Rates & scope
Posted plainly, because guessing wastes everybody's time.
These are suggested rate bands the co-op reviews at the spring meeting each year. The member doing the work sets their own rate inside — or outside — these bands based on the specifics. No percentage goes back to the co-op.
Suggested rate bands · 2025
Set March 2025. Reviewed annually.
| Engagement type | Low | Mid | High |
|---|---|---|---|
| Routine bookkeeping, QBO or QBD | $55/hr | $65/hr | $80/hr |
| Full-charge fill-in · on-site | $70/hr | $85/hr | $95/hr |
| Payroll processing & 941/940 | $65/hr | $75/hr | $90/hr |
| 1099 season batch work | $60/hr | $70/hr | $85/hr |
| Cleanup / catch-up engagements | $75/hr | $90/hr | $110/hr |
| Audit prep / PBC workpapers | $85/hr | $100/hr | $120/hr |
| Interim controller (weekly retainer) | $2,400/wk | $3,000/wk | $3,800/wk |
Mileage beyond 20 miles one-way reimbursed at the federal standard rate. On-site engagements over four weeks typically move to a weekly retainer. No kill fees; either side can end the engagement with a week's notice.
What fits well
- Short-term fill-in, one week to four months
- Year-end close and audit preparation
- Cleanup of 3–24 months of drifted books
- 1099 and sales-tax season overflow
- Interim controller during an ownership transition
- Training an incoming bookkeeper for a week
- Second set of eyes on month-end before a board meeting
What doesn't fit
- Signing a tax return. We don't do that as a co-op.
- Attest services. We're not a licensed CPA firm.
- Fractional-CFO engagements longer than six months
- Forensic investigations intended for litigation
- Remote-only work outside the four-county service area
- Placements that require exclusivity or non-compete terms
- White-label or resale arrangements of any kind
How an engagement usually goes
- Introduction. Somebody you trust reaches out to their member contact. The member loops in the coordinator.
- Triage call. The coordinator (or the member, if the fit is obvious) talks through the ask: timing, geography, systems, scope. Usually 15–30 minutes.
- Match. The coordinator proposes a member. If it's not a fit on either side, we say so and, when we can, suggest somebody outside the co-op who'd serve you better.
- Scope letter. The member sends a one-page scope-and-rate letter. No boilerplate, no legalese. Signed by both sides before work starts.
- Work. The member works directly with the client. The co-op isn't in the middle.
- Wrap. The member leaves behind a close checklist, a tie-out file, and (if you want it) a thirty-minute handoff call with whoever comes next.
Handwritten at the bottom of every scope letter: “If something's not working, tell me early. That's the whole deal.”