What Pilot does

Pilot is a San Francisco-based, venture-backed financial services company that provides AI-augmented bookkeeping, tax, and outsourced CFO services to startups and small businesses. Its core offering is an annual subscription bookkeeping product in which human finance experts work alongside proprietary automation built on QuickBooks Online as the system of record, supplemented by add-on modules for tax preparation, R&D tax credit identification, equity/stock administration, CFO advisory, and packaged bundles such as Startup Booster and SMB Booster. The company's product surface has expanded into two distinct go-to-market motions: the original direct-to-SMB services business, and a new B2B platform called Meridian that sells an AI operating system to accounting firms for autonomous month-end close execution.

The technology foundation is the Meridian AI platform, trained and refined across 8,000+ businesses and 187,000+ months of production accounting work, which delivers a fully autonomous close process with built-in reconciliation tie-outs, invoice clearing, depreciation, and validation gates. The AI Accountant chatbot, real-time financial dashboards, cash-flow scenario modeling, and integrations with Plaid (bank connectivity) and Zuora (billing) complete the stack, with ledger support expanding beyond QuickBooks Online to Xero and NetSuite. The company employs approximately 416 people, has raised $118.3M in total funding (most recently a $60M Series C in 2021 at a $1.2B post-money valuation), serves a customer base described as 1,000-3,000+ businesses, and was reported at roughly $27M of ARR in 2024 with revenue growing from $10.5M in 2020. The company is currently privately held and actively operating, with three notable product and partnership launches between September 2025 and February 2026 (Meridian, the Local Partner Program, and the Hello Alice Small Business Growth Fund).

Name

Pilot

Legal name

Pilot.com, Inc.

Website

https://pilot.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2017

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

251–500 employees

Short description

Pilot is a San Francisco-based, AI-powered bookkeeping and accounting services company serving startups and small businesses. It combines the Meridian AI close-automation platform and human CFO advisory to deliver annual subscription bookkeeping, tax, CFO, and R&D credit services.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

San Francisco

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Bookkeeping Subscription Services: Annual subscription model with transparent pricing that scales based on monthly expense averages, number of financial institution connections, transactions, and support hours. Includes dedicated finance expert support.
2. Tax Services: Separate subscription for federal, state, and city level income tax preparation, Form 1099-NEC e-filing, and email support.
3. CFO Services: Outsourced CFO services for financial analysis, strategic support, and advisory engagements.
4. R&D Tax Credit Services: Services to identify, calculate, and prepare R&D tax credit documentation including Forms 6765, 8974, and 941.
5. Additional Services (AP/AR): Add-on services for accounts payable/receivable management, invoicing, and bill payment available for additional cost.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

Pilot is a US-based financial operations provider that delivers AI-augmented bookkeeping, tax preparation, outsourced CFO advisory, R&D tax credit, equity administration, and outsourced operations services to startups and small businesses on annual subscriptions. Its proprietary Meridian AI platform autonomously executes the full month-end close (transaction categorization, reconciliation, exception handling, and financial statement preparation) on QuickBooks Online, and is also sold to accounting firms as a standalone AI product.

Product overview

Pilot is an AI-powered accounting and bookkeeping platform for startups and small businesses, consisting of two main product lines: (1) Pilot Bookkeeping & Accounting Services for SMBs and startups, which provides bookkeeping, tax preparation, CFO services, R&D credit services, and specialized packages (Startup Booster, SMB Booster) through a combination of AI automation and expert human advisors; and (2) Meridian, an AI operating system for accounting firms that autonomously executes the full month-end close. The platform is built on QuickBooks Online as the primary ledger, with Meridian supporting additional ledgers including Xero and NetSuite. Core AI capabilities include the AI Accountant chatbot for natural language financial queries, autonomous agents for month-end close execution, and process automation for transaction categorization and reconciliation.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Meridian: AI accounting platform for accounting firms that executes the full month-end close from start to finish. Built inside Pilot and refined across 8,000 businesses and more than 187,000 months of books.

