridging. A bookkeeper who records deposits as revenue is cheaper — and produces books you'll pay to redo.
Catch-up work is usually billed hourly — ours is $65/hour, quoted up front after a books review. A year of deposit-based eCommerce books takes real hours to rebuild, which is why monthly maintenance almost always beats an annual rescue.
Early on: one channel, low volume, simple inventory. The crossover comes when reconciliations start slipping, a second channel appears, or inventory decisions get expensive — usually well before sellers feel 'big enough' for help.
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