Bookkeeping Invoice Template: A Monthly Retainer Invoice and a Catch-Up Invoice, Both Worked

Why bookkeepers need two invoices, not one

Most bookkeeping practices run on two kinds of work. Monthly bookkeeping is recurring: reconcile the accounts, categorize transactions, close the month, send the reports. Catch-up and cleanup work is a project: a new client is six months behind, or the last bookkeeper left the books in a state that needs rebuilding before monthly work can start. Billing both on one invoice hides the project inside the retainer and trains the client to think cleanup is included. Use two templates.

Template 1: monthly bookkeeping invoice

1. Your practice name, invoice number, invoice date.
2. Client business name and the contact who approves invoices.
3. Service period. "Bookkeeping for October 2026, billed November 1."
4. Monthly fee with its scope. One line that names the scope in numbers: accounts reconciled, transaction ceiling, reports delivered, close date.
5. Payroll. A base fee plus a per-employee charge, so growth shows up on the invoice automatically.
6. Extras, each on its own line. Sales tax filings, 1099 preparation, a new bank account added mid-month, transactions over the ceiling.
7. Due date and payment method. Card or ACH on file, charged on the due date.
8. Scope note. One sentence: work outside this scope is quoted before it starts.

Worked example on our assumptions, not market rates:

The over-ceiling line is the one most bookkeepers skip, and it is the one that tells a growing client their fee is about to change. A client who sees "50 transactions over" for three months in a row expects the conversation about the next tier.

Template 2: catch-up or cleanup invoice

1. Project name and the months of books covered. "Catch-up bookkeeping, April to September 2026."
2. Price per month of books, or a fixed project fee, from your engagement letter.
3. Deposit received and the balance due on delivery.
4. What the client must provide (statements, receipts, payroll reports), with the date you need them.
5. Deliverable. Reconciled accounts and reports for each month, and the date monthly service starts.

Example on our assumptions: six months behind at $300 per month of books is $1,800; 50% deposit ($900) on signing, $900 due when the reconciled books are delivered. If the client sends the statements late, the delivery date moves, not your price. Write that on the invoice the client approves.

When to send, and how to get paid on time

Bill monthly bookkeeping in advance, on the 1st, for the month you are about to close, and charge the card or ACH on file on the due date. Billing in arrears means you have already done the work when the client decides whether to pay. Send catch-up invoices at signing for the deposit and again at delivery. For clients who pay by check, a reminder three days before the due date and one on the day is enough; after that, pause the next month's close until the balance is paid, as your engagement letter says.

Keep the invoice and the engagement letter in step. If the letter says 250 transactions and three accounts, the invoice should say the same, in the same words. When the scope changes, change both on the same day.

Price check before you send

The flat fee on line 4 should come from your hours, not from a competitor's price list. Estimate the monthly hours for the client, multiply by your target hourly rate, and round. The free bookkeeping pricing calculator does that from transactions, accounts and payroll, and how much should a bookkeeper charge covers the pricing models behind it.

Year-end is the other pressure point. Put the 1099 and year-end close work on its own invoice in December, quoted in November, so it never lands as a surprise on the January monthly invoice.

Common mistakes

• Scope that says "bookkeeping" and nothing else, so every extra feels like a surprise.
• Cleanup billed inside the first monthly invoice, which sets the wrong price for month two.
• No per-employee payroll line, so a client who doubles headcount pays the same. Practices that run payroll for many clients face their own deadline crunch; see the payroll-day problem.
• Invoices sent on the 20th for work done on the 1st to the 15th.

Where Unmanually fits

The invoice takes minutes. Chasing missing statements (see the bookkeeping document-chasing problem), answering "can you also do our sales tax?" and following up on unpaid invoices takes the rest of the week. Unmanually is a 24/7 AI Office Manager for accountants and bookkeepers that you run by voice: it answers calls and email, books consultations, asks clients for the documents you need, sends the invoices you approve and follows up until they are paid. See Unmanually for accountants and bookkeepers, or read how to get more bookkeeping clients.