· 8 min read · AIStatements editorial
Pilot Bookkeeping Pricing and Pilot Accounting Software Cost by Plan in 2026
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Pilot bookkeeping costs $99 a month on Essentials and starts at $299 a month on Core billed annually, according to Pilot's own pricing page read on 8 October 2026. Custom is quoted. Essentials is cash-basis AI bookkeeping for companies with up to $100,000 in monthly expenses; Core adds a US-based bookkeeper and accrual accounting, and its price rises as your monthly expenses grow. Onboarding adds one month of bookkeeping, and tax and CFO work are priced separately.
Those figures are lower than most reviews you will find for "Pilot pricing", which still quote plans Pilot no longer sells. Below is what each plan includes today, the three terms in Pilot's FAQ that decide your real bill, a year-one cost table, and how to tell whether you need a bookkeeping upgrade at all or only better monthly statements from books that are already kept.
Pilot bookkeeping pricing as of October 2026
We read pilot.com/pricing on 8 October 2026 with the annual billing toggle on. The page publishes two bookkeeping prices and quotes the third plan.
| Plan | Price | Basis | What it adds |
|---|---|---|---|
| Essentials | $99 a month | Up to $100,000 in monthly expenses | AI categorization, reconciliation and monthly close; cash-basis bookkeeping from bank and card data; standard chart of accounts; year-end package for your tax preparer; in-app support |
| Core | From $299 a month, billed annually | Slider shows $299 at $9,000 in monthly expenses; rises with expenses | US-based bookkeeper; cash or accrual bookkeeping; payroll, AP, inventory and payment integrations; bill management for up to 10 vendor bills a month; custom chart of accounts; reports on the 10th business day; phone and email support |
| Custom | Quoted | Complexity | Keeps your existing QuickBooks account and history; complex structures; reports on the 6th business day; full AR and AP; payroll administration; CFO advisory and fundraising support |
Pre-revenue startups can ask sales for a discount on Core. The page does not publish the size of that discount.
The three terms that set what Pilot really costs
The sticker is only the starting point. Pilot's FAQ adds three rules that matter more than the headline figure for a company that is growing.
- Monthly expenses include payroll, cost of goods sold and distributions. Pilot averages the previous three months of your books to set the level you are billed at. A hiring plan is therefore a pricing plan: every new salary moves the number.
- Prepaying does not lock the price. Plans are annual and can be prepaid, but if your expenses rise past what you prepaid for, Pilot bills the difference that month.
- Onboarding costs one month of bookkeeping. On Core at $299, that is another $299 in month one.
Pilot also says it does all of its bookkeeping in QuickBooks Online, so budget for a QuickBooks subscription if you are not already paying for one. Its cancellation terms are simple: the subscription runs to the end of the billing cycle, and you tell Pilot in advance if you are not renewing.
Because the bill follows spend, it helps to know your monthly expense figure before Pilot's three-month average does. A tool for real-time spend alerts that pings you when a budget line crosses a threshold makes the step to the next pricing level something you see coming rather than something you read on an invoice.
Why do Pilot price reviews disagree?
Because most of them describe an older price list. Fit Small Business lists Starter at $499 and Core at $699 a month for companies under $15,000 in expenses. Zeni's review of Pilot lists Starter at $349 and Core at $499. NerdWallet describes plans prepaid annually with a one-month onboarding fee, which still matches the FAQ. Pilot's current page uses different plan names, Essentials, Core and Custom, and lower entry prices.
The practical rule is the one we apply to every vendor on this site: quote only the vendor's own page and date it. If you are comparing Pilot with Zeni or a local bookkeeping firm, get each quote on the same monthly expense figure, because almost every managed bookkeeping service prices on volume.
How much does Pilot cost per year?
For a seed-stage C-corp with about $9,000 in monthly expenses, which is where Pilot's slider shows the $299 Core price, the arithmetic is straightforward. Larger companies should expect the Core line to be higher because it scales with spend.
| Item | Essentials | Core |
|---|---|---|
| Bookkeeping, 12 months | $1,188 | $3,588 |
| Onboarding, one month | $99 | $299 |
| C-corp tax return (federal, state, Delaware franchise tax) | From $2,450 | From $2,450 |
| Year one before CFO services | From $3,737 | From $6,337 |
| Add CFO Basic, from $1,750 a month | +$21,000 | +$21,000 |
Tax pricing is per entity type and requires Pilot bookkeeping: from $1,000 a year for a single-member LLC ($750 if just formed), from $2,000 for partnerships and S-corps, and from $2,450 for C-corps, with extra state filings at $250 to $500 each. CFO Services run from $1,750 a month on Basic to $3,150 on Essentials and $5,250 on Custom, billed annually.
