Fixed fee pricing calculator for accounting firms

Set your own hourly rate, or your cost per hour and the margin you want. Enter the hours you expect each service to take and how complex the client is. The calculator turns that into a fixed fee per service, an annual total, GST and a 12-month instalment. Switch on family group mode to price several entities together and see the total for the group.

How the calculator works

1. Your rate. Use a target hourly rate ex GST, or a cost per hour and a target margin. In margin mode the rate is cost divided by (1 minus the margin), so a $120 cost at a 45% margin gives $218.18 an hour. Margin here is on the price, not a markup on cost.
2. Each line. Hours x complexity factor x rate, plus the scope buffer, then rounded to the nearest $5, $10 or $50. An exact half rounds up. That is the fixed fee for one occurrence, such as one BAS or one month of bookkeeping.
3. The year. Each fee is multiplied by how many times a year it happens (4 for quarterly BAS, 12 for monthly bookkeeping and payroll by default), then added up across lines and entities.
4. GST. If switched on, 10% is added to the annual total.
5. Instalments. The total including GST is split over 12 months, rounded to the cent. Any rounding difference sits in the final instalment so the 12 payments add up exactly.
6. Effective hourly rate. The annual fee ex GST divided by the hours you estimated, before complexity and buffer. It shows what each hour you expect to spend actually earns.

The calculator refuses a margin of 100% or more, a buffer above 50%, complexity factors outside 0.5 to 3, and a quote with no hours entered.

Pricing a fixed fee from first principles

A fixed fee is a forecast. You are betting that the work will take about the time you expect, and the client is buying certainty. The fee holds up when it is built from four things you know about your own firm, not from what the firm down the road charges.

1. Know your cost per hour

Take a team member's salary, super and on-costs, add their share of rent, software and admin, then divide by the hours they realistically spend on client work in a year. Use chargeable hours, not paid hours. Someone paid for 1,900 hours who spends 1,300 on client work has a cost per hour based on 1,300.

2. Decide the margin or the rate

Some firms think in a target rate per hour by role. Others start from cost and add the margin the practice needs to fund partners, growth and the jobs that run over. The calculator takes either. Both give one figure: what an hour of work needs to bring in.

3. Estimate hours per service, per client

Your timesheets are the best source. Look at what last year's company returns actually took, not what they were budgeted at. Estimate per occurrence: one return, one quarterly BAS, one month of bookkeeping.

4. Adjust for complexity and scope risk

The complexity factor scales the hours for clients who take longer than your standard estimate: messy records, multiple income streams, a trust with many beneficiaries. The scope buffer is a separate allowance for the small requests that arrive during the year and never become a formal variation. Keep both honest. A buffer that is too large prices you out, and one that is too small means you absorb every extra phone call.

5. Round, then check the effective rate

Clients read round numbers more easily. Rounding to the nearest $50 can move a fee by up to $25 either way, so check the effective hourly rate after rounding. If it has slipped below your target, the hours or the factor need another look.

What the professional standards say about fees

APES 110 section 330

Section 330 of APES 110 Code of Ethics for Professional Accountants deals with fees. Paragraph 330.3 A2 says a member in public practice "might quote whatever fee is considered appropriate" and that quoting lower than another accountant "is not in itself unethical". It also says a fee so low that the work becomes hard to do to the required standards creates a self-interest threat to professional competence and due care.

Paragraph 330.3 A3 lists, as a factor in judging that threat, whether the client is aware of the terms of the engagement and "the basis on which fees are determined and which Professional Services are covered". Paragraph 330.3 A4 gives adjusting the fee or the scope, or having an appropriate reviewer review the work, as examples of safeguards. A fixed fee built from realistic hours, with a written scope, sits well with all three.

Two further points matter for pricing. Contingent fees can create threats to the fundamental principles, and AUST R330.4.1 prohibits them in engagements covered by APES 215, 225, 330, 345 and 350. Under AUST R330.5.1, a member receiving a referral fee or commission must tell the client in writing that the arrangement exists, who the other party is, and how the fee is calculated. References are to APES 110 as compiled by the APESB at July 2025.

APES 305 Terms of Engagement

APES 305 applies to engagements commencing on or after 1 January 2025. It requires the terms of engagement to be documented and communicated to the client (paragraph 3.1), preferably before the engagement starts. Paragraph 4.8 lists fees and billing arrangements as a matter for the engagement document, including the basis and calculation of fees (for example time based billing or fixed price contracts) and details of agreed billing schedules. A monthly instalment plan is a billing schedule, so it belongs in the letter.

For recurring work, paragraph 5.2 lists factors to consider when deciding whether to reissue or amend the engagement document, including significant changes in the services or the terms, and a significant change in the nature or size of the client's business. A new entity in the group, or a fee that changes because the scope did, is a good prompt to reissue.

Quote by entity

Each entity in a family group has its own lodgements, its own records and its own risk. Price each one as its own set of lines: the trust return and accounts, the company return, accounts and quarterly BAS, the SMSF, each individual return. That gives you a per-entity fee you can defend, and a group total the client can budget for.

