Cost to Hire a Bookkeeper in the Philippines

What does the monthly price include?

One dedicated bookkeeper, 40 hours a week, working your hours. You keep approval of payments. The bookkeeper works in QuickBooks, Xero, or the ledger you already use, with user-level access rather than your bank password. We recruit from the top 2% of applicants, and we pay the hire in the Philippines.

A bookkeeping firm is a better fit when you want a vendor to own a fixed monthly close. A dedicated bookkeeper is the fit when categorization, bills, invoices, and receivables follow-up fill a working week. Your CPA still owns tax filings and advice. The bookkeeper keeps the records current so that work is shorter.

$1,800 a month for most roles, and from $2,500 a month for software developers and AI Implementation Specialists. Hiring and onboarding take 14 days. The first week is a trial: if you are not satisfied, we find a replacement or refund your money. We accept only the top 2% of applicants. Rekruuto is trusted by 100+ customers. We place talent in the Philippines only.

What does a full-time bookkeeper do?

The daily work is transaction categorization, bank and card reconciliations, invoice preparation, and accounts receivable follow-up. The weekly work is a review of open questions with you or your accountant, and payment runs on the day bills are due. Month-end is a close checklist ready for your CPA.

The location of the bookkeeper does not change the ledger. The work happens in your accounting software. Screen for the software you use, for how a prepayment and a refund should be recorded, and for what gets escalated to the CPA. Tax advice stays with the CPA.

Security is part of the seat. Give access inside the ledger, keep payment approval with you, and use a password manager for anything else. Our professionals sign NDAs.

How should you read the pay benchmarks?

The U.S. column is the BLS median for bookkeeping, accounting, and auditing clerks, plus employer costs. It is what a U.S. employer pays for that occupation. Rekruuto does not hire in the United States. The figure is here so you can see the employment cost next to a Philippines placement.

Mexico, South Africa, Vietnam, and the other countries on the comparison pages publish local pay for a bookkeeper or the closest listed title. Those are general local roles, not remote seats working your hours, and they exclude statutory employer costs in that country. Where a source is a proxy title, the page says so.

The Philippine Statistics Authority does not publish a bookkeeper rate in the occupational wages table we cite. The national average for full-time workers is the scale figure. We do not publish individual pay. You pay one monthly price.

What does a bookkeeper cost next to published benchmarks?

The first row is our published price for a full-time hire in the Philippines. The U.S. row is the BLS median for bookkeeping, accounting, and auditing clerks, $50,670 a year as of May 2025, plus employer costs. The other rows are local market pay in countries we do not hire in. Each of those links to its source page. A missing country means we did not find a usable public figure, so it is left off.

Per month, in U.S. dollars. U.S.: BLS^[1][2]. Other countries: Indeed or PayScale, converted at World Bank rates^[9].
Option	Per month	What it is
Rekruuto hire in the Philippines	$1,800	All in: recruiting, top 2% vetting, paying your hire, full time in your hours, 14-day start, 1-week trial.
U.S. hire, fully loaded	$6,292	BLS median $50,670 a year for bookkeeping, accounting, and auditing clerks, plus employer taxes and benefits. A comparison, not a Rekruuto price. We place talent in the Philippines only.^[1][2]
Mexico local benchmark	$600 MX$11,543	Indeed average advertised pay for Auxiliar contable, 28,000 salaries reported, updated Oct 4, 2026. Range $417 – $864. Pay only, before employer costs.^[11][9]
Brazil local benchmark	$395 R$2,208	Indeed average advertised pay for Auxiliar de contabilidade, 2,300 salaries reported, updated Oct 4, 2026. Range $290 – $582. Pay only, before employer costs.^[11][9]
Vietnam local benchmark	$372 ₫9,001,257	Indeed average advertised pay for Nhân viên Kế Toán (accounting staff), 1,100 salaries reported, updated Oct 5, 2026. Range $229 – $606. Pay only, before employer costs.^[11][9]
South Africa local benchmark	$1,020 R18,243	PayScale median reported base pay for Bookkeeper, 505 salary profiles, updated Jun 26, 2026. Range $700 – $1,377. Pay only, before employer costs.^[12][9]

Local market pay benchmarks: Indeed figures are the average pay advertised in job postings from the past 36 months; PayScale figures are the median base pay workers report. Both describe general local roles, not remote or U.S.-hours roles, and posting data can trail recent pay changes. U.S. dollars at World Bank annual average rates.

