6 Best Online Bookkeeping Services for Small Businesses in 2025

Tired of feeling disorganized around tax time? Or feel like you might be spending too much time on finance-related tasks?
Scrambling at the last second to gather documents for tax season is stressful, and rushing bookkeeping-related tasks can make you vulnerable to compliance issues and missed growth opportunities. Thankfully, online bookkeeping services have lowered the financial barrier to getting bookkeeping and tax-related help.
So, if youāre looking for bookkeeping help, this guide will introduce you to what exactly online bookkeeping services offer, the best seven solutions for small businesses, and what to consider when choosing the best virtual bookkeeping services for you.
Key Takeaways
- Online bookkeeping services can be a useful, affordable option for businesses, acting as a middle ground between hiring an bookkeeper and doing it yourself
- There are many options out there for online bookkeeping services, but not all may offer the features you might need
- Using online bookkeeping can free you up to spend more time on your own businessāprovided you choose the right one for your business
Table of Contents
- What Are Online Bookkeeping Services?
- What to Expect From Online Bookkeeping Services
- Best Online Bookkeeping Services for Small Businesses
- Spend More Time on Your Main Business
- How to Choose Your Online Bookkeeping Service
- Conclusion
- FAQs On Online Bookkeeping Services
What Are Online Bookkeeping Services?
Online bookkeeping services typically give you a dedicated bookkeeper or team of financial experts to help you with basic bookkeeping tasks. A bookkeeperās main responsibility is maintaining accurate financial records.
Bookkeeping is an unavoidable part of having a business because the IRS has certain rules around financial recordkeeping. Aside from staying compliant, having organized books helps you monitor the health of your business, prepare for tax time, and prepare key financial statements.
Save Money With Online Bookkeeping Services
Online bookkeeping services, also called virtual bookkeeping services, are a very affordable alternative to the traditional employee bookkeeper. To put this in perspective, a bookkeeperās average salary is $44,527. On the other hand, most online bookkeeping services start at the $200-$400 per month range, with more advanced solutions in the $600-$800 range still being significantly cheaper than hiring a bookkeeping employee.

What to Expect From Online Bookkeeping Services
Every online bookkeeping service will offer a mixture of different features ranging from basic to advanced. As a result, a suite of features from one service will appeal more to very small businesses, while an entirely other set of features from another service might appeal to larger small businesses. Thatās why thereās no standard one-size-fits-all solution.
Some of the common features to expect from an online bookkeeping service include:
- Payroll services
- Uses popular accounting software such as FreshBooks
- Dedicated virtual bookkeepers
- Monthly reconciliation of bank statements
- Accounts receivable and accounts payable
- Keeping your books balanced
- Quarterly and monthly reporting
- Tax services
- Billing and invoicing support
- Financial tracking
- Data entry
- Software training
Best Online Bookkeeping Services for Small Businesses
The solutions on our list start as low as $190 a month for basic bookkeeping help to around $350+ for more comprehensive solutions. Letās review all six online services:
- FreshBooks
- Bookkeeper
- Sunrise
- Pilot
- Merritt Bookkeeping
- InDinero
FreshBooks
FreshBooks’ online bookkeeping services help protect your profits, save time, and grow your business. With a user-friendly platform, you can easily manage invoicing, track expenses, and keep your financial records organized. Automated features simplify bookkeeping, ensuring your business finances remain up to date without the hassle.
In addition to being one of the best online bookkeeping services around, FreshBooks offers 100% compliant tax preparation, taking the stress out of this important but time-consuming process.
Other features of FreshBooksā online bookkeeping services include:
- Dedicated virtual bookkeepers
- Seamless, efficient workflows between various features
- Clear, on-demand reporting on your business financial health
- The FreshBooks Accounting Partner Program, allows accountants, bookkeepers, and tax experts to work more efficiently with clients
- Monthly organized transaction reports
- Monthly financial statements
- Catch-up bookkeeping services to help you get your finances up-to-date
- Retro bookkeeping services, allow you to access 2+ years of historical bookkeeping, IRS correspondence, unfiled back taxes, and more
- Year-round tax services, including advisory and filing
- Seamless integration with more than 100 apps and add-on services
Pricing:
FreshBooks offers flexible pricing tailored to your business needs. Explore available plans and find the right fit by visiting our FreshBooks Pricing page.

Bookkeeper
Bookkeeper is one of the pricier business bookkeeping services on our list, but it comes with many possible add-on services. If youāre looking for a bookkeeping solution you can stick with for the long run, Bookkeeper has most bookkeeping features you could possibly want as an add-on. Possible add-ons include payroll services, individual and business tax returns, and financial performance reporting with key performance indicators.
