Startups face unique challenges. Choosing the right finance partner is crucial. Both Pilot and Zeni can offer you tech-forward bookkeeping. But only Pilot provides experts you can speak with who get to know your business and are on that mission with you.
Pilot gives you the insight you need to run your startup—revenue, expenses, tax prep, and investor-ready financials—plus the certainty of an experienced CFO advisor.
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Pilot’s software is rated excellent—4.9 out of 5 stars on G2. And it’s not the only thing we offer. You’ll get a dedicated U.S.-based CFO and accounting expert who’s worked on similar startups. Our people do what AI alone cannot.
Pilot provides financial intelligence powered by AI, not just AI-generated data. We currently help 2,000+ startups with industry-specific KPI dashboards, investor and board presentations, sales commission structures, monetization strategies, and fundraising.
Pilot has industry-specific financial insight into growth-stage companies in AI, SaaS, ecommerce, health tech, professional services, consumer products, and more. Our insights are tailored—never just “the standard metrics.”
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Start with clean, GAAP-compliant books built for VC scrutiny and fundraising. Go further with compensation plans, pricing strategies, cash flow planning, and exit readiness.
Serious founders who can’t waste time
Founders who want tax and CFO advice
Startups seeking true experts in their business model
Venture-funded startups or those soon to raise
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Because Zeni’s software is meant to be “automated,” it is locked into a standard use case. Your startup must fit that exact model. Not every startup does.
Zeni gives you auto-categorized expenses and a dashboard. Ask a question, get a reply. Pilot, on the other hand, combines AI with real accounting experts who verify your data and bring insights to you. We don't wait for questions, we find opportunities and deliver them.
This suggests you get instant books, but the reality? For GAAP-compliant books that your board takes seriously, a human must check them. Your finances are too important to leave to automation alone.
While Zeni forces you to abandon your tools and adopt their system, Pilot integrates with your existing tech stack. We adapt to you instead of forcing a one-size-fits-all approach.
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Need rapid insights, complete or not
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Don’t need to talk to a person
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Completely standard business models
Andrew, CEO at SparkPlug, started on Zeni and though he initially liked the dashboards, he switched to Pilot because he couldn’t customize the dashboards or reports to share with his board. Nor could he get over the lack of support. With Pilot, he now gets a team who knows his business.
I feel much more confident in our financial reporting and tracking without me having to do a crazy amount of work.
Save countless hours on reporting
Pilot streamlines your financial reporting, making it easier to communicate financial health and runway to internal and external stakeholders.
We’ve now identified areas of the business that aren’t really providing us value and have redeployed that money elsewhere.
Make stronger financial decisions
With Pilot handling bookkeeping and accurate financials, you can focus on strategic decisions without getting bogged down in the day to day.
Zeni’s communication was haphazard. They didn't grasp what factors were relevant to me. Whereas Pilot knows our business model.
Rely on Pilot like an extension of your team
You get personalized attention to streamline your operating and processes. Plus, a tax accountant, CFO, controller, and more.
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