Pilot Bookkeeping Review: Features, Pricing & Alternatives 2023
Tim is a Certified QuickBooks Time (formerly TSheets) Pro, QuickBooks ProAdvisor, and CPA with 25 years of experience. He brings his expertise to Fit Small Business’s accounting content.
Danielle is a writer for the Finance division of Fit Small Business. She has owned a bookkeeping and payroll service that specializes in small business, for over twenty years.
This article is part of a larger series on Accounting Software.
Pilot Bookkeeping, launched in 2017, is a financial services firm that focuses on providing bookkeeping, chief financial officer (CFO), and tax services for startups and small businesses. It’s geared toward rapidly growing businesses, acting as a one-stop financial shop for small companies looking for chief financial officer (CFO) consultants, even assisting with research and development (R&D) loan applications for an additional fee.
It also specializes in working with high-growth technology startups, ecommerce and professional service providers, and nonprofits. Pricing starts at $599 per month for businesses with less than $30,000 in monthly expenses.
Overall Score:
2.5 / 5
What We Like
- Dedicated bookkeeper
- Unlimited connected bank and credit card accounts
- Catch-up and clean-up bookkeeping
- Advanced services offered, such as tax filing and CFO consulting
What's Missing
- No cash-basis accounting
- More expensive than its competitors
- Lacks payroll services
- Businesses must use QuickBooks Online
If you’re unsure whether assisted bookkeeping is right for you, read our guide to the best small business accounting software for great do-it-yourself (DIY) accounting software options.
Pilot Bookkeeping Deciding Factors
Supported Bookkeeping Software | QuickBooks Online |
Pricing | Starting at $599 per month |
Additional Cost for QuickBooks Software | ✓ |
Free Trial | ✕ |
Assigned a Personal Bookkeeper? | ✓ |
Bookkeeper Communications | QuickBooks portal or email |
Monthly Account Reconciliations & Financial Statements | ✓ |
Back-office Services (Customer invoicing, bill pay, etc.) | ✓ |
Full Service Payroll Available | ✕ |
Tax & Consulting Services Available | ✓ |
Pilot Bookkeeping Alternatives
Best for small businesses using Xero software | Best for budget-minded users with basic bookkeeping needs | Best for businesses using QuickBooks Online and needing cash-basis accounting |
Starting at $399 per month for up to $20,000 in monthly expenses | $190 per month flat fee | Starting at $200 per month |
Pilot Bookkeeping is very expensive compared to other online bookkeeping services. However, it is probably still less expensive than hiring a local certified public accountant (CPA) for bookkeeping, tax handling, and consultancy services.
Its bookkeeping services are based on an annual subscription model, with pricing that scales with your monthly expenses and your business needs. It also charges an onboarding fee that’s equal to one month of bookkeeping. The services are billed on an annual basis.
Core | Select | Plus | |
|---|---|---|---|
Who It’s Best For | Small businesses | Growing businesses needing more support | Larger businesses or those with complex needs |
Cost (Less Than $30,000 in Monthly Expenses) | $599 per month | $849 per month | Custom pricing |
Cost ($30,000 to $60,000 in Monthly Expenses) | $649 per month | $899 per month | Custom pricing |
Cost ($60,000 to $100,000 in Monthly Expenses) | $719 per month | $969 per month | Custom pricing |
Cost ($100,000 to $150,000 in Monthly Expenses) | $809 per month | $1,059 per month | Custom pricing |
Cost ($150,000 to $200,000 in Monthly Expenses) | $899 per month | $1,149 per month | Custom pricing |
Cost (More Than $200,000 in Monthly Expenses) | Only available with Plus plan | Only available with Plus plan | Custom pricing |
Dedicated Bookkeeper | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Accrual Basis Bookkeeping | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Profit and Loss (P&L), Balance Sheet & Cash Flow Statements | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Customer Support & Advice | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Industry Standard Financial Ratios | N/A | ✓ | ✓ |
Expedited Books Delivery | N/A | ✓ | ✓ |
Monthly Phone Reviews | N/A | ✓ | ✓ |
Priority Support | N/A | ✓ | ✓ |
Support for Multiple Entities, Classes & Location | N/A | N/A | ✓ |
Accounts Receivable (A/R), Accounts Payable (A/P) & Inventory Tracking | N/A | N/A | ✓ |
Billable Expenses | N/A | N/A | ✓ |
Fully Customizable Chart of Accounts | N/A | N/A | ✓ |
Pilot offers other financial services for an additional fee.
- Pilot CFO: Starting at $1,350 per month, billed annually for monthly engagement and $1,500 per year for annual budgeting and forecasting
- Pilot Tax: Starting at $1,950 per year for tax services, including federal corporate income tax and 1099-MISC filing
- A/P and A/R: Starting at $125 per hour for support with paying bills and creating and sending invoices
- Controller services: Starting at $200 per hour for assistance with building the right finance operations
- Research and development (R&D) tax credit: Price is computed at 2% of total qualifying expenses.
When you sign up for Pilot, you’ll be assigned a dedicated bookkeeping expert who’ll serve as your point of contact. They’ll walk you through how to integrate your existing processes and software with QuickBooks. If you have any questions, you can speak with your account manager through the QuickBooks portal or by email at no additional cost.
Before the formal bookkeeping process begins, Pilot will onboard clients to introduce the bookkeeping software and show how the process works. The onboarding process will also help Pilot experts know what to expect and what needs to be done. Clients will also be introduced to their dedicated bookkeeping expert upon onboarding.
