Compare · provider models
Own file or platform: five bookkeeping models, side by side.
Where your ledger lives decides what you keep when you change bookkeepers. Here are five models next to each other: an own-file bookkeeper, app or platform services such as Bench, Pilot and QuickBooks Live, a freelancer, a CPA firm and an in-house hire, each named provider described from its own published terms.
Provider details checked on , from each provider's own pages. We are one of the models compared, and say so.
Quick answer
If you want to keep the ledger when you change providers, choose a model where the books sit in an accounting file under your own login; an own-file bookkeeper works that way, and a freelancer, CPA firm or in-house hire can. Bench keeps standard plans in its own software; Pilot and QuickBooks Live use QuickBooks Online.
Direct answer
To keep the ledger when you change providers, keep the books in a file under your own login. Everholt & Co. works in your own QuickBooks file; Intuit Experts work in your QuickBooks Online company; Pilot uses QuickBooks Online and hands admin status to you on exit; Bench's standard plans use Bench's own software.
Four providers, six rows
The summary: where the ledger lives, who does the work, what cleanup costs.
Each competitor cell restates that provider's own published pages, registered with the date we checked them; our cells come from our published ranges. The same data is available as JSON.
| Row Checked | Everholt & Co. | Bench | Pilot | Intuit Experts (QuickBooks Live) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ledger location Checked | Your QuickBooks file, Online or Desktop, in your subscription and under your login. | Standard plans: "Bench's own platform" (bench.co). A QuickBooks-certified bookkeeper option works inside your existing QuickBooks Online account. | QuickBooks Online. If you have no account, Pilot creates one; keeping an existing QuickBooks account is listed under Pilot's Custom plan. | Your own QuickBooks Online company; Intuit offers the service only to QuickBooks Online users. |
| Who performs the work Checked | Everholt & Co. works in your file as a user you can remove. Every engagement is reviewed before delivery. | A dedicated Bench bookkeeper does the books; Bench says multiple bookkeepers review them each month, with a year-end quality-assurance review. | Pilot's Core plan: a US-based bookkeeper who handles, explains and reviews your books. Essentials: AI categorizes, reconciles and closes the books. | A dedicated Intuit bookkeeper categorizes transactions and reconciles accounts each month; Intuit says its bookkeepers hold an active QuickBooks Online ProAdvisor certification. |
| Portability (when you leave) Checked | Nothing to export: the file, its history and its attachments stay in your subscription when you remove our user. | Bench offers Excel exports of your financial documents at any time and an Excel year-end package; your login stays after the subscription ends. | When a subscription ends, Pilot will transfer primary-administrator status of the QuickBooks Online account to you, to keep with Intuit or export. | Cancel the Intuit bookkeeping subscription at any time; the QuickBooks Online company stays in your own subscription. |
| Pricing basis Checked | One fixed fee, agreed in writing once the free books review has sized the job. Monthly bookkeeping: $550–$1,800 a month. | Bench publishes flat plans of $199, $399 or $649 a month, with 20% off a 12-month plan. | Pilot lists Essentials at $99 a month; Core is priced from your monthly expenses. | Intuit Expert Full Service Bookkeeping starts at $300 a month after an initial cleanup fee, then follows your average expenses, re-checked every three months. |
| Cleanup / catch-up pricing Checked | $1,800–$6,000 for a bookkeeping cleanup or catch-up, up to 12 months in scope; longer backlogs are scoped separately. QuickBooks file-only cleanup: $850–$2,500. | Bench says catch-up from January 2026 to the present is free with an annual subscription; going further back is included with a paid subscription. | Pilot's pricing page, FAQ and hourly-rates page list no separate catch-up or cleanup price; onboarding costs one month of bookkeeping. | Intuit charges a flat first-month fee for cleanup and setup (with at least 2 months of data) and doesn't publish the amount; its separate one-time Expert Cleanup is listed as low as $600, varying by months. |
| Checked |
Checked: , every competitor cell against the provider's own page. Last evidence check: . The JSON companion lists each provider's sources with their dates; the matrix below links them.
One line, five models
Who administers the ledger, from you to the provider.
Price, speed and software all matter, but the question that decides your exit is simpler: whose account is the accounting file in while the work is being done?
The matrix
Five models across the five questions that separate them.
