How much does bookkeeping cost builders?

Doing your own books in software costs from nothing on Pandle's free plan, or £5 a month plus VAT for Pandle Pro, as listed on 19 October 2026. A bookkeeper's median monthly fee was £150.50 in a 2025 survey.

Bookkeeping is the year-round job of recording every payment in and out, with the receipts and CIS statements behind them. It is not the tax return, which is a separate cost covered in what an accountant costs for builders. For a builder, the paperwork is what sets the price.

Your four options

The survey is a trade report for bookkeepers, published on 15 January 2026, not an official figure, and its figures are for all respondents, not builders alone. Its most common monthly band was £101 to £200.

Why volume matters most

Many firms price by the number of transactions, so in our reading a builder with lots of small materials runs pays more than one with a few large stage payments. Accotax sells bookkeeping as an add-on to its self-employed tax return packages, priced by transactions a year.

Mazuma's monthly bundles work the same way, from 20 transactions a month on Basic up to 200 on Premium at £60 a month plus VAT.

What else adds work for a builder

• CIS statements. Each contractor that takes a deduction must give you a statement within 14 days of the end of each tax month. Your bank shows the payment after the 20% or 30% deduction, so each one is matched to its statement. GOV.UK says your return shows pay before deductions as income and the deductions separately.
• Materials receipts. Contractors take no deduction from materials you paid for directly. They may ask for receipts, and estimate the cost if you have none, so in our reading a lost receipt can mean a bigger deduction.
• Paying your own subcontractors. That makes you a contractor too, with a monthly return due by the 19th after each tax month ends. Xero lists submitting contractor CIS returns as a £5 a month optional add-on; in our reading that is before VAT, like its plan prices.
• VAT. You must register once taxable turnover for the last 12 months goes over £90,000, or if you expect it to in the next 30 days alone. Most standard or reduced rate building work for a customer registered for VAT and reported within CIS then uses the domestic reverse charge, but not work for a private homeowner, or for a customer who tells you in writing that they are an end user or intermediary supplier. Your books must keep the two apart.
• Making Tax Digital (MTD). Your qualifying income is self-employment and property income before expenses. Unless you are exempt, MTD has applied since 6 April 2026 if it was over £50,000 in 2024-25, and starts on 6 April 2027 if it was over £30,000 in 2025-26, or on 6 April 2028 if it is over £20,000 in 2026-27. Updates are due by 7 August, 7 November, 7 February and 7 May. Under £90,000 of turnover, a sole trader can simply mark each record income or expense.

What this means for you

In our reading, a subcontractor with one or two contractors, no VAT and tidy receipts can keep their own books in software for a few pounds a month. Once you pay subcontractors, register for VAT or have hundreds of materials receipts, a bookkeeper or a bundle starts to earn its fee. Under MTD, GOV.UK says you or your agent can keep the records, but it is your responsibility to check they are accurate before each quarterly update.

Our Trades Tax plan will keep your books from your bank feed. Coming later. Not available yet: starts once our HMRC registrations are complete. Once our registrations are complete, we'll send your quarterly updates and tax return to HMRC for you, after you confirm the figures. Our Trades Tax plan is £35 a month or £350 a year including VAT, and VAT returns add £10 a month including VAT on the monthly plan. We don't do CIS contractor returns, so if you pay subcontractors, software with a contractor CIS add-on, such as Xero's, or a firm that files them is the better fit. Tax plans start once our HMRC registrations are complete.

Steps to keep the bill down

1. Use the free MTD check to see when MTD starts for you.
2. Count last year's transactions from your bank statements, so you know which price band you are in.
3. Keep one bank account just for the business.
4. Photograph each materials receipt on the day and note the job it was for.
5. File each CIS statement when it arrives and check it against the payment in your bank.
6. Ask for a written yearly price including VAT that says whether CIS, VAT returns and quarterly updates are covered.

The trades section has more on CIS, VAT and MTD for builders.