Are you good at handling your business’s finances? Do you make sure you keep a record of each and every transaction you make? Do you adhere to your budgets while keeping your records accessible? Do you meticulously store receipts?
The job of a bookkeeper is to maintain a record of the amount of money a company spends, earns, and owes during its lifetime. At the end of the year, we will be able to use all the data collected to gather a concise, clear, and accurate record of even the smallest transaction made during that period. This information can then be used to file the business’s end of year returns.
Tax law modifies on a regular basis and breaking it can be expensive, so doing your research when it comes to government legislation is extremely helpful. However, if you start to feel queasy simply when you hear the word ‘tax’, you might want to pass this task to TWC. We will make sure you stay on top of regulation changes so we know exactly what to do to avoid penalties.
Why should you choose a bookkeeper instead of going for inexpensive accounting software? Most entrepreneurs often believe they can take care of bookkeeping duties by themselves in order to keep start-up costs low. A great deal of business owners manage to do that, but it actually does take a good amount of accuracy, skill, and lots of time to enter accounts well, even when it comes to the most complicated accounting software.
Mistakes are omnipresent in accounting and as such even those with a passion for figures are prone to making mistakes. Dealing with figures and spread-sheets late at night after a long day spells disaster. Even though DIY bookkeeping may seem like the inexpensive option, any mistakes made are sure to affect the end of year tax return, so you may well expect hefty HMRC penalties.
Hiring TWC as your professional bookkeeper is an excellent way to save your business money in the long run. Years of training and experience guarantees TWC understand and record data quickly and accurately, so you get enough free time to focus on your business.
The bookkeeping question every business owner wants answered
Let’s start with the truth. Most business owners have absolutely no idea what bookkeeping should cost. Some firms quote a flat monthly fee that bears no relation to the actual work involved. Others charge by the hour and watch the meter tick whenever they touch your books. And a few, frankly, just make a number up and hope you don’t ask why.
In my eyes, none of those approaches are good enough. Bookkeeping is the foundation of your entire financial picture. It’s how you know what’s coming in, what’s going out, what you owe, and what you’re owed. It’s what feeds your VAT returns, your year end accounts, and every meaningful decision you’ll make about your business. So you deserve to know exactly what you’re paying for, why you’re paying it, and what level of service you’re actually getting.
This article is going to walk you through, in proper detail, how Together We Count prices our Virtual Financial Management bookkeeping service. We’ll cover the variables we look at, the three packages we offer, and why every single quote we produce is calculated specifically for your business and no one else’s.
Let’s dive in
What is Virtual Financial Management and why does it matter?
Virtual Financial Management, or VFM, is the name we give to our ongoing bookkeeping service. It’s the day-to-day, week-to-week, month-to-month work of keeping your books accurate, your transactions reconciled, your VAT returns filed, and your numbers in a state where you can actually use them to run your business.
Unlike year end accounts, which are a once-a-year compliance exercise, bookkeeping is a continuous relationship. We’re working on your numbers every single month, all year round. That’s why we price it as a monthly retainer rather than a one-off fee. You pay the same fixed amount every month, you know exactly what’s coming, and your bookkeeping never falls behind.
Get it right and your business runs on real numbers. You know what’s profitable. You know what’s not. You can plan, forecast, and make confident decisions. Get it wrong and you end up running blind, scrambling at year end, paying more tax than you should, and making business decisions on guesswork. The difference between good bookkeeping and bad bookkeeping is the difference between a business that grows on purpose and a business that drifts.
So the question isn’t really “how much should I pay for bookkeeping?” The real question is “what am I actually getting for my money, and is it the right level of service for my business?”
Let me explain how we approach that.
Our pricing philosophy: fixed monthly fees, individually calculated
Together We Count does not charge for bookkeeping by the hour. We never have. Hourly billing rewards slow bookkeepers and punishes efficient ones, and it leaves you, the business owner, never knowing what your invoice is going to look like at the end of the month.
