How Much Does Catch-Up Bookkeeping Cost for a Small Business? (2026 Prices)

The short answer

Those numbers come from the prices 19 providers (11 in the US, 8 in the UK) publish on their own websites, which we read on October 23, 2026, and from irs.gov and gov.uk. We sell bookkeeping, and our founding clients' catch-up is free, so we've put ourselves in the tables and said so.

How providers price catch-up

Catch-up is priced five ways, and the headline numbers aren't comparable until you know which one you're looking at.

What a backlog costs at per-month rates

Where a provider publishes a rate for each month behind, the cost is simple arithmetic. Here are those rates multiplied out, before any discount, for an ordinary month of transactions.

The conditions: Maxim Liberty's rate covers up to 5 hours a month, then $15 an hour, so a busy month costs more. Merritt's $100 is for months with fewer than 20 transactions left to enter. Docyt's catch-up is for hospitality businesses, and Finaloop's is for e-commerce, with the two months before you start included.

For comparison, flat prices for a cleanup start at $360 for a year (House of Bookkeepers, one bank and one card), $600 (Intuit), $750 (Monaco CPA) and $1,000 (Bookkeeper360).

Catch-up prices from 11 US providers

From each provider's own website, in US dollars. We left out providers that quote only on a call, and one whose catch-up price appears only on its blog and matches its monthly plan.

Swipe the table sideways to see every column.

For what these providers charge for monthly bookkeeping once you're caught up, see how much bookkeeping costs.

What moves the price

How many months, and how busy they were

Every price assumes an ordinary month. Maxim Liberty's $75 covers up to 5 hours, then $15 an hour; House of Bookkeepers' $360 year allows 1,440 transactions; Daykin Scott's £295 assumes about 1,000.

How much is already done

Merritt halves its rate to $100 for months with fewer than 20 transactions left to enter. Fixing books that exist but are wrong is a different job from building them from bank statements: House of Bookkeepers and Intuit clean up a QuickBooks Online file, while Merritt will create one.

How many accounts

House of Bookkeepers' $360 covers one bank and one card; several are $600. Daykin Scott's price is for up to two bank accounts.

This year or past years

Bench's free catch-up covers January 2026 onward. Intuit's cleanup covers only the prior and current financial year, and not records used for a return you've already filed. Osome charges £850 a year for a past year's filing and bookkeeping.

Inventory, payroll and your industry

Maxim Liberty says backlogs with inventory, payroll or several companies can take 6 to 12 weeks. Some providers only take one industry: Finaloop works with e-commerce businesses and Docyt's catch-up is for hospitality.

Whether filing is included

In the US, catch-up stops at the books: Intuit's cleanup, for one, doesn't include tax preparation. In the UK some prices include the filing: TaxRoot's £389 covers the overdue accounts and the CT600, and Osome's £850 a past year covers filing and bookkeeping.

How long it takes

Providers' own estimates:

• House of Bookkeepers: a year in QuickBooks Online in 5 to 7 business days.
• Bench: typically 2 weeks to 1 month.
• Intuit: typically within 30 days once your bookkeeper has your documents.
• Fincent: a year of books within 30 days on average.
• Maxim Liberty: 1 to 2 weeks for 1 to 3 months behind, 3 to 5 weeks for 6 to 12 months, and 6 to 12 weeks for several years.

Bench and Intuit both say the clock depends on getting your statements and documents on time, so gather them first. Then work back from your deadline. For a business whose year ends in December, partnership and S corporation returns are due on the 15th day of the third month after the year ends (March 15, 2027 for 2026) and C corporation returns on the 15th day of the fourth month (April 15, 2027). An extension generally gives 6 more months to file, but not more time to pay. In the UK, the 2025–26 Self Assessment return is due online by 31 January 2027.

What being behind costs in the US

Catch-up has a price, but so does filing late or without records. From irs.gov:

• Filing late: 5% of the unpaid tax for each month or part of a month, up to 25%. If the return is more than 60 days late, the minimum is $525 for returns due in 2026 and $535 for returns due in 2027, or 100% of the unpaid tax if that's less.
• Paying late: 0.5% of the unpaid tax a month, up to 25%. In a month when both apply, the total is 5%. Interest is charged on top, at 7% a year for the last quarter of 2026, and builds daily.
• Partnerships and S corporations: $255 for each partner or shareholder for each month the return is late, for up to 12 months ($260 for returns due in 2027). At the 2026 rate, a business with 2 owners that files 6 months late pays $3,060.
• Deductions need records: the IRS says you generally need documentary evidence, such as receipts, canceled checks or bills, to deduct an expense.
• How long to keep them: generally 3 years after filing, 6 if you under-report income by more than 25%, 7 for a bad debt or worthless securities claim, at least 4 for employment tax records, and indefinitely if you don't file a return.

