Per-Task Bookkeeping Example: Cost Breakdown
This example breaks a small e-commerce business bookkeeping into individual tasks and prices each one. A bundled outsourced retainer of €300 a month hides the per-task cost. With Nika, each task is priced transparently at {price} per processed invoice or receipt — you see exactly what each filing costs, and months with fewer transactions cost proportionally less.
Before: manual process
A small e-commerce store processes about 120 transactions a month that need bookkeeping: 60 supplier invoices, 40 expense receipts (shipping labels, packaging, software), and 20 bank transactions requiring reconciliation. The owner pays an outsourced bookkeeper €300 a month as a bundled retainer. That works out to €2.50 per transaction on average — but the owner has no visibility into which tasks take the most time, whether some receipts are overpriced relative to their complexity, or whether a slow month should cost less. The retainer is the same whether the store processes 80 or 160 transactions.
After: with Nika
The same 120 transactions flow through Nika at {price} per processed invoice or receipt. Supplier invoices (60) are read, coded, and filed the day they arrive. Expense receipts (40) — photographed from a phone or forwarded from email — are extracted and categorised automatically. Bank reconciliation matches (20) are suggested by Nika and confirmed by the owner. A slow month with 80 transactions costs two-thirds of a busy month. The owner sees a per-task breakdown every month and knows exactly what bookkeeping costs.
Workflow
- 1
Supplier invoices (60/mo)
In: Email attachments and portal downloads from suppliersOut: Each invoice read, coded to expense category, filed to accounting systemSaved: ~3 minutes per invoice vs. manual entry = 3 hours/month saved - 2
Expense receipts (40/mo)
In: Phone photos and emailed receipts — shipping, packaging, softwareOut: Receipts extracted, vendor/amount/category captured, filed as expense recordsSaved: ~2 minutes per receipt vs. manual entry = 1.3 hours/month saved - 3
Bank reconciliation (20/mo)
In: Bank feed transactions unmatched to recordsOut: Nika suggests matches; owner confirms — ambiguous ones held for reviewSaved: Reconciliation pass reduced from hours to a confirmation queue - 4
Monthly summary
In: 120 processed records across all task typesOut: All 120 records coded, categorised, ready for accountant reviewSaved: Month-end close prep eliminated
Cost comparison
| Method | Cost | Time |
|---|---|---|
| Outsourced retainer (bundled, €300/mo) | €2.50 / transaction average | Same cost at 80 or 160 transactions |
| Per-task manual (bookkeeper hourly) | €1.25–2.92 / invoice + receipt time | Variable, billed in time increments |
| Nika (per processed invoice/receipt) | {price} / transaction | Same-day, scales with volume |
Key takeaways
- Per-task pricing makes the cost of each filing visible — no more opaque monthly retainer.
- A slow month (80 transactions) costs less than a busy month (160) — pricing follows real volume.
- Supplier invoices, receipts, and reconciliation each have a clear per-task cost at {price}.
- The owner gains monthly visibility into which bookkeeping tasks consume the most cost.
Questions
Is there a monthly minimum or retainer?
No. Nika charges {price} per processed invoice or receipt, with no monthly minimum. A month with zero transactions costs zero. This is the core difference from a bundled retainer, which charges the same regardless of volume.
How are receipts from phone photos handled?
Receipts photographed or forwarded to Nika are extracted the same way as email invoices — vendor, date, amount, tax. Crumpled or low-quality photos that cannot be read are sent to the approval queue for manual entry, and you are not charged for those.