What bookkeeping costs in Malaysia: the ranges, and what moves them

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Most bookkeeping providers in Malaysia will not name a price until you call them. This guide puts the verifiable numbers in one place: published market ranges by monthly transaction volume, what actually moves a fee, and the questions worth asking before you sign anything.

The short version

Published Malaysian fee guides put monthly SME bookkeeping roughly between RM200 and RM2,500, driven mainly by how many documents get posted each month.
Volume is the price lever nearly everywhere. Under 30 documents a month sits around RM200 to RM400; 101 to 300 documents sits around RM700 to RM1,500 (as at August 2026, sources below).
"Transaction" has no standard definition here, and the fee guides themselves tell buyers to pin the definition down in writing before signing.
Very few providers publish a price at all, which is why the cheapest figures a buyer finds are usually inside somebody’s fee guide rather than on a price list.
Taokeh Bookkeeping publishes its whole ladder: RM350 to RM1,300 a month by band, with higher volumes quoted.
Software or service is a genuine fork: keeping your own books costs a subscription plus your hours, and a service costs a fee plus the discipline of sending paperwork.

What the published ranges say

Malaysian accounting firms publish fee guides even when they do not publish their own price lists, and those guides agree on the shape: the number tracks monthly document volume more than anything else.

Monthly SME bookkeeping in Malaysia, published market ranges as at August 2026 — compiled from independent Malaysian fee guides (named in Sources below).

Documents posted per month	Published market range (RM/month)
Up to 30	RM200 to RM400
31 to 100	RM400 to RM800
101 to 300	RM700 to RM1,500
301 to 600	RM1,500 to RM2,500
Above 600	RM2,500 and above

These are ranges, not quotes, and scope differs enormously between providers: some include tax filing, SST returns, payroll or year-end statements, and some record only. Confirm the current figure and the scope with the provider before relying on either.

What actually moves the fee

Two businesses with identical revenue can be quoted very differently, because none of the real cost drivers are revenue.

Document volume. Every invoice, bill, receipt and bank line is a minute of somebody’s attention, so the count sets the band you land in.
How the paperwork arrives. A month in one labelled folder costs less to record than the same month in a plastic bag, and every guide in the market says so in its own words.
Bank accounts, cards and wallets. Each one is another statement to reconcile, and marketplace or gateway payouts arrive net of fees that have to be split back out.
SST registration. A registered business needs its return prepared on a bimonthly cycle, which is usually priced separately from the recording work.
Payroll. Almost always a separate line, priced per employee or per payslip, because EPF, SOCSO, EIS and PCB are a different monthly job.
Back years. Cleaning up an unrecorded year is one-time project work and is quoted after somebody looks at it, never off a rate card.

Ask how a "transaction" is counted

Almost every provider prices by transaction volume, and almost nobody defines the word on the page. Malaysian fee guides warn buyers about exactly this: clarify how a transaction is counted before you sign.

Ask whether a bank line counts on its own, or only the invoice it settles. The same month can count twice over under one definition and once under another.
Ask whether quotes, purchase orders and abandoned drafts are counted. They are documents, but nothing about them reaches your ledger.
Ask whether a multi-line invoice counts once or per line. Fifteen items on one delivery order is one document or fifteen, depending on who is answering.
Ask where you can see the count. A number only your provider can compute is a number you cannot check at renewal.
Taokeh Bookkeeping counts one posted source document as one transaction: invoices, credit and debit notes, bills, expenses, receipts and payments, posted bank lines and journals. Quotes and purchase orders never count, and the running total sits in your own app.

Software or service, and how to tell which you need

Before comparing quotes, work out which of these two purchases you are actually making. They are priced on different things and it is easy to shop for one while needing the other.

If you have the time and someone reliable to do the keying, accounting software is the cheaper path by a wide margin. You pay a subscription and spend the hours.
If the hours are the thing you do not have, a service is the purchase, and the fee is buying somebody else’s attention every month rather than a feature list.
The hybrid exists and is common: your team raises invoices and issues purchase orders in the system all month, and a bookkeeper records purchases, reconciles the bank and closes the month.
Whichever way you go, settle who owns the accounting file. It costs nothing to ask now, and it decides what you keep if you leave.
Taokeh publishes both sides: the software at taokeh.my/pricing, and the done-for-you service on the bookkeeping service page.

