Companies of all sizes need bookkeeping and accounting services. And it’s an ideal service to consume digitally. When I started reporting on the space in the mid-90s, I thought banks would end up delivering the bulk of basic accounting functions through their online banking programs.
But so far I’ve been proven wrong. There is too much nuance, too many gray areas, too much liability and too much competition for traditional banks to make a material profit. So the market has been ceded to the entrepreneurs, and wow, have they shown up!
It’s been a popular startup category with 16 of the top 21 companies founded since 2012.
Years since founding:
10 to 20 years >>> 4 startups
5 to 9 years >>> 9 startups
1 to 4 years >>> 8 startups
NEW: Looking for digital banks, lenders, payment providers, insurance or digital accounting for small businesses? Check out our latest lists: SMB online lenders (33) | SMB challenger banks (12) | SMB insurers (15) | SMB charge cards/expense management (16) | SMB payment providers (30) | SMB digital accounting/bookkeeping (21)
Digital Billpay & Invoicing Providers
| Rank | Company | FAB Score | Reviewed | Founded | HQ | Funding ($M) | Visits (Dec 21) |
| 1 | Xero | 5,048 | 25 Jan 2022 | 2006 | Wellington, NZ | $681 | 24,800,000 |
| 2 | Freshbooks | 844 | 25 Jan 2022 | 2003 | Toronto | 206 | 3,900,000 |
| 3 | HighRadius | 240 | 25 Jan 2022 | 2006 | Houston | 475 | 370,000 |
| 4 | Patriot | 170 | 25 Jan 2022 | 2002 | Canton, OH | 4.4 | 910,000 |
| 5 | TaxBit | 163 | 25 Jan 2022 | 2018 | Draper, Utah | 236 | 400,000 |
| 6 | Bench | 147 | 25 Jan 2022 | 2012 | Vancouver BC | 107 | 570,000 |
| 7 | Pilot | 77 | 25 Jan 2022 | 2016 | SF | 161 | 85,000 |
| 8 | OneUp | 50 | 25 Jan 2022 | 2017 | SF | 2 | 240,000 |
| 9 | Autobooks | 46 | 25 Jan 2022 | 2015 | Detroit | 47.8 | 150,000 |
| 10 | Paperclip | 30 | 25 Jan 2022 | 2021 | SF | 8.8 | 100,000 |
| 10 | Zeni | 30 | 25 Jan 2022 | 2019 | SF | 47.5 | 16,800 |
| 12 | Proper | 12 | 25 Jan 2022 | 2017 | SF | 13.8 | 23,000 |
| 13 | Bookkeep | 7 | 25 Jan 2022 | 2018 | NYC | 3.3 | 12,300 |
| 14 | Pallo | 6 | 26 Jan 2022 | 2020 | LA | INA | 3,200 |
| 15 | Xendoo | 4 | 25 Jan 2022 | 2016 | Miami | 4.7 | 10,000 |
| 16 | Avise | 3 | 25 Jan 2022 | 2017 | NYC | 5.5 | 1,400 |
| 16 | Snyder | 3 | 25 Jan 2022 | 2016 | SF | 3 | INA |
| 18 | Docyt | 2 | 25 Jan 2022 | 2016 | SF | 3.7 | INA |
| 18 | FinancePal | 2 | 25 Jan 2022 | 2015 | Chicago | INA | 8,700 |
| 20 | Reconciled | 1 | 25 Jan 2022 | 2015 | Burlington, VT | 1 | 4,200 |
| 20 | Ceterus | 1 | 25 Jan 2022 | 2008 | Charleston, SC | 29.3 | 5,200 |
Source: FintechLabs, 25 Jan 2022 using data from Crunchbase, SimilarWeb, SEMrush
*As nerds do, we are developing a proprietary score measuring the adoption of digital financial services at private companies that do not release traditional metrics (# customers, deposits, AUM, etc). We call it the FAB score, standing for Fintech Attention Barometer. The score uses money raised, valuation and website traffic as a proxy for company size and velocity of growth. It’s a work in progress, so expect changes down the road.
