# Offshore Bookkeeper vs Bookkeeping Service vs Local Bookkeeper

Published 2026-10-19 by Sid Jashnani.

Compare a local bookkeeper, Pilot, Bench, and a dedicated offshore bookkeeper at $1,800 a month. Bench's shutdown and rebrand are cited.

# Offshore Bookkeeper vs Bookkeeping Service (Pilot, Bench) vs Local Bookkeeper

![Offshore Bookkeeper vs Bookkeeping Service vs Local Bookkeeper](/blog-images/offshore-bookkeeper-vs-bookkeeping-service/cover.png)

Pilot's Essentials plan is a published subscription that scales with expenses. Bench paused in December 2024, was acquired, and is now described both as Bench and as Mainstreet. A dedicated [bookkeeper](https://www.rekruuto.net/bookkeeper) through Rekruuto starts at $1,800 a month in your own ledger.

How offshore bookkeeping is usually scoped is in [outsourced bookkeeping services](https://blog.rekruuto.net/outsourced-bookkeeping-services-streamline-your-business-finances-with-rekruuto) and [how to hire a bookkeeper virtual assistant](https://blog.rekruuto.net/find-the-best-bookkeeper-virtual-assistant-for-your-business-top-hiring-tips-and-benefits).

## How much does a local bookkeeper cost versus an online service?

A local bookkeeper is a person you employ or a firm you retain. An online service is a subscription that scales with activity. The [BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook](https://www.bls.gov/ooh/office-and-administrative-support/bookkeeping-accounting-and-auditing-clerks.htm) puts the median wage for bookkeeping, accounting, and auditing clerks at $49,210 a year in May 2024, or $23.66 an hour. On that page the lowest 10 percent earned less than $34,600 and the highest 10 percent earned more than $72,660. Add benefits and software before you compare that wage with a monthly fee.

What to put on the same sheet:

- A local hire: wage or retainer, plus software, plus the time you spend managing them. Ask for their monthly fee in writing.
- Pilot: [Pilot's pricing page](https://pilot.com/pricing) lists Essentials at $99 a month, for up to $100,000 in monthly expenses, with AI categorisation, reconciliation, and a monthly close. Higher bookkeeping plans are listed as starting prices on the same page. Read the Core line the week you buy, because the price scales with expenses. [Pilot's FAQ](https://pilot.com/faq) says plans are an annual subscription. For pricing, expenses include payroll, cost of goods sold, and distributions. There is an onboarding charge equal to one month of bookkeeping. Accounts payable and accounts receivable are not included by default. Pilot keeps the books in QuickBooks Online.
- Bench: do not quote a 2026 price from memory. The company you think you are buying has changed. Read the next section and then the live site.

If your local quote is a person in your QuickBooks file every week, you are closer to the offshore seat than to Pilot Essentials. If you want a cheap close on simple bank feeds, Essentials is the published comparison, at $99 a month up to that expense cap. Go past the cap, or past the included scope, and you are on a different Pilot plan. Read the page the week you buy.

## What happened to Bench, and what should you look for in an alternative?

Bench suspended operations on 28 December 2024. Employer.com said it had acquired Bench in a press release dated 30 December 2024. In 2025 Employer.com also said it had rebranded Bench as Mainstreet. Bench's own about page, checked for this article, says the service resumed in January 2025 and is operating in 2026. Read both and then look at whichever site you would actually pay.

The primary documents:

- [Employer.com's announcement on bench.co](https://www.bench.co/press-release), dated 30 December 2024, says Bench decided to suspend operations on 28 December, and that Employer.com had acquired Bench. It tells customers to expect the same platform and intact data.
- [Bench's about page](https://www.bench.co/about) says operations paused in December 2024, Employer.com acquired Bench within days, service resumed in January 2025, and Bench is operating as an Employer.com company and onboarding customers. The page answers "yes" to whether Bench is operating in 2026.
- An [EIN Presswire release on 11 August 2025](https://www.einpresswire.com/article/838170679/employer-com-rebrands-and-streamlines-with-mainstreet) says Employer.com rebranded Bench as Mainstreet and consolidated bookkeeping under that name. It quotes Employer.com's founder calling Mainstreet the flagship.

Those statements are in tension. One current Bench page still speaks as Bench. The August 2025 release speaks as Mainstreet. Do not let a comparison article pick a brand for you. Open the site, see which name is on the contract, and ask where the books will live if you leave.

What to look for in any alternative, including Rekruuto, Pilot, or whatever Bench or Mainstreet is selling this month:

- You can export the books in a format another accountant can open.
- You know whether the work is a shared queue or a named person.
- You know whether AP and AR are included.
- A shutdown plan exists: who you call, and how fast you get a backup.
- The price is a number on a page or a proposal, not a memory of 2023.

## How much does a dedicated offshore bookkeeper cost?

Rekruuto's bookkeeper page uses the standard starting price: $1,800 a month. That is a flat staffing fee for a dedicated person, not a price that steps up with your expense volume. Software is still yours. QuickBooks or Xero subscriptions are not inside the $1,800 unless a contract says so.