Features:
- Dedicated bookkeeper and dedicated account manager
- Monthly bank reconciliation
- Monthly statements, including the statement of cash flows
- Cash and accrual accounting
- Unlimited support on the Small Business Plus plan and above. Limited support on the Small Business plan.
- 30-minute-monthly scheduled meeting on the Small Business Plus plan and 45 minutes on the Small Business Advanced Plan. Custom on the Custom Plan.
- Lite Virtual Chief Financial Officer services on the Small Business Plus plan and above.
- Historical bookkeeping add-on
Pricing:
- Small Business: $449/month up to 100 transactions per month
- Small Business Plus: $649/month up to 200 transactions per month
- Small Business Advanced: $849/month up to 300 transactions per month
- Custom pricing
Sunrise
Sunrise, by Lendio, used to be called Billy until it was acquired. Itās known for its easy-to-use interface and its simplification of accounting jargon. Sunrise is a good bookkeeping services solution for sole proprietors and freelancers without employees, and itās good for invoicing customers, income and expense tracking, and basic reporting capabilities.
However, if you want more advanced reporting and a more robust mobile experience, youāre better off looking at other solutions on this list. Billy/Sunrise also got some bad reps for its choices regarding customer loyalty when it was acquired.
Features:
- Monthly financial statements
- Monthly financial reporting
- Personal bookkeeper
- One-on-one support
- Expense tracking
- Bank reconciliation
- Access to tools to simplify tax preparation for your annual filing
Pricing:
- Early plan: $149 up to 120 monthly transactions
- Growing plan: $299/month up to 200 monthly transactions
- Corporate plan: $499/month up to 500 monthly transactions
Pilot
Pilot offers a large set of basic bookkeeping and accounting services and features, including access to a chart of accounts and financial statements, but many services and features are only available as add-on services or only through the custom plan. For businesses with over $200,000 of monthly expenses, this might offer the type of customization youād need. Some additional services you may have access to include inventory tracking, BillPay, CFO services, and tax services.
A downside of Pilot is that the main way to communicate with finance experts is via email, which can make it harder to get quick replies. They are available through the phone in most circumstances, though. You also canāt pay on a month-to-month basis, unlike a few others on our list.
Features:
- Dedicated finance expert on all plans
- Accrual basis bookkeeping
- Financial statements
- Automatic transactions import
- Payroll and balance sheet reconciliation
- Burn rate calculations
On the Core plan and above, you get:
- Expedited books delivery
- Monthly phone reviews
- Priority support
Pricing:
- Core: $599-$899 per month with annual billing
- Select: $849-$1149 per month with annual billing
- Plus: Custom pricing
For the core and select plan, prices increase gradually as a businessās monthly expenses increase. Businesses with over $200,000 in monthly expenses will need a custom plan. The following transactions are included in total expenses: payroll, COGS, and distributions.
Merritt Bookkeeping
Merritt Bookkeeping has the most competitive pricing on our list and is the only one to offer a flat rate for all types of businesses. Unfortunately, if flexibility is what youāre looking for, Merritt Bookkeeping may not be for you since you can only import data from QuickBooks Online. If youāre looking for something very cheap and simple and your business is in its very early stages, the affordability of Merritt Bookkeeping makes it a good choice.
Features:
- Historical/catch-up bookkeeping add-on to make your books current
- Issues 1099s
- Automatic statement retrieval from your bank accounts
- Easy-to-use interface
- Monthly financial report
- Connects with your QuickBooks Online account
Pricing:
- Flat rate of $190/month
- 90-day money-back guarantee
InDinero
InDinero is known for being a scalable bookkeeping solution for small business owners, so if the ability to stay with one service as you grow is important for you, then InDinero would be one of the best online bookkeeping services to consider.
Although InDinero offers scalable plans, theyāre not very transparent about what exactly they include in each plan until you talk to a salesperson. Unfortunately, InDinero doesnāt have many integration options, but if you already use the software they integrate with, itās a very robust solution.
Features:
- Dedicated bookkeeping team
- On the Essential plan, you have access to cash-basis accounting software
- On the Growth plan, controllers manage accrual accounting for you
The following features are customized to your needs after talking to a salesperson:
- Monthly reconciliation of bank statements
- Payroll services
- Monthly financial reports
- Accounts receivable/ Accounts payable processing and reporting
- Employee reimbursements
- Cash flow statement and forecast
- Revenue recognition
- Some inventory management services
Pricing:
- Essential: Starting at $300/month
- Growth: Starting at $900/month
- Executive: Custom pricing
InDinero offers monthly, quarterly, and annual pricing but differs from the rest on our list because you have to talk to a salesperson to get an actual price.
