Book-keeping Contract Agreement Template
We’ve worked with legal experts and proofreaders to design a simple bookkeeping contract template to help protect your business while also growing your client base.
Free Bookkeeping Contract Template
We’ve worked with legal experts and proofreaders to design a simple bookkeeping contract template to help protect your business while also growing your client base.
What’s in this template?
- • Services provided
- • Contract length
- • Confidentiality terms
Click below to download our free bookkeeping contract template
What is a bookkeeping contract?
Bookkeepers have the vital responsibility of ensuring the client’s financial records are accurate, substantiated, and up to date.
While some bookkeepers are hired in house, most financial record keeping is outsourced to independent contractors and accounting agencies.
A bookkeeping contract is a written agreement between a bookkeeper and a client that sets out the services, fees, schedule and confidentiality terms of the work. Freelance bookkeepers and small accounting firms sign it before they touch a client’s books, when they add services to an existing engagement or when a trial term ends and the work continues.
DISCLAIMER: We are not lawyers or a law firm and we do not provide legal, business or tax advice. We recommend you consult a lawyer or other appropriate professional before using any templates or agreements from this website.
Grab a copy of our Bookkeeping Contract Templates
We’ve designed a template to save you time, money, and hassles when it comes to contract compliance.
It’s completely free and 100% editable to your business needs.
Download our contract for bookkeeping services
Why is a bookkeeping contract important?
Bookkeeping requires attention to detail and knowledge of the client’s sensitive financial information. If bookkeeping is mismanaged, it could cost clients thousands of dollars in accounting fees to fix.
Furthermore, with such intimate knowledge and responsibility of client records, bookkeepers could breach business conduct and privacy, which could have a devastating impact on a company’s bottom line.
A bookkeeping agreement offers protection for clients and bookkeepers regarding payments, record keeping, privacy, fraud, and financial compliance. A formal contract aims to hold all parties accountable for maintaining accurate financial records.
From the bookkeeper’s perspective, a bookkeeping contract is a critical function of your financial services business.
A signed contract is the catalyst that turns a lead into a paying client. Locking in client work gives you confidence as a business owner, and you can start to plan and predict future income.
Best practices when using a bookkeeping contract template
We’ve created a bookkeeping agreement template that’s straightforward to use for any practitioner. Below are four best practices to get the most out of your contract when dealing with clients.
1. Be specific with services provided by the bookkeeper
The debits and credits of bookkeeping are based on universal principles. While the fundamentals are the same, each client presents unique requirements depending on the industry, size of the company, no. of employees, tax registrations, and current systems.
That’s why it’s crucial to conduct a client analysis before presenting a contract so you can be ultra clear on what you can offer. It doesn’t matter if the client maintains spreadsheets, paper records, or accounting software, see if you can access any financial information that will help you understand how much work is involved.
In addition to doing analysis, ask quality questions to understand your client’s workflows and goals. Here are some questions you can ask in your interview:
- • What type of business entity do you have?
- • How does your business make money?
- • Do you have payroll?
- • What type of tax registrations do you have?
- • Have you worked with a bookkeeper before? If so, what was the experience like?
- • Are your taxes up to date?
- • Do you use accounting software? If so, what do you use?
Once you’ve conducted an interview and analyzed your potential clients’ books, you’re now able to list all of the specific services you can offer in your bookkeeping contract.
2. Determine the length of your bookkeeping contract and agreements
The ultimate goal of a bookkeeping practice is to secure ongoing client work as this allows you to predict your income and capacity for future work.
However, with new relationships, it may take some time to build trust for clients to commit to hiring you long-term. In that instance, it’s a good idea to include an end date in your contract. This could be one month, a year, a quarter, whatever you and your client are comfortable with for a trial period.
With an end date, both parties know that they have a set period to see if the relationship is going to work. This is a sensible approach as it gives clients and bookkeepers an out if things are not going as planned.
On the flip side, if the relationship is successful for the first term, it opens up a dialogue for an ongoing agreement.
3. Set expectations for how you want to receive payments
A bookkeeper, like any service provider, can charge either a fixed rate or by the hour. As bookkeeping needs fluctuate depending on how many transactions a business has in a month, we recommend you start by charging an hourly rate.
The simplest way to charge clients is to track your time and provide an invoice at the end of the month for the hours you worked.
As a bookkeeper, you know the importance of paying invoices on time! So we also recommend you charge a penalty for late-payments and detail the terms in your contract. That way, you reduce your chances of late client payments. A typical sample sets invoices due within 15 or 30 days of receipt plus a monthly late fee, and the template leaves both numbers blank for you to fill in.