The person works inside your file. They are not a queue that closes the month inside a vendor's platform and hands you a PDF. Scope still needs a conversation. A monthly close, bank reconciliation, and a tidy chart of accounts are the core. Accounts payable, invoicing, and chasing are adjacent seats. Rekruuto publishes an [accounts receivable](https://www.rekruuto.net/offshore-accounts-receivable-specialists) page and a [delegation guide](https://www.rekruuto.net/offshore-bookkeeper-delegation-guide). Use those for the task split. Do not assume one $1,800 seat silently includes a full finance department.

Start is about 14 days, with a 1-week trial with replacement or refund, as with other roles. Use the trial on a real close step, not on a tour of the software.

## Is it safe to give an offshore bookkeeper access to QuickBooks or Xero?

It is safe enough for many companies when the bookkeeper has their own user, not your password, and they cannot move money. The risk is sloppy access, not the country by itself.

Give them a named user with the rights they need to code transactions and reconcile. Do not give them the ability to add themselves as a bank admin or to send payments, unless that is a separate, conscious decision. Keep the owner login for yourself. Turn on whatever two-factor your ledger offers, on your user and on theirs. Remove the user the week the contract ends, and export a backup the same week.

Pilot's FAQ says Pilot works in QuickBooks Online and can bring Xero history across with journal entries. That is a migration into their way of working. An offshore bookkeeper can stay in the file you already have, including Xero, if that is where you are. Confirm the software on the call. This article does not link a QuickBooks or Xero help article for user roles, because those URLs were not verified line by line. Use the product's own "invite an accountant" screen and read the permissions it offers.

Customer and employee data in the file is still your responsibility. The UK-oriented version of that caution is in [hiring from the UK](https://blog.rekruuto.net/hire-filipino-virtual-assistant-uk). US companies have their own rules. Ask your accountant if you are unsure. The operating checklist is the same: own user, no shared password, no access to move cash, a backup you have actually downloaded.

## Which option suits a startup, a store, or an agency?

Essentials-style subscriptions suit a simple bank-feed business under the published expense cap. A dedicated person suits a company with weekly questions, AP, or a close that needs context. A local bookkeeper suits you when you want someone in the same tax system every day and you will pay local rates for that.

| | Local bookkeeper | Online service (Pilot as the cited example) | Offshore freelancer | Dedicated offshore via Rekruuto |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| How the price works | Wage or retainer you negotiate | Essentials $99 a month up to $100,000 monthly expenses. Other plans scale. Onboarding equals one month | Their quote | $1,800 a month starting price |
| Whose ledger | Yours | Pilot uses QuickBooks Online | Whoever holds the login. Insist it is yours | Yours, QuickBooks or Xero |
| Named person | Usually | A queue, plus a bookkeeper on higher plans. Read the current plan | One person, until they are not | One dedicated person |
| AP and AR | If you include them | Not in Pilot bookkeeping by default. You can add them | If the quote says so | Ask. AR has its own role page |
| If they disappear | You recruit again | You export QuickBooks, per Pilot's portability note | You may lose the context | Trial, then notice terms in your contract |
| Best fit | You want local tax context and will pay for it | Simple books under the cap | A defined tidy-up | Weekly books plus questions, flat fee |

An agency with a pile of client bills and a store with inventory both outgrow a pure bank-feed plan. Pilot's own FAQ says consumer and retail books are more complicated, and that AP and AR are add-ons. That is a reason to read the proposal, not a reason to sneer at $99. The $99 plan is honest about being for cleaner, smaller books.

## Frequently asked questions

### What does Pilot publish as a starting price?

Essentials is $99 a month for up to $100,000 in monthly expenses, on Pilot's pricing page. The FAQ says the price scales with expenses, which include payroll, cost of goods sold, and distributions, and that onboarding costs one month of bookkeeping.

### Is Bench still trading?

Bench's about page says yes, as an Employer.com company, after a December 2024 pause and a January 2025 restart. A 30 December 2024 release announced the acquisition and a 28 December suspension. An 11 August 2025 release says Employer.com rebranded Bench as Mainstreet. Check the contract in front of you.

### What does Rekruuto charge for a bookkeeper?

The bookkeeper page starts at $1,800 a month. That does not include your QuickBooks or Xero subscription.

### Should I share my QuickBooks password?

No. Create a user for the bookkeeper, keep payment rights off unless you have decided otherwise, and keep the owner login. Download a backup.

### Which one is cheapest?

Pilot Essentials is the lowest published number in this article, at $99 a month, inside its cap and its scope. A dedicated person at $1,800 is a different product. Compare scope before you compare the fee.

## Get matched with your hire

If you want a named person in your own file, [get matched with your hire](https://www.rekruuto.net/va-strategy-call) and read the [bookkeeper](https://www.rekruuto.net/bookkeeper) role next to [how to delegate the books](https://www.rekruuto.net/offshore-bookkeeper-delegation-guide). The [1-week trial with replacement or refund](https://www.rekruuto.net/risk-free-va-trial) should be used on a real reconciliation, with their own user, not yours.

Pricing: Most roles $1,800/mo (£1,395 + VAT in the UK, €1,650 in Europe).