What bookkeeping costs in Iceland in 2026: prices from 5 firms, 3 systems and the full year

Kassify · 6 November 2026

A bookkeeper costs 15.500 kr. an hour, and an accounting firm with a fixed price starts at 30.000 kr. a month, excluding VAT, according to the firms' own price lists. The year costs from 360.000 kr. for a small ehf. at Bóklega, without a system or payroll, and about 6 million kr. with a system, payroll and annual accounts if 20 employees call for 20 bookkeeping hours a month.

Here are the hourly rates, the fixed packages, the systems and the annual accounts, each priced from the company's own site on 5 November 2026, and three examples of what the whole year costs. All prices exclude VAT unless stated.

Hourly rates for bookkeepers and accountants

Two firms publish their hourly rates. Bookkeeping costs the same at both, and the accountant is the most expensive hour on the invoice.

An hourly rate tells you what the hour costs, not what the month costs. A small ehf. that needs 2 bookkeeping hours a month pays 31.000 kr. If receipts are missing and the hours become 4, that is 62.000 kr., and you only see the number when the invoice arrives.

Fixed monthly fees at accounting firms

Three firms publish monthly prices. What comes with each price differs, and most of the prices start with "from".

Simplex calls its prices indicative and does not say whether VAT is included. The annual accounts are neither on Simplex's price page nor in Accounta's two lowest packages, and the tax return comes only with Gull. Bóklega's price list does not mention payroll. How the firms rank by how much work they take off your plate is in the article the best accounting firms in Iceland.

The system comes on top

A bookkeeper on an hourly rate works in a system the company pays for itself. This is what three Icelandic systems cost a month:

Over a year that is 140.400 kr. for Payday's full package and 468.000 kr. for dk Tindur. The system books nothing by itself. The bookkeeper does, at their hourly rate. The difference between buying a system and buying a service is in the article accounting software or an accounting firm.

Annual accounts, tax return and payroll

The annual accounts and tax return often arrive on a separate invoice from an accountant. Endurskoðun & ráðgjöf publishes base fees:

JJ Fjármál sells the annual accounts at a business graduate's rate of 26.500 kr. an hour. Bóklega charges 60.000 kr. for the annual accounts and tax return of a dormant company.

Payroll is often the largest variable item. JJ Fjármál charges 8.200 kr. per employee a month for payroll, or 98.400 kr. a year for each employee, and the payroll system comes on top.

The annual accounts go to Skatturinn's annual accounts register at the latest one month after the annual general meeting and within eight months of the end of the financial year, under article 109 of the Annual Accounts Act no. 3/2006. For a company whose financial year is the calendar year, the final deadline for 2026 is therefore 31 August 2027. Late annual accounts cost a 600.000 kr. administrative fine under article 120 of the same Act, and the fine is reduced by 90%, 60% or 40% depending on how quickly the accounts are filed.

What the year costs: three examples

Three companies that file VAT every two months, six times a year. The prices are published prices excluding VAT. The system is Payday's full package, 140.400 kr. a year, and the hours are an estimate:

• A small ehf.: the owner alone on the payroll, 2 bookkeeping hours a month.
• A company with 5 employees: 6 bookkeeping hours a month.
• A company with 20 employees: 20 bookkeeping hours a month.

The hourly route for 5 employees adds up like this: Payday 140.400 kr., 72 bookkeeping hours at 15.500 kr. come to 1.116.000 kr., payroll for 5 × 8.200 kr. over 12 months is 492.000 kr., and the annual accounts and tax return at Endurskoðun & ráðgjöf from 130.000 kr.

At Accounta the small ehf. is on Brons with the annual accounts from an accountant, 5 employees on Silfur without the tax return, and 20 employees on Gull with everything. 24% VAT is added on top of Accounta's prices.

On the hourly route you pay three providers: the system, the bookkeeper and the accountant. The total is an estimate that only becomes real once the hours are counted.

What pushes the bill up

• Comparing prices with and without VAT. Brons at Accounta is 99.990 kr. + 24% VAT, or 123.988 kr. a month with VAT. The other firms publish prices without VAT.
• Reading "from" as the price. Bóklega and Simplex publish their lowest price, and at Simplex the final monthly fee is set by how much bookkeeping there is.
• Forgetting the annual accounts. They come with neither Frumkvöðlapakki nor Brons at Accounta, and cost from 130.000 kr. at an accountant.
• Not counting payroll. 8.200 kr. per employee a month is 984.000 kr. a year for 10 employees.
• Small items on the hourly rate. At JJ Fjármál invoicing costs 260 kr. a minute and travel to meetings 6.500 kr. a trip.
• Missing receipts. Every receipt the bookkeeper has to chase is time at 15.500 kr. an hour.
• Late annual accounts. The fine, 600.000 kr., is higher than Bóklega's lowest price for a whole year, 360.000 kr.

What the price includes

Kassify: one fixed monthly price, given in advance

Kassify is an accounting firm that uses AI, a whole finance department for one fixed price. The system, the bookkeeper and the accountant become one provider with one fixed monthly price, 20% below a traditional accounting firm, and the annual accounts and tax return are included in it.

• Bookkeeping, bank reconciliation, VAT returns, payroll, withholding tax and pension returns for a fixed monthly price. The annual accounts and tax return included, filed with the annual accounts register on time.
• No extra system. Each bank is connected directly, bills in your email find their own way into the books, and receipts arrive from Messenger and the app. 0 manual entries.
• No hourly invoice and no "from". You get the price in writing before you decide.
• The move in less than 7 days, included in the price. Kassify talks to your old bookkeeper and the history comes with you.
• A bookkeeper replies within 24 hours. Certified bookkeepers and chartered accountants stand behind the work, including Gunnar Freyr Guðmundsson, owner of Endár ehf.

In the examples above, the system, the bookkeeper and the accountant are three invoices and the hours are an estimate. At Kassify it is one fixed monthly price, given in writing in advance. More on bookkeeping at Kassify and the annual accounts.

Questions

A fixed price in advance. No hourly invoice.

Leave your email and Kassify goes through what you pay today for a system, a bookkeeper and an accountant. You get the monthly price in writing before you decide.