4. Commit to confidentiality
Client confidentiality is a must in any business relationship and is only heightened when it comes to dealing with sensitive financial data. We’re talking about bank login details, payroll information, debt consolidation, amongst other data points.
Therefore, a confidentiality clause is essential in any bookkeeping contract to hold all parties accountable to disclosure breaches.
What should a bookkeeping contract include?
A bookkeeping contract should name both parties and state the services, fees, term, client duties, confidentiality, liability limits, termination, governing law and signatures. Our template has 19 headed clauses that cover these points, and you can add client deadlines to the services list. It’s a short edit.
- Parties and effective date
- Services, such as data entry, bank reconciliation, payroll and financial statements
- Term and end date, plus whether the agreement renews
- Hourly or fixed rate, invoice timing and the late fee
- Confidentiality and how long it lasts after the work ends
- Liability, indemnity and termination terms
- Governing law, dispute resolution and signatures
What are the client’s responsibilities in a bookkeeping contract?
The client supplies bank and card access, receipts, payroll records and prior-year files by agreed dates, and answers the bookkeeper’s questions within an agreed number of days. Write those dates into the services list, because a bookkeeper can’t close a month without the source documents.
State what happens when documents arrive late, for example that the delivery date moves back by the number of days of delay.
How long should a bookkeeper keep client records?
A bookkeeper should keep client records for at least 3 years, which is the IRS general retention period for tax records, and longer when one of the IRS exceptions applies. The IRS sets these periods for the taxpayer’s own records, so your contract should state who holds which copies and for how long.
- 3 years from the date the original return was filed, in the general case
- 6 years if the return leaves out income that is more than 25% of the gross income shown on it
- 7 years if the client claims a loss from worthless securities or a bad debt deduction
- 4 years after the tax is due or paid, whichever is later, for employment tax records
These periods come from the IRS guidance on how long to keep records. State rules can run longer, so check yours before you fill in the blank. Don’t guess.
Can you sign a bookkeeping contract electronically?
A bookkeeping contract signed electronically is valid under federal law, because 15 U.S.C. 7001(a) says a signature or contract in a transaction affecting interstate commerce cannot be denied legal effect solely because it is in electronic form. Download the Word version, fill in the blanks and send it for signature with an e-signature tool such as Signaturely, so both parties keep a dated signed copy.
Grab a copy of our Bookkeeping Agreement Forms
We’ve designed a template to save you time, money, and hassles when it comes to contract compliance.
It’s completely free and 100% editable to your business needs.
Download our contract for bookkeeping services
Frequently Asked Questions
FAQ about our Bookkeeping Contract Agreement Template
While you’re hoping that nothing will ever go wrong in a bookkeeping project, it can still happen to the best of us. You get a disgruntled client, or even worse, a lawsuit.
A contract protects you against those situations and gives you a formal document to be accountable to.
So although you don’t need a bookkeeping contract, it’s a good idea to have one.
A contract protects you against those situations and gives you a formal document to be accountable to.
So although you don’t need a bookkeeping contract, it’s a good idea to have one.
Like any agreement, you can terminate a bookkeeping contract when:
- The work is completed
- Any party breaches the conditions of the contract
- All parties voluntarily agree to terminate the agreement
Yes, we’ve made our template available in Word so you can make changes as you see fit.
If you want to make significant changes to our template, we suggest you consult with a lawyer for best practices.
If you want to make significant changes to our template, we suggest you consult with a lawyer for best practices.
document preview
Book-keeping Contract Agreement
Book-keeping Contract Agreement
Parties
– This Book-Keeping Contract Agreement (hereinafter referred to as the “Agreement”) is entered into on ______________ (the “Effective Date”), by and between __________________________, with an address of ______________ (hereinafter referred to as the “Bookkeeper”) and ______________ with an address of ______________ (hereinafter referred to as the “Company”) (collectively referred to as the “Parties”).
Services Provided By The Bookkeeper
The Parties agree that the Bookkeeper will provide the following services to the Company:
- __________________________________________
- __________________________________________
- __________________________________________
- __________________________________________
- __________________________________________
- __________________________________________
- __________________________________________
- __________________________________________
- __________________________________________
- __________________________________________
Term
– This Agreement shall be effective on the date of signing this Agreement (hereinafter referred to as the “Effective Date”) and will end on ______________.
– Upon the end of the term of the Agreement, this Agreement will not be automatically renewed for a new term.
Service Rates
– The Company agrees to compensate the Bookkeeper an amount of ______________ per hour and the Bookkeeper further agrees to invoice the Company for the total amount of hours worked at the end of each month.
– The Parties agree that in the event that the invoices are not paid within thirty days from receipt, the Bookkeeper will be entitled to charge a late fee of ______________.
