Quick answer
For someone forming a business now, or one who has not yet separated business and personal money, the strongest first move is a bundled one: set up the entity and a separate business account, then hand the recording to a service such as ZenBusiness Money Pro at $30 per month rather than learning a tool. For an owner who already has clean foundations and a few hours a month to spare, doing the books in software is cheaper, and Wave's Starter plan costs nothing. The honest test is time against money against risk: what an hour of your own bookkeeping is worth, and what errors cost when they surface at tax time.
Should I do my own bookkeeping or hire a service?
Do it yourself if the books are simple, the foundations are in place and the time costs less than the fee. Hire help if the weekly work keeps getting skipped, if the business has grown past what can be tracked personally, or if the cost of a mistake outweighs the cost of the service.
The decision rests on three things. Time: how many hours a month the recording takes, and what those hours would earn elsewhere. Money: what the options cost, which ranges from nothing to several hundred dollars a month. Risk: what happens when records are missing or wrong, which matters most when a return is prepared or questioned.
Neither choice is permanent. Many owners start in software and hand off the work once volume grows. Others start with a service and take it back when the books are simple again.
What does the official guidance require either way?
Both routes start from the same place. The IRS says in Publication 583 that one of the first things to do when starting a business is to open a business checking account, and to keep it separate from a personal checking account.
The same publication says the business account should be used for business purposes only, and that the source of deposits and the type of expense should be noted in the checkbook, which it calls the basic source of information for recording business expenses. A service can do that noting for you, but only if the money is already separate.
Publication 583 also names the supporting documents behind the entries. For gross receipts, it lists cash register tapes, bank deposit slips, receipt books, invoices and credit card charge slips. For expenses, it lists canceled checks, cash register tapes, account statements, credit card sales slips and invoices. For assets, it lists purchase and sales invoices, real estate closing statements and canceled checks. For purchases and inventory, it lists canceled checks, cash register tape receipts, credit card sales slips and invoices.
What does a mistake cost, and how long do records matter?
The IRS page on how long to keep records gives 3 years as the general period. That applies unless one of three exceptions does: under-reporting income by more than 25% of the gross income shown on the return, not filing a return at all, or filing a fraudulent return.
Under-reporting by that margin extends the period to 6 years. Not filing, or filing a fraudulent return, means records should be kept indefinitely. The IRS also lists 7 years for a claim for a loss from worthless securities or a bad debt deduction, and at least 4 years for employment tax records, counted from the date the tax becomes due or is paid, whichever is later.
This is where the risk side of the decision sits. Income recorded carelessly can be left out, and the 25% threshold is the point at which the retention period changes. Whether a particular error would trigger it is a question for a tax professional, and penalties are not covered here.
What if the business has employees or sells taxable goods?
Both add recordkeeping that a do-it-yourself owner must carry or hand off. The US Department of Labor's Fact Sheet 21 says employers must preserve payroll records for at least three years under the Fair Labor Standards Act. It sets 2 years for supporting records such as time cards, piece work tickets, wage rate tables, work and time schedules, and records of additions to or deductions from wages.
Sales tax is a state matter. California's CDTFA Publication 116 says sales and use tax records must be kept at least 4 years, and longer during an audit, when all records covering the audit period should be retained until the audit is complete. Other states' rules are not covered here.
An owner who is hiring or collecting sales tax has a stronger case for help, because the record periods multiply. A solo owner with neither can reasonably stay in software.
Where does ZenBusiness fit in this decision?
ZenBusiness sits upstream of both routes. It forms the entity and handles items such as the EIN and registered agent, which come before a business account can be opened in the business's name. It also offers a free accounting consultation to customers who form an entity through it. Its ZenBusiness accounting page explains accounting basics for new owners.
One point to state plainly: ZenBusiness shut down its banking service, so the business checking account that the IRS recommends has to be opened with a bank elsewhere.
