For years, the accounting profession has grappled with the idea and practice of charging clients in ways beyond “traditional” hourly. And if a recent survey is any indicator, the hourly bill may be breathing its last.
According to the 2025 U.S. Accounting and Tax Benchmark Report released by Ignition, a recurring revenue and billing automation platform for firms and agencies, there has been a decisive shift away from hourly billing toward strategic, value-driven pricing models. Now in its second year, the report benchmarks fees and pricing trends to provide accounting firm owners with insights to price for profitability.
The Report found that with the exception of tax planning and advisory services, only 10 percent or fewer firms report charging hourly for services benchmarked in the survey. Only 3 percent charge hourly for tax prep services.
Hourly billing for CFO/Controller services fell dramatically from more than 20 percent to 10 percent. Tax planning and advisory services have more diverse pricing, which reflects the bespoke nature of the work. Still, only 17 percent of firms charge hourly for these advisory services, down from 21 percent last year.
To secure cash flow predictability, more firms are embracing upfront billing for tax preparation services. 31 percent collected a deposit upfront (vs. 26 percent in 2024), although the number of firms collecting the full fee upfront remained steady at 13 percent.
Rising Business Costs Drive Price Hikes
The report highlights 4 in 5 firms (80 percent) will raise prices by an average of 5-10 percent in 2026. Nearly half of surveyed firms cited rising costs as their primary reason for price increases. However, compared to the 2024 benchmark, more firms are viewing pricing as a profitability lever rather than a reactive cost measure. Over 9 percent cite revenue growth as their reason for raising prices (up from 5 percent last year), and 18 percent to improve profit margins (up from 12 percent).
Firms Shouldn’t Fear Raising Prices
Accounting firms have historically been hesitant to raise prices. The top reason, cited by 28 percent of firms, is the fear of losing clients. Another 8 percent cite uncertainty about what other firms are charging. However, the report shows two-thirds of respondents that raised prices in the past year said they either lost no clients or lost some, but profitability stayed stable.
Fees for Common Services Remain Steady
The 2025 benchmark also uncovered the typical pricing for common accounting and tax services. Most price ranges remained the same from 2024, as firms continued to hold on to changing pricing or increased only by small percentages.
Individual tax returns: The most common fees are between $400 and $599 per return (27 percent of firms).
Business tax returns: The most common fee range is $1,000-$1,499 annually (29 percent)
Tax planning and advisory services: The largest percentage of firms (25 percent) said they charge more than $2,000 annually for these strategic services
Monthly bookkeeping and accounting: These services most commonly run $250-499 per month (29 percent)
CFO and controller services: A more specialized offering, the most common pricing cited was more than $2500 per month (23 percent)
Background on Ignition’s Accounting and Tax Pricing Benchmark
Ignition’s latest pricing benchmark report is the result of a survey of 219 US-based accounting firms using Ignition. Offering a clear national picture, the report covers pricing models, service fees, and projected fee changes across service lines, including tax preparation, tax planning and advisory, bookkeeping and accounting, and CFO/controller services.
The 2025 U.S. Accounting and Tax Pricing Benchmark Survey is available to download at: https://www.ignitionapp.com/us/2025-accounting-tax-pricing-benchmark.