Pilot vs Kruze: startup bookkeeping prices and plans

Pilot and Kruze Consulting both keep a startup's books for a monthly fee, and they price that work differently. Pilot's Core plan, with a US-based bookkeeper and accrual books, starts at $299 a month billed annually and rises with your monthly expenses. Kruze's plans start at $650 a month, are priced by complexity, and are for funded Delaware C-corps that have raised at least $500K.

So Pilot is usually the cheaper way in, and Kruze is narrower by design: a CPA firm built around venture-backed companies, with revenue recognition support named on its middle plan. This comparison uses each firm's own pricing page. Prices checked on 2026-10-11.

Pilot vs Kruze at a glance

Both are bookkeeping services: a team keeps your general ledger, closes each month and sends you financial statements. You do not buy software and do the work yourself. What differs is who each firm takes on, what the entry plan includes and how the price is set.

Kruze's page states its plans as a monthly price and does not say whether they need an annual commitment. Pilot's Core prices are shown billed annually.

What Pilot costs

Pilot sells bookkeeping in three plans and prices its Core plan by how much your company spends each month. The pricing page has a slider; these are the prices it shows at each level of monthly expenses, all billed annually.

Essentials, at $99 a month for up to $100,000 in monthly expenses, is cash-basis bookkeeping from your bank and card data, categorized by AI, with in-app support. Core adds the US-based bookkeeper, cash or accrual books that pull from payroll, payments and payables as well as bank and cards, bill management for up to 10 vendor bills a month, a custom chart of accounts and reports on the 10th business day. Custom, priced by sales, adds reports on the 6th business day, receivables, payables, payroll administration and CFO advisory, and lets you keep your existing QuickBooks account.

Tax is sold alongside and must be bought with Pilot bookkeeping. The C-corp package starts at $2,450 a year and includes federal and state income tax filing, the Delaware franchise tax filing, up to 10 Form 1099-NEC filings and a free extension. CFO services start at $1,750 a month billed annually for Basic and $3,150 for Essentials.

What Kruze costs

Kruze publishes two price ranges and asks you to contact it for the third plan.

Every plan has accrual-basis bookkeeping, a dedicated accounting manager and a monthly call with them, and tax, audit prep and CFO services available. There is a one-time onboarding fee for each new entity, whose amount the page does not give. Kruze says it covers setting up systems, organizing your financials, building a data room and converting from cash to accrual accounting, and that correcting earlier records can cost more. Basic and Founder Timesaver are marked as requiring "Kruze Approved Vendors", and Premium as having more options, so ask which tools that covers before you sign.

Tax returns are priced through a calculator on Kruze's tax returns page, which asks for monthly spend, states and funding, rather than a flat fee on the pricing page. The R&D credit study is quoted on request.

Where Pilot is the better choice

Pilot plainly wins in four situations.

• You spend less than about $11,000 a month. Core with accrual books is $299 a month billed annually at that level, less than half of the bottom of Kruze's Basic range.
• You have not raised venture capital, or not yet $500K of it. Kruze's page says it specializes in funded Delaware C-corps that have raised at least $500K. Pilot sells to small businesses as well as startups and offers a discount on Core to pre-revenue companies.
• You want the prices in writing before a call. Pilot publishes its tax packages, CFO tiers and R&D fee. At 20% of the credit received, a $50,000 credit costs $10,000; how the payroll tax offset works shows where that credit goes.
• Simple books for very little. If a seed company only needs clean cash-basis books for its tax preparer, Essentials is $99 a month. Pilot also sells company setup, from a one-time $750 bought with its bookkeeping: incorporation through Stripe Atlas, a Mercury bank account and payroll setup.

Where Kruze is the better choice

Kruze plainly wins for a venture-backed software company whose books will be read by investors.

• Accrual books on every plan. Kruze has no cash-basis tier, and its onboarding converts you to accrual. If you are not sure which you need, cash vs accrual accounting covers when the switch matters.
• Revenue recognition named in the plan. Founder Timesaver includes GAAP revenue recognition support, and Premium adds advanced support. Pilot's pricing page lists accrual books on Core but does not name revenue recognition. If you sell annual contracts, how deferred revenue works is the work being priced.
• A licensed CPA firm. Kruze's site gives its California Board of Accountancy license number, 7637.
• A named accounting manager and a monthly call from the first plan, rather than from a mid-tier.
• Growing into it. Premium adds multiple entities with consolidation, multiple currencies, inventory and cryptocurrency accounting, and Kruze serves companies through Series C.

Which should you pick

A disclosure before the verdict: we make LedgerIt, accounting software that competes with both firms. We have stated what each one offers from its own pricing page, and every price above was checked against those pages on 2026-10-11.

Pick Pilot if you have not raised at least $500K, spend under about $50,000 a month (where Core stays below the bottom of Kruze's range), want cash-basis books for now, or want bookkeeping, tax and CFO prices you can read before talking to anyone. Pilot's Custom plan also lets you keep your existing QuickBooks account.

Pick Kruze if you are a funded Delaware C-corp that sells annual contracts, expects diligence or an audit, and wants accrual books and revenue recognition from a CPA firm that only does this kind of company. Budget at least $650 a month plus the onboarding fee, and ask for the fee in writing.

If you are between the two, get both quotes for the same month: the same expenses, the same basis and the same tax filings. Kruze's price depends on complexity, so its range only tells you where the quote will land.

Where LedgerIt fits

LedgerIt is accounting software, not a bookkeeping service, for US Delaware C-corps backed by venture capital, starting as early as pre-seed. It connects Mercury, Brex and Ramp, posts Stripe as a subledger and payroll from Gusto and Deel, keeps deferred revenue and prepaid expenses on schedules, and runs a month-end close with a checklist and locked periods. It is priced by monthly spend, and free up to $20,000 a month of spend. See LedgerIt.

Do not use LedgerIt if you want a firm to keep your books and file your taxes for you, as Pilot and Kruze do: LedgerIt is not a CPA firm and does not prepare tax returns. It is also the wrong fit if you need bill pay or runway reporting today (both are on the roadmap, not live).

What to do before you sign with either

1. Write down your average monthly expenses over the last three months. It sets Pilot's price, and Kruze will ask for it.
2. Decide whether you need accrual books now. One annual prepaid contract or a priced round coming up usually means yes.
3. Ask Kruze for its onboarding fee and any cleanup cost in writing, and ask Pilot whether your current books need catch-up work.
4. Compare tax on the same scope: federal and state returns, Delaware franchise tax and 1099s.
5. List your bank, cards, payroll and billing tools, and check them against Kruze's approved vendors if you are looking at Basic or Founder Timesaver.
6. Before you switch, export a trial balance from your current books so the new firm's opening balances can be checked.

This article is general information, not accounting or tax advice. Prices and plans change, so confirm them on each firm's pricing page before you sign.