Xero
95% off during 6 months
✅ Deal information :
✅ Deal information :
✅ Deal information :
Pilot is a financial management and accounting platform designed to simplify business financial operations. It provides comprehensive services such as bookkeeping, payment management, tax preparation, and detailed financial reporting. Pilot enables businesses to centralize their financial activities, track transactions in real-time, and gain a clear overview of their financial health.
With its intuitive interface and automation tools, Pilot streamlines collaboration between finance teams and reduces human errors. By combining accounting expertise with advanced technology, Pilot helps businesses efficiently manage their finances, optimize financial processes, and focus on growth.
Bookkeeping with unmatched accuracy
Run your business with a clear picture of your finances. With Pilot, you get accurate books delivered monthly, on the dot. Our expert team is assisted by powerful software that automatically eliminates common errors.
Personal, expert support
Get fast, responsive service. Your dedicated finance expert knows your business and books from the ground up.
Industry-specific reporting
Your monthly statements include custom statements for your industry, like burn reports for startups or inventory management for ecommerce.
Expertise in growing businesses
With accrual basis bookkeeping and advanced financial CFO support when you need it, we're built to scale with you.
Seamless tax service
Stay compliant with Pilot Tax. Built on your books, we'll prepare and file your federal, state, and local income taxes, as well as your 1099s. Plus, get live reminders and status updates of your filings at your fingertips.
R&D credit that saves you thousands
Worth up to $250,000 per year, the R&D credit could save your business thousands. Claiming it can be complicated and tedious-but we make it simple. We assess your expenses to maximize your credit, prepare documentation to back up your claim with the IRS, and ensure it's applied correctly.
Expert CFO services, customized for you
Grow your business with the advanced finance support you need, when you need it. Our extensive CFO Services include annual budgeting, ongoing financial support, pitch assessment, fundraising strategy, and more.
Pilot is a bookkeeping and financial management service designed for startups and small businesses that would rather Focus on their company than managing their own books. While a traditional accounting firm typically stops at producing financial statements, Pilot goes a step further by combining real-time reporting tools with a team of former CFOs and business leaders who can actually answer the questions that keep founders up at night.
The core idea behind the service is simple: business owners have better things to do than reconcile accounts and keep track of tax deadlines. Pilot takes the entire financial back office off their hands while staying close enough to the business to inform real strategic decisions-whether that means preparing for a funding round, figuring out if a new hire is affordable, or understanding why margins are shrinking despite growing revenue. That combination of accounting rigor and hands-on advisory work is what sets it apart from both traditional CPA firms and purely software-based solutions.
Over 3,000 growth-oriented companies rely on Pilot today, from the first weeks after incorporation all the way through to M&A exits.
Pilot isn’t just an accounting software provider. For founders preparing to raise capital, scale their team, or eventually sell their company, it acts as a true financial partner-one that understands the pressures of running a growing business and turns raw data into decisions that drive progress.
Pilot structures its pricing based on the complexity of your books rather than a fixed number of users or seats. Plans scale according to your monthly expenses, the number of connected financial institutions, and the level of advisory support you need. All plans are billed annually, with a one-time onboarding fee equal to one month of bookkeeping when you sign up.
Bookkeeping, tax preparation, and CFO services are each priced separately, giving you the flexibility to choose only the services that make sense for your business at each stage. Pre-revenue companies can request a on the Core bookkeeping plan during their first year.
| Plan | Starting price | What's included |
|---|---|---|
| Bookkeeping Core | Starting at $599/month | Dedicated finance expert, accrual accounting, monthly income statements, balance sheets, and cash flow statements, burn rate calculations, support via the Pilot dashboard |
| Bookkeeping Select | Starting at $849/month | Everything included in Core, plus priority support, monthly phone consultations with your bookkeeper, industry-standard financial ratios, and expedited monthly closings |
| Bookkeeping Plus | Starting at $1,500/month | Custom solution for complex needs: multiple entities, consolidated reporting, accounts receivable tracking, billable expenses, inventory, tailored to your organizational structure and revenue model |
| Tax | Starting at $2,450/year | Annual tax preparation is billed separately and must be purchased in conjunction with a Pilot Bookkeeping plan. Pricing varies based on the type of entity, profitability, and foreign subsidiaries. |
| CFO Services | Starting at $1,875/month | Part-time CFO services for financial analysis, cash flow modeling, fundraising support, and strategic planning. Three service tiers available, up to $5,625 per month, billed annually |
1️⃣ If you are a freelancer or consultant:
For freelancers looking for an alternative to Pilot, Wave Accounting is the top free option that covers invoicing, expense tracking, and basic bookkeeping at no upfront cost. Its free Starter plan supports unlimited invoices and financial records, while the Pro plan, priced at $16 a month, adds automatic bank transaction imports and receipt scanning. FreshBooks is a robust paid alternative particularly well-suited for consultants and service providers, featuring built-in time tracking that feeds directly into invoices, project profitability reporting, and a client portal for estimates and payments. It starts at around $19 a month after the introductory period. For those who want full control over their data, Invoice Ninja is an open-source invoicing platform with a generous free tier that covers invoicing, expense tracking, client management, and payment integrations. It can also be self-hosted, which makes it appealing to tech-savvy freelancers who prefer to keep their data on their own infrastructure. These three options range from free to premium, and all three are designed to meet the basic needs of independent workers rather than the complexity of a full accounting service.
2️⃣ If you are a startup:
Startups will get the most out of Xero, a cloud-based accounting platform that integrates with over 1,000 third-party apps and includes automatic bank reconciliation, multi-currency support, and real-time financial reporting. Its unlimited users across all plans make it particularly useful as your team grows and multiple people need access to the books. Pricing starts at $15 per month and increases with additional features. QuickBooks Online is the leading accounting platform for US-based businesses, with a 62 percent market share among small and medium-sized businesses. It combines bookkeeping, payroll integration, inventory tracking, and tax preparation in one place, and its extensive ecosystem of integrations and familiarity among accountants makes it a reliable choice as you scale. Paid plans start at around $38 a month. For startups that already rely heavily on automation and want a solution built with the modern SaaS stack in mind, Zoho Books offers a free plan for businesses with annual revenue under $50,000 and paid tiers starting at $20 a month, featuring robust workflow automation, a client portal, and native integration across the broader Zoho ecosystem, including CRM and project management. All three are significantly more affordable than Pilot’s full-service model, though they lack the advisory layer and dedicated finance team.
3️⃣ If you are a small or medium-sized business:
Small and mid-sized businesses will find QuickBooks Online to be a solid fit; it remains the most widely used accounting platform in the U.S. and offers a robust feature set that includes multi-user access, payroll, inventory management, advanced reporting, and tax filing support. Its extensive integrations with Shopify, Stripe, Gusto, and hundreds of other tools make it a natural hub for businesses with diverse operations. Zoho Books is a compelling alternative for companies seeking enterprise-grade features at a fraction of the cost, particularly if they are already using other Zoho products such as Zoho CRM or Zoho Projects. Its automation capabilities, inventory management, and customizable workflows rival platforms costing several times more, and the free plan remains available for businesses with revenue under $50,000. For businesses that need strong international support, Xero stands out with its multi-currency accounting, consolidated reporting for multiple entities, and extensive network of accountants across the UK, Australia, and New Zealand markets. All three platforms operate on a software-only model, meaning you handle your own bookkeeping or hire an external accountant, which makes them significantly more affordable than Pilot but without the built-in human advisory and CFO guidance that Pilot provides.
Otherwise, these other software programs may also be a good alternative to Pilot.
