Zeni
US startup bookkeeping: AI plus a finance team posting into QuickBooks Online Plus, with bill pay on the same plan.
- Starting price
- Bookkeeping from $549/mo ($494/mo billed annually)
- Pricing
- Paid
- Works with
- QuickBooks Online
- Pricing checked
- October 12, 2026
Our take
- Best for
- A US startup that wants QuickBooks Online Plus kept current by Zeni's software and finance team, and that will pay above a DIY ledger.
- Not ideal if
- A shop on Xero, a non-US entity, or an owner who wants to categorize the bank feed themselves for a software subscription.
- Standout
- The bookkeeping plan includes both the AI posting and a finance team, and bill pay is on that same plan with $0 ACH.
About Zeni
Zeni is a bookkeeping service for US startups. The books stay in QuickBooks Online Plus, which Zeni requires. If you are on something else, they migrate you there. Zeni's AI and an in-house team categorize transactions, post journal entries, and reconcile bank accounts in that QuickBooks file. You get a dashboard for burn, cash, operating expenses, and the usual statements. Bill pay and employee reimbursements sit on the bookkeeping plan. Checking accounts and a Zeni card are separate products on the same site. Payroll management, tax filing, and a fractional CFO are separate engagements.
Kick, Digits, and Puzzle are ledgers you run yourself. Booke is software inside QuickBooks or Xero, without a finance team. Bench and Pilot also put people on the books. Zeni's published model is AI plus named roles (controller, bookkeeping manager, bookkeeping analyst) and a single concierge email, and it will not keep the file in Xero. NetSuite is a different scale: you operate the ERP. Zeni operates QuickBooks for you.
Founders stick when they want the transactions coded without logging in to do it, and they want one login for reports. The team is staffed Monday through Friday, 9:00 am to 6:00 pm Pacific, and Zeni says it aims to answer within two hours. You still have to be a US entity, you still have to be on QuickBooks Online Plus, and a second company is a second subscription.
Pricing
Starter is a floor of $549 a month, or $494 a month billed annually, for a pre-revenue company. Growth floors at $799, or $719 billed annually. The page says the real fee depends on complexity, monthly expenses, and annual revenue. A second entity is another subscription. Bill pay on the bookkeeping plan has $0 ACH. Payroll Manager is listed at $199 with no period printed. CFO Lite is $1,599 plus a $2,000 setup fee, period not labeled. Tax Starter is $2,499, period not labeled, and form-level add-ons sit on top. You must already be on, or move to, QuickBooks Online Plus.
Starter
Floor price for pre-revenue companies, plus a dedicated finance team. Zeni says the actual fee depends on complexity, monthly expenses, and annual revenue.
- Basic AI bookkeeping for pre-revenue companies
- Dedicated finance team
- QuickBooks Online Plus required
- Bill pay and reimbursements included
- US entities only
- Starting price, not a guaranteed flat quote
Growth
Floor price for companies that have revenue. Same caveat: complexity, monthly expenses, and annual revenue change the quote.
- Advanced AI bookkeeping for revenue-stage companies
- Dedicated finance team
- QuickBooks Online Plus required
- Bill pay and reimbursements included
- Each extra entity needs its own subscription
Enterprise
Complex companies. The page says custom pricing based on the same three factors as the other bookkeeping plans. No dollar floor was shown.
- Custom AI bookkeeping
- Dedicated finance team
- QuickBooks Online Plus required
- Bill pay and reimbursements included
CFO Lite
Fractional CFO add-on, not included in bookkeeping. The page lists the fee and a setup fee, and does not label this one monthly or annual.
- Basic budgeting and forecasting
- Budget versus actuals
- 12-month cash flow forecast
- Monthly 1-hour strategic call
CFO Premium
More CFO time than Lite. The page says everything in CFO Lite, then lists extra modeling and a bi-weekly call. No setup fee was printed on this row.
- Everything in CFO Lite
- Advanced revenue and COGS modeling
- Departmental budgeting
- Bi-weekly call
- Up to 6 hours of advisory and support
CFO Enterprise
The page titles this row Enterprise and says it includes everything in CFO Elite. No separate Elite price was shown.
- On-demand advisory
- Leadership and board meetings
- Capital strategy and fundraising support
- M&A support
- Finance tech-stack advisory
- Annual strategic financial planning
Tax Starter
Tax filing for pre-revenue companies. Add-on forms are extra. Sales tax reporting is an add-on, not this sticker.