In the Philippines, the closest government pay figure is all full-time, time-rated workers (national): ₱21,544 a month in 2024, about $376. We do not publish what each hire earns. You pay one monthly price, and we handle pay.^[3][9]

In Mexico, Indeed reports average advertised pay of MX$11,543 a month for Auxiliar contable (28,000 salaries reported, updated Oct 4, 2026), about $600. The published range is MX$8,021 – MX$16,613. This is general local pay, not a remote seat working U.S. hours, and it is pay only. The side-by-side page is Cost to hire a bookkeeper: Philippines vs Mexico.

In Brazil, Indeed reports average advertised pay of R$2,208 a month for Auxiliar de contabilidade (2,300 salaries reported, updated Oct 4, 2026), about $395. The published range is R$1,621 – R$3,253. This is general local pay, not a remote seat working U.S. hours, and it is pay only.

In Vietnam, Indeed reports average advertised pay of ₫9,001,257 a month for Nhân viên Kế Toán (accounting staff) (1,100 salaries reported, updated Oct 5, 2026), about $372. The published range is ₫5,531,778 – ₫14,646,762. This is general local pay, not a remote seat working U.S. hours, and it is pay only.

In South Africa, PayScale reports median reported base pay of R18,243 a month for Bookkeeper (505 salary profiles, updated Jun 26, 2026), about $1,020. The published range is R12,531 – R24,630. This is general local pay, not a remote seat working U.S. hours, and it is pay only. The side-by-side page is Cost to hire a bookkeeper: Philippines vs South Africa.

What fills the week?

A bookkeeper keeps the books current: categorizing transactions, reconciling accounts, and chasing receivables before month-end. The work that happens while you are online, and the work that can wait, look like this on a live team:

During your workday

A weekly review of open questions with you or your accountant
Approving bills and payment runs on the day they are due

Between meetings

Daily transaction categorization
Bank and credit card reconciliations
Invoice preparation and accounts receivable follow-up
Month-end close checklist ready for your CPA

What should you screen for?

The monthly price is the same for every bookkeeper we place. The fit is not. These are the checks on the hire page, written so the first week of the trial has real work in it.

Screening checks for a bookkeeper. The hire page has the same list.
Skill	How to check it
QuickBooks Online or Xero	Ask them to walk through a bank reconciliation on screen in the software you use.
U.S. bookkeeping conventions	Ask how they would record a customer prepayment and a refund. Listen for accrual vs cash basis without prompting.
Accuracy under volume	Give 50 sample transactions to categorize. Check the error rate, not the speed.
Accounts receivable follow-up	Ask for a polite second-reminder email to a client 30 days late.
Knowing where the job stops	Ask what they would escalate to your CPA. Tax advice and filing decisions should be on that list.

How does the first month work?

You tell us the role, the tools, and the hours you need covered. We match you with candidates from the top 2% of applicants. You meet them, choose one, and they start on your team. Hiring and onboarding take 14 days. The first week is a trial. If the fit is wrong, we find a replacement or refund your money. After that week you keep one monthly invoice. You can pause or cancel with 2 weeks' notice. There is no separate placement fee on top of the monthly price.

The hire is full time: 40 hours a week, in your time zone. You manage the day-to-day work. We recruit, vet, and pay the person in the Philippines. Rekruuto is trusted by 100+ customers. We place talent in the Philippines only.

Most full-time roles are $1,800 a month. Software developers and AI Implementation Specialists are a different seat, from $2,500 a month. This bookkeeper is the standard full-time price.