Rows describe how each model works, not how well any one provider performs it. Named providers are described from their own pages, and each of those rows carries the date it was checked. Freelancers and CPA firms vary so much that their rows describe the range, not a person.
| Model | Whose system holds the ledger | Who can see it | How the work is checked | When you leave | How the price is set |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Own-file bookkeeper the model Everholt & Co. uses |
Your accounting file, such as QuickBooks Online or Desktop, under your subscription and your login. | You, anyone you invite (your CPA, a lender's reviewer) and the bookkeeper, as a user you can remove. | Depends on the firm, so ask what the check covers. Ours: every account's ledger balance agreed to the ending balance on its statement, and a documented review before you receive the month. How the review works. | You remove the bookkeeper's user. The file, its history and its attachments stay where they are. | Set by the firm: hourly, monthly or fixed. Ours is one fixed fee, agreed in writing once the free books review has sized the job. Published ranges. |
| Bench app or platform Checked on |
Standard plans: "Bench's own platform", in the words of Bench's FAQ. It says its bookkeepers can also work within your existing QuickBooks account, through a separate fractional option. | You, in Bench's software, with a dedicated bookkeeper and the bookkeepers who review the month. | Bench says multiple bookkeepers review the books each month, with a year-end quality-assurance review. | Excel exports of your financial documents and an Excel year-end package; your login stays after the subscription ends. | Published flat plans: $199, $399 or $649 a month, with 20% off a 12-month plan. |
| Pilot app or platform Checked on |
QuickBooks Online. If you have no account, Pilot creates one; keeping an existing QuickBooks account is listed under its Custom plan. | You and your Pilot team. Its terms make it your sole bookkeeper while you're a client, though you can still run payables, receivables and payroll in QuickBooks. | Core plan: a US-based bookkeeper who handles, explains and reviews your books. Essentials plan: AI categorizes, reconciles and closes the month. | Pilot will transfer primary-administrator status of the QuickBooks Online account to you, to keep with Intuit or export. | Essentials is listed at $99 a month; Core is priced from your monthly expenses; onboarding costs one month of bookkeeping. |
| QuickBooks Live Intuit Experts, app or platform Checked on |
Your own QuickBooks Online company; Intuit offers the service only to QuickBooks Online users. | You, and your dedicated Intuit bookkeeper. | Each month the bookkeeper categorizes transactions and reconciles accounts; Intuit says its bookkeepers hold an active QuickBooks Online ProAdvisor certification. | Cancel the bookkeeping subscription at any time; it sits on top of your QuickBooks Online subscription, which you keep. | Intuit Expert Full Service Bookkeeping starts at $300 a month after an initial cleanup fee, then follows your average expenses, re-checked every three months. |
| Freelance bookkeeper | Your file, or a subscription the freelancer pays for; ask which before the first month. | Whoever the subscription owner invites. | The person who did the work, unless a second reviewer is arranged. | Depends on whose subscription holds the file. Agree it in writing before the first month. | Hourly or a monthly retainer, set by the freelancer. |
| CPA firm | Your file, or firm-held software or a firm subscription; practices differ. | You and the firm's staff, plus anyone the file owner invites. | Varies by firm. Ask whether bookkeeping gets the same second look as the tax work. | Set by the engagement letter and by whose subscription holds the file. | Hourly, monthly, or bundled with tax preparation. |
| In-house bookkeeper | Your file, run by your employee. | You and whoever you grant access to. | By you or a manager, unless an outside reviewer is brought in. | The file stays. How it was kept leaves with the person unless it was written down. | Salary, payroll taxes and benefits. The trade-offs are on in-house vs outsourced. |
Checked: . Sources, all checked that day: Bench's pricing page, FAQ and About page; Pilot's pricing page, FAQ and client terms (last updated July 24, 2026); Intuit's Intuit Experts page and its help article on the bookkeeping service. Confirm current terms with each provider before you sign.
Credit where due
What each named provider does well.
A fair matrix names strengths too. These come from what each provider publishes, not from our opinion of its staff.
Bench
Bench does well at pricing you can read before any call: three flat monthly plans on its site, one of which adds licensed tax professionals and business tax filing to the bookkeeping. Bench paused operations in December 2024 and resumed service under Employer.com ownership in January 2025; it operates today.
Pilot
Pilot does well at pairing its own platform with a standard QuickBooks Online ledger, so the file can travel, and at plans that run from an AI-led Essentials tier to a US-based bookkeeper on Core and custom plans for growing companies.
QuickBooks Live
QuickBooks Live does well at keeping the work inside the QuickBooks Online company you already pay for, with bookkeepers Intuit says hold an active ProAdvisor certification and a starting price published on Intuit's own page.
Figure data as a table
| Step | What happens |
|---|---|
| 1. Read the termination clause | Find the sentence that says what happens to the ledger when the subscription ends: a file handed over, or a set of reports. |
| 2. Check the name on the subscription | Ask to see the billing owner and primary administrator; if it isn't you, ask when and how that changes. |
| 3. Ask for a sample export | One month's export before signing: a file another bookkeeper can open is a different asset from a PDF of totals. |
Head to head
Everholt & Co. vs Pilot.