Spend More Time on Your Main Business
When your business is still growing, bookkeeping isnāt such a cumbersome task. But as the business gets larger, it can start to become a very time-consuming job. When deciding whether to use online bookkeeping services, itās best to consider the amount of time (and therefore, the amount of money) that youāll save with accounting software and a dedicated bookkeeper.
Virtual bookkeeping services can also save you money through tax preparation services and tax filing, providing peace of mind that youāre 100% compliant with all tax rules.
Maximize ROI
How often are you looking at your total current income and total current expenses? If itās only once a year, youāre not alone. Leveraging bookkeeping services allows you to look at your income and expenses in real-time frequently. Having access to robust reports and financial statements allows you to make better decisions for your business leading to an increased ROI from investing in online bookkeeping services. Bookkeeping services can also help small business owners save more through tax preparation and tax filing.
How to Choose Your Online Bookkeeping Services
Here are some questions to ask yourself as you decide on the best accounting software and bookkeeping service solution for your small business:
Features: What features and services do you value most in an online bookkeeping service?
Budget: Whatās your budget for bookkeeping services?
Scale: Do you want a scalable solution, or are you just happy choosing the best solution for this specific stage of your business?
Services: Are you looking for tax preparation, payroll services, a dedicated finance expert, or all of the above in one online accounting service?
Support: Are you willing to pay for more support but fewer features and services? Or more features and services but less support?
Transactions: How many monthly transactions does your business have? Will that increase significantly by the end of the week?
Catch-up: Do you need to do any catch-up bookkeeping? Are you months or years behind on your books?
Expenses: What are the totals of your monthly expenses?
Conclusion
Itās common for owners of small businesses to attempt bookkeeping on their own, but itās easy for bookkeeping to become an afterthought until tax time approaches. Leaving taxes to the last second causes businesses to lose out on opportunities that come with frequent expense and revenue tracking, accurate balance sheets, accrual accounting, financial reports, and much more. Choosing the right bookkeeping services for your small business will also free up time for you to focus on your company, easing a lot of stress.

FAQs On Online Bookkeeping Services
More questions about accounting software, online tax and payroll services, or anything else to do with bookkeeping services? Here are a few frequently asked questions.
Is it worth paying a bookkeeper?
While there are certain scenarios where it makes sense to have a dedicated bookkeeper (or several) on your staff, this is typically reserved for very large companies. For the vast majority of businesses, the job of bookkeeping is too small for a department but too much for the owner.
How do I start virtual bookkeeping?
The first thing to do when beginning with bookkeeping services is to thoroughly research the many available options. There are countless features, price ranges, and functions for every service out there. Click here to see what FreshBooksā free trial has to offer and get started today!
What are common bookkeeping mistakes?
The most common mistakes are mixing personal and business finances, leaving taxes to the last minute, missing out on deductions, and not retaining records for long enough.
For a full breakdown of the most common bookkeeping mistakes, read our article on the subject.
Can a bookkeeper do tax returns?
Typically, bookkeepers cannot file tax returns on behalf of other companies on their own. Bookkeepers will usually prepare relevant records and tax documents, and then forward this information to an accountant, who will then prepare the actual tax return.
What is the golden rule of bookkeeping?
There are several key rules of bookkeeping to keep in mind, but one of the most important is regarding debits and credits. The rule goes ādebit the receiver, credit the giverā. In other words, debit is all incoming money, while credit is all outgoing money. This is often called the golden rule of bookkeeping.
Is a CPA the same as a bookkeeper?
No. A bookkeeper is not required to have any special certifications or education, while a Chartered Professional Accountant (CPA) is required to have completed a relevant certification in order to offer CPA services.
More Resources on Small Business Accounting
- How Long Does it Take to Learn Bookkeeping
- How to Choose the Best Accounting Software for Your Small Business?
- How to Organize a Business in 5 Steps
Reviewed by
Jason Ding is a seasoned accountant with over 15 years of progressive experience in senior finance and accounting across multiple industries. Jason holds a BBA from Simon Fraser University and is a designated CPA. Jasonās firm, Notion CPA, is an accounting firm with a business-first focus. The firm specializes in preparing personal and corporate taxation while providing fractional CFO work and leading the accounting and finance function for several small-to-medium-sized businesses. In his free time, youāll find Jason on the basketball court, travelling, and spending quality time with family.
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