Bookkeeping is a low-hazard trade with a high-consequence mistake. Nobody trips over your equipment, but a client can rely on your numbers, file on them and end up with a penalty they want back from you. So the order reverses: professional liability is the main policy, general liability the smaller line.
How much does bookkeeper insurance cost per month?
A solo bookkeeper pays about $38–$45 a month for professional liability and $20–$30 for general liability. A practice of two to five pays about $38–$77, $20–$40, and $36–$72 for a business owner’s policy covering your computers. Insureon’s accountant customers pay a median of $30 a month for general liability, against $45 across all its small business customers.
| Coverage | Typical monthly | Typical annual | What it covers |
|---|---|---|---|
| Professional liability (E&O) | $38–$77/mo | $456–$924/yr | Financial loss a client suffers from your work. |
| General liability ($1M per occurrence) | $20–$40/mo | $240–$480/yr | Injury and damage to others; the line a lease names. |
| Business owner’s policy (BOP) | $36–$72/mo | $432–$864/yr | General liability plus cover on computers and office contents. |
| Hiscox advertised starting price | from $22.50/mo | from $270/yr | E&O from $22.50, general liability from about $29, a BOP from about $42. |
Estimates from Insureon’s published medians for accountants, $1M/$2M limits, two to five people, national. Not quotes. Hiscox writes 49 states plus DC (not Alaska).
See these costs for your own business size, revenue and state
Buy professional liability first, add general liability for a lease or client visits, then price a BOP against the two apart: our general liability vs professional liability vs BOP guide compares them.
Why E&O matters most, and general liability is the second line
General liability answers injury and physical damage: a client trips in your office, or you knock a laptop off a desk. Nothing you do for a living sits in that policy. A bookkeeper’s exposure is financial loss caused by work, and only E&O answers it, defence costs included.
What an E&O claim looks like for a bookkeeper
Four patterns cover most of what carriers pay on. A misfiled return: the wrong figure goes on a return and the client picks up penalties. A missed deadline: a filing you were engaged to handle goes in late and a relief is lost. A reconciliation error the client relies on: the owner draws against a balance that was never there. A payroll tax filing that goes wrong: a deposit is late and the penalty carries the client’s name. No injury, no broken property, so E&O responds.
Cyber liability, because you hold the client’s bank details
You hold bank credentials, payroll records, home addresses and tax identification numbers for every client, the file criminals want and the breach state notification laws are written about. Cyber liability pays for forensics, notifying those affected, credit monitoring, lost trading time and ransomware costs, and answers the payment-redirection fraud aimed at this trade. That makes it standard now, cheapest as a BOP endorsement.
Bookkeeper insurance cost by practice size
Insurers rate on revenue and headcount, which stand in for how many sets of books you touch and how large the clients are.
| Practice size | Professional liability | General liability | BOP |
|---|---|---|---|
| Just me | $38–$45/mo | $20–$30/mo | $36–$60/mo |
| 2–5 people | $38–$77/mo | $20–$40/mo | $36–$72/mo |
| 6 or more people | $45–$77/mo | $30–$40/mo | $60–$72/mo |
Estimates from Insureon’s published medians, not quotes. No source publishes prices by headcount, so we show the lower half of the range for a one-person business under $100k in revenue, the whole range for two to five people, and the upper half for six or more. Larger businesses often pay more than this, especially for workers’ comp.
Bookkeeper insurance cost by state
Where you practise moves the liability line, and professional liability moves with it. The ranges below start from Insureon’s published medians for accountants and adjust them for each state’s published general liability median.
| State | General liability monthly | General liability annual |
|---|---|---|
| Florida | $24–$49/mo | $288–$588/yr |
| Louisiana | $22–$44/mo | $264–$528/yr |
| California | $19–$37/mo | $228–$444/yr |
| New York | $20–$39/mo | $240–$468/yr |
| Texas | $19–$38/mo | $228–$456/yr |
| Illinois | $18–$36/mo | $216–$432/yr |
| Colorado | $24–$48/mo | $288–$576/yr |
| Washington | $20–$40/mo | $240–$480/yr |
| New Jersey | $21–$42/mo | $252–$504/yr |
| Massachusetts | $20–$39/mo | $240–$468/yr |
| Georgia | $21–$42/mo | $252–$504/yr |
| Arizona | $20–$40/mo | $240–$480/yr |
| North Carolina | $19–$37/mo | $228–$444/yr |
| Nevada | $20–$39/mo | $240–$468/yr |
| Ohio | $19–$37/mo | $228–$444/yr |
| Pennsylvania | $24–$47/mo | $288–$564/yr |
| Michigan | $21–$42/mo | $252–$504/yr |
| Virginia | $19–$37/mo | $228–$444/yr |
| Tennessee | $19–$37/mo | $228–$444/yr |
| Alabama | $24–$47/mo | $288–$564/yr |
| Kansas | $20–$39/mo | $240–$468/yr |
| Oklahoma | $20–$40/mo | $240–$480/yr |
| Wisconsin | $22–$44/mo | $264–$528/yr |
| Kentucky | $21–$42/mo | $252–$504/yr |
| Iowa | $19–$37/mo | $228–$444/yr |
| North Dakota | $22–$44/mo | $264–$528/yr |
Estimates for accountants of two to five people, from Insureon’s published medians adjusted by each state’s published figure. Not quotes.