Questions to ask before you sign

• Do I have to buy monthly bookkeeping? Bench's free catch-up needs an annual plan paid up front, Bookkeeper360 sells catch-up as an add-on to a plan, and Finaloop needs a subscription. Maxim Liberty and House of Bookkeepers sell it on its own.
• What does “a month” include? Maxim Liberty's covers 5 hours; Merritt's cheaper rate is for months with fewer than 20 transactions to enter.
• Is the software extra? Intuit's cleanup needs a QuickBooks Online subscription.
• Are past years included? Bench's free catch-up starts in January 2026, and its pages disagree on what earlier years cost.
• Is the filing included? Usually not in the US. In the UK, ask whether the price covers the late accounts and return.
• What do I pay up front? Maxim Liberty takes a $900 retainer, refundable on the unused balance; Bench's annual plan is paid up front.
• Is VAT added? In the UK, Mazuma, Daykin Scott and Micro Entity Accounts add VAT; TaxRoot charges none.

Yourself, a freelancer or a service?

• Yourself: realistic for a few months of simple books, if you have the statements and receipts. A tax deadline and a year of transactions make it harder, and errors carry into the return.
• A freelancer: Upwork puts median bookkeeper rates at $11–$25 an hour worldwide, and $25–$40 or more for experienced North American freelancers; its UK page says $20–$50 an hour. You agree the scope and the deadline with one person.
• A service: a published price per month or per job, a team, and usually a path into monthly bookkeeping once you're current. The prices are in the tables above.

In the UK

UK firms split the work in two: catching up the books, and filing what's overdue. Prices in pounds, from each firm's own website.

Swipe the table sideways to see every column.

What being late costs in the UK

• A late Self Assessment return: £100 straight away; after 3 months, £10 a day up to £900; after 6 months, 5% of the tax due or £300, whichever is greater; after 12 months, the same again. That's at least £1,600 for a return 12 months late. These rules apply to the 2025–26 return due on 31 January 2027. From April 2027, HMRC's new penalties, with points for late returns, apply to everyone who files Self Assessment.
• Paying Self Assessment tax late: 5% of the unpaid tax at 30 days, 6 months and 12 months, plus interest at 7.75% a year (the rate since 9 January 2026).
• Late company accounts: Companies House charges a private company £150 up to a month late, £375 up to 3 months, £750 up to 6 months and £1,500 after that, doubled if the accounts are late 2 years in a row.
• A late Company Tax Return: £200 if it's a day late and another £200 at 3 months (up from £100 for returns due from 1 April 2026), or £1,000 each (up from £500) if you're late 3 times in a row. At 6 months HMRC estimates your Corporation Tax, adds 10% of the unpaid tax, and you can't appeal the estimate; another 10% follows at 12 months.
• Keeping records: sole traders keep them at least 5 years after the 31 January deadline for the tax year; companies 6 years from the end of the financial year. A company that doesn't keep accounting records can be fined £3,000, or its director disqualified.

Sole traders and landlords with qualifying income over £50,000 keep digital records and send quarterly updates from April 2026, which makes falling behind costlier; see Making Tax Digital for Income Tax. For monthly bookkeeping prices in pounds, see how much bookkeeping costs in the UK.

Where NQD.ai fits

We sell bookkeeping, so read this part with that in mind. Our first 10 founding clients get their catch-up cleanup free, along with 6 months of bookkeeping free. In return we ask for a case study with your real numbers (anonymized if you prefer) and, once we've earned it, an honest review. After the founding spots fill, a cleanup is quoted as a one-time fixed project, never an hourly meter.

Before anything starts, we review your last 3 months free, with view-only access, and send you a written list of every error we find. We work in your own QuickBooks Online or Xero, for US and UK businesses. We don't file tax returns or accounts: we hand your CPA or accountant clean books.

Or see every NQD.ai price on one page.

Every provider price here comes from that provider's own website on October 23, 2026. If one has changed, email support@nqd.ai and we'll correct it.