Both work in QuickBooks Online files you can keep. The differences are who does the work on each plan, what you pay and what you take when you leave — each fact in the provider's column restates its own page on the date beside it.
| Question | Pilot (source; checked ) | Everholt & Co. |
|---|---|---|
| Whose file | QuickBooks Online; if you have no account, you authorize it to create one (client terms, ) | Your own QuickBooks file, Online or Desktop, under your subscription |
| Who does the work | Essentials: AI categorizes, reconciles and closes the books. Core: a US-based bookkeeper handles, explains and reviews them (pricing page, ) | People reconcile every account to its statement, and every engagement is reviewed before delivery |
| Published price | Essentials $99 a month (pricing page, ); Core priced from the business's monthly expenses (pricing page, ) | $550–$1,800 a month, one fixed fee in writing |
| Starting | A one-time onboarding fee equal to one month of bookkeeping (FAQ, ) | A free books review, then a written scope and fee |
| Leaving | It will transfer primary administrator status for the QuickBooks Online account to you (client terms, ) | The file is already yours; you remove our access |
Checked: . Plans and terms change; confirm them with the provider before you choose.
Data portability
What you own, what you can export, and in what form.
The day you leave is when these differences stop being abstract. A live accounting file carries its history, attachments and audit trail; a set of reports carries the totals.
| Model | What you own | What you can export or take | In what form |
|---|---|---|---|
| Own-file bookkeeper | The accounting file and its subscription. | Everything: the file stays with you, so there is nothing to export. | The live company file, with transaction history, attachments and audit trail. |
| Bench Checked on | Your financial records, held in Bench's software on standard plans. | Excel exports of your financial documents at any time, plus the official Excel year-end financial package; login kept after the subscription ends. | Excel workbooks. A new ledger elsewhere is set up from them. |
| Pilot Checked on | The QuickBooks Online account, once primary-administrator status is transferred to you. | The account itself, to keep with Intuit, or an export from it. | A QuickBooks Online company. Pilot's FAQ says your data goes with you "in a format that is immediately useful." |
| QuickBooks Live Checked on | Your QuickBooks Online subscription and company. | Nothing needs exporting; you cancel the bookkeeping add-on and the company stays put. | Your QuickBooks Online company, unchanged. |
| Freelance bookkeeper | Depends on whose subscription holds the file. | The file, if it's under your subscription; otherwise whatever transfer or export you agreed. | A company file, a transfer of ownership, or exports. Put it in the engagement letter. |
| CPA firm | Depends on the engagement letter and the subscription. | Records returned as the engagement letter describes. | The company file or exports; ask how firm-held books are handed back. |
| In-house bookkeeper | Everything: the file and the subscription are yours. | The file stays; procedures leave with the person unless documented. | The live file, plus any written close checklist. |
Checked: , the three provider rows against each provider's own pages; the sources are listed under the matrix above.
Before you sign
Find the exit in the contract, not the sales call.
Every provider above, us included, puts its real exit terms in writing somewhere. Three places to look before you commit:
- The termination clause. Pilot's client terms, for example, state what happens to the QuickBooks Online account when a bookkeeping subscription ends. Look for the equivalent sentence in any agreement you're offered, and notice whether it hands over a file or a set of reports.
- The name on the accounting subscription. Ask to see the subscription's billing owner and primary administrator. If it isn't you, ask when and how that changes.
- A sample export. Ask for one month's export before signing. A file you can open in another bookkeeper's software is a different asset from a PDF of totals.
Moving already? The switching guide covers notice, handover and the first month in a new file. For the record of one platform's sudden stop in 2024 and its restart, see the Bench record; for Intuit's own service against an independent ProAdvisor, see QuickBooks Live vs a ProAdvisor.
Fit, not rank
Which model suits which owner.
A platform service suits owners who want one bundled subscription
Books, an app and sometimes tax filing from one provider, with the provider holding or setting up the system. Read the exit terms and you know the trade.
An own-file bookkeeper suits owners who want the file to outlast any vendor
Your CPA works in the live books, a lender can be given view access, and changing bookkeepers means removing one user. That's the model we use, and it's why we can describe the others without needing you to leave them.
A freelancer, CPA firm or employee suits owners who settle the file question up front
Each can work in your file. Whether they do is a line in the engagement letter or the job description, so write it there. If your CPA is the candidate, the CPA-as-bookkeeper question covers the split.
The category question underneath all of this — software you run yourself against a service with bookkeepers, and then automation, review and file ownership plan by plan — is on software-only vs bookkeeping with people. Every comparison we publish is listed on the compare hub.
Change log
What changed on this page, and when.
- : added the provider summary and its JSON copy. It covers Everholt & Co., Bench, Pilot and Intuit Experts across ledger location, who performs the work, portability, pricing basis and cleanup or catch-up pricing, each competitor cell from a registered, dated source. New from the providers' own pages: Bench's free catch-up offer with an annual subscription, and Intuit's flat first-month cleanup fee, whose amount Intuit doesn't publish.
FAQ · Updated October 2026
What owners ask about ledgers and leaving.
Bench, Pilot, QuickBooks and QuickBooks Live are trademarks of their respective owners, and Employer.com and Intuit are named only as the companies behind them. Everholt & Co. has no affiliation with, and no endorsement from, any of these companies.
Wherever your books live now
Find out what moving to your own file would take.
We look at the books where they are today, on any platform, and send back a written fixed-fee scope. If staying put suits you better, the review will say that too.