: Compare

T:0 vs Pilot

Pilot is the largest startup bookkeeping firm in the US, and they are good at what they do. The structural difference is where your books live: Pilot provisions and manages a QuickBooks Online file for you. T:0 is the ledger itself.

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: The short answer

A Pilot alternative that owns the ledger

: Pilot

Pilot gives its customers services plus software on top of QuickBooks Online. Their AI Accountant categorises and reconciles inside a QuickBooks file they set up, a bookkeeper reviews it, and you get reports 2-4 weeks after the month ends.

: T:0

T:0 gives you the ledger itself: rules written by AI, applied as transactions arrive, with books that are current to the hour rather than finished ten days after month-end.

: Side by side

T:0 compared to Pilot

Both give you software and people. The difference is whose ledger your books live in.

Pilot
Who it’s built for
Venture-backed startups, seed to Series A
Startups and small businesses ¹
Owns the general ledger
Yes
No, provisions and manages a QuickBooks Online file ²
Custom Chart of accounts
Yes
No. Standard on Essentials, custom on Core ¹
Accrual-basis books
Yes, on every plan
Core and above only. Essentials is cash-basis only¹
How often books update
Hourly, as transactions arrive
Reports on the 10th business day, 6th on Custom ¹
Month-end close
No catch-up. A CPA certifies the close monthly on managed plans
Monthly close delivered by your bookkeeper ¹
Dedicated CPA included
Yes, on managed plans
US-based bookkeeper from Core ¹
How you reach your accountant
Shared Slack channel on managed plans
Via in-app messaging or email
Tax, R&D credit and CFO services
Available, on your own ledger
Available, on a QuickBooks file ¹
Starting price (assuming $50k in month expenses)
$599/mo for managed services
$669/mo
Cancel anytime, no annual contract
Yes
No
Transaction categorisation
AI writes the rules, the AI ledger applies them
AI Accountant categorises inside QuickBooks, bookkeeper reviews ²
Revenue recognition
ASC 606 including usage-based, in every plan
Not listed in any bookkeeping tier ¹
See why a transaction was categorised
Yes, rules and decision log visible
No
Answers between closes
Ask T:0, no cap on questions
Pilot AI in the Portal ²
Sources

Comparison accurate as of 11/1/2026. Reviewed quarterly.

: Where T:0 is different

Why startups choose T:0 over Pilot

01

Your books are current, not delivered

Pilot’s Core plan delivers reports on the 10th business day. For most months that means your January numbers arrive around 14 February. T:0 categorises and reconciles as transactions land, so there is no delivery date, because there is nothing to deliver. You open the books and they are current.

02

Revenue recognition is included, not absent

Usage-based pricing, annual prepaid contracts and subscriptions all need ASC 606 treatment. Revenue recognition does not appear in any of Pilot’s published bookkeeping tiers. T:0 includes it in every plan, built on the engine that processes billions of accounting records a year.

03

You can see the rule behind every entry

Pilot’s AI categorises inside a QuickBooks file and a bookkeeper reviews it. When you want to know why something was coded the way it was, you ask a person. In T:0 every entry traces back to a readable rule and the evidence the rule considered.

: Fair play

When Pilot is the better choice

Pilot is the largest startup accounting firm in the US and there are several situations where they are the right answer:

  • 01

    You want a longer track record.

    Pilot has been doing this for years longer and counts OpenAI, Airtable and Scale as customers. For some founders and some boards, that matters more than architecture.

  • 02

    You want people doing the work rather than software.

    Pilot’s model is explicitly 50/50 people and software. Ours puts the software first, with CPAs available if you want them. Some founders prefer the former, and that is a legitimate preference rather than a misunderstanding.

: FAq

Pilot Accounting alternatives, answered

  • What’s the difference between T:0 and Pilot?

     Pilot is a bookkeeping service that provisions and manages a QuickBooks Online file for you, with their own software and a bookkeeper on top. T:0 is the general ledger itself, with AI writing the categorisation rules, in-house CPAs reviewing them, and the books updating hourly.

  • How much does Pilot cost compared to T:0?

    Pilot Essentials is $99 a month for cash-basis books from your bank and cards. Their Core plan, which adds accrual accounting and a US-based bookkeeper, is priced on your monthly expense volume. T:0 is $199 a month for the platform and $599 for managed plans with a dedicated CPA.

  • Does Pilot do revenue recognition?

    Revenue recognition does not appear in any of Pilot’s published bookkeeping tiers. T:0 includes ASC 606 revenue recognition, including usage-based, in every plan.

  • Can I talk to my accountant in Slack?

    With T:0, a shared Slack channel is included on managed plans. With Pilot, Slack access is listed under CFO services, which start at $1,750 a month.

  • Does T:0 offer tax and CFO services like Pilot?

    Yes. T:0 offers tax filing, R&D credit and fractional CFO services alongside the platform. The difference is that they run on your own ledger rather than on a QuickBooks file.

See it against your own books.