Bookkeeper Fees in Sunshine Coast (2026)

• Uneven trading months. A business whose sales rise and fall through the year can pay too much on a flat package in the quiet months. Ask whether the provider will price a lower base fee with busy months charged at $40–$120 per hour, or set the package on your average volume. Either way, ask what the transaction cap is and what happens in a month that goes over it.
• Selling or stepping back. A larger share of Sunshine Coast households own their home outright than across Queensland (34.7% against 29.1%, ABS 2021 Census). Whatever stage your own business is at, the ATO's record-keeping duty covers every transaction from starting the business through to selling or closing it, with a 5-year keeping period for most records. If a sale or wind-down is coming, get a quote to bring the file up to date and archive it properly.
• Staff and BAS registration. Wages are where tax law comes in. The TPB names payroll services that interpret tax law, STP reporting included, plus calculations of leave and withholding, as BAS services, and charging for BAS services without registration attracts what the TPB calls significant civil penalties. That is the work bundled into $980–$2,450 per month, so check how many staff and pay runs the price covers.
• Which BAS cycle. Under $20 million in GST turnover, a business reports quarterly unless the ATO calls for monthly reporting, and it may choose monthly. Using a registered agent to lodge can also buy extra time, the ATO says. Ask the bookkeeper which cycle the package is built on and whether lodging each statement is part of the fee or a separate charge.
• Rescue jobs. Books that have drifted for months are rebuilt as a project at $490–$2,950, and the hour count turns on what you can supply: bank statements for every account, sales records and supplier invoices for the whole gap. Ask for the rescue to be scoped in writing, with the months covered, the reports you get at the end and an hourly rate for anything found outside the scope.
• What a bookkeeper may do. Reconciling bank accounts, and entering data that involves no tax judgement, are not among the TPB's tax agent services, which leaves them open to unregistered bookkeepers. Coding transactions by applying GST rules is a BAS service. BAS agents themselves cover a narrower range of services than tax agents, so find out who handles the annual return.

Engage a bookkeeper once you have GST registration, staff, or more than a few dozen transactions a month; a clean file also cuts your accountant's year-end fee.

A sole trader with a handful of monthly transactions can keep clean books in software and hand a reconciled file to an accountant at year end.