**Funding is the amount invested into the company as either equity or debt.
Challenger Accounting/Bookkeeping Online Providers in the United States
1. Xero
FAB Score = 5,050
– HQ: Wellington, New Zealand
– Founded: 2006
– Went public June 2007
– Raised $680M prior to 2021 (Crunchbase)
– Market cap: $16.8B (25 Jan 2022)
– Website visits: 24.8M (Dec 2021; SimilarWeb)
– Employees: 3,640 (Pitchbook)
– Articles: 1,280 (Crunchbase)
– Linkedin: 219k followers (4,380 employees)
– Twitter: 79k followers
– Rating: 4.3 (2,025 reviews per SoftwareAdvice)
2. Freshbooks
FAB Score = 844
– HQ: Toronto
– Founded: 2003
– Raised $206M, of which $131M was in 2021 (Crunchbase)
– Valuation: $1B (based on Aug 2021 round)
– Website visits: 3.9M (Dec 2021; SimilarWeb)
– Employees: 20 (Pitchbook)
– Articles: 593 (Crunchbase)
– Linkedin: 67k followers (572 employees)
– Twitter: 30.7k followers
– Rating: 4.5 (3,550 reviews per SoftwareAdvice)
3. HighRadius
FAB Score = 240
– HQ: Houston, Texas
– Founded: 2006
– Raised $475 including $300M all prior to 2021 (Crunchbase)
– Valuation: $3.1B (based on March 2021 round)
– Website visits: 370,000 (Dec 2021; SimilarWeb)
– Employees: 3,170 (Pitchbook)
– Articles: 56 (Crunchbase)
– Linkedin: 101,000 followers (3,570 employees)
– Twitter: 1,270 followers
– Rating: 4.8 (154 reviews per FeaturedCustomers)
4. Patriot Software
FAB Score = 170
– HQ: Canton, Ohio
– Founded: 2002
– Raised $4.4M prior to 2021 (Crunchbase)
– Website visits: 910,000 (Dec 2021; SimilarWeb)
– Employees: 119 (Pitchbook)
– Articles: 23 (Crunchbase)
– Linkedin: 1,900 followers (135 employees)
– Twitter: 1,840 followers
– Rating: 4.8 (2,755 reviews per GetApp)
5. TaxBit (Crypto tax specialists)
FAB Score = 163
– HQ: Draper, Utah
– Founded: 2018
– Raised $236M including $130M in 2021 (Crunchbase)
– Website visits: 400,000 (Dec 2021; SimilarWeb)
– Employees: 100 (Pitchbook)
– Articles: 31 (Crunchbase)
– Linkedin: 4,640 followers (148 employees)
– Twitter: 13,900 followers
– Rating: 5 (5 reviews per Benzinga)
6. Bench
FAB Score = 147
– HQ: Vancouver, BC, Canada
– Founded: 2012
– Raised $107M all prior to 2021 (Crunchbase)
– Website visits: 570,000 (Dec 2021; SimilarWeb)
– Employees: 650 (Pitchbook)
– Articles: 65 (Crunchbase)
– Linkedin: 10,500 followers (586 employees)
– Twitter: 9,700 followers
– Rating: 4.8 (254 reviews per GetApp)
7. Pilot
FAB Score = 77
– HQ: San Francisco
– Founded: 2016
– Raised $161M including $100M in 2021 (Crunchbase)
– Website visits: 85,000 (Dec 2021; SimilarWeb)
– Employees: 21 (Pitchbook)
– Articles: 10 (Crunchbase)
– Linkedin: 6,200 followers (255 employees)
– Twitter: 2,570 followers
– Rating: 4.5 (36 reviews per G2)
8. OneUp
FAB Score = 50
– HQ: San Francisco
– Founded: 2017
– Raised $2M prior to 2021 (Crunchbase)
– Website visits: 240,000 (Dec 2021; SEMrush)
– Employees: 13 (Pitchbook)
– Articles: 2 (Crunchbase)
– Linkedin: 2,100 followers (34 employees)
– Twitter: 160 followers
– Rating: 3.7 (6 reviews per Capterra)
9. Autobooks
FAB Score = 46
– HQ: Detroit, Michigan
– Founded: 2015
– Raised $47.8M including $25M in 2021 (Crunchbase)
– Website visits: (Dec 2021; SEMrush)
– Employees: (Pitchbook)
– Articles: 24 (Crunchbase)
– Linkedin: 3,600 followers (113 employees)
– Twitter: 340 followers
– Rating: 4.8 (187 reviews per FeaturedCustomers)
10 (tie). Paperclip
FAB Score = 30
– HQ: San Francisco
– Founded: 2021
– Raised $8.8M in 2021 (Crunchbase)
