How Much Does White-Label Bookkeeping Cost a CPA Firm?

The three ways providers price

White-label providers bill CPA firms in one of three ways. Each one suits a different kind of client book, so it pays to know which you are buying before you compare numbers.

• Per client per month. You pay a fixed fee for each client's books. Madras Accountancy's 2026 guide puts the range at $150 to $500 per client per month, and Steph's Books cites $300 to $800 as typical. Predictable, but you pay the same for a quiet month as a busy one.
• By the hour. You pay for the time the work takes. Madras Accountancy's guide puts offshore rates at $10 to $25 an hour and US-based rates at $40 to $75. The Fino Partners lists individual staff at $12 and $15 an hour. Cheapest for small or clean clients, and fair when volume swings.
• A full-time person. You pay a monthly rate for a dedicated accountant who works only on your clients. Madras Accountancy's guide cites $1,200 to $2,000 a month for India-based staff and $1,800 to $2,500 for the Philippines; The Fino Partners' price card runs from $1,700 to $3,500 a month by role.

What moves the price

Whatever the model, the same things drive the number. Ask each provider how they treat these before you accept a quote.

• Transaction volume and the number of bank, card and loan accounts.
• Complexity: inventory, multiple entities, class or location tracking, payroll entries.
• How clean the books are at the start. A client who needs a cleanup first costs more in month one.
• How much review you expect from the provider before the work reaches you.
• How quickly you need the month closed.

Working out your margin

Most firms bill their client a monthly fee and pay their partner less. Steph's Books and Corient both put the usual markup at 30 to 50% over the partner's rate. Steph's Books gives the example of a $500 partner cost billed at $700, which is $2,400 a year of margin per client; Corient's example is $400 billed at $650, about $3,000 a year.

With hourly pricing the arithmetic is simpler. Example, for illustration only: a client with two bank accounts and one credit card takes five hours a month. At $12 to $15 an hour, that is $60 to $75 of partner cost. If you bill that client $300 a month, your margin before your own review time is $225 to $240.

Costs that are not on the price list

The published rate is not the whole cost. Madras Accountancy's guide lists the extras firms forget: training and ramp-up in the first months, your own quality-review time, management overhead, software licences at roughly $50 to $150 per user per month, and the cost of replacing staff who leave. Budget for your review time in particular. It is the cost that decides whether outsourcing actually frees up your team.

What SF Business Solutions charges

SF Business Solutions bills CPA firms by the hour: $12–$15 an hour for white-label bookkeeping, tax-season prep and dedicated staff. A full-time accountant starts at $1,500 a month. There is no per-client fee, so a simple client costs you only the time it takes.

We work in QuickBooks Online and Xero, and our team includes one licensed CPA. You can compare this with other providers in our guide to the best white-label bookkeeping providers.