Instead, we use value based, fixed monthly fee pricing. Every client gets a bespoke quote calculated specifically for their business. You agree the price up front. You know exactly what’s included. And you pay the same fixed amount every month, twelve times a year, with no surprise increases and no padded bills.
Consider this for a moment. If you signed up to a gym, you’d want to know the monthly fee before you joined, not get a bill at the end of the month based on how long the receptionist took to find your file. It’s the same with bookkeeping. Fixed monthly fees protect you. They protect us too. And they force us to be efficient, accurate, and clear about the scope of what we’re doing.
To make sure those fixed fees are fair, we use a structured pricing system that walks through your specific circumstances and calculates a price tailored to your business. No two quotes are the same, because no two businesses are the same.
What goes into the price? The variables we consider
Here’s where most bookkeeping firms get vague. We’re going to be specific. When we sit down to price your bookkeeping, here are the things we look at, in plain English.
The volume of your transactions
This is the single biggest driver of bookkeeping price. Every transaction has to be coded, categorised, and reconciled, so the more transactions you have, the more work is involved. We band sales invoices and bank receipts into ranges, from under ten per month right up to over eight hundred and seventy per month, and the band you fall into directly affects the calculation.
A small consultant raising five invoices a month is a very different proposition from a busy hospitality business with hundreds of card transactions a day. The price reflects that.
Your industry sector
We work with a lot of different sectors, and each one carries its own profile. Plumbing and heating businesses with low transaction volumes are priced differently from hospitality, retail, or construction businesses with high transaction volumes. Lawyers, manufacturers, medical professionals, property businesses, professional services firms, cleaning businesses and tradespeople all have their own quirks. Sector matters because it tells us how much work is actually involved, what compliance considerations apply, and how the bookkeeping needs to be structured.
Whether you need Xero project accounting
If you run jobs or projects and you want income and cost tracked at a project level, that adds a layer of data management on top of standard bookkeeping. We band this by project volume, from one or two projects per month up to fifteen, and price accordingly.
Your VAT position
If you’re VAT registered, your quarterly VAT returns need to be prepared and submitted on time. The VAT scheme you’re on also matters. Flat rate VAT is simpler. Standard VAT or cash accounting require more detailed transaction-level coding. All of this feeds into the price.
Your sales ledger and credit control
Do you raise sales invoices that need chasing, or are you a cash business? If you have a sales ledger, how often do you want it reconciled so credit control can take place? Once a month, twice a month, weekly, or in line with your VAT returns? Each frequency requires a different level of input from us, so each one carries a different price.
We can also raise your sales invoices for you if you’d rather we did, which is a separate decision and a separate cost.
How many accounts we need to reconcile
Every bank account, deposit account, credit card, online payment platform (PayPal, Stripe, GoCardless and similar), factoring account, business loan and hire purchase agreement has to be reconciled separately. The more financial accounts you have, the more reconciliation work is involved. We ask for the exact numbers and the price reflects them.
### Whether you need payroll journals posted
If you have a payroll scheme, the journals need to be posted into Xero. Note that this is just to post the journals so the bookkeeping is complete, not to process the payroll itself. Payroll processing is a separate service with its own quote. The number of employees you have affects the journal complexity and therefore the price.
Foreign currency and intercompany transactions
If you have foreign currency transactions, exchange rate differences need to be calculated and posted. If you have intercompany balances with other businesses you own, those transactions need to be matched and reconciled across entities. Both add complexity and both affect the price.
How often you want bookkeeping done
This is one of the biggest decisions you’ll make. We offer a range of frequencies, from weekly through monthly to quarterly or six-monthly. Weekly bookkeeping is the most expensive because it requires the most active management. Quarterly bookkeeping aligned with your VAT returns is more efficient and therefore more affordable.
