Data · checked October 31, 2026
What bookkeeping costs in New Jersey (2026)
Hiring a full-time bookkeeper in the Trenton-Princeton area costs about $64,765 a year in wages and employer payroll taxes, before benefits. Part time is about $16,341. Here is where those numbers come from, and how they compare with outsourcing.
What bookkeepers earn
| Bookkeeping, accounting and auditing clerks, May 2025 | Hourly | Yearly |
|---|---|---|
| Trenton-Princeton, NJ area (mean; 1,470 employed) | $28.25 | $58,750 |
| United States (mean) | $25.75 | $53,560 |
| United States (median) | $24.36 | |
| United States, lowest 10% earn less than | $36,000 | |
| United States, highest 10% earn more than | $74,550 |
For comparison, accountants and auditors averaged $45.56 an hour nationally in May 2025, and New Jersey's median was $47.94 an hour in May 2023, the latest state figure we could open. BLS projects employment of bookkeeping clerks to change by -6% from 2025 to 2035.
Sources: BLS: Occupational Employment and Wages in Trenton-Princeton, May 2025; BLS: Occupational Employment and Wages, May 2025; BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook: bookkeeping, accounting and auditing clerks; BLS: New Jersey occupational employment and wage estimates, May 2023.
What a bookkeeper on payroll costs the business
Wages are only part of it. The employer also pays payroll taxes on top. The example uses the Trenton-Princeton average wage, New Jersey's rates for a new employer and the full federal unemployment credit; an established employer's NJ rates can be higher or lower.
| Employer cost, one year | Full time (2,080 hours) | Part time (520 hours, 10 a week) |
|---|---|---|
| Wages | $58,750.00 | $14,690.00 |
| Social Security (6.2%) | $3,642.50 | $910.78 |
| Medicare (1.45%) | $851.88 | $213.01 |
| Federal unemployment (FUTA, 0.6% of the first $7,000) | $42.00 | $42.00 |
| NJ unemployment, new employer rate (2.6825% of the first $44,800) | $1,201.76 | $394.06 |
| NJ workforce development (0.1175% of the first $44,800) | $52.64 | $17.26 |
| NJ disability, new employer rate (0.5% of the first $44,800) | $224.00 | $73.45 |
| Total before benefits | $64,764.78 | $16,340.56 |
Not included: health insurance and other benefits, paid time off, workers' compensation insurance, software, equipment and the time it takes to hire and train. New Jersey's family leave insurance has no employer share for this period. For context, New Jersey's minimum wage is $15.92 an hour for most employees in 2026.
Sources: IRS Topic 751: Social Security and Medicare withholding rates; SSA: contribution and benefit base; IRS Topic 759: Form 940, federal unemployment (FUTA) tax; NJ Department of Labor: employer contribution rates; NJ Department of Labor: minimum wage for 2026.
Outsourced bookkeeping
An outsourced bookkeeper charges for the work, not a salary. Our own monthly prices start at $450 a month for up to 100 transactions, $750 for 100 to 300 and $1,200 for 300 to 600. That is $5,400 to $14,400 a year. Other firms price differently, so compare what is included: reconciliations, monthly reports and catch-up work.
See our bookkeeping prices Free books check
Doing it yourself
Software is the main cash cost, and your time is the real one. QuickBooks Online: In the US, Simple Start lists at $38 per month (1 billable user) and Essentials, the next plan up, at $85 per month (3 billable users). New monthly subscribers can take a 30-day free trial, or instead an introductory price of 50% off for the first 3 months; the offers cannot be combined. (source, checked 2026-10-30). Our own Tallyfinch is a one-time purchase for simple books, and our free templates cost nothing. If your time is worth $25.75 an hour, the national average for a bookkeeper, ten hours a month is about $257.50 of your time.
Who needs it
New Jersey has about 1.1 million small businesses, 99.7% of all businesses in the state, and 856,771 of them have no employees (2022 data). Most of them keep their own books or pay someone part of the time.
Source: SBA Office of Advocacy: 2025 small business profile, New Jersey (PDF).
Questions
How much does a bookkeeper cost in New Jersey?
An in-house bookkeeper in the Trenton-Princeton area averaged $28.25 an hour in May 2025 (BLS). Full time, that is about $58,750 a year in wages, and about $64,765 once the employer's payroll taxes are added, before benefits. Outsourced bookkeeping is usually a monthly fee instead.
Is outsourcing cheaper than hiring?
For most small businesses with up to a few hundred transactions a month, yes, because you pay for the hours the work takes rather than a full or part-time salary. Larger businesses with daily bookkeeping needs often hire.
What does the national data say?
Nationally, bookkeeping, accounting and auditing clerks averaged $25.75 an hour (median $24.36) in May 2025, according to BLS.
Why isn't there a New Jersey statewide wage here?
BLS publishes 2025 state figures for this job only in a data download we could not open when we checked. Rather than guess, the page uses the Trenton-Princeton area and national figures.
Figures checked October 31, 2026. Wage data is published once a year and tax rates change, so check the sources for the current numbers. This is general information, not tax, legal or accounting advice. MCC Solutions is not a CPA firm.