pay for book keeper

[Buddie]

does anyone know the going rate for a book keeper

[Buddie]

Sorry could I elaborate, that is general office worker who is filing, sending out invoices and answering the phone t customers on a part-time basis in our office for our small business ( not a self employed book keeper)

[Mully79]

Well if you are able to offer full training you could always employ a school or college leaver with good grades. Would probably be your cheapest option. Perhaps offer minimum wage or slightly above, to rise to a better rate after 6 months if they are doing a good job. If you offer too low a rate, you might find people won't stay in the job for long - they'll use this job as experience and a stepping stone to better wages, so incentives are always good.

It also depends what area you're in. My mother freelances doing accounts / wages on Sage and charges a very modest �10/ph, that's in north west England and she is highly experienced.

[Buddie]

Thanks, Mully for your advice. we are a small electrical Contractors run by my partner employing 3 electricians. I have done the books for 5 years and worked approx 20 hrs a week in the office for �400 a month. Now I want to do something else, so obviously we will have to pay more for an part time office worker. I have a lady in mind who has done office work before and a bit of book keeping. We were thinking about �7.50 an hour as we are only a small company. My partner's neice was going to do it but she said the pay wasn't enough and has got an office job elsewhere. Do you think this is too low?

[Mully79]

Well you can offer �7.50 an hour to the lady in question and see what she says - you could always leave it open to negotiation - not necessarily salary, but increased days off, flexible hours etc. to make it more attractive.

If she wasn't interested you could try the school / college leaver route. Minimum wage is �3.40 for school leavers under 18, �4.60 for 18-21, and �5.52 for 22+

So you could say, �5.50 an hour to rise to �6.50 an hour after 6 months (as you would have to train someone with no experience). That would be a nice rate for someone still living with their parents, no real 'bills' and saving up for house deposit / car / other stuff etc.

Obviously it would be preferable to hire someone with experience, preferably through word of mouth. But there are some gems out there who just need a bit of training and you have yourself a great addition to your workforce.

[colwyn45]

I'm a qualified book-keeper and I charge anything from �13 - �20 an hour depending on my client