ConsulBooks
A US ledger that categorizes Plaid and statement imports, holds a review queue, and sends your accountant a read-only package.
Best for
A US owner whose books are bank and card transactions, and who wants a short review queue plus a read-only package for the accountant.
Not ideal if
You need invoicing, payroll, inventory, bill pay, or an accountant who edits the file. Those are called out as missing, and several of them are only on the roadmap.
Standout
Uncertain transactions stay in a review queue with a confidence score, and a model-only suggestion never posts until you approve it.
About ConsulBooks
ConsulBooks is the ledger for a US service shop whose books are mostly bank and card activity. You connect accounts through Plaid, or import a CSV, OFX, or QFX statement. Saved vendor rules run first. New merchants get a suggested category, a confidence score, and a short reason. Anything uncertain stays in a review queue until you answer it. Approved lines become balanced journal entries, and the reports come out of ConsulBooks.
It replaces QuickBooks Online and Xero. You can export history from those files and import it here. There is no live sync back. Kick is the other US replacement ledger in this directory, with receipt matching on the free plan and a year-end tax package. Wave and FreshBooks also keep the books, and both send invoices. ConsulBooks does not invoice, pay bills, run payroll, or track inventory. External AI suggestions stay off until you turn them on, and a suggestion from the model alone never posts by itself.
The fit is an owner-run consultancy, agency, practice, or contractor shop that wants a short monthly review instead of a full accounting suite. Your accountant gets a revocable read-only login and a yearly package (reports, transactions, exceptions, and audit history). Editing, firm staff roles, and a formal close are not in the product yet.
How it hits your books
- Replaces your ledger
- Yes
- QuickBooks Online
- No
- Xero
- No
- Multi-entity
- No
- Inventory
- No
- Payroll
- No
You clear the review queue. Approved lines post as journal entries. Profit and loss, balance sheet, trial balance, and the general ledger come out of ConsulBooks. There is no formal close workflow yet.
Send a one-time invite. After MFA, the accountant gets revocable read-only access and can download a yearly package with reports, transactions, exceptions, audit history, and integrity checks. ConsulBooks does not prepare or file the return.
Features
Connect a bank or import a statement
Pick US bank and card accounts in Plaid Link. ConsulBooks does not get the bank password. If you would rather not connect, import CSV, OFX, or QFX. Imports check for duplicates, and statement files are parsed in the browser before the normalized lines are saved.
Rules first, then a review queue
Saved vendor rules categorize before anything else. Uncertain lines wait with a suggested category, a confidence score, and a plain-language reason. One answer can teach a private vendor rule. High-confidence learned matches auto-post only after they clear a threshold you set. Model-only AI suggestions never post on their own, and external AI is off until you enable it.
Posted reports from approved lines
Approved activity becomes two-sided journal entries. Starter includes profit and loss, balance sheet, trial balance, general ledger, cash activity, transactions, exceptions, audit history, and integrity checks.
Read-only accountant package
Create a one-time invite. After sign-in and authenticator MFA, the accountant gets a revocable, read-only Advisor portal and can download the year's package. They cannot edit the books. Firm staff roles and formal close controls are not available.
Receipts on Business and Growth
Receipt and document matching starts on Business ($24/mo), not Starter. Bills, invoices, recurring entries, and team access are listed on Business as planned, not as live features.
Move off QuickBooks or Xero once
Export transactions and reports, connect accounts here, import history with duplicate protection, and close one month before you cancel the old subscription. That is a migration, not an ongoing QuickBooks or Xero sync.
Pricing
There is no published $0 plan with a transaction cap. You can start without a card, then Starter is $12/mo for one workspace, two institutions, and 500 transactions a month. Business is $24/mo for 10 connections, 2,000 transactions, and receipt matching. Growth is $49/mo. Yearly billing is advertised at 10% off, without annual dollar amounts on the page. The privacy policy effective September 9, 2026 says Stripe subscription billing is still in test mode, so confirm a real charge works before you move a year of books.
Starter
One owner, one workspace, light bank and card volume. Yearly billing is 10% off; the page did not list the annual dollar amount.
- 1 business workspace
- Up to 2 bank or card institutions
- Up to 500 transactions per month
- Categorization, review queue, and learned rules
- Full report set and yearly accountant package
- Revocable read-only accountant invite
- Cancel anytime
Business
More accounts and the first plan with receipt matching. Several items on this tier are still marked planned.
- Everything in Starter
- Up to 10 bank or card connections
- Up to 2,000 transactions per month
- Receipt and document matching
- Bills, invoices, and recurring entries (planned)
- Team member access (planned)
Growth
Listed for larger workloads. The live bullets are priority support and everything in Business. The rest of this card is marked planned, and no transaction cap is published.
- Everything in Business
- Multiple business workspaces (planned)
- Locations and project tracking (planned)
- Approval workflows (planned)
- Role-based access (planned)
- Priority support
Integrations
Platforms
Audience
Pick something else instead of ConsulBooks
QuickBooks Online
Pick QuickBooks Online instead if you need invoicing, payments, payroll add-ons, or a CPA who already works inside that file.
Wave
Pick Wave instead if you want invoices in the same ledger and a free Starter file, with bank feeds on the paid plan.
Kick
Pick Kick instead if you want another US replacement ledger, with receipt matching on the free plan and a year-end tax package.