Hours and English

The Philippines is UTC+8 and does not observe daylight saving time. A U.S. Eastern 9-to-5 is 9 p.m. – 5 a.m. in Manila during U.S. summer and 10 p.m. – 6 a.m. in U.S. winter. A U.S. Pacific 9-to-5 is 12 a.m. – 8 a.m. during U.S. summer and 1 a.m. – 9 a.m. in U.S. winter. Rekruuto hires work your hours as their regular schedule, so the whole workday overlaps.^[14] In the EF English Proficiency Index 2025, the Philippines ranks 28 of 123 with a score of 569 (high proficiency). English is an official language of the Philippines.^[13][33]

Why we hire bookkeepers in the Philippines

We place talent in the Philippines only. It is a deliberate choice, and it is why our hires work the way they do:

English that holds up on client calls. The Philippines ranks 28 of 123 in the EF English Proficiency Index 2025, in the high proficiency band, and English is an official language of the country for communication and instruction.^[13][33]
Your hours, by design. Every Rekruuto hire works full time in your time zone. U.S. hours are how our hires work, not an exception you negotiate.
Top 2% vetting. We accept only the top 2% of applicants, so you meet a shortlist, not a pile of résumés.
One flat monthly price. $1,800 a month for most roles, and from $2,500 a month for software developers and AI Implementation Specialists. We handle paying your hire, so there is no foreign payroll or employer filing for you to run.
Fast start, low risk. Hiring and onboarding take 14 days. The first week is a trial: if you are not satisfied, we find a replacement or refund your money.
Trusted by 100+ customers. We recruit, vet, and support talent in one country: the Philippines.

Get matched with your hire

Start in 14 days.

Frequently asked questions

How much does it cost to hire a bookkeeper in the Philippines?

A full-time bookkeeper from the Philippines costs $1,800 a month through Rekruuto. You get one dedicated person for 40 hours a week, working your hours, in your accounting software. Hiring takes 14 days, with a 1-week trial and a replacement or refund.

Should I hire a bookkeeper or use a bookkeeping service?

Use a bookkeeping firm when you want a vendor to own the monthly close on a fixed scope. Hire a dedicated bookkeeper when daily work, such as reconciliations, bills, invoices, and receivables follow-up, happens inside your own systems.

What does a U.S. bookkeeper cost?

The BLS median for bookkeeping, accounting, and auditing clerks is the annual figure on this page (May 2025). Employer costs from the BLS compensation release turn that wage into the fully loaded monthly figure. That comparison is not a price to hire through Rekruuto in the United States.

Does Rekruuto hire bookkeepers in Mexico or South Africa?

No. We place talent in the Philippines only. Those countries are on the comparison pages as public pay benchmarks.

Sources

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), national estimates, May 2025. Annual median wage, all U.S. employers. Pulled from the BLS public data API (series OEUN…13).
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employer Costs for Employee Compensation, June 2026 (USDL-26-1494), Table 5, June 2026, released September 9, 2026. Full-time private industry workers, all and by occupational group. All full-time: $54.00 total compensation and $36.97 wages and salaries per hour worked.
Philippine Statistics Authority, 2024 Occupational Wages Survey, August 2024, released November 2025. Average monthly wage rate (basic pay plus allowances) of full-time, time-rated workers in establishments with 10 or more workers.
World Bank, Official exchange rate, local currency per US$, period average (PA.NUS.FCRF), 2024 and 2025 annual averages.
Indeed, Indeed Salaries, country career pages (average pay in job postings), Pages updated September-October 2026; each figure links to its page and date. Mean of advertised pay in Indeed job postings from the past 36 months, with Indeed's typical low and high. Used only where 100 or more salaries were reported.
PayScale, PayScale Research Center, salary by job and country, Pages updated 2025-2026; each figure links to its page and date. Median self-reported base pay, with the 25th and 75th percentiles. Annual figures divided by 12. Used only where 30 or more salary profiles were reported.
EF Education First, EF English Proficiency Index (EF EPI) 2025, 2025 edition, 123 countries and regions. Proficiency bands: very high 600+, high 550-599, moderate 500-549, low 450-499, very low under 450.
IANA, Time Zone Database, Release 2026c. Local times computed for January 15, 2026 (U.S. standard time) and July 15, 2026 (U.S. daylight saving time).
National Commission for Culture and the Arts (Philippines), Language policies in the Philippines (1987 Constitution, Article XIV, Section 7), Accessed October 2026. Filipino and English are the official languages of the Philippines for communication and instruction.