Where investor reporting sits in Pilot's price list
This is the line founders most often miss. The bookkeeping plans close the books and produce reports. Pilot describes Core as the plan for businesses that need books their partners, lenders and investors trust. But the work most founders mean by investor reporting, the monthly pack with burn and runway explained and a board-ready layout, sits in CFO Services. Pilot lists "investor and board reporting support" on CFO Essentials, from $3,150 a month.
That leaves a gap for a common kind of company: one whose books are already kept well, by Pilot Essentials, a freelance bookkeeper or an in-house accountant, and whose only missing piece is a clean set of accrual-basis statements and a monthly update for the cap table. Paying for a CFO tier to get that is a lot of money for formatting and commentary.
Is Pilot worth it if you only need financial statements?
Usually not. If nobody on your team should touch the books, Pilot is a reasonable buy and Core is a fair price for a human bookkeeper on accrual. If the books are already kept and the request came from an investor or a lender wanting proper monthly statements, the cheaper fix is a reporting layer on top of the ledger you have.
AIStatements reads a trial balance or general ledger export from QuickBooks Online, QuickBooks Desktop or Xero, builds a P&L, balance sheet and indirect-method cash flow statement that tie to each other, computes burn, runway and margins, writes the commentary and exports a PDF and Excel pack in about a minute. If Pilot keeps your books, it reads the same QuickBooks Online export. It does not keep books, and it reports on whatever basis the ledger is kept on, so a cash-basis ledger still needs accrual entries from your bookkeeper first. We set out the full comparison on Pilot bookkeeping alternative, and the monthly deliverable is shown on investor reporting.
| Item | Core plus CFO Basic | Essentials plus AIStatements Growth |
|---|---|---|
| Bookkeeping | $3,588 plus $299 onboarding, rising with expenses | $1,188 plus $99 onboarding |
| Monthly statements and investor pack | CFO Basic from $21,000 a year | $708 a year billed yearly |
| Accrual basis | Yes | Only if the ledger is kept on accrual |
| Burn, runway, written analysis | Yes, with a monthly CFO call | Yes, in every pack, no call |
| Financial model and forecasting | Yes | No |
The honest read: if you want a financial model, scenarios and a person on a monthly call, CFO Services buys that and a reporting tool does not. If you want the three statements, the metrics and a draft update every month, $708 a year does it. Startups that compared other services before Pilot will find the same trade laid out in our Zeni AI alternative comparison.
Questions to ask Pilot before you sign
- What level am I billed at today, and what will Core cost at the expense level in my hiring plan for next year?
- If I prepay, how is the difference billed when expenses rise mid-year?
- Which plan delivers accrual-basis statements, and on which business day?
- Who owns the QuickBooks Online file if I leave, and in what state is it handed over?
- How large is the pre-revenue discount on Core, and when does it end?
Pilot bookkeeping pricing questions buyers ask
How much does Pilot bookkeeping cost per month?
Pilot Essentials is $99 a month for companies with up to $100,000 in monthly expenses. Core starts at $299 a month billed annually, the price Pilot's slider shows at $9,000 in monthly expenses, and rises as expenses grow. Custom is quoted. Prices were read from pilot.com/pricing on 8 October 2026.
Is Pilot bookkeeping billed monthly or annually?
Annually. Pilot's FAQ describes an annual subscription that you can prepay, and prepaying does not lock the price: if your monthly expenses rise beyond what you prepaid, Pilot bills the difference that month. Onboarding is a one-time charge equal to one month of bookkeeping.
Does Pilot charge based on revenue or expenses?
Expenses. Pilot counts the money your company spends each month, including payroll, cost of goods sold and distributions, and averages the prior three months to set your level. Revenue does not set the bookkeeping price, so a company that hires ahead of revenue moves up quickly.
Does Pilot Essentials include accrual accounting?
No. Pilot's pricing page describes Essentials as cash-basis bookkeeping from bank and credit card data. Cash or accrual bookkeeping is listed from Core upward, so a founder who needs accrual statements for investors or a lender should budget for Core or have the accruals booked elsewhere.