For an owner who is overwhelmed and wants one provider for formation and bookkeeping support, that bundle answers the question before it is asked. For one who already has an entity and an account, it matters less.
What are the options on each side?
The options below are listed alphabetically. The order is not a ranking. Prices were checked on each provider's own pricing page on 2026-10-06 and may have changed since. Promotional rates are labeled separately from ongoing prices. Software suits the do-it-yourself route, and the services suit the hand-off route.
A service. As of 2026-10-06, Bookkeeping Light is $199 per month, Bookkeeping is $399 per month and Bookkeeping + Tax is $649 per month. A fractional bookkeeper is $55 per hour plus $1,200 onboarding. Best for owners who want a dedicated bookkeeping provider and have the budget for it.
A service. Monthly bookkeeping starts from $399 per month and weekly from $599 per month. Payroll administration is from $200 per month and onboarding from $1,000. Best for owners with payroll or higher volume who want more frequent updates.
Assisted bookkeeping, the current name for the service formerly called QuickBooks Live. Intuit does not publish a price for it on its pricing page, so none is given here. Best for owners already in the QuickBooks ecosystem who want human help and are willing to ask for a quote.
Software. The ongoing prices are Free at $0, Simple Start at $38 per month, Essentials at $85 per month, Plus at $140 per month and Advanced at $340 per month. A promotional rate of 50% off for 3 months is offered, and it is not the ongoing price. Best for owners who want the most widely recognized name and are comfortable doing their own recording.
Software. The Starter plan is free. Pro is $19 per month or $190 per year, with a promotional $9.50 per month for 3 months that is not the ongoing price. Card processing is 2.9% + $0.60, the receipts add-on is $8 per month, and payroll starts from $25 per month, all as of 2026-10-06. Best for owners on a tight budget who will handle their own recording.
Software. The plans are Early at $27 per month, Growing at $59 per month and Established at $97 per month. A promotional offer of 80% off for 3 months exists, and it is not the ongoing price. Best for owners expecting the business to add complexity over time.
A service, sold as an add-on alongside formation, at $30 per month according to ZenBusiness's own site. The published features are custom invoicing, revenue and expense tracking, and tax preparation tools. It is not accounting software, so a feature-by-feature comparison with the tools here would mislead, and any detail beyond those three features, including plan tiers, is not published. Best for owners who would rather hand off the recording than learn a tool, particularly those forming an LLC who want the entity work and the bookkeeping support from one company.
How should the time, money and risk be weighed?
Start with time. If recording takes an hour or two a week and the owner does not mind it, software is the cheaper route, and the free and lower tiers above cost little or nothing. If the work is routinely skipped, the savings are illusory, because unlabeled transactions are the ones that become expensive later.
On money, the services above span a wide range. ZenBusiness Money Pro at $30 per month is the lowest published figure here, though it is a different kind of product from Bench's $199 to $649 plans, and the two should not be compared line by line. Bookkeeper360 and Bench suit owners with more volume or payroll, and a concession is fair: for an owner whose books are complex, a full bookkeeping service may be a better answer than a $30 add-on.
On risk, the retention rules above are the guide. Records that are labeled and filed as they arrive are cheap to keep and easy to produce, whoever does the recording.
What should be decided this week?
Confirm that business and personal money are separate, and open a business checking account if they are not. Gather the supporting documents the IRS names into one folder. Then pick a route for a trial period of a few months.
An owner who is forming a business, or who finds the weekly upkeep a burden, can reasonably start with a bundled service. One with simple books and an appetite for software can start with a free tier and reassess when volume grows.
Sources
- Internal Revenue Service, "Publication 583, Starting a Business and Keeping Records"
- Internal Revenue Service, "How Long Should I Keep Records?"
- U.S. Department of Labor, "Fact Sheet #21: Recordkeeping Requirements under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA)"
- California Department of Tax and Fee Administration, "Publication 116, Retaining Records"
This is general information, not legal, tax or accounting advice, and requirements vary and change.