Questions to ask any provider before you sign

None of these are trick questions, and a good provider answers all of them quickly. Ask them of us too.

Is tax filing included, or is that a separate engagement with a licensed tax agent? Recording your books and filing your returns are different jobs.
Is SST return preparation inside the fee, and who actually submits it to Kastam?
Which accounting system will my books live in, whose subscription pays for it, and can I log in and look at my own ledger today?
On the day I leave, what do I keep? Ask for the answer in the engagement letter, not in conversation.
Is the original document attached to each entry, so an LHDN query can be answered from the entry itself?
What happens the month my volume crosses a band? Ask whether you are told beforehand and whether it is ever applied retroactively.

What Taokeh Bookkeeping charges

We publish the whole ladder because the market mostly does not, and because a number you can check yourself is worth more than a number you have to phone for.

The fee includes your Taokeh subscription and the Ask Taokeh connector, so the monthly number is the monthly number.
The scope is recording. We record your documents and prepare your SST figures and payroll files; submissions and payments stay yours, and we are not your tax agent or your auditor.
The Taokeh account is yours from day one. Stop the service and the books, the history and the scanned documents stay exactly where they are.
Every entry we record carries a scan of the original document, so a question about last March is answered by tapping the entry.
You can price yourself in about thirty seconds with the plan estimator. It asks three questions, no email, and nothing leaves your browser until you choose to send it.

Taokeh Bookkeeping monthly fees, as at August 2026 — one transaction is one posted source document. Source: taokeh.my/bookkeeping.

Documents posted per month	RM per month
Up to 30	RM350
31 to 100	RM500
101 to 300	RM800
301 to 600	RM1,300
Above 600	Quoted after we look

Add-ons are separate and à la carte: SST return preparation RM100 a month, payroll RM20 per payslip a month (minimum RM100), one-time setup and migration RM500, back years quoted after we see them. Confirm current prices at taokeh.my/bookkeeping.

Frequently asked questions

How much does a bookkeeper cost in Malaysia?

Published Malaysian fee guides put monthly SME bookkeeping between roughly RM200 and RM2,500, set mainly by how many documents you post each month rather than by revenue. Under 30 documents typically sits around RM200 to RM400 and 101 to 300 documents around RM700 to RM1,500 (as at August 2026, sources below). Scope varies widely, so compare what is included.

Why do so few providers publish their prices?

Because scope in this market really does vary: bookkeeping, SST, payroll, tax filing and year-end statements are often sold together in different combinations, and a single number would describe none of them. The practical effect on a buyer is real though, which is why the fee guides exist and why we publish our ladder in full.

What counts as one transaction?

It depends entirely on the provider, and there is no Malaysian standard, so get the definition in writing. Taokeh Bookkeeping counts one posted source document: an invoice, credit or debit note, bill, expense, receipt or payment, a posted bank line, or a journal. Quotes and purchase orders are never counted, and your app shows the running total.

Does the fee normally include the accounting software?

Often not. Several published price lists in the market state that the software subscription is charged separately, so a quoted fee can sit on top of another monthly bill. Ask which system your books will live in and whose subscription pays for it. Taokeh Bookkeeping includes the Taokeh subscription and the Ask Taokeh connector in the fee.

Is bookkeeping the same as filing my tax?

No. Bookkeeping is recording what happened; filing is a separate job, and tax agents in Malaysia are licensed under the Income Tax Act 1967. Some providers do both, some do one. Taokeh Bookkeeping records and prepares figures only, and clients keep their own tax agent. Ask any provider which of the two they are selling you.

What happens if my transaction volume grows?

With volume-banded pricing you eventually cross a band, so ask how that is handled before you sign. At Taokeh Bookkeeping your app counts your real posted documents, we tell you with the counts in hand, and the change applies going forward, never retroactively. It moves down too, after two quiet months below the band.

Updated August 2026

This guide is general information for Malaysian SMEs, not tax, legal or accounting advice. Always confirm current rules and figures with the relevant authority or your own adviser.

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