It also makes changes simple. When the family winds up a company, you remove its lines. When a second trust is set up, you add one. The group total moves for a reason the client can see.

Scope and variations

A fixed fee is only fixed against a defined scope. Write down what is included for each entity, what the client must provide and by when, and what falls outside: ATO reviews and audits, CGT events, restructures, catching up prior years, extra BAS amendments, advice requests that need research.

Agree up front how out-of-scope work is priced. Common approaches are a separate fixed quote before the work starts, or your hourly rate for small items. Either way, tell the client before doing the work, not on the invoice. The scope buffer in the calculator is for the small things you choose to absorb, not a substitute for a variation.

Monthly instalments

Spreading an annual fee over 12 months turns a large invoice in tax season into a predictable monthly amount. Clients budget for it, debtors fall, and your cash flow is smoother across the year.

Instalments raise two questions to settle in the engagement letter. First, when the year starts and ends, so instalments line up with the work. Second, what happens if the client leaves mid-year: work done may be ahead of or behind what has been paid, and the letter should say how that is squared up. The calculator rounds each instalment to the cent and puts any difference in the final month, so the plan adds up to the annual fee exactly.

Worked example: the Smith family group

A firm sets a target rate of $220 an hour ex GST, a 5% scope buffer, GST on, and rounds each fee to the nearest $50. These are this example's inputs, not suggested prices.

Entity and service	Hours x factor	Before rounding	Fixed fee	Annual ex GST
John, individual return	2.5 x 1.0	$577.50	$600	$600
Sarah, individual return	2 x 1.0	$462.00	$450	$450
Smith Family Trust, return and accounts	6 x 1.25	$1,732.50	$1,750	$1,750
Smith Pty Ltd, return and accounts	8 x 1.25	$2,310.00	$2,300	$2,300
Smith Pty Ltd, BAS (4 a year)	2.5 x 1.0	$577.50	$600	$2,400
Smith Super Fund, return and accounts	5 x 1.5	$1,732.50	$1,750	$1,750

The group total is $9,250 ex GST. GST is $925, so the annual fee is $10,175. Over 12 months that is 11 instalments of $847.92 and a final one of $847.88. The firm estimated 33.5 hours, so the effective rate is $276.12 an hour ex GST, comfortably above the $220 target once complexity and the buffer are counted. If those factors prove generous after a year of timesheets, the next rollover is the time to adjust. These figures are the calculator's default inputs.

How Nagaris proposals handle pricing

In Nagaris group proposals, trusts, companies, SMSFs and individuals sit on one proposal, priced together or entity by entity. The group can pay together, entity by entity, or on your own split, and clients sign once for the entire group.

When the client accepts, they sign and set up payment in the same step. Payment details can be captured when clients sign, then charged on completion, or set up as recurring monthly or quarterly billing. Direct debit and PayID cost 1% + 30 cents, capped at $5 a payment, and cards 1.95% + 30 cents. Jobs, services and budgets are created from the engagement, so the hours you priced become the budget your team works to. Next year, copy last year's engagement in one click and it is ready as a draft to review the fees.

For more on setting the method and the conversation with clients, read the guide to pricing accounting services. To put the fees in writing, start from the engagement letter template or the family group engagement letter template.

Questions

How much should I charge for a tax return?

Work it out from your own numbers: the hours the return usually takes, multiplied by your target hourly rate, adjusted for the client's complexity. This calculator does that sum. It does not quote market prices, because those vary with each firm's costs and clients.

How do I convert a cost per hour and margin into a rate?

Divide the cost by (1 minus the margin as a decimal). A $120 cost per hour at a 45% margin gives $120 / 0.55 = $218.18 an hour. A margin is a share of the price, so it is always below 100%.

Is it ethical to charge less than another accountant?

APES 110 paragraph 330.3 A2 says quoting a fee lower than another accountant is not in itself unethical. The threat arises if the fee is so low that the work becomes hard to do to the required standards.

Does the fee basis have to be in the engagement letter?

APES 305 paragraph 4.8 lists fees and billing arrangements as a matter for the engagement document, including the basis and calculation of fees and any agreed billing schedule. Monthly instalments are a billing schedule.

Should a family group be quoted as one fee or per entity?

Price each entity separately, then show the group total. Per-entity fees are easier to explain, and easy to adjust when an entity is added or wound up. The calculator's family group mode does both.

What is the scope buffer for?

It is an allowance for the small requests that come up during the year and are not worth a formal variation. Larger out-of-scope work, such as an ATO audit or a restructure, should be quoted separately before it starts.

Do I add GST to accounting fees?

If your firm is registered for GST, GST of 10% generally applies to your fees. The calculator adds 10% to the annual fee when GST is switched on and shows it separately.

Why is the final monthly instalment slightly different?

The annual fee does not always divide evenly by 12. Each instalment is rounded to the cent and the difference goes into the final one, so the 12 payments add up exactly to the annual fee.

Sources

• APES 110 Code of Ethics for Professional Accountants (compiled July 2025), section 330
• APESB, APES 305 Terms of Engagement (September 2024)
• ATO, How GST works