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The Pilot Blog

Financial tips and best practices for growing businesses

What should founders pay themselves in 2026?

See what 1,623 other founders pay themselves by company age and funding amount.

For Founders
Waseem Daher
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What should founders pay themselves in 2026?

For Founders
Waseem Daher

Cash flow management for startups

Startups 101
Chris Davis

Xero vs. Pilot: a comprehensive comparison for business owners

Accounting and Bookkeeping
Chris Davis

Sales tax for small businesses (2026 guide)

Taxes
Chris Davis

Merging two Shopify stores? Handle the books before you migrate.

eCommerce
Mark Gervase

How to track cost of goods sold in QuickBooks for a product business

eCommerce
Mark Gervase

Does your product business qualify for R&D tax credits?

eCommerce
Mark Gervase

When your Shopify revenue and your QuickBooks balance don't match

eCommerce
Mark Gervase

Bench accounting: reviews, features, and alternatives

Accounting and Bookkeeping
Pilot Team

Planning an Exit? Start With the Numbers.

For Founders
Pilot CFO Services Team

5 Signs You’ve Outgrown Your Financial Setup (And What to Do About It)

Accounting and Bookkeeping
Pilot CFO Services Team

How to set up bookkeeping for an e-commerce startup before your first sale

eCommerce
Mark Gervase

Intercompany transactions: what a US subsidiary needs to get right

Accounting and Bookkeeping
Mark Gervase

Accrual vs. cash accounting for a foreign-owned US subsidiary: which one and why

Accounting and Bookkeeping
Mark Gervase

How to set up US accounting when you're launching from abroad

Accounting and Bookkeeping
Mark Gervase

5 ways AI helps small business owners win more customers

AI
Mark Gervase

The 5 best alternatives to Aprio in 2026

Accounting and Bookkeeping
Pilot Team

How clean bookkeeping helps you get a small business loan

SMB
Maebellyne Ventura

How to Calculate Your Breakeven Point (And Why Most Founders Get It Wrong)

For Founders
Kyle Cassara

AI is rewriting the startup efficiency curve

AI
Mark Gervase

The 5 best alternatives to Squire in 2026

Accounting and Bookkeeping
Pilot Team

Your First Board Meeting Is Coming Up. Here's What Your Investors Actually Want to See

Startups 101
Pilot CFO Services Team

Why the most dangerous place to operate isn't a short runway

Data
Cole Levin

Find a co-founder who loves what you hate

SMB
Mark Gervase

The 3 Costly Mistakes Seed Founders Keep Making

For Founders
Bridget Martinez

How to start paying yourself as a business owner

SMB
Mark Gervase

The 5 best alternatives to Collective in 2026

Accounting and Bookkeeping
Pilot Team

The 5 best alternatives to every.io in 2026

Accounting and Bookkeeping
Pilot Team

What we found when we looked at how 1,000 startups actually spend money

Data
Mark Gervase

The 3 Costly Mistakes Series A Founders Keep Making

For Founders
Bridget Martinez

Can Pilot do my business’ taxes? Yes*

Taxes
Mark Gervase

2025 Year-End VC Market Insights

Growth
Pilot CFO Services Team

What Happens During a Series A Fundraise

Startups 101
Pilot CFO Services Team

Pilot just launched a free trial so any business can see its finances

SMB
Mark Gervase

The 5 best alternatives to financial wing in 2026

Accounting and Bookkeeping
Pilot Team

Pilot Unveils AI Accountant: A Major Leap Toward Artificial General Intelligence in Accounting

Pilot updates
Pilot Team

The 5 best alternatives to Burkland in 2026

Accounting and Bookkeeping
Pilot Team

The 5 best alternatives to SimpleCFO solutions in 2026

Accounting and Bookkeeping
Pilot Team

The 5 best alternatives to Armanino LLP in 2026

Accounting and Bookkeeping
Pilot Team

How to write a great investor update (new template)

For Founders
Mark Gervase

The 5 best alternatives to Proseer in 2026

Accounting and Bookkeeping
Pilot Team

The 5 best alternatives to Countsy in 2026

Accounting and Bookkeeping
Pilot Team

The 5 best alternatives to Bookkeeper360 in 2026

Accounting and Bookkeeping
Pilot Team

Top 5 bookkeeping audit software

Accounting and Bookkeeping
Pilot Team

The 5 best alternatives to Premier Consulting & Integration in 2026

Accounting and Bookkeeping
Pilot Team

The 5 best alternatives to Attivo Partners in 2026

Accounting and Bookkeeping
Pilot Team

The 5 best alternatives to Finaloop in 2026

Accounting and Bookkeeping
Pilot Team

The 5 best alternatives to E2E in 2026

Accounting and Bookkeeping
Pilot Team

The 5 best alternatives to NOWCFO in 2026

Accounting and Bookkeeping
Pilot Team

The life sciences fundraising landscape: What founders need to know right now

Life Sciences
Mark Gervase

The ultimate guide to outsourced bookkeeping in 2026

Accounting and Bookkeeping
Mark Gervase

What are key tax deadlines for startups?