For 2026 we’ve also introduced four new AI-assisted bookkeeping options, where AI tools handle a large proportion of the transaction categorisation automatically and a member of our team reviews the output at agreed intervals (weekly, twice a month, monthly, or quarterly). This is a hybrid model that combines the speed and consistency of automation with the judgement and quality control of human review. It allows us to offer competitive pricing for clients whose books suit an AI-led approach, while still maintaining the standards you’d expect.
How you get the information to us
How does the paperwork actually reach us? You might use OneDrive or a similar shared folder. You might forward everything to Hubdoc as PDFs and photos. You might let us take over an accounts@ email address so anything financial just gets forwarded to a single inbox we manage. Or you might already keep your own books and just need us to review them.
The delivery method has a real impact on the price. Taking over an accounts@ inbox, for example, is the most comprehensive option and reflects significantly more workload than simply reviewing books you’ve already maintained yourself.
Turnaround time, divisions, and reporting
How quickly do you want the bookkeeping completed once we have all the information? ASAP, within seven working days, fourteen, twenty-one, twenty-eight, or thirty-five? Faster turnaround costs more.
How many divisions or locations do you have that need separate reporting? One, two, three, or four? Each one multiplies the reporting work.
How often do you want a review meeting to discuss the figures with us? Never, annually, every six months, quarterly, or monthly?
Every one of these answers feeds into your final calculated price.
Supplier payments, stock, and cashflow
Do you want us to organise periodic payments to your suppliers by producing remittance reports? Weekly, fortnightly, monthly, or not at all? Weekly supplier payment management is one of the more labour-intensive add-ons we offer.
Do you carry stock or work in progress that needs accounting for? Should the journals be posted monthly, quarterly, or annually at year end?
Do you want precision accounting with accruals and prepayments, so income and costs are matched to the period they actually relate to rather than the period they were paid?
Do you want a basic Excel cashflow forecast for the following month, based on your trade debtors, creditors, and regular bank payments?
Each of these is a yes or no decision, and each one feeds into the price.
It’s why we can confidently say that no two bookkeeping quotes are the same. They literally can’t be. Every client gets a price built specifically for the business they’re actually running.
Once we’ve calculated your individual base price, you choose which package suits your business. We offer three.
A quick note on VAT before we go any further. All the prices mentioned in this article are quoted plus VAT. We add VAT at the standard rate to every invoice, in line with HMRC requirements. Prices below are shown as monthly amounts, invoiced once per month, twelve times per year.
Let me walk you through each one properly.
Premium is our top tier bookkeeping package. It’s the best option for busy business owners who want the maximum out of their cloud accounting system and want access to the key metrics so they can make the best business decisions based on the best quality information.
Here’s what’s included:
– Making Tax Digital for VAT, set up and kept compliant
– Hubdoc, so you can scan and store your receipts with no paperwork to manage
– Making sure you’re not paying more tax than you need to
– Your VAT return prepared and submitted to HMRC on time
– Connecting your apps to Xero so everything talks to each other
– Handling overseas payments and foreign currency transactions
– Monthly fixed asset management
– Maintaining your fixed asset register
– Making sure your books balance, with nothing slipping through the cracks
– Keeping track of what your customers owe you
– Regular summary reports so you can see how your business is performing
– Unlimited email and telephone support
– A dedicated account manager who knows your business
– Profit and loss reporting, so you see exactly what you’ve made, not just what’s in the bank
– An in-depth breakdown of your income, spending, and trends
– Regular review meetings to talk through your numbers
– Cost control: expense monitoring, analysis and advice
– Cashflow forecasting so you know what the next thirty to sixty days will look like
– A personal video walkthrough of your key results and findings
– Free membership of the Together We Count network
– An invitation to post a guest blog on togetherwecount.co.uk
Premium is paid as twelve equal monthly invoices. Prices typically start from around £242 plus VAT per month for smaller, simpler businesses and scale up significantly for larger or more complex ones. The minimum annual investment for this package is around £2,900 plus VAT.
