Pilot

Pilot runs the financial back office for startups and small businesses: bookkeeping, tax preparation and CFO services, delivered by a finance team rather than by software alone. It markets to startups, life sciences companies, professional services firms including law firms and agencies, consumer goods and retail businesses, and franchise operators.

Each client gets a dedicated finance expert alongside the tooling. Pilot connects directly to the systems already in use — QuickBooks, Gusto, Expensify and others — auto-categorises transactions, flags issues, and has the finance expert review every set of books before it goes out. Dashboards track spend, model cash-flow scenarios and show runway. CFO engagements are staffed by people who have run finance at startups, agencies and small businesses, and cover forecasting, margin analysis, data room preparation and fundraise or acquisition support. Accounts payable and payroll can be handed over as well, and the tax team prepares and files federal, state and local income taxes with status updates.

Pilot says it is trusted by more than 3,500 startups and small businesses, holds a 4.8 rating on G2 across more than 200 reviews, and has raised over $150M in Series A, B and C financing from Sequoia, Index Ventures, Stripe, Bezos Expeditions and Whale Rock. It has offices in San Francisco and Nashville.

One limit is stated plainly on the site: Pilot is not a public accounting firm and does not provide services that would require a licence to practise public accountancy, so audits and attestation must be sourced elsewhere. Real estate is not among the industries it markets to, so ask how multi-entity property holdings are handled before signing.