Products and services

• Pilot Bookkeeping & Accounting Services Full-service bookkeeping and accounting for startups and small businesses, including financial organization, transaction categorization, reconciliation, and financial statement preparation using QuickBooks Online.
• Meridian AI Accounting Platform AI accounting platform for accounting firms that executes the full month-end close from start to finish, handling categorization, reconciliation, exception handling, and financial statement preparation on QuickBooks Online (with Xero and NetSuite support).
• Pilot Tax Services Federal, state, and city income tax preparation services including Form 1099-NEC e-filing, offered as a separate subscription from bookkeeping.
• Pilot CFO Services Outsourced CFO services providing strategic financial guidance, capital planning, financial analysis, and expert support for growth-focused businesses, delivered by former CFOs and operators.
• Pilot R&D Credit Service Research and development tax credit identification, calculation, and filing services, helping businesses identify qualifying R&D expenses and prepare required IRS documentation (Forms 6765, 8974, 941).
• Pilot Startup Booster Specialized bookkeeping and advisory package for startups raising capital, preparing for exits, and navigating venture-backed growth.
• Pilot SMB Booster Bookkeeping and financial management package designed for small and medium-sized businesses at various growth stages.
• Pilot Stock Admin Equity and stock administration services including tracking employee equity, managing cap tables, and handling stock-related bookkeeping tasks.
• Pilot Outsourced Operations COO-level outsourced operations support for businesses needing assistance with day-to-day operational financial management and process management.

Quantifiable outcome

• One accountant can carry a $1M book of business using Meridian, vs industry average of $115K-$145K per professional
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers4 records

Segments7 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration7 records

AI capability8 records

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• Hello AlicecoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 24 February 2026Pilot launched its Small Business Growth Fund in partnership with Hello Alice, offering $250,000 in total grants across 18 small business owners ($50,000 to one recipient, $10,000 each to 15 others) plus one year of free Pilot bookkeeping services. The initiative addresses structural financing gaps facing small businesses as banks tighten credit standards.
• QuickBooks Online (Intuit)coreTechnology or IntegrationPilot uses QuickBooks Online exclusively as the accounting platform for all bookkeeping services. Pilot is authorized to create QuickBooks Online accounts for customers who don't have one. Customer and Pilot use of QuickBooks Online is governed by Intuit's Terms of Service and Privacy Statement.

Scale indicators8 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Bench: Bench is a direct competitor offering AI-assisted bookkeeping and financial reporting for SMBs and startups with monthly statements and a dedicated team model — virtually identical core offering and target customer to Pilot's bookkeeping subscription.
• Botkeeper: Botkeeper provides automated bookkeeping powered by ML combined with human accountants for accounting firms and SMBs, mirroring Pilot's Meridian-style AI-plus-human hybrid approach.
• Xendoo: Xendoo offers cloud-based bookkeeping and accounting services for small businesses and accounting firms using AI-assisted workflows — directly comparable to Pilot's SMB and accounting-firm propositions.
• 1-800Accountant: 1-800Accountant provides bookkeeping, tax, and advisory services targeted at SMBs and entrepreneurs — overlapping substantially with Pilot's core subscription offerings and customer segments.

Broad incumbents

• KPMG Spark: KPMG Spark is a Big Four-affiliated online bookkeeping and tax service for SMBs and startups, competing head-to-head with Pilot for venture-backed clients while leveraging KPMG's brand and scale.
• Block Advisors (Block, Inc.): Block Advisors is the small-business services arm of Block (Square) offering bookkeeping, tax preparation, and payroll for SMBs — a broader incumbent that competes with Pilot across multiple service lines.

Emerging players

• Found: Found provides banking and automated bookkeeping built specifically for self-employed individuals and very small businesses, addressing an adjacent but smaller SMB segment than Pilot.
• Ramp: Ramp is an AI-powered corporate card and finance automation platform with embedded expense categorization and bookkeeping-grade outputs — explicitly cited as a Pilot competitor for AI expense categorization.
• Brex: Brex combines corporate cards, expense management, and AI-driven accounting workflows targeted at startups and SMBs, overlapping with Pilot on the AI-accounting wedge.
• Karbon: Karbon is a workflow and practice management platform for accounting firms — comparable to Pilot's Meridian in targeting the same B2B accounting-firm buyer with productivity software.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/PilotHQ
• Facebookfacebook.com/PilotHQ
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/pilothq

Compliance2 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles10 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds6 records

Investors17 records

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Pilot