This package suits established businesses who want their bookkeeper to be more than just a compliance function. You’re paying for analytics, advisory, and ongoing visibility. If you want someone in your corner all year round, helping you read your numbers and make better decisions, this is the one.
Full is the package most of our clients choose, and it’s labelled “Most Popular” for a reason. It’s our most popular option because you get valuable periodic reports to help you manage your business, general advice, and unlimited email and telephone support.
Here’s what’s included:
– Making Tax Digital for VAT, set up and kept compliant
– Hubdoc, so you can scan and store your receipts with no paperwork to manage
– Making sure you’re not paying more tax than you need to
– Your VAT return prepared and submitted to HMRC on time
– Connecting your apps to Xero so everything talks to each other
– Handling overseas payments and foreign currency transactions
– Yearly fixed asset management
– Maintaining your fixed asset register
– Making sure your books balance, with nothing slipping through the cracks
– Keeping track of what your customers owe you
– Regular summary reports so you can see how your business is performing
– Unlimited email and telephone support
– A dedicated account manager who knows your business
– Free membership of the Together We Count network
– An invitation to post a guest blog on togetherwecount.co.uk
Full is paid as twelve equal monthly invoices. Prices typically start from around £100 plus VAT per month for smaller, simpler businesses and scale up with complexity. The minimum annual investment for this package is around £1,200 plus VAT.
The Full package is what most of our plumbing and heating clients choose, and it’s the one I’d point most business owners towards as a starting point. You get the cloud integration, the foreign currency handling, the bank balance checking, the debtor tracking, the regular reporting, and the unlimited support and dedicated account manager. The unlimited email and telephone support alone tends to pay for itself many times over once you actually start using it.
What you don’t get at this level, compared to Premium, is the deeper analytical and advisory layer: the in-depth income and spending breakdown, the regular review meetings, the cost control advice, the cashflow forecasting, the personal video walkthroughs, and the monthly (rather than yearly) fixed asset management. Those upgrades are what take you from solid bookkeeping into proper business insight.
Essential is our entry level bookkeeping package. It’s best for those business owners who are simply looking to get the basic entries done to ensure they are being compliant with HM Revenue and Customs. It’s suitable for smaller businesses and those on a tighter budget.
Here’s what’s included:
– Making Tax Digital for VAT, set up and kept compliant
– Hubdoc, so you can scan and store your receipts with no paperwork to manage
– Making sure you’re not paying more tax than you need to
– Your VAT return prepared and submitted to HMRC on time
– Yearly fixed asset management
– Free membership of the Together We Count network
– An invitation to post a guest blog on togetherwecount.co.uk
Essential is paid as twelve equal monthly invoices. Prices typically start from around £50 plus VAT per month for the smallest, simplest businesses and scale up from there based on the variables we covered above. The minimum annual investment for this package is around £600 plus VAT.
If your business is straightforward, your transaction volumes are low, and you simply need the bookkeeping done to a compliant standard, Essential is a strong fit.
What you don’t get with Essential is the deeper service layer that comes with Full and Premium. No app integration with Xero. No foreign currency handling. No fixed asset register maintenance. No active checking that your books balance beyond the basics. No customer balance tracking. No regular summary reports. No unlimited email and telephone support. No dedicated account manager. If you want any of that, Full Accounting is the next step up.
What’s not included in any bookkeeping package
There are two things worth being clear on, because they catch some clients out.
Year end accounts are not included in any bookkeeping package. The bookkeeping service keeps your books in order throughout the year and produces your VAT returns. The year end accounts, the corporation tax return, and the financial statements that get filed with Companies House and HMRC are a separate service, priced through our Annual Financial Statements model. Most clients take both, but they’re billed and quoted separately so you can see exactly what each one costs.
Payroll processing is also separate. Our bookkeeping service includes posting payroll journals into Xero so the books are complete, but the actual processing of payroll, the payslips, the pension submissions, and CIS where applicable are quoted under a separate model. If you need payroll, just let us know and we’ll quote for that alongside your bookkeeping.