Onboarding notes prepared by Pilot’s dedicated bookkeeping expert (Source: Pilot)
Upon onboarding, the dedicated bookkeeping expert will log important notes about the client to help Pilot fully understand the client’s business and operations. This log can be found in the Customer Context tab. These notes are regularly maintained to make it easy for anyone in Pilot to help the client in case their dedicated bookkeeper is out.
In our evaluation of the best online bookkeeping services, we rated Pilot Bookkeeping as the best for startups. Its many valuable services include a detailed monthly reporting package and add-on CFO and tax services. However, while it has useful features, such as Reviewbot, an artificial intelligence (AI) tool that flags missing or inaccurate transactions, it doesn’t provide payroll services and cash-basis accounting.
Account Checklist
Pilot provides a unique account checklist that helps Pilot bookkeepers stay organized when doing your bookkeeping. The items in this checklist include:
- Customer context
- Getting set up
- Reconciling bank and credit card accounts
- Categorizing transactions
- Expense reports
- Bills and invoices
- Credit card processing
- Journal entries
- Review
Customer context is performed during onboarding, but the dedicated bookkeeper will update this information so that other Pilot bookkeepers can access it easily. The rest of the steps in the checklist will be routine bookkeeping procedures.
Categorize transactions substep in the checklist (Source: Pilot)
All of the processes in the checklist can be done manually. However, Pilot’s system has a way of learning transactions so that it can fully automate the process and give the dedicated bookkeeper more time to attend to other transactions. In the image above, there’s a credit card purchase from Cool Gadgets. At the very top, you’ll see a “bolt” icon—this icon means that Pilot has encountered this transaction from past records and it can auto-categorize it.
Automatic Review
Pilot has a tool called Reviewbot that will initially review transactions and check for missing or erroneously categorized transactions. Reviewbot can filter out transactions that the dedicated bookkeeper need not review manually and only flag transactions that need manual adjustment or correction.
Reviewbot initial review results (Source: Pilot)
When Reviewbot flags certain transactions, it’ll alert your dedicated bookkeeper to check them. It can only spot anomalies in the records and lets the dedicated bookkeeper resolve these issues manually. In the image below, you’ll see an example of flagged transactions spotted after the initial review.
Flagged transactions passed to the dedicated bookkeeper (Source: Pilot)
The dedicated bookkeeper will review, analyze, and manually resolve these transactions. But to ensure that your dedicated bookkeeper made the right corrections, your books will undergo a third and final review. A peer reviewer from Pilot will take a look at the flagged transactions to ensure that all corrections are appropriate or detect if your dedicated bookkeeper missed something.
QuickBooks Integration
Once your dedicated bookkeeper finishes the checklist and review process, they’ll email you to tell you that the bookkeeping process has been completed. You can immediately see all the changes they made in your QuickBooks Online account.
Reporting
Each month, you’ll receive a detailed report package that contains your P&L, balance sheet, and cash flow statements for the prior month. Your monthly reports also include metrics specific to your industry. For startup businesses, Pilot will calculate your burn rate, while for ecommerce stores, it’ll provide inventory updates.
In addition, Pilot’s Plus plan offers these custom schedules and reports on an as-needed basis:
- Reports by class, location, and department
- Supporting schedules, like prepaid expenses, amortization, and depreciation
- Detailed A/P and A/R reporting
- Multiple currency reports
- Reports by entity
Flux Insights report (Source: Pilot)
Aside from basic financial reports, Pilot will also include a Flux Insights report that will show significant changes in your accounts and a short commentary that briefly explains what caused the change. This report helps keep you on top of expenses and makes you aware of when your business is incurring significant expenses.
Pilot Tax, a full-service tax preparation service, will take care of your state and federal income tax filing, as well as any 1099s that you need to issue to contractors. You’ll be assigned your own dedicated tax preparer who will answer all of your questions and provide you with access to live status updates of all of your filings.
Businesses that are just getting started would benefit from the Essential plan, which provides support for unprofitable C-corps and is priced at $1,950 per month. Pilot’s Standard plan is ideal for growing businesses with net income or foreign subsidiaries, and custom pricing is available starting at $4,950 per year. Both plans include federal and state corporate income tax filing, Delaware franchise tax filing, 1099-NEC filing, and email support.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
What software does Pilot Bookkeeping use?
Pilot exclusively uses QuickBooks Online for its bookkeeping.
What are the requirements to start with Pilot Bookkeeping?
To get started, Pilot has three requirements to deliver the most accurate books for your business: electronic transaction access, expense reporting software, and no commingling of personal expenses.
Is support included in Pilot?
Yes, support is included in your plan. Your dedicated bookkeeper can answer any of your questions either through the QuickBooks portal or email.
Is it possible to migrate my books from Xero to QuickBooks?
Yes, Pilot can transition your books to QuickBooks Online. As part of your onboarding process, Pilot will migrate summarized monthly information from Xero to QuickBooks, going back to the beginning of the year.
Bottom Line
Pilot Bookkeeping is a financial service provider tailored to startups and small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs). Aside from its bookkeeping solutions, it also offers advice to growing businesses from CFO consultants and tax advisors. It also connects your business with a dedicated account manager who’ll learn the ins and outs of your business quickly. Using a blend of custom software and expert bookkeepers, it can deliver accurate bookkeeping at a price that can be customized based on the needs of your business.
