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Guide · Hiring
What a fixed-fee bookkeeping scope should include.
A fixed fee is only as fixed as the scope behind it. If the scope does not say which accounts, which months, what you get and what happens when the work grows, the fee is a starting number. Here is what a written scope should say before you sign — from any provider, including us.
Resources · GuidesFixed-fee scopeBy TechBrot2026-10-21
What you can check before you sign
- Fixed fee, written first
- Your own QuickBooks file
- No hourly billing
§ TL;DR
A written fixed-fee bookkeeping scope should name the entities, accounts and periods covered; list the deliverables and when each arrives; state the volume it assumes and what happens above it; say what is excluded (tax filing, audits, payroll filing); confirm who owns the file and the access arrangement.
and set out how scope changes are quoted and approved before the work continues. TechBrot delivers a scope like this within 3 business days of a discovery call.
Certifications · Current certifications held by TechBrot’s senior reviewer: Intuit QuickBooks Certification Level 2 and QuickBooks Workforce Certification — verification on request. Intuit’s ProAdvisor program becomes Intuit ProPartner Accountants in early 2027; the certifications continue.
§ 01 · Why the scope matters
The fee is fixed only if the scope is.
Fixed-fee pricing moves the risk of a job running long from you to the provider — but only for the work the scope describes. Everything outside it is either excluded or a change, and a vague scope makes almost anything a change.
Read the scope before the price. Two quotes at the same number can describe very different work.
§ 02 · Red flags
Scope language that should make you ask.
“Standard bookkeeping services”
A label, not a scope. Ask which accounts, which periods and which deliverables.No volume assumption
If the fee does not say what volume it covers, every busy month can become a change.Changes billed at an hourly rate
A fixed fee with hourly overruns is an hourly engagement with a floor.Work in the provider’s own system
If the books live somewhere you cannot take them, leaving becomes a project.§ 03 · The checklist
Ten things a written scope should say.
- Who and what: the legal entities and every bank, card and loan account covered.
- When: the periods — which months or years — and for monthly work, the close date each month.
- Deliverables: reconciliations, statements, schedules, summaries — and the date each one arrives.
- Volume assumed: the transactions, accounts or entities the fee is built on, and what happens above it.
- Exclusions: what is not included — tax filing, audits, payroll or sales-tax filing, collections.
- Access and ownership: whose QuickBooks file the work happens in, and that access can be removed.
- Review: who reviews the work before it reaches you.
- Changes: how work beyond the scope is quoted and approved in writing before it proceeds.
- Fee and terms: the fixed fee, when it is billed, and any minimum term.
- Ending it: notice, and what is handed over when the engagement ends.
§ 04 · How we do it
The scope TechBrot writes.
TechBrot delivers a written fixed-fee scope within 3 business days of a free discovery call and the file information needed to quote, covering everything above. Work happens in your own QuickBooks file; if new in-scope work appears, it is re-quoted and approved in writing before it proceeds. How we run engagements is on how we work; the published ranges are on the pricing page.
§ 06 · Questions
Questions about bookkeeping scopes.
Is a fixed fee always cheaper than hourly billing?
Not always. A fixed fee makes the cost predictable and puts the risk of a job running long on the provider — for the work the scope describes.
Should a scope include tax filing?
Only if the provider is licensed to do it and the scope says so. TechBrot does not file income-tax returns; your CPA does.
What if my transaction volume grows?
A good scope says what happens: a re-quote in writing when volume passes the stated assumption, approved before the fee changes.
Who should own the QuickBooks file?
You. The work should happen in the file registered to your business, with access you can remove at any time.
How long does a scope take to prepare?
TechBrot delivers one within 3 business days of the discovery call.
Want to see one?
Get a written fixed-fee scope for your books.
Tell us what’s wrong with the books. We’ll tell you whether cleanup, catch-up or monthly bookkeeping fits.
Or send the details instead What happens after you call