Why the pieces add up faster than owners expect
Most owners assemble a back office accidentally. A bookkeeper here, a registered agent service there, a payroll app, a CPA at year end, a template bought online. Each one looks affordable on its own. The problem is that nobody is connecting them, so the bookkeeper does not know what payroll did, the CPA finds out about both in April, and the compliance deadlines belong to nobody at all.
The monthly total also tends to be larger than anyone has added up. Here is what the individual pieces commonly cost on the open market.
The ongoing costs
Bookkeeping is usually the biggest line. Published small business bookkeeping packages commonly run $300 to $700 a month; Bookkeeper360's monthly service starts from $399; and figures of $400 to $800 a month are commonly quoted for businesses under $5M in revenue. What you get at the bottom of that range is often categorisation without a real monthly close.
Registered agent service runs roughly $125 to $249 a year — Northwest publishes $125 and LegalZoom publishes $249.
Payroll for a handful of employees, plus sales tax filings, typically lands around $100 to $300 a month depending on headcount and frequency. Compliance tracking and annual report preparation is a smaller line, commonly $20 to $50 a month, when anyone is doing it at all.
Fractional CFO work is where the number jumps. Published rates for early-stage fractional CFO engagements under $1M in revenue commonly run $1,500 to $3,000 a month, and even a light retainer of eight to ten hours a month is commonly quoted at $1,400 to $2,800. Most small service businesses simply never buy this, which is why most of them never find out what their real job margin is.
The one-time launch costs
LLC formation itself is cheap — commonly $39 to $299 plus the state filing fee; Northwest publishes $39 plus state fee. That low number is what makes people think the whole thing is cheap.
The rest is where it goes. Licensing research and application prep commonly runs several hundred to around $1,000. QuickBooks setup with a proper chart of accounts is typically $300 to $1,000. A business plan with real three-year projections commonly runs $1,500 to $3,000. An HR starter kit — handbook, offer letters, contractor templates — typically runs several hundred to around $1,500. Contract templates and a preliminary trademark search commonly run $500 to $1,000, with attorney filing fees on top.
Add those up and the one-time work lands somewhere around $3,000 to $7,500 before anyone has kept a single month of books.
What this means in practice
Two things. First, the real cost of a properly run back office is considerably higher than the $100 LLC filing fee that most owners anchor on. Second, buying it in pieces costs more and delivers less, because the pieces do not talk to each other and nobody owns the gaps between them.
That is the case for one partner running all of it as one system, which is what the Whitelow partnership is. Our full price comparison, including sources, is on the pricing page.
The short version
- Ongoing back-office services commonly total roughly $1,000 to $2,000 a month bought separately.
- One-time launch work commonly runs $3,000 to $7,500 before any books are kept.
- Bookkeeping is usually the largest ongoing line at $300 to $700 a month.
- Fractional CFO support starts around $1,400 a month even for a light retainer.
- The $39 to $299 LLC filing fee is the cheapest part and the least of the work.
- Buying in pieces costs more and leaves gaps nobody owns.
Whitelow Legacy Group is not a law firm, an accounting firm or a registered investment adviser. This guide explains how things generally work so you can ask better questions. Rules differ by state and by situation, and anything specific to yours should go past an attorney or a CPA.
Frequently asked questions
How much does small business bookkeeping cost a month?
Published packages commonly run $300 to $700 a month for a small service business, with $400 to $800 commonly quoted for businesses under $5M in revenue. At the lower end you are often buying transaction categorisation rather than a genuine monthly close with reconciled accounts and a report you can act on.
Is a fractional CFO worth it for a small business?
At published rates of $1,400 to $3,000 a month as a standalone service, most one-truck and two-truck businesses cannot justify it, which is exactly why they never get the pricing and margin analysis that would help them most. Bundling a quarterly review into a broader partnership is how smaller businesses get access to it.
What does it cost to start an LLC?
The filing itself commonly runs $39 to $299 in service fees plus your state's filing fee, which varies widely by state. The entity is the cheap part — the operating agreement, EIN, bank account, licences, books and compliance calendar around it are where the real work and cost sit.
Are these your prices?
No. These are published market ranges for buying each service separately, gathered for comparison. Whitelow sells one package with two ways to pay — the figures are on the pricing page.