How Much Does Bookkeeping Cost? — Cost Guides

Real cost breakdowns for bookkeeping, invoice processing, and data entry. Compare options before you choose.

• How Much Does Bookkeeping Cost?

  Bookkeeping cost depends on who does it: a freelance bookkeeper typically charges €15-35 per hour, an outsourced firm costs €200-600 per month, and an in-house bookkeeper salary ranges from €25,000-45,000 per year. For small businesses that mainly need invoice filing, AI per-invoice pricing from {price} per processed invoice can cut the monthly bill dramatically.

• How Much Does Invoice Processing Cost?

  The true cost of processing a single invoice manually is €0.50-2.00 or more, once you factor in the 2-5 minutes a bookkeeper spends at €15-35 per hour. AI per-invoice processing from {price} per processed invoice removes the labour cost entirely and files the invoice the same day. For businesses processing hundreds of invoices monthly, the per-invoice cost is the single biggest controllable bookkeeping expense.

• How Much Does an In-House Bookkeeper Cost?

  An in-house bookkeeper in Europe typically costs €25,000-45,000 per year in gross salary, and the true cost is 20-40% higher once you add employer social contributions, paid leave, equipment, and training. That is €2,080-4,500+ per month — a fixed commitment regardless of how many invoices arrive. For invoice-heavy bookkeeping, per-invoice AI processing from {price} per processed invoice scales with your actual volume instead.

• Cost of Outsourced Bookkeeping

  Outsourced bookkeeping for a small business typically costs €200-600 per month as a retainer, with entry-level packages starting from around €150 and comprehensive service reaching €800-1,200+. The price depends on transaction volume, complexity, and reporting needs. Per-invoice AI processing from {price} per processed invoice is often cheaper for businesses whose outsourced cost is driven mainly by invoice volume rather than advisory work.

• Hidden Costs of Manual Invoice Entry

  The visible cost of manual invoice entry is 2-5 minutes of bookkeeper time per invoice — €0.50-2.92 at typical hourly rates. But the hidden costs are larger: late-payment penalties from missed deadlines, duplicate-payment risk from double entry, error-correction time, lost invoices that never get filed, and the opportunity cost of your own time spent chasing paperwork. Per-invoice AI processing from {price} per processed invoice removes all of these, not just the data-entry labour.