Relationship Between Parties
– Hereby, the Parties agree that the Bookkeeper in this Agreement is an independent contractor, where the Bookkeeper provides the services hereunder and acts as an independent contractor.
– Under no circumstances shall the Bookkeeper be considered an employee.
– Whereas, this Agreement does not create any other partnership between the Parties.
Performance
– The Bookkeeper hereby consents and promises to perform his/her services to the highest possible standards.
Representation And Warranties
– Hereby, the Parties declare that they are both fully authorized to enter into this Agreement, whereby the Bookkeeper is to perform the bookkeeping services in accordance with the ethics standards set forth by the International Ethics Standards Board for Accountants and any other applicable rules, laws and regulations.
– All analysis, records, reports, and filings will be performed in compliance with the law.
Confidentiality
– All terms and conditions of this Agreement and any materials provided during the term of the Agreement must be kept confidential by the Bookkeeper, unless the disclosure is required pursuant to process of law.
– The Bookkeeper will not be entitled to use any information provided to him/her, even after the conclusion of the Agreement for a period of ______________ years.
– Disclosing or using this information for any purpose beyond the scope of this Agreement, or beyond the exceptions set forth above, is expressly forbidden without the prior consent of the Company.
– This section will remain in force in the event that the Agreement is terminated.
Limitation Of Liability
– Under no circumstances will either party be liable for any indirect, special, consequential, or punitive damages (including lost profits) arising out of, or relating to, this Agreement or the transactions it contemplates (whether for breach of contract, tort, negligence, or other form of action) in the even that such is not related to the direct result of one of the party’s negligence or breach.
Indemnity
– The Parties agree not to indemnify and hold one another harmless. This also applies to their affiliates, agents, officers, employees, and/or successors. The Parties in this Agreement hereby in addition agree to assign against all (if any) claims, liabilities, damages, losses, penalties, punitive damages, expenses, any arising reasonable legal fees and/or costs of any kind or any amount that may arise. This includes, but is not limited to, any amount which may result from the negligence of, or the breach of, this Agreement by the party that is indemnified, its successors and assigns that occurs under the terms of this Agreement.
– This section will remain in full force and tact as well as effect, even upon the termination of the Agreement naturally, or the early termination by either of the Parties.
Termination
– This Agreement may be terminated in case the following occurs:
- Immediately in case one of the Parties breaches this Agreement.
- At any given time by providing a written notice to the other party ______________ days prior to terminating the Agreement.
– Upon termination, the Bookkeeper is required to return all Company content, materials, and all work products to the Company at his/her earliest convenience, but in no event beyond thirty (30) days after the date of termination.
Audit
– Hereby, the Bookkeeper agrees that he/she will maintain full records of all the business conducted that is relevant to the services in this Agreement and the Agreement itself.
– Hereby, the Bookkeeper agrees that he/she will maintain full records of all the business conducted that is relevant to the services in this Agreement and the Agreement itself.
Dispute Resolution
– Any dispute or difference whatsoever arising out of or in connection with this Agreement shall be submitted to arbitration/mediation/negotiation (circle one) in accordance with, and subject to the laws of ______________.
Governing Law
– This Agreement shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of ______________.
Severability
– In the event that any provision of this Agreement is found to be void and unenforceable by a court of competent jurisdiction, then the remaining provisions will remain in force in accordance with the Parties’ intention.
Entire Agreement
– This Agreement contains the entire Agreement and understanding among the Parties hereto with respect to the subject matter hereof, and supersedes all prior agreements, understandings, inducements and conditions, express or implied, oral or written, of any nature whatsoever with respect to the subject matter hereof. The express terms hereof control and supersede any course of performance and/or usage of the trade inconsistent with any of the terms hereof.
Disclaimer Of Warranties
– The Bookkeeper agrees to complete the bookkeeping services in accordance with the requests and desires of the Company. However, the Bookkeeper does not warrant that his/her services will create any additional profits, brand recognition, services or other. Whereas the Parties further agree that the Bookkeeper is not to be held responsible in the event that his/her services do not meet the Company’s desired result.
Amendments
– The Parties agree that any amendments made to this Agreement must be in writing, where they must be signed by both Parties to this Agreement.
– As such, any amendments made by the Parties will be applied to this Agreement.
Signature And Date
– The Parties hereby agree to the terms and conditions set forth in this Agreement and such is demonstrated by their signatures below:
Company
Name: ______________________
Signature: ___________________
Date: _______________________
Bookkeeper
Name: ______________________
Signature: ___________________
Date: _______________________
Related Proposals and Templates
Grab a copy of our Bookkeeping Contract Template
We’ve designed a template to save you time, money, and hassles when it comes to contract compliance.
It’s completely free and 100% editable to your business needs.
Download our contract for bookkeeping services