Taxes
Mark Gervase
tax extension how to

How to file a business tax extension in 2026 and avoid penalties

Taxes
Mark Gervase

Does my business have to pay quarterly taxes?

Taxes
Han Shi

Want to save on taxes? Get a bookkeeper

Taxes
Han Shi

A small business tax guide for beginners [2026]

Taxes
Han Shi

The 5 best alternatives to airCFO in 2026

Accounting and Bookkeeping
Pilot Team

Top 14 small business tax deductions & write-offs: the ultimate guide

Taxes
Mark Gervase

5 things to add to your business's end-of-year checklist: budgeting, tax prep, and bookkeeping essentials

SMB
Mark Gervase

What Clean Books Actually Look Like at Pre-Seed

Accounting and Bookkeeping
Mark Gervase

Pilot Launches Local Partner Program to Empower Bookkeepers and Strengthen Small Businesses Nationwide

Pilot updates
Pilot Team

Your small business tax questions answered

Taxes
Pilot Team

Your startup tax questions answered

Taxes
Pilot Team

Should you start a founder podcast? AI just made it easier

For Founders
Mark Gervase

Financial pitfalls to avoid with your startup

Startups 101
Pilot Team

How to start an agency according to 8 successful founders

Creative Agencies
Mark Gervase

How your AI startup’s legal strategy can help secure enterprise customers

AI Startups
Mariana Antcheva

How to manage business expenses like a CFO

SMB
Mark Gervase

How to grow revenue—a business owner’s cheat sheet

SMB
Mark Gervase

The 6 small business metrics that matter and how to use them

SMB
Mark Gervase

How Barbara Stephenson scaled 300feetout by fixing operations

Creative Agencies
Mark Gervase

The most-used AI tools according to 2,500 companies

AI
Mark Gervase

How former freelancer Rebecca built all the ops at the agency Beam

Creative Agencies
Mark Gervase

How Todd has kept the web agency Four Kitchens thriving for 19 years

Creative Agencies
Mark Gervase

How to raise early-stage health tech rounds

Life Sciences
Pilot Team

How AI is changing financial reporting + what founders should do now

AI
Kenny Moulton

Ross' personal brand generated millions for his agency

Creative Agencies
Mark Gervase

Get clear cash views with new graphs and dashboards

Pilot Product
Mark Gervase

How much does a fractional CFO cost? Estimate your monthly spend

Back Office Operations
Bridget Martinez

The agency model is broken—so how do some still thrive?

Creative Agencies
Mark Gervase

How to use AI for bookkeeping without losing control

Accounting and Bookkeeping
Kenny Moulton

How Alex Birkett built a brand that landed his agency its biggest client yet

Creative Agencies
Mark Gervase

2026 VC market update: The 5 trends defining startup fundraising

Finances and Fundraising
Pilot Team

Get instant answers with Pilot AI

Pilot Product
Mark Gervase

How Tyler generated a $500K new deal for his agency through brand-building on Linkedin

Creative Agencies
Mark Gervase

How Mariya 10x’d her agency’s rates by building a founder brand

Creative Agencies
Mark Gervase

Pilot will now do your work chores—bill pay, payroll, stock admin, and more

Pilot Product
Pilot CFO Services Team

Bills won’t make your beer taste better

Back Office Operations
Pilot Team

Founders and funders: Riley Rodgers

AI
Mark Gervase

Bookkeeping basics: A small business owner's guide to Bookkeeping

Accounting and Bookkeeping
Kenny Moulton

How AI can save small business owners 10+ hours per week

AI
Pilot Team

Why hire a fractional CFO? Here’s when it makes sense

Back Office Operations
Bridget Martinez

Top 10 bookkeeping mistakes small businesses make and how to avoid them

Accounting and Bookkeeping
Cole Levin

From seats to success: The new economics of AI pricing in 2026

AI
Cole Levin

Can my startup pay my rent? What founders need to know

Taxes
Waseem Daher

6 essential charts for raising a healthtech round

Finances and Fundraising
Pilot CFO Services Team

How to set up your small business bookkeeping system

Accounting and Bookkeeping
Mark Gervase

From idea to launch: A business startup checklist for small businesses and startup founders

SMB
Mark Gervase

Founders and funders: Mike Vernal

AI
Mark Gervase

How to build your startup’s sales team

Startups 101
Mark Gervase
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