Fee turnover
The base rate is applied to fees. It also sets your TPB tier, so the limit and the premium move together as you grow.
BOOKKEEPER AND BAS AGENT INSURANCE
How Much Does Bookkeeper PI Insurance Cost?
For a sole-practitioner bookkeeper, BAS agent or tax agent, professional indemnity on our placements has usually cost approximately $550 to $700 a year. Add staff, payroll or HR consulting, or tax agent services and it moves up. These bands come from our own bookkeeper and tax agent placements and quoting exercises, and are a guide only, not a quote.
~$600Sole practitioner, $500K (indicative)
~$850Bookkeeper with staff, $1M (quoted)
~$2,100Practice with offshore support, $2M (indicative)
Up to 4xSpread seen across insurers on one submission
Premiums and outcomes described are specific to this client and indicative only. Your own terms will depend on your circumstances and the insurer.
THE SHORT ANSWER
How much does professional indemnity insurance cost for a bookkeeper or BAS agent in Australia?
Based on Tank's placements, a sole-practitioner bookkeeper, BAS agent or tax agent in Australia has paid approximately $550 to $700 a year for professional indemnity insurance. A first-year practice with very low fees was quoted standalone PI from approximately $450. Where a practice adds staff, payroll or HR consulting, the terms we have seen sit at approximately $850 to $1,300, and a tax and accounting practice with staff and offshore support placed $2,000,000 at approximately $2,100. On some submissions the dearest quote has been three to four times the cheapest. These bands are a guide only, not a quote.
Premium is driven by fee turnover, the services you list, the limit, claims history and staff. The limit is the smallest of those levers.
- Sole practitioner
- ~$550 to $700
- With staff or consulting
- ~$850 to $1,300 quoted
- Practice, $2M limit
- ~$2,100
- Basis
- Tank placements, rounded up
$550 to $700 Sole practitioner, clean history Placed, indicative
$850 Bookkeeper with staff and HR consulting, from Quoted, not placed
$2,100 Practice with offshore support, $2,000,000 Placed, indicative
4x Dearest to cheapest quote on one submission Not every risk
The spread between insurers is the bigger story: on some of our submissions the dearest quote has been three to four times the cheapest for broadly comparable cover, though excesses and wordings differ between insurers, and on others the market was tightly bunched.
| Practice profile | Limit | Outcome (approx.) | Range quoted by the insurers we approached |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sole bookkeeper, first year, fees under $20,000 | $2,000,000 | Quoted from $450; placed with public liability combined at $950 | $450 to $1,100 (four standalone PI quotes) |
| Accountant registering as a tax agent, fees around $50,000 | $500,000 | Quoted from $600, not placed with us | $500,000 from $600; $250,000 at $1,100; $1,000,000 from $900 |
| Tax and bookkeeping company, fees around $75,000, licence in director's name | $500,000 | Placed at $650 | $650 to $2,200 (every $250,000 quote on that submission was dearer) |
| Sole tax agent, fees around $100,000 | Tier 2 | Placed at $600 | $600 to $700 (three markets) |
| Bookkeeper adding tax agent services, majority tax work, fees under $20,000 | Tier 1 | Placed at $700 | $700 to $1,600 (seven markets) |
| Bookkeeper with casual staff, payroll and HR consulting, fees around $150,000 | $1,000,000 | Quoted from $850, not placed with us | $850 to $1,300, with two markets declining to quote |
| Tax and accounting practice with staff including offshore support, ASIC work | $2,000,000 | Placed at $2,100 | $1,300 to $5,200 (nine insurers) |
The pattern on these submissions: a clean sole practitioner sat in the $550 to $700 band whether the limit was $500,000 or $1,000,000. Staff, consulting work and offshore support are what moved the terms into four figures, not the limit.
Services mix
Bookkeeping and BAS lodgement are the cheapest activities to insure. Tax agent services, financial statements, ASIC compliance and superannuation fund returns carry a higher rate. HR advice and payroll consulting can push the risk into a different occupation class: on one enquiry two markets declined to quote and a third asked for the payroll scope to be clarified before offering terms.
Limit
On our placements, going from $250,000 to $1,000,000 has added a few hundred dollars for a sole practitioner. On one placement a specialist market's $500,000 quote came in below every $250,000 quote returned on that submission.
Staff and contractors
Each person doing client work adds exposure. Offshore contractors are quoted, but the underwriter will want to know that all offshore work is reviewed and signed off in Australia.