- Taxes for pre-revenue companies
- R&D credit help is 20% of credits received
- Delaware franchise tax filing +$300
- Extra state corporate returns +$750 per state
Tax Growth
Tax filing for companies with revenue up to $500k. Same add-on menu as the other tax plans.
- Taxes for companies up to $500k revenue
- Form 5471 +$1,500 per form
- Form 5472 +$1,000 per form
- FBAR +$450
- Form 3115 +$750 per form
Tax Enterprise
Taxes for companies with revenue over $500k. No dollar amount on the page.
- Custom pricing over $500k revenue
- Add-on filings priced separately
Payroll Manager Service
US payroll operations on top of bookkeeping. Zeni coordinates your payroll system. It does not cover employees or contractors outside the US.
- Employee onboarding, termination, and support
- Payroll system management, including submitting payroll
- US employees and contractors only
- State registration $300 per state
- W-2 and W-2c prep $199 per block of 5
- Implementation up to 3 hours is $550
How it hits your books
- Replaces your ledger
- No
- QuickBooks Online
- Yes
- Xero
- No
- Multi-entity
- Partial
- Payroll
- Partial
Zeni posts into QuickBooks Online Plus on an ongoing basis, so month-end is a review of their reports and reconciliations rather than a DIY coding session.
Your CPA can use the QuickBooks Online Plus file. Tax filing is a separate Zeni plan. A 1099 e-file workflow was not on the pages reviewed. Payroll support mentions W-2 prep as an add-on.
Features
- Post the books in QuickBooks Online Plus
- Zeni's FAQ says the dashboard syncs with QuickBooks Online Plus and that Plus is required. If you do not have it, they move your data onto it. Entries in QuickBooks are made by Zeni's accounting staff together with their software. You are not buying a replacement ledger. Onboarding is a screen-share of about 30 minutes for read-only access to banks, cards, payroll, and payment tools, and the dashboard is typically on within a week.
- AI categorization with a named finance team
- The bookkeeping plans include a controller and a bookkeeping manager. Zeni describes AI doing data posting, vendor and transaction categorization, journal entries, and bank reconciliation, with people reviewing the file. The finance concierge is one email to that team, staffed weekdays 9:00 am to 6:00 pm Pacific. Hours on your account are included in the flat fee; they do not bill bookkeeping by the hour.
- Bill pay and reimbursements on the bookkeeping plan
- Bill pay and reimbursements are listed on every bookkeeping plan. You upload a bill or receipt, Zeni's AI fills the details, and you can set multi-level approvals. Zeni says domestic and international vendor payments are supported, ACH fees on bill pay are $0, and reimbursements can go out by same-day ACH. The reimbursement FAQ says Zeni supports 160 currencies and does not cap how many reports a user submits.
- Tax, payroll, and CFO are separate buys
- Tax Starter, Tax Growth, and Tax Enterprise are their own prices, for pre-revenue companies, companies up to $500k revenue, and companies over that. Several filings are add-ons (R&D credit as 20% of the credit received, Delaware franchise tax, Forms 5471 and 5472, FBAR, and extra state returns). Payroll Manager is a separate line for US employees and contractors only: onboarding, submitting payroll in your payroll system, and state registration at an extra fee. CFO Lite, Premium, and Enterprise are another price list, with setup fees on Lite and Enterprise.
- One subscription per US entity
- Services are for US entities only. Zeni says it is not GDPR compliant yet. C-corp, S-corp, and LLC are supported. Multi-entity is allowed, and each business or location needs its own Zeni subscription at the level that fits that entity. Checking is a Zeni account product with an FDIC sweep description on the pricing page. This listing does not treat the card or the checking account as part of the bookkeeping sticker.
Images
Integrations
Platforms
Audience
Pick something else instead of Zeni
Pilot
Pick Pilot instead if you want outsourced books in QuickBooks Online and you are comparing service plans. Tax and CFO are extra there too.
Bench
Pick Bench instead if you want human bookkeepers to close a simpler US file and you do not need Zeni's startup CFO, card, and checking bundle.
Kick
Pick Kick instead if you would rather run a US ledger yourself and skip a monthly finance team.
Ready to try Zeni?
Check the live pricing page before you sign up. Plans change.