How Much Does Bookkeeping Cost for a Startup in 2026? Software vs Managed Compared

As of October 10, 2026, a startup with $10,000 in monthly expenses and no payroll pays $171 a month on Puzzle for a person to review and close its books, or $2,052 a year. Software alone costs $30 to $120 a month on Puzzle's Starter through Complete plans. Managed teams with a dedicated finance staff cost more: Zeni's pre-revenue Starter starts at $494 a month billed annually. Every price below comes from the vendor's own pricing page.

Those are list prices, not quotes. Puzzle and Zeni price their managed plans by expense band or complexity, and Pilot prints no number for its human plan at all. The table shows what each page prints, and the sections below explain what each price buys.

Toolradar data: Toolradar, the software directory we run, has evaluated 268 tools for its October 2026 bookkeeping ranking, and 26% of them have a free plan. The question that separates the prices below is who reviews the books: a person, or only the software.

Summary table: what each plan costs

Monthly prices are in US dollars, before tax. Per year is the monthly price times 12 at month-to-month billing, except Zeni Starter, which uses its yearly rate.

Plan	Who does the books	Monthly price	Per year	Fits or limits
Puzzle Starter	You, with AI	$30 ($24 billed yearly)	$360	One seat, first books
Digits Essentials	You, with AI	$65	$780	Solopreneurs and early-stage businesses
Puzzle Core	You, with AI	$72 ($58 billed yearly)	$864	Five seats
Pilot Essentials	AI, no named bookkeeper	$99	$1,188	Up to $100,000 in monthly expenses
Digits Core	You, with AI	$100	$1,200	Small and growing businesses
Puzzle Core with Expert Reviewed	A bookkeeper reviews and closes the books	$171	$2,052	Up to $10,000 in monthly expenses, no payroll
Zeni Starter	Dedicated finance team	From $494 billed yearly ($549 monthly)	From $5,928	Pre-revenue companies
Pilot Core	US-based bookkeeper	Not published	Not published	Page shows only "starts at"

Read the table by what each price buys, not by the lowest number. Puzzle's bookkeeper plan is the lowest price on the list that puts a reviewer inside the monthly fee.

The scenario, and why it fits Puzzle's limits

We priced one buyer: a startup with one legal entity, one bank account and one card, about $10,000 a month in expenses, no payroll and no accounts payable. Puzzle's bookkeeper plan fits those limits, provided the company also has no receivables or inventory and uses one accounting basis. Its page restricts the service to straightforward businesses with up to $10K in monthly expenses, one entity and one accounting basis, and no payroll, payables, receivables or inventory.

Payroll changes the answer. Startups with staff usually run payroll, and Puzzle's bookkeeper plan excludes it. Its full-service plan does not say whether payroll is included, so ask before you assume it is. The second scenario below assumes payroll and a larger spend.

Software vs managed: what the price buys

A software plan pays for a tool. It categorizes transactions, reconciles accounts and drafts statements, and then someone has to check the result. That someone is you, a founder or an outside accountant on a retainer. A managed plan pays for that check. A person reviews the work, closes the month and answers questions, and the price rises to cover it.

The gap between the two is about who does the review, not about features. Puzzle's Core software costs $72 a month. Its bookkeeper plan adds the review for a difference of $99 a month, or $1,188 a year, on month-to-month billing. That difference is what the human review costs on this page.

Puzzle: the lowest human review, with limits

Puzzle's Core plan with Expert Reviewed Service costs $171 a month and includes the Core software. The service closes the books every month, transactions are reviewed and corrected when needed, bank and card reconciliations are checked, and the company gets up to three bookkeeping questions a month. That cap is the trade-off. A founder who asks about every charge should batch questions, or move up to full service, which includes unlimited email questions.

Puzzle's next option is full service on its Complete software, with a named bookkeeper, accruals, prepaids, financial statements and unlimited questions by email. Its page prices that by monthly expense band: $619 a month from $10,000 to $50,000, $819 from $50,000 to $100,000, $919 from $100,000 to $150,000, and $1,019 from $150,000 to $200,000. Above $200,000 the price is custom. These figures sit behind the page's expense slider. A company that outgrows the bookkeeper plan's band pays $448 a month more at the first full-service band.

Puzzle's charges outside the subscription matter too. Catch-up bookkeeping costs from $300 a month of books, and the page's own example is eleven months behind at $3,300. A migration costs $149 for each system moved, charged once. The software-only Complete plan costs $120 a month, and its Scale plan at $360 has no transaction limits.

Digits: software at a fixed price, with a partner list

Digits Essentials costs $65 a month and is aimed at solopreneurs and early-stage businesses. Digits Core costs $100 a month and is the plan its page labels most popular, for small businesses and growing companies. Its Pro plan at $250 a month is marked "Coming soon", so it cannot be bought today.

Digits says that the verified financials investors, lenders and tax authorities trust may need a professional's review. It points buyers to an accountant directory for that work and prints no price for it. A Digits buyer therefore gets a fixed software bill and a separate, unpriced line for the person. The page prints no yearly option, so the table uses the monthly rate.

Pilot: an AI close first, a bookkeeper from Core

Pilot Essentials costs $99 a month for businesses up to $100,000 in monthly expenses. Its page describes AI that categorizes transactions, reconciles accounts and closes the books each month, with cash-basis bookkeeping from bank and card data and support through in-app messaging. It names no bookkeeper. It undercuts Puzzle's bookkeeper plan by $72 a month, but the service is closer to software than to a reviewed close.

Pilot Core adds a US-based bookkeeper, cash or accrual accounting, custom charts of accounts and reports on the tenth business day. Its bill management is capped at 10 vendor bills a month. The page prints no figure for Core, only a "starts at" label, so the table lists it as not published. Ask Pilot for a quote on your expense band before you compare it with Puzzle.