All fifty states sit in our guide to average business insurance cost by state, and we publish guides for accountants in Iowa, South Dakota and professional liability for accountants in Illinois.
Cost by limit, and the limit your contract names
Limits are a per-claim figure over an annual aggregate, and $1M/$2M is what engagement letters, leases and franchise agreements name. A $500K policy may cost a little less, and it gets the certificate rejected. More in our guide to $1 million liability insurance cost.
| Limit | Typical monthly | Typical annual |
|---|---|---|
| $500K / $1M aggregate | No published figure | No published figure |
| $1M / $2M aggregate (standard) | $20–$40/mo | $240–$480/yr |
| $2M / $4M aggregate | About the same as $1M/$2M | About the same as $1M/$2M |
| $1M plus a $1M umbrella | No published figure | No published figure |
Insureon publishes its medians at the standard $1M per claim / $2M total limit, which most client contracts ask for. Its customers who choose $2M/$4M pay a median of $46 a month nationally against $45 at $1M/$2M, so doubling the limit adds little. No source we use publishes prices for other limits, so ask the insurer to price the options before you choose.
Claims-made, occurrence, and the two dates to protect
General liability is normally written on an occurrence basis: it covers work done during the policy year whenever the claim turns up. Professional liability is almost always claims-made: it covers a claim made while the policy is live, and only for work done on or after its retroactive date.
Two dates then matter. Ask a new insurer to match the retroactive date you have carried since your first E&O policy; reset it and every book you closed earlier stops being covered. Tail cover, or extended reporting, holds the window open if you lapse, retire or sell, because a tax season error often surfaces a year later.
What client contracts and franchise agreements ask for
Engagements that put insurance in writing ask for much the same list: professional liability at $1M per claim, general liability at $1M/$2M, a certificate naming the client, often a cyber limit. Franchise agreements add a minimum E&O limit, name the franchisor and require cover for a period after the agreement ends.
How to get the cheapest honest quote
- Say which services you offer. Bookkeeping, payroll, tax and advisory rate differently.
- Lead with E&O. Quoting general liability first insures the risk you do not have.
- Keep your retroactive date. Nothing to carry across, everything to lose.
- Quote $1M/$2M. A cheaper $500K policy fails the first certificate check.
- Pay annually and report revenue accurately. Instalments carry a fee; premiums are audited.
- Compare two or three carriers. The same practice can cost noticeably more at one insurer than another.
Where these numbers come from
The figures at the top of this page and in the main cost table come from the same data as our cost estimator, so the two always agree. The starting point is the median premium that Insureon, an online insurance agency, publishes for its small business customers (see its accountants cost page). We adjust it for the state using Insureon’s state medians, and show the band that Insureon’s own price distribution says most businesses fall in. Every figure is an estimate, not a quote. The full method and source list is on the estimator page.
Hiscox and bookkeeping practices
Hiscox writes bookkeeping and accounting as a core class rather than squeezing it into a general form, and quotes general liability, professional liability and business owner’s policies online. Its advertised starting prices, shown in the cost table above, are ones a solo bookkeeper in a lower-cost state can approach; a larger practice should expect to pay more. First year of trading? See business insurance cost for a new business.
Frequently asked questions
How much does bookkeeper insurance cost per month?
A solo bookkeeper pays about $38–$45 a month for professional liability (E&O) and $20–$30 for general liability. A practice of two to five pays about $38–$77 for E&O, $20–$40 for general liability and $36–$72 for a BOP.
Do bookkeepers need professional liability insurance?
No law requires it, and clients routinely do. Professional liability, or errors and omissions, answers the claim this trade faces: a reconciliation error, a missed deadline, a payroll return that goes wrong. General liability covers none of that, so E&O comes first here.
Do I need cyber insurance as a bookkeeper?
For most practices, yes. You hold client bank details, payroll records and tax identification numbers, so a breach is a real exposure. Cyber liability pays for forensics, notifying those affected, credit monitoring, lost trading time and ransomware costs. It is standard for this trade now, cheapest as a BOP endorsement.
What is a claims-made policy?
A claims-made policy covers a claim made while the policy is live, and only for work done after its retroactive date. An occurrence policy covers work done in the policy year whenever the claim arrives. E&O is nearly always claims-made, so keep your retroactive date when you switch, and buy tail cover if you lapse.
What is the cheapest bookkeeper insurance?
Professional liability at $1M limits from a carrier that rates bookkeeping as its own low-hazard class, about $38–$45 a month solo on our estimate from Insureon’s published medians. Describe your services accurately, pay annually, keep your retroactive date and compare carriers.
Do I have to buy through you?
No. This site publishes cost guides and earns a commission if you get a quote through a partner link. We are not an insurer or a broker, we do not sell your details, and a quote costs you nothing and commits you to nothing.
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Disclaimer: Informational only, not insurance advice or a substitute for a licensed agent. Licensing and workers’ compensation rules change by state; confirm current requirements before relying on them. Coverage descriptions are summaries; policy terms govern. Prices are illustrative and vary by state and business. Hiscox is available in 49 states and DC, not Alaska.