Bookkeeping Business Invoicing App (2026)
A bookkeeping practice runs on recurring retainers billed in advance, not on invoices you chase — and chasing your own receivables undercuts the advice you sell. ShowTheReceipts ($15/mo) bills the monthly retainer automatically on the 1st against a card or ACH on file, saves each volume tier as a reusable line, and invoices catch-up work, payroll runs, and filings separately.
How we picked
Entry-plan prices as published in 2026, taken from each vendor's own pricing page or a recent third-party summary. Judged on the solo bookkeeper's own billing workflow — recurring retainers charged in advance, volume-based tiers, separate catch-up and filing lines, and payment on file — not on the client-ledger software a bookkeeper keeps the books in, nor on multi-seat practice management for a staffed firm.
| Software | Starting price | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| ShowTheReceipts That's us | $15/mo | Solo bookkeepers billing their own clients: retainers in advance, volume tiers, catch-up and filing lines, card on file |
| FreshBooks | $21/mo+ | Invoicing bundled with small-business accounting |
| QuickBooks Online Accountant | $38/mo+ (client files) | Keeping client ledgers inside one ecosystem |
| Xero | $20/mo+ | Cloud ledgers with a practice partner program |
| Ignition | $99/mo+ | Proposal-to-payment workflows for staffed firms |
Bookkeepers are the worst-billed profession in the room
You tell clients to bill in advance, take payment on file, and stop carrying receivables. Then you invoice in arrears and chase. The fix is one recurring retainer setup.
1. ShowTheReceipts — $15/mo
Monthly retainer billed automatically on the 1st in advance, card or ACH on file, volume tiers saved as reusable lines with the transaction count stated, catch-up work invoiced separately, payroll runs and 1099 / sales tax filings as their own lines.
2. FreshBooks — $21/mo+
Invoicing bundled with small-business accounting features.
3. QuickBooks Online Accountant — $38/mo+ (client files)
Client ledgers kept inside a single ecosystem.
4. Xero — $20/mo+
Cloud ledgers with a partner program for practices.
5. Ignition — $99/mo+
Proposal-to-payment workflows aimed at staffed firms.
The lines a bookkeeping invoice needs
- Monthly retainer — tier, billed in advance
- Volume covered — transactions and accounts, stated
- Catch-up / cleanup — per month of backlog
- Payroll runs — per run, headcount capped
- 1099 filings — per form
- Sales tax filings — per jurisdiction
- Out-of-scope hours — hourly, stated rate
Volume tiers make price rises easy
“Your transaction count moved from 180 to 400 — that’s the next tier” is a fact about their business. Set the tiers up before you need one.
Frequently asked questions
Can it bill a monthly retainer automatically?
Yes — the retainer bills on the 1st in advance against a card or ACH on file, so the collection problem disappears. You sell cash discipline; billing in arrears and chasing your own client is the fastest way to undercut that.
How should the invoice define the retainer's scope?
By transaction volume and connected accounts, stated on the invoice — 'up to 250 transactions across 3 accounts.' Volume is the cost driver, and a tier written that way turns a price rise into a fact about the client's growth rather than a negotiation.
Can catch-up work be billed separately from the retainer?
It should be — priced per month of backlog, commonly 1 to 1.5× the monthly rate with 50% up front, invoiced apart from the recurring retainer. Cleanup is unbounded until the books are open; bundling it means doing a year's reconciliation for one month's fee.
Is this the same as the software I keep client books in?
No — this is how you bill your own clients, not where their ledgers live. Keep the general ledger wherever the client's file already is; the retainer, the tiers, the filing add-ons, and the payment on file are a separate job this handles.