Zeni: a dedicated team, priced by complexity

Zeni has two bookkeeping plans for startups. Starter is for pre-revenue companies and starts at $549 a month billed monthly, or $494 a month billed annually, a 10% saving. Growth is for companies with revenue and starts at $799 a month, or $719 billed annually. Both are sold with a dedicated finance team, and the page lists the roles without tying each one to a plan.

Zeni prices by bookkeeping complexity, monthly expenses and annual revenue, so its Starter and Growth figures are starting points, not quotes. Two terms affect the total. Zeni requires QuickBooks Online Plus to sync with its dashboard, and a company on other software is migrated to it, with no price for the move on the page. Its CFO plans add a setup fee of $2,000 to $6,000 on top of a monthly price from $1,599. The page prints no setup fee for Starter or Growth.

Scenario two: $50,000 a month with payroll

Take a company with $50,000 in monthly expenses and payroll. In the band from $50,000 to $100,000, Puzzle's full-service plan on Complete software costs $819 a month, or $9,828 a year. Zeni's Growth plan starts at $719 a month billed annually, or $8,628 a year. That figure is a floor for a company with that complexity and revenue, not a quote. Pilot Core would be the closest human-led comparison.

The ranking depends on the buyer's stage. In the $10,000 to $50,000 band, Puzzle's full service costs $619 a month, which is $125 a month more than Zeni's pre-revenue Starter floor. For a company with revenue, Zeni's Growth floor of $719 sits $100 a month above Puzzle's $619. Neither Zeni figure is a quote, so a written quote for your exact stage decides the order.

Costs outside the headline price

• Puzzle: catch-up bookkeeping from $300 a month of books, a $149 migration per system, and a three-question monthly cap on the bookkeeper plan.
• Pilot: bill management capped at 10 vendor bills a month on Core.
• Zeni: QuickBooks Online Plus required, and a $2,000 to $6,000 setup fee on CFO plans.
• Digits: the professional review is priced by each partner firm, and the page prints none of those prices.

Each of these changes the total, so raise it before you sign.

When software is enough, and when a person pays off

Software is enough when someone on the team already reviews the categories and reconciliations every month and no outside party needs closed books.

Pay for a reviewed plan when someone outside the company must rely on the books: a lender, an investor's finance team or an auditor. Those parties ask for closed books, and a software subscription does not supply them.

To test the choice, compare the gap between Puzzle's Core software and its bookkeeper plan with the hours your founder spends on categories and reconciliations. If the hours your founder spends on those tasks cost more than the monthly gap, the reviewed plan costs less than doing the work yourself. The test is about your founder's time, not the bookkeeper's rate.

What to ask for in a quote

• The monthly fee for your exact expense band, in writing, with the same scope for every vendor.
• Whether payroll, accounts payable and receivable, and inventory are included, and what they cost if they are not.
• Catch-up, migration and setup fees as separate lines.
• The question, bill and seat caps for the plan you would buy.
• Whether the monthly price changes at renewal, and the notice period to cancel.

Methodology

We read each vendor's public pricing page on October 10, 2026, and quote only prices printed on those pages, including the values behind Puzzle's expense slider and billing toggle. Where a page prints only "starts at" or "custom", the table says so and no number is estimated. Third-party benchmark ranges are not used for any price. Vendor prices can move after the check, so treat October 10, 2026 as the check date.

FAQ

How much does bookkeeping cost for a startup in 2026?

Software alone runs $30 to $120 a month on Puzzle's Starter through Complete plans and $65 to $100 on Digits. A bookkeeper's review starts at $171 a month on Puzzle for the smallest expense band, and Zeni's pre-revenue Starter starts at $494 a month billed annually. Every managed price here starts at an expense band or a floor, so the figure for your company may differ.

What is the cheapest bookkeeping for a startup?

For a pre-revenue company with up to $10K in monthly expenses and no payroll, the lowest priced option on this list that includes a bookkeeper's review is Puzzle's, at $2,052 a year. Pilot Essentials is cheaper at $99 a month, but its page describes an AI close with no named bookkeeper. Puzzle's Starter is the lowest software-only plan in the table.

Is bookkeeping software enough for a startup?

It is enough when someone already reviews the categories and reconciliations each month, and no outside party needs closed books. The software does the categorizing, but a person still has to check the result.

Does Puzzle's bookkeeper plan cover payroll?

No. Puzzle excludes payroll processing, accounts payable and receivable, and inventory from its bookkeeper plan, and it limits that plan to one entity. Its full-service plan does not say whether payroll is included, so ask in writing.

What does catch-up bookkeeping cost?

Puzzle charges from $300 a month of books that were never closed. Its own example is eleven months behind, which comes to $3,300.

Does Zeni require QuickBooks?

Yes. Zeni syncs with QuickBooks Online Plus, and a company on other software is migrated to it. The page prints no price for that migration, so ask for it in the quote.

Why is Pilot's Core plan not priced in the table?

Pilot's page shows Core with a "starts at" label and no figure, so the table lists it as not published. Ask Pilot for a quote on your expense band. Its Essentials plan is a different service, an AI close with no named bookkeeper.

Cite this: CFOpresso, "How Much Does Bookkeeping Cost for a Startup in 2026? Software vs Managed Compared," October 2026.

Zeni requires QuickBooks, so our QuickBooks Online review explains what that ledger does before a person steps in. AI for accounting explains which steps software now handles alone, and will accounting be replaced by AI takes up which review work stays with people. Use the question of who reviews your books to place your company on that line. Founders who also need an equity valuation can compare prices on our 409A valuation cost page.

CFOpresso writes for the finance leads who choose these tools and for the advisors who set their budgets.

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