Claims and circumstances
Base rates in this class assume a clean claims record. One notified circumstance changes the market you can go to.
Excess
Quotes on the same risk came back with excesses from $1,000 to $5,000. A higher excess buys a lower premium, but the TPB expects you to be able to fund it.
Public liability
Only relevant if you visit client premises or have clients visit you. On a solo bookkeeper placement, $20,000,000 public liability was quoted at approximately $460 to $750 depending on insurer, and a combined PI and PL package sat close to the two cheapest standalone quotes added together, placed at approximately $950 after a NSW small business stamp duty exemption.
Cyber
Bookkeepers hold client bank feeds, payroll files and ATO access. A small-practice cyber policy is usually a fraction of the PI premium. See cyber insurance for bookkeepers.
Fidelity
The TPB's guideline recommends innocent party fraud or dishonesty cover once you have employees, partners or directors. Some PI wordings include it, others add it by endorsement.
Stamp duty exemption
Eligible NSW small businesses can claim the small business exemption from insurance duty under the Duties Act 1997 (NSW) on eligible policies by signing a declaration (position as at September 2026). It was applied on the solo bookkeeper placement above.
Describe the services precisely
"Bookkeeping, BAS preparation and lodgement, payroll processing" prices differently from "bookkeeping and business advisory". If you do not give tax advice, say so.
Asking for two limits is worth doing
On our placements the $500,000 and $1,000,000 quotes have often sat close together. Seeing both shows whether the floor is actually the cheaper option.
Get the retroactive date right
A policy that carries your original retroactive date is worth more than a cheaper one that resets it. The TPB's guideline requires retroactive cover to the earlier of your previous policy's retroactive date or the start of your first policy.
Include the specialist markets
On our bookkeeper placements the sharpest terms have come from agencies that write accountants and tax practitioners as a class. Compare the wordings as well as the price.
Review at renewal, not just at inception
Appetite in this class moves, so the market that was sharpest at inception is not always sharpest a year later.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Bookkeeper PI Cost FAQs
On our placements, a sole-trader bookkeeper, BAS agent or tax agent with clean history has paid approximately $550 to $700 a year, including government charges. A first-year practice with very low fees was quoted standalone PI from approximately $450. Quotes from other insurers on the same submission have run up to three to four times higher, which is why the market is worth testing rather than taking the first figure. Guide only, not a quote.
Often not. On a quoting exercise for an accountant registering as a tax agent with around $50,000 in fees, a $500,000 quote came in at approximately $600, the $250,000 quote at approximately $1,100 and $1,000,000 options from approximately $900. On a placement for a new tax and bookkeeping company, a specialist market's $500,000 quote came in below every $250,000 quote on that submission. Ask for both limits and compare.
Payroll processing is usually rated as bookkeeping. Payroll consulting and HR advice are not: they involve advice on employment obligations, which some insurers treat as a separate occupation with a higher rate, and some will not quote until the scope is explained. On one enquiry from a practice with casual staff, BAS work and a move into HR consulting, terms came back from approximately $850 for $1,000,000, with two markets declining to quote and a third asking for the payroll scope before offering terms.
Generally yes, because tax agent services carry a higher rate than BAS services. The difference is modest for sole practitioners: a sole tax agent with around $100,000 in fees placed at approximately $600, while a bookkeeper moving to majority tax agent work placed at approximately $700. One practice with staff doing tax and ASIC work placed $2,000,000 at approximately $2,100, with terms on that submission running from approximately $1,300 to $5,200.
Some insurers offer monthly instalments directly on small PI policies. Where they do not, premium funding through a third-party funder can spread the annual premium over instalments. The funder's interest rate, fees and terms apply, and we show them to you before you sign anything. For premiums under $1,000 annual payment is usually simplest.
PI insurance taken out to earn assessable income is generally deductible as a business expense. Tank is not a tax adviser, so confirm the treatment with your own accountant.
QUOTE REQUEST
Get a real bookkeeper PI quote
Expected fee turnover, the services you provide, and whether you have staff is enough for us to go to market. Quotes usually come back within a day or two.
Specialist broker review Australian business insurance
See Two Limits Side by Side
We quote the TPB minimum and the next tier up from the specialist markets that write bookkeepers and tax practitioners, so you can see what the extra cover actually costs before you decide.