Pilot
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.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2017
- HeadquartersSan Francisco, United States
- Headcount251–500
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingServices
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).
Pilot firmographics
Firmographics- 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
Where Pilot is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- San Francisco
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices1 record
Markets served
Pilot business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure
Revenue model
- 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.
- Tax Services: Separate subscription for federal, state, and city level income tax preparation, Form 1099-NEC e-filing, and email support.
- CFO Services: Outsourced CFO services for financial analysis, strategic support, and advisory engagements.
- R&D Tax Credit Services: Services to identify, calculate, and prepare R&D tax credit documentation including Forms 6765, 8974, and 941.
- Additional Services (AP/AR): Add-on services for accounts payable/receivable management, invoicing, and bill payment available for additional cost.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Subscription | Annual | Core Plan with 4 financial institution connections |
| Subscription | Annual | Plus Plan for complex companies with more than 4 financial institutions |
Go-to-market motion3 records
Distribution channels4 records
Marketing channels8 records
Pilot product offering
Product offeringCore 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
Companies that use Pilot
Customer profileNamed customers4 records
Segments7 records
Ideal customer profiles3 records
Pilot technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration7 records
AI capability8 records
Feature4 records
Pilot partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Two partnerships are on record, tiered core.
- Hello AlicecorePilot 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)corePilot 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
Pilot competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect 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
Pilot social profiles
Digital presencePilot compliance and trust
Trust signalCompliance2 records
Pilot financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Pilot leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles10 records
Pilot funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds6 records
Investors17 records
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Pilot M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Pilot
What does Pilot do?
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.
Is Pilot a public or private company?
Pilot is a private company. It is classified as venture growth investor backed and is currently operating.
When was Pilot founded?
Pilot was founded in 2017. It employs 251 to 500 people.
Where is Pilot based?
Pilot is headquartered in San Francisco, United States, in the North America region.
How does Pilot make money?
Five revenue lines are on record. Bookkeeping Subscription Services are the primary driver. The others are tax Services, CFO Services, R&D Tax Credit Services and additional Services (AP/AR).
Who are Pilot's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Bench, Botkeeper, Xendoo and 1-800Accountant. Broad incumbents are KPMG Spark and Block Advisors (Block, Inc.). Emerging players are Found, Ramp, Brex and Karbon.
Does Pilot have an API?
No public API is recorded for Pilot.