– Website visits: 100,000 (Dec 2021; SEMrush)
– Employees: 4 (Pitchbook)
– Articles: 0 (Crunchbase)
– Linkedin: 25 followers (6 employees)
– Twitter: NA
– Rating: INA
10 (tie). Zeni
FAB Score = 30
– HQ: San Francisco
– Founded: 2019
– Raised $47.5M including $45.5M in 2021 (Crunchbase)
– Website visits: 16,800 (Dec 2021; SEMrush)
– Employees: 120 (Pitchbook)
– Articles: 11 (Crunchbase)
– Linkedin: 3,100 followers (104 employees)
– Twitter: NA
– Rating: 4.8 (176 reviews per FeaturedCustomers)
12. Proper
FAB Score = 12
– HQ: San Francisco
– Founded: 2017
– Raised $13.8M including $9M in 2021 (Crunchbase)
– Website visits: 23,000 (Dec 2021; SimilarWeb)
– Employees: 120 (Pitchbook)
– Articles: 7 (Crunchbase)
– Linkedin: 5,800 followers (125 employees)
– Twitter: NA
– Rating: 4.4 (10 reviews per TrustPilot)
13. Bookkeep
FAB Score = 7
– HQ: Brooklyn, New York
– Founded: 2018
– Raised $3.3M in 2021 (Crunchbase)
– Website visits: 12,300 (Dec 2021; SEMrush)
– Employees: 17 (Pitchbook)
– Articles: 1 (Crunchbase)
– Linkedin: 870 followers (18 employees)
– Twitter: 48 followers
– Rating: 4.8 (178 reviews per FeaturedCustomers)
14. Pallo
FAB Score = 6
– HQ: Los Angeles
– Founded: 2020
– Website visits: 3,200 (Dec 2021; SEMrush)
– Linkedin: 223 followers (15 employees)
– Twitter: 47 followers
– Instagram: 510 followers
– Rating: 4.4 (11 reviews, TrustPilot)
15. Xendoo
FAB Score = 4
– HQ: Miami, Florida
– Founded: 2016
– Raised $4.7M prior to 2021 (Crunchbase)
– Website visits: 10,000 (Dec 2021; SEMrush)
– Employees: 34 (Pitchbook)
– Articles: 9 (Crunchbase)
– Linkedin: 1,040 followers (34 employees)
– Twitter: 1,060 followers
– Rating: INA
16(t). Avise
FAB Score = 3
– HQ: NYC
– Founded: 2017
– Raised $5.5M prior to 2021 (Crunchbase)
– Website visits: 1,400 (Dec 2021; SEMrush)
– Employees: 10 (Pitchbook)
– Articles: 0 (Crunchbase)
– Linkedin: 650 followers (18 employees)
– Twitter: NA
– Rating: NA
16(t). Snyder
FAB Score = 3
– HQ: San Francisco
– Founded: 2016
– Raised $3M in 2021 (Crunchbase)
– Website visits: (Dec 2021; SimilarWeb)
– Employees: 51 (Linkedin)
– Articles: 13 (Crunchbase)
– Linkedin: 530 followers
– Twitter: 2,460 followers
– Rating: 4.8 (226 reviews per Capterra)
18(t). FinancePal
FAB Score = 2
– HQ: Chicago, Illinois
– Founded: 2015
– Raised: Unknown (Crunchbase)
– Website visits: 8,700 (Dec 2021; SEMrush)
– Employees: 15 (Linkedin)
– Articles: 0 (Crunchbase)
– Linkedin: 180 followers (15 employees)
– Twitter: NA
– Rating: INA
18(t). Docyt
FAB Score = 2
– HQ: San Francisco
– Founded: 2016
– Raised $3.7M including $1.5M in 2021 (Techcrunch)
– Website visits: INA (Dec 2021; SEMrush)
– Employees: 15 (Pitchbook)
– Articles: 1 (Crunchbase)
– Linkedin: 250 followers (23 employees)
– Twitter: 270 followers
– Rating: INA
20(t). Reconciled
FAB Score = 1
– HQ: Burlington, Vermont
– Founded: 2015
– Raised $1M in 2021 (Crunchbase)
– Website visits: INA (Dec 2021; SEMrush)
– Employees: 49 (Pitchbook)
– Articles: 0 (Crunchbase)
– Linkedin: 1,340 followers (53 employees)
– Twitter: 710 followers
– Rating: INA
20(t). Ceterus
FAB Score = 1
– HQ: Charleston, South Carolina
– Founded: 2008
– Raised $29.3M prior to 2021 (Crunchbase)
– Website visits: INA (Dec 2021; SEMrush)
– Employees: 69 (Pitchbook)
– Articles: 9 (Crunchbase)
– Linkedin: 2,200 followers (60 employees)
– Twitter: 910 followers
– Rating: 4.8 (603 reviews per FeaturedCustomers)
