Salaries · Bookkeeper · India · Updated November 2026
Bookkeeper salary in India
Foreign businesses that hire a bookkeeper in India directly pay $1,000–$2,000 a month full-time, in published job ads and salary guides. Local employers there pay $1.17–$1.57 an hour ($202–$272 a month full-time).
The numbers
| What you're looking at | Per hour | Per month, full-time | Based on |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hiring directly: full-time pay | $5.77–$11.54 | $1,000–$2,000 | 1 published figure |
| Local employers in India | $1.17–$1.57 | $202–$272 | 3 published figures |
| For comparison: employees in the US | $20.92–$29.55 | $3,626–$5,122 | Wages only, before benefits and payroll taxes |
For this role, direct-hire pay in India runs about 6.3× local pay, midpoint to midpoint. Budget from the direct-hire figures, not the local ones.
India against other countries
Of the 8 countries with published direct-hire figures for this role, India has the 4th lowest starting figure.
Every figure behind these numbers
Hiring directly (remote work for foreign businesses)
- range · full-time pay$1,000–$2,000/month Himalayas (remote job board), public job search API filtered to jobs open to India (ads posted 2026-10-24 to 2026-10-24, retrieved 2026-10-28). Checked Oct 2026. Remote job ads that state pay, restricted to India (location restriction lists India only unless noted), from employers that hire directly (staffing, outsourcing, recruiter and talent-marketplace ads excluded).
Local employers
- average · local employers₹19,196/month Indeed India, 'Accountant' salary page (updated 9 September 2026). Checked Oct 2026. Average of 2.2k 'Accountant' salaries from Indeed India job postings in the past 36 months; typical range a low of ₹9,350 to a high of ₹39,408 per month
- average₹309,971/year PayScale India, 'Accountant' salary page (updated Oct 11 2026). Checked Oct 2026. Average base salary from 997 'Accountant' salary profiles; 10th-90th percentile ₹155k to ₹658k, median ₹310k
- average₹251,100/year PayScale India, 'Bookkeeper' salary page (updated Dec 29 2025). Checked Oct 2026. Average base salary from only 22 'Bookkeeper' salary profiles; 10th-90th percentile ₹137k to ₹980k
In India the role is usually advertised as 'accountant' or 'accounts executive'; Indeed India's 'Bookkeeper' page rests on very few salaries (see extra).
What an agency charges for this role
Published by Outsourcing Insider, a VA MASTERS company. The example below is VA MASTERS' own published rate card, shown because it's public; other agencies' prices vary. About us
| Agency | Per hour | Per month, 160 hours | What's included |
|---|---|---|---|
| VA MASTERS Parent company | $7.50–$14.00 | $1,200–$2,240 | Recruitment, contract and payments, time tracking, an account manager and replacement at no extra cost. No setup fee. Source: VA MASTERS pricing page, checked Oct 2026. |
Hiring a bookkeeper
- Bookkeeper job description
- Bookkeeper interview questions and a paid test task
- Onboarding checklist for the first 90 days
- Hiring checklist, from defining the job to day one
Cost guides
FAQ
How much does a bookkeeper cost in India?
Hiring directly, foreign businesses pay $1,000–$2,000 a month full-time (Himalayas, checked Oct 2026). Local employers in India pay $1.17–$1.57 an hour ($202–$272 a month full-time), which is local pay, not the rate for remote work for a foreign client.
What is the monthly salary of a bookkeeper in India?
Published full-time pay for remote work for foreign businesses is $1,000–$2,000 a month. Local employers pay $202–$272 a month. Both use 40 hours a week and are in USD.
Why is hiring directly different from local pay in India?
They measure two different markets. Local pay is what employers in India pay local staff. Direct-hire figures come from job ads, salary guides and surveys for remote work for foreign businesses. For this role the second runs about 6.3× the first, midpoint to midpoint, so local pay isn't a good guide to what a remote hire will cost.
How does India compare with hiring a bookkeeper in the US?
Employees' wages in the US run $20.92–$29.55 an hour for the middle 50% of workers, before benefits and payroll taxes. Hiring directly in India, published figures come to $5.77–$11.54 an hour, with full-time pay converted to an hourly figure. That's pay only: you'd still do the recruiting, contract and payments yourself.
What does an agency charge for a bookkeeper?
Agencies set their own prices, and many don't publish them. As one published example, VA MASTERS (the parent company of this site's publisher) lists $7.50–$14.00 an hour for its Finance & Accounting category, all-inclusive. Ask any agency what its rate covers: recruiting, replacement, payroll and fees.