What insurance does a bookkeeper need?
There's no one-size answer. The right mix depends on how you work, who you work for, and what your contracts ask for. These are the coverages a bookkeeper typically looks at first:
Professional liability
The core coverage for bookkeeping work: claims that an error, omission, or missed deadline in the books cost a client money, with limits up to $1,000,000 per claim typically available.
Cyber liability
Bank feeds, accounting software logins, and client financial records live in your systems, and this addresses response costs if that access is breached.
General liability
What client contracts and coworking leases ask for, with the $1,000,000 per-occurrence limit procurement teams typically request.
Coverage always depends on your specific situation. The fastest way to see what fits is to get a quote and review your options.
What does it protect against?
The risks that matter aren't abstract. They're the everyday accidents of the work. A few scenarios that turn into real claims:
A misfiled reconciliation costs a client a penalty
A bank reconciliation gets closed out with a transaction miscategorized, and the error flows straight into the client's quarterly tax filing. The client gets hit with a penalty and points to your work as the cause. That is a textbook professional liability claim.
A missed payroll tax deadline triggers interest
You manage payroll for a small client, and a filing deadline slips by a few days. The taxing authority assesses interest and penalties, and the client asks you to make it right. Professional liability is designed to help cover claims like this.
Client bank access is exposed
You connect to a client's bank feed or accounting software to do the job, and a phished login or a compromised device exposes that access. Cyber liability is built for the breach response costs and third-party claims that follow.
An in-person review meeting goes wrong
You meet a client at their office to walk through their books, and a laptop bag knocks over a monitor, or you trip over a cable underfoot. Small physical accidents are why client contracts ask even desk-based bookkeepers for general liability.
Certificates of insurance
For bookkeepers, the certificate of insurance request usually arrives with a new client engagement letter: accounting firms and larger clients routinely require proof of professional liability before handing over access to their books, and cyber coverage increasingly comes up in the same conversation given how much financial data changes hands. Olli's general liability policies include instant certificates, so onboarding a new client doesn't stall on paperwork.
New to certificates? Start with our guide to the certificate of insurance: what's on one, who asks for it, and how to provide yours.