Pilot
Outsourced books in QuickBooks Online. AI cash close on Essentials; a US bookkeeper on Core. Tax and CFO cost extra.
Best for
US startups and small businesses that want a vendor to close QuickBooks Online each month, and may add tax or CFO later.
Not ideal if
Owners who want to keep the books themselves, shops that must stay on Xero, or anyone who will not review the work.
Standout
Expense-scaled bookkeeping that posts into QuickBooks Online, with tax and CFO on the same vendor once you outgrow a bookkeeper.
About Pilot
Pilot is a bookkeeping, tax, and CFO service. You connect banks, cards, payroll, and processors. On Essentials, software categorizes cash-basis bank and card lines and closes the month. On Core, a US bookkeeper reviews the file, can run cash or accrual, and posts into QuickBooks Online. You get a P&L, balance sheet, and cash flow. Core reports land by the 10th business day.
It does not replace QuickBooks Online. The books live there. Custom is the plan that says you keep the QBO file you already have. Kick is the opposite: Kick is the ledger and you do the weekly review. Double is close software for firms running many QBO or Xero clients. Bench (now under Mainstreet) is the other outsourced bookkeeping pick for a simpler small-business close. Bookkeeper360 also sits on QBO or Xero and publishes monthly or weekly service prices. Pilot's extra is tax, R&D credit, and CFO on the same contract once a bookkeeper is not enough.
People who stick want someone else on the monthly close and a QuickBooks Online file a CPA, lender, or future hire already knows. They stay when they need accrual, investor reporting, or one vendor from books through tax. They leave when they treated Essentials as set-and-forget, or when expense-based pricing climbed past a local bookkeeper.
What people who used it say
What they tend to like
One vendor from books through tax and CFO
Founders comparing services cite scale, a US team, and the option to add tax or CFO without switching firms.
The file stays in QuickBooks Online
FAQ: tax preparers, bankers, and a future in-house hire already know QBO, and the data goes with you if you leave.
Works when the owner stays in the loop
One r/startups comment called Pilot fantastic. That sits next to comments that the work still needs owner review.
What they hesitate about
Books had to be redone
A founder leaving Pilot said an in-house accountant had to redo the file and that it was cash-basis. r/Bookkeeping called quality poor on a complex client.
Not the pick once the file is complicated
r/Bookkeeping: not great with complexity. r/llc: one B2B SaaS owner called the experience a nightmare and went back to a traditional CPA.
The bill moves with expenses
FAQ: they reprice from a 3-month expense average, and a prepaid year does not lock the rate. Onboarding is another month of bookkeeping.
How it hits your books
- Replaces your ledger
- No
- QuickBooks Online
- Yes
- Xero
- No
- Multi-entity
- Partial
- Inventory
- Partial
- 1099s
- Partial
- Payroll
- Partial
Pilot closes the month. Core reports by the 10th business day; Custom by the 6th. You still answer questions, upload statements or receipts, and review the P&L, balance sheet, and cash flow in the portal. The lock lives in QuickBooks Online.
Year-end package on Essentials, a QuickBooks Online login, or Pilot Tax (must buy with bookkeeping). 1099-NEC e-file is Tax only. Pilot does not file sales tax. Homepage: Pilot is not a public accounting firm.
Images
Features
Monthly close in QuickBooks Online
Pilot keeps the books in QuickBooks Online. You connect banks, cards, payroll, and processors. They categorize, reconcile, and close the month. You answer portal questions and upload the docs only you have. If you leave, the QBO file goes with you.
Essentials: AI cash books, no dedicated bookkeeper
$99/month, up to $100,000 in monthly expenses. Cash-basis from bank and card data. Standard chart of accounts. Year-end package for your tax preparer. In-app messaging and AI answers on past transactions and cash. Same $99 on the monthly or annual toggle this pass.
Core: US bookkeeper, cash or accrual
A dedicated US bookkeeper handles, explains, and reviews the books. Cash or accrual. Custom chart of accounts. Bill management for up to 10 vendor bills per month. Reports on the 10th business day. FAQ: Core includes four financial institutions; extras can be added for a flat fee.
