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Pilot

Bookkeeping, tax and CFO services for startups from US$99 a month

Overview

Pilot is a US accounting firm that combines bookkeeping software with in-house accountants and sells bookkeeping, business tax preparation and fractional CFO services as separate subscriptions. It lists offices in San Francisco and Nashville, and says it has raised more than US$150 million across Series A, B and C rounds from investors including Sequoia, Index Ventures, Stripe, Bezos Expeditions and Whale Rock[2]. Its pricing page describes it as the largest startup and small business accounting firm in the US and shows OpenAI, Lattice, Airtable and Scale AI among its customers[1].

The bookkeeping range starts with Essentials at US$99 a month for businesses with up to US$100,000 in monthly expenses: cash-basis books built from bank and card feeds with AI categorisation and a monthly close, with support through in-app messaging[1]. The Core plan adds a US-based bookkeeper, accrual accounting, payroll, accounts payable and inventory integrations, and reports by the 10th business day; Custom adds QuickBooks migration, full receivables and payables, payroll administration and a 6th-business-day close[1]. Tax and CFO packages require Pilot bookkeeping. The main limitation is that the lowest tier is self-service in practice, and the Core plan’s price was not clearly displayed on the pricing page when checked[1].

Pilot features

  • Cash or accrual books depending on plan
  • Monthly close with reports by 10th business day (Core)
  • AI transaction categorisation with accountant review
  • Business tax filing including Delaware franchise tax
  • Fractional CFO plans with financial models and board reporting
  • R&D tax credit service
  • Stock administration support
  • Cash or accrual bookkeeping

Pilot pricing

  • Essentials: US$99/month, up to US$100,000 monthly expenses, cash basis.
  • Core: billed annually; adds US-based bookkeeper and accrual basis (price not clearly shown when checked).
  • Custom: quote-based.
  • Tax: from US$1,000/year (single-member LLC), US$2,000 (partnerships and S-corps), US$2,450 (C-corps); requires Pilot bookkeeping.
  • CFO: from US$1,750, US$3,150 and US$5,250/month, billed annually.
  • R&D tax credit: 20% of credit received; stock administration US$399/hour.

Pilot strengths and limitations

Strengths

  • Published entry price and clear expense bands
  • Bookkeeping, tax and CFO tiers from one provider
  • Accrual books and fast close on higher tiers
  • Large venture investor base and established brand
  • Full stack from bookkeeping to CFO
  • Published tax and CFO prices

Limitations

  • Essentials plan has no dedicated bookkeeper and is cash basis only
  • Tax and CFO services are only sold to Pilot bookkeeping clients
  • Core price not clearly published
  • Annual billing on several plans
  • Not a CPA firm
  • Tax and CFO require Pilot bookkeeping

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