Why this matters: the bigger picture
Note that the way we price isn’t just about being fair on the day you receive your quote. It’s about what it tells you about the firm you’re working with.
A firm that prices using a structured, variable-driven, fixed monthly fee methodology is a firm that has thought hard about its own business. It’s a firm that understands what drives cost, what drives value, and what drives the relationship between the two. And, in my eyes, that’s exactly the kind of firm you want handling your bookkeeping.
Compare that to the alternative. A firm that gives you a vague hourly rate, sends you invoices that are bigger than expected every month, and then can’t tell you what you actually paid for. Would you trust that firm with the foundation of your financial reporting? With the data that drives your VAT returns, your year end accounts, and every business decision you make? I wouldn’t.
How much will my bookkeeping actually cost?
It depends on your specific circumstances, which is the honest answer. For a small business with low transaction volumes, simple cloud-based records, and straightforward affairs, Essential starts from around £50 plus VAT per month, Full from around £100 plus VAT per month, and Premium from around £242 plus VAT per month. For larger or more complex businesses, prices increase based on the variables covered above. Get in touch and we’ll produce a bespoke quote for you, properly calculated, with no obligation.
Are your bookkeeping fees tax deductible?
Yes. Bookkeeping fees are an allowable business expense, which means in effect HMRC is paying a proportion of the cost through reduced corporation tax or income tax. It’s one of the reasons we frame the fee as a small monthly investment rather than an annual cost.
What if my business changes during the year?
Tell us. The fixed price agreement is designed to flex with your business. If your transaction volumes increase significantly, if you take on new staff, if you start trading overseas, or if anything material changes, we revisit the agreement and adjust it fairly. You’re never locked into a price that no longer fits your business, and we’d rather have an honest conversation about price than let the scope drift quietly.
Do I have to commit for a long period?
No. We have a ten day termination clause built into our fixed price agreements, and we have a built-in three month review meeting where we sit down together and check the package is still right for you. If it isn’t, we change it. If you want to leave, you can. We earn your business every month, not just on the day you sign up.
What’s the difference between you and a cheaper online bookkeeper?
Quite a lot, frankly. Cheaper online bookkeepers typically run on volume, automation, and minimal human contact. That works for some businesses. We work differently. We specialise in plumbing and heating businesses (and a handful of other sectors), our team is fully remote and international but properly qualified, and the relationship between you and your bookkeeper is the heart of what we do. You’re not a ticket in a queue, and your books aren’t being processed by someone who’s never spoken to you.
How does the AI bookkeeping option work?
For 2026 we’ve introduced four AI-assisted bookkeeping options. AI tools handle the bulk of transaction categorisation automatically, and a member of our team reviews the output at agreed intervals (weekly, twice a month, monthly, or quarterly with your VAT returns). It combines the speed of automation with the judgement of a real human bookkeeper. It tends to suit clients with reasonably clean, predictable transactions and works out at a more competitive price point than full manual bookkeeping.
How do I get a quote?
Get in touch. We’ll book a short, no-pressure conversation, walk through your specific circumstances, and produce a properly calculated fixed monthly price quote within a few working days. If it’s right for you, brilliant. If it’s not, that’s fine too. No hard sell.
Ready to talk?
If you’ve read this far, you’re clearly serious about getting your bookkeeping handled properly. That’s a good start.
The next step is a conversation. Tell us about your business, your current setup, your transaction volumes, and what you actually need from your bookkeeper. We’ll listen, ask the right questions, and produce a transparent fixed monthly price quote for you to consider.
You can call us on 0114 4000 119, email info@togetherwecount.co.uk, or use the contact form on our website. We’ll take it from there.
Together We Count. Specialist accountants for plumbing and heating businesses. Honest pricing. Fixed monthly fees. Real relationships.
