Editorial
How we evaluate
This category is full of pages that look like research and are not. This page describes exactly what we do, what we refuse to do, and how you can check us.
Four rules we hold ourselves to
- Every material fact has a source and a date. Prices, platform support and capabilities are read from the vendor's own published material or from named trade press, and the retrieval date is recorded and displayed.
- We never convert silence into a fact. If a vendor does not state something, the site says "Not published". It never says "No". Across our 21 records this currently applies to 214 individual capability and platform fields.
- We never estimate a price. 6 of 21 products do not publish complete pricing. Their pages say so and their entries carry no invented figure.
- We do not claim experience we do not have. We have not run these products against a controlled transaction set. Every product page says so explicitly.
Where the data comes from
Product records are built from primary sources, in this order of preference:
- The vendor's own pricing and product pages
- The vendor's documentation and security pages
- Named trade press with a publication date (Accounting Today, CPA Practice Advisor, Business Wire, TechCrunch and similar) for funding, ownership and pricing-model changes
We do not build records from software review aggregators, listicles, or other affiliate sites. Those sources are where most of the incorrect pricing in this category comes from, and they are frequently out of date in ways that are invisible to the reader.
Every record is stored as structured data — one JSON file per product, validated against a schema at build time — and every page on this site reads from it. There is no page where a price is typed by hand, which is how comparison tables normally drift out of sync with product pages.
What we cover, and what we leave out
We currently track 21 products across 5 categories:
| Category | Products | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| AI-native accounting platform | 4 | Owns the general ledger. Replaces QuickBooks or Xero rather than sitting on top of it. |
| AI bookkeeping layer | 5 | Runs on top of an existing QuickBooks or Xero ledger. Automates categorization, matching and review without moving your books. |
| AI + human bookkeeping service | 12 | A done-for-you service. Software does the first pass, employed accountants own the result. |
| Platform for accounting firms | 6 | Sold to accounting firms managing many client entities, not to the end business. |
| General ledger with built-in AI | 2 | The incumbent accounting systems, with AI features added. The baseline every other option is measured against. |
Inclusion is editorial and is not for sale. A product is included if a real buyer comparing AI bookkeeping options would plausibly encounter it. We deliberately include two kinds of product that most affiliate sites omit: the incumbent general ledgers, because they are the baseline everything else is measured against, and at least one explicitly non-AI human service, because it is the control group.
How recommendations are produced
We do not publish an overall score or a "best" ranking, because a single ranking implies a single buyer, and there is not one. Instead:
- Category pages are ordered by published entry price, ascending. That is a fact, not an opinion, and it is verifiable.
- The software finder scores products against the constraints you enter, with every point attached to a stated reason and every exclusion explained.
- Shortlists in editorial text follow from the structured data and say which field drives the choice.
The scoring code does not import the affiliate module. That is an architectural fact, not a promise: commercial status is not available to the ranking logic.
How we handle what we could not verify
Gaps are shown, not hidden. Across the current dataset we record 42 explicit open questions — facts a buyer would want that the vendor does not publish. They appear in a "What we could not verify" panel on each product page, and they are the questions we would put to the vendor on a call.
We think this is more useful than a comparison table with no blank cells, which is what you get when a site fills gaps by inference.
Freshness
Every record carries a lastVerified date, displayed on the page. Our target is re-verification every 90 days, and immediately on any pricing or ownership change we become aware of. The current dataset was verified September 4, 2026.
Pricing in this category moves. Two vendors were running introductory discounts of 90% when we last checked, and one changed its entire firm pricing model in April 2026. We store list prices, not promotional ones.
How this site makes money
The intended model is affiliate commission on software and service referrals. As of today we have no affiliate relationship with any vendor listed, so no link on this site earns anything. When that changes, three things happen: the vendor is marked on every page it appears on, the relationship is listed on the disclosure page, and the link routes through a labelled redirect so it is visible before you click. What does not change is the ranking. See the full disclosure.
Corrections
If something here is wrong, tell us and we will fix it and note the change. Vendors are welcome to submit corrections with a link to the published source. We will correct errors; we will not remove documented facts because they are unflattering.
What this site is not
It is not accounting, tax or legal advice. It is not a substitute for a professional who knows your circumstances. And, until our benchmark publishes, it is not a source of accuracy data — because no credible source of accuracy data exists in this category, including us.
Questions
Do you accept payment for placement or reviews?
No. We do not accept payment for inclusion, position, ratings or coverage of any kind, and we will not. Affiliate commission — which we do not currently earn from any vendor — is the only revenue model we intend to use, and it is structurally separated from ranking.
Have you used these products?
No, and we say so on every product page rather than implying otherwise. Writing "we tested this" when we have not is the specific dishonesty that makes most of this category worthless. Our benchmark programme is how that changes.
How often is the data updated?
Our target is re-verification of every product record every 90 days, and immediately when we become aware of a pricing or ownership change. Every record carries the date it was last verified, so you can judge for yourself rather than trusting a "2026" in a page title.
What do you do when a vendor does not publish something?
We record it as "Not published" and it renders that way everywhere on the site. We never convert silence into a "No", and we never estimate a price. Where a gap is material to a buying decision, it also appears in a "What we could not verify" section on the product page.
Can a vendor correct something?
Yes, and we would prefer they did. Send the correction with a link to the published source and we will re-verify. We will not remove a documented fact because a vendor dislikes it — the Bench shutdown, for instance, stays on the page — but we will always correct an error.