Online bookkeeping services compared: Pilot, QuickBooks Live, Bookkeeper360 and more

There comes a point where doing your own books stops making sense. The monthly hour becomes four, payroll and contractors add complexity, and you'd rather spend the time on the business. An online bookkeeping service takes the recording off your hands for a monthly fee, and hands you financial statements each month.

The prices range widely, from around $99 a month to $600 and well beyond, and so does what you get. This guide compares the main options and explains how to choose without locking your records into someone else's system.

The options side by side

Published starting prices on the day we checked. Most services quote the final price based on your monthly expenses and complexity.

What a service does each month

Whichever service you choose, the monthly work follows a similar pattern, and knowing it helps you compare what you're paying for.

1. Collect transactions from your bank, cards and payment processors, through connected feeds.
2. Categorize each one against your chart of accounts, asking you about anything unclear.
3. Reconcile every account against its statement so the balances match.
4. Record adjustments, such as accruals, prepaid expenses or depreciation, on accrual-basis plans.
5. Close the month and send you a profit and loss statement and a balance sheet, usually within one to two weeks of month end.
6. Answer questions about the numbers, and flag anything unusual.

Cheaper plans usually do the first three and five, on a cash basis. More expensive plans add accrual adjustments, bill payment, invoicing, payroll records and advisory.

Pilot

Pilot is one of the larger bookkeeping firms for startups and small businesses. Its Essentials plan, at $99 a month for businesses with up to $100,000 in monthly expenses, covers cash-basis bookkeeping with a standard chart of accounts and a year-end tax package. It's aimed at businesses that "just want clean books."

The Core plan adds a US-based bookkeeper, a choice of accrual or cash basis, bill management for a set number of vendor bills each month, a custom chart of accounts and reports by the tenth business day. Custom adds faster reporting, full accounts payable and receivable, payroll administration and CFO advisory. Pilot quotes both, so expect to talk to sales.

Best for: startups and growing businesses that want clean books now and a path to accrual and advisory later. Watch for: Core and Custom pricing is by quote.

QuickBooks Live

QuickBooks Live, Intuit's own service, puts a bookkeeper to work inside your QuickBooks Online account. That's its biggest strength: your books stay in QuickBooks, which you own and can hand to any accountant.

After a first month that includes a flat fee for cleanup and setup, if you have at least two months of data, the monthly price is based on your average expenses and starts at $300 a month. It's reassessed every three months as your business changes.

Best for: businesses already on QuickBooks Online. Watch for: the cleanup fee in month one, and price changes as expenses grow.

Bookkeeper360

Bookkeeper360 works in Xero or QuickBooks Online and assigns a dedicated accounting team. Monthly service starts at $399 a month, with a monthly profit and loss and balance sheet. Weekly service, its most popular plan, starts at $599 a month and adds weekly insights and reports. Onboarding and catch-up work on past months starts at $1,000 per project.

Best for: businesses that want a dedicated team and weekly visibility. Watch for: the catch-up project fee if your books are behind.

Wave Advisors, doola and Firstbase

• Wave Advisors offers bookkeeping inside Wave from $149 to $199 a month. It suits businesses already using Wave.
• doola's Business-in-a-Box, at $2,999 a year, combines formation, compliance, tax filing and a dedicated bookkeeper. It's aimed at founders, especially outside the US, who want everything in one place.
• Firstbase Accounting, at $599 a month or $5,990 a year, offers AI-assisted bookkeeping with live bookkeeper chat, and is part of the Firstbase One bundle with tax filing and a registered agent.

What a year costs

At the starting prices above, a year of bookkeeping costs roughly:

• Pilot Essentials: $1,188.
• Wave Advisors: $1,788 to $2,388.
• doola Business-in-a-Box: $2,999, including formation, compliance and tax filing as well as bookkeeping.
• QuickBooks Live: from $3,600, plus the first month's cleanup fee.
• Bookkeeper360: $4,788 for monthly service, $7,188 for weekly.
• Firstbase Accounting: $5,990 billed annually.

Those are floors, not quotes. Services price on your monthly expenses and complexity, so a business with high spending, many accounts or inventory will pay more. Compare them with what your time is worth, and with the hours your accountant spends fixing your books at year end.

Cleanup and catch-up work

If your books are behind, every service will want to bring them up to date before monthly work starts, and that's usually priced separately. QuickBooks Live charges a flat cleanup fee in the first month when you have at least two months of data. Bookkeeper360's onboarding and catch-up starts at $1,000 per project. Ask for this quote early, because a year of catch-up can cost more than several months of regular service.

Working with your accountant at tax time

A bookkeeping service prepares your books. Your tax return is a separate job, and services handle it in different ways. Some include a year-end tax package your accountant can work from, as Pilot does on its Essentials plan. Some offer tax filing as an add-on or a bundle, such as doola's and Firstbase's plans. Others expect you to have your own CPA. Decide which you want before you sign, and introduce your bookkeeper and accountant early so the year-end handoff is smooth.

The Bench lesson: own your books

In December 2024, Bench Accounting, an online bookkeeping service with more than 35,000 US customers, shut down without warning, and customers lost access to their accounts until Employer.com acquired the company days later. Bench kept customers' books in its own platform, so they couldn't simply pick up where they left off elsewhere.

The lesson applies to any service you consider. Prefer one whose bookkeepers work inside software you own, such as QuickBooks Online or Xero, with you as the account owner. Make sure you can log in, see every transaction and export your data at any time. And keep a copy of each year's financial statements and tax package yourself.

Service, or software plus a part-time bookkeeper?

A bookkeeping service isn't the only way to hand off the work. Many small businesses use accounting software they own, plus a freelance or local bookkeeper for a few hours a month.

• A service gives you a team, a process, backup if your bookkeeper is away, and predictable pricing. It costs more, and you work within its process.
• A freelance bookkeeper can be cheaper for a simple business and more flexible, but you depend on one person, and quality varies.

For under a hundred transactions a month, doing it yourself with software is usually the most economical. Our guide to small business bookkeeping covers the routine.

Cash or accrual?

Cheaper plans usually keep cash-basis books, which record income when it arrives and expenses when they're paid. That's fine for most small businesses and matches how they file taxes. Accrual books, which record income when it's earned and costs when they're incurred, give a truer picture for businesses with inventory, long payment terms or investors, and they're what lenders and buyers often expect. If you think you'll need accrual books in the next year or two, choose a service that can provide them, so you don't have to switch.

What to ask before you sign

1. Whose software are my books in, and am I the account owner?
2. What's the monthly price for my expenses, and when does it change?
3. Is there a setup or catch-up fee, and how many months behind can you catch up?
4. Cash or accrual, and can I switch later?
5. When will I get each month's statements?
6. Do you prepare tax returns, or hand off to an accountant?
7. How do I leave, and what do I get when I do?

Signs it's time to hire help

• Bookkeeping takes you more than three or four hours a month.
• You're behind by more than a month or two.
• You've added payroll, inventory or several bank accounts.
• An investor, lender or buyer wants accrual statements.
• Your accountant spends hours fixing your books every tax season.

If two or more of those apply, a service will likely pay for itself in time and in a smaller year-end bill from your accountant. If you're still choosing accounting software, start with our comparison of QuickBooks, Xero and FreshBooks, since the right service often follows from the software you use.