Tax add-on (must buy bookkeeping)
Pilot Tax is not in the bookkeeping fee. Single-member LLC from $1,000+/year. Partnership and S-corp from $2,000+/year. C-corp from $2,450+/year. 1099-NEC e-file is Tax only. You can hand the year-end package to another firm at no extra bookkeeping cost.
Custom close, full AP/AR, keep your QBO
Custom is quote-only. Reports by the 6th business day. Full accounts receivable and payable, payroll administration, complex structures, custom workflows, and the option to keep your existing QuickBooks Online company. CFO advisory is listed here and as separate CFO plans.
Startup Booster (narrow first-year deal)
$750 for the first year of monthly accrual books, federal and state income tax, and help setting up a bank, card, and payroll. Official gate: newly incorporated tech startup, under 1 year old, pre-revenue, under $15,001 monthly expenses. After that, official copy moves you to Core from $399/month plus Tax Starter from $750/year.
Pricing
A shop that accepts AI cash books pays Essentials at $99/month. Core's published floor is $0/month billed annually at $0 expenses; the slider this pass showed $299/month billed annually ($399 monthly) at $9,000 monthly expenses. Payroll, COGS, and distributions count as expenses, so a 5-person shop will sit above that $9k band. Exact Core dollars at higher expense levels were not reliably published. Add a one-month onboarding fee. Tax is extra ($1,000+/year for an SMLLC; $2,450+/year for a C-corp). The plan is an annual subscription; a prepaid year does not lock the price if the 3-month expense average rises. Startup Booster is $750 for year one only if you are a new, pre-revenue tech startup under $15,001 monthly expenses; official copy then moves you to Core from $399/month. CFO starts at $1,750/month billed annually and is not a 5-person default.
Essentials
AI cash-basis close for a shop that just wants clean books. No dedicated bookkeeper. Up to $100,000 in monthly expenses. 15-day trial.
- Cash-basis bookkeeping from bank and card data
- Standard chart of accounts
- Year-end package for your tax preparer
- AI answers on past transactions and cash, plus scenarios
- Support through in-app messaging
Core
US bookkeeper. Published floor is $0/mo billed annually at $0 expenses. Monthly billing at this band was $399 this pass. Scales with a 3-month expense average.
- Everything in Essentials
- US-based bookkeeper who handles, explains, and reviews the books
- Cash or accrual; custom chart of accounts
- Bill management for up to 10 vendor bills per month
- Reports on the 10th business day; in-app, email, and phone support
Custom
Keep your existing QuickBooks Online file, or you need full AR/AP, payroll admin, or a faster close.
- Everything in Core
- Keep your existing QuickBooks account and history
- Full accounts receivable and payable
- Payroll administration
- Reports on the 6th business day; CFO advisory listed on this plan
Pilot Tax
Business income tax with Pilot Bookkeeping. Partnership/S-corp from $2,000+/yr. C-corp from $2,450+/yr. Just-formed copy from $750/yr.
- Federal and state income tax filing
- Free tax extension
- 1099-NEC e-file (plan caps: 25 partnership/S-corp, 10 C-corp)
- Delaware Franchise tax on partnership/S-corp and C-corp plans
- Year-round email support
Startup Booster
Newly incorporated tech startups under 1 year old, pre-revenue, under $15,001 monthly expenses. Not a 5-person operating shop.
- Monthly accrual bookkeeping and financial statements
- Federal and state corporate income tax filings
- Help setting up a business bank, card, and payroll
- After year one or the expense cap: Core from $399/mo plus Tax Starter from $750/yr
Integrations
Platforms
Audience
Pick something else instead of Pilot
Bench
Pick Bench instead if you want a simpler small-business bookkeeping service and you do not need Pilot's startup tax, R&D credit, or CFO add-ons. Bench.co still sells books; the original Bench Accounting Inc. went insolvent in December 2024 and the service now runs under Employer.com / Mainstreet.
Kick
Pick Kick instead if you want to do the weekly review yourself in a replacement ledger and skip a monthly bookkeeping invoice. Kick is the file; Pilot sits on QuickBooks Online.
Double
Pick Double instead if you are a firm closing many QuickBooks Online or Xero clients. Pilot is a service for one company's books, not practice close software.
Bookkeeper360
Pick Bookkeeper360 instead if you want published monthly or weekly service prices on QuickBooks Online or Xero, with payroll in the same shop, and you do not need Pilot's startup and CFO lane.