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The Pilot Blog

Financial tips and best practices for growing businesses

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43% founder pay cut: The new reality of startup compensation in 2026

Founder pay is down 43% in 2025 as capital efficiency becomes critical for startups. Explore trends, benchmarks, and expert insights in Pilot’s Founder Salary Report to guide your compensation strategy.

For Founders
Waseem Daher
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Merging two Shopify stores? Handle the books before you migrate.

eCommerce
Mark Gervase
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How to track cost of goods sold in QuickBooks for a product business

eCommerce
Mark Gervase
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Does your product business qualify for R&D tax credits?

eCommerce
Mark Gervase
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When your Shopify revenue and your QuickBooks balance don't match

eCommerce
Mark Gervase
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Bench accounting: reviews, features, and alternatives

Accounting and Bookkeeping
Pilot Team
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Planning an Exit? Start With the Numbers.

For Founders
Pilot CFO Services Team
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5 Signs You’ve Outgrown Your Financial Setup (And What to Do About It)

Accounting and Bookkeeping
Pilot CFO Services Team
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How to set up bookkeeping for an e-commerce startup before your first sale

eCommerce
Mark Gervase
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Intercompany transactions: what a US subsidiary needs to get right

Accounting and Bookkeeping
Mark Gervase
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Accrual vs. cash accounting for a foreign-owned US subsidiary: which one and why

Accounting and Bookkeeping
Mark Gervase
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How to set up US accounting when you're launching from abroad

Accounting and Bookkeeping
Mark Gervase
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5 ways AI helps small business owners win more customers

AI
Mark Gervase
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The 5 best alternatives to Aprio in 2026

Accounting and Bookkeeping
Pilot Team
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How clean bookkeeping helps you get a small business loan

SMB
Maebellyne Ventura
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How to Calculate Your Breakeven Point (And Why Most Founders Get It Wrong)

For Founders
Kyle Cassara
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AI is rewriting the startup efficiency curve

AI
Mark Gervase
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The 5 best alternatives to Squire in 2026

Accounting and Bookkeeping
Pilot Team
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Your First Board Meeting Is Coming Up. Here's What Your Investors Actually Want to See

Startups 101
Pilot CFO Services Team
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Why the most dangerous place to operate isn't a short runway

Data
Cole Levin
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Find a co-founder who loves what you hate

SMB
Mark Gervase
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The 3 Costly Mistakes Seed Founders Keep Making

For Founders
Bridget Martinez
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How to start paying yourself as a business owner

SMB
Mark Gervase
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The 5 best alternatives to Collective in 2026

Accounting and Bookkeeping
Pilot Team
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The 5 best alternatives to every.io in 2026

Accounting and Bookkeeping
Pilot Team
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What we found when we looked at how 1,000 startups actually spend money

Data
Mark Gervase
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The 3 Costly Mistakes Series A Founders Keep Making

For Founders
Bridget Martinez
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Can Pilot do my business’ taxes? Yes*

Taxes
Mark Gervase
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2025 Year-End VC Market Insights

Growth
Pilot CFO Services Team
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What Happens During a Series A Fundraise

Startups 101
Pilot CFO Services Team
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Pilot just launched a free trial so any business can see its finances

SMB
Mark Gervase
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The 5 best alternatives to financial wing in 2026

Accounting and Bookkeeping
Pilot Team
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Pilot Unveils AI Accountant: A Major Leap Toward Artificial General Intelligence in Accounting

Pilot updates
Pilot Team
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The 5 best alternatives to Burkland in 2026

Accounting and Bookkeeping
Pilot Team
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The 5 best alternatives to SimpleCFO solutions in 2026

Accounting and Bookkeeping
Pilot Team
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The 5 best alternatives to Armanino LLP in 2026

Accounting and Bookkeeping
Pilot Team
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How to write a great investor update (new template)

For Founders
Mark Gervase
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The 5 best alternatives to Proseer in 2026

Accounting and Bookkeeping
Pilot Team
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The 5 best alternatives to Countsy in 2026

Accounting and Bookkeeping
Pilot Team
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The 5 best alternatives to Bookkeeper360 in 2026

Accounting and Bookkeeping
Pilot Team
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Top 5 bookkeeping audit software

Accounting and Bookkeeping
Pilot Team
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The 5 best alternatives to Premier Consulting & Integration in 2026

Accounting and Bookkeeping
Pilot Team
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The 5 best alternatives to Attivo Partners in 2026

Accounting and Bookkeeping
Pilot Team
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The 5 best alternatives to Finaloop in 2026

Accounting and Bookkeeping
Pilot Team
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The 5 best alternatives to E2E in 2026

Accounting and Bookkeeping
Pilot Team
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The 5 best alternatives to NOWCFO in 2026

Accounting and Bookkeeping
Pilot Team
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The life sciences fundraising landscape: What founders need to know right now

Life Sciences
Mark Gervase
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The ultimate guide to outsourced bookkeeping in 2026

Accounting and Bookkeeping
Mark Gervase
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What are key tax deadlines for startups?

Taxes
Mark Gervase
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How to file a business tax extension in 2026 and avoid penalties

Taxes
Mark Gervase
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Does my business have to pay quarterly taxes?

Taxes
Han Shi
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Want to save on taxes? Get a bookkeeper

Taxes
Han Shi
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A small business tax guide for beginners [2026]

Taxes
Han Shi
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The 5 best alternatives to airCFO in 2026

Accounting and Bookkeeping
Pilot Team
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Top 14 small business tax deductions & write-offs: the ultimate guide

Taxes
Mark Gervase
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5 things to add to your business's end-of-year checklist: budgeting, tax prep, and bookkeeping essentials

SMB
Mark Gervase
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What Clean Books Actually Look Like at Pre-Seed

Accounting and Bookkeeping
Mark Gervase
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Pilot Launches Local Partner Program to Empower Bookkeepers and Strengthen Small Businesses Nationwide

Pilot updates
Pilot Team
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Your small business tax questions answered

Taxes
Pilot Team
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Your startup tax questions answered

Taxes
Pilot Team
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Should you start a founder podcast? AI just made it easier

For Founders
Mark Gervase
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Financial pitfalls to avoid with your startup

Startups 101
Pilot Team
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How to start an agency according to 8 successful founders

Creative Agencies
Mark Gervase
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How your AI startup’s legal strategy can help secure enterprise customers

AI Startups
Mariana Antcheva
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How to manage business expenses like a CFO

SMB
Mark Gervase
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How to grow revenue—a business owner’s cheat sheet

SMB
Mark Gervase
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The 6 small business metrics that matter and how to use them

SMB
Mark Gervase
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How Barbara Stephenson scaled 300feetout by fixing operations

Creative Agencies
Mark Gervase
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The most-used AI tools according to 2,500 companies

AI
Mark Gervase
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How former freelancer Rebecca built all the ops at the agency Beam

Creative Agencies
Mark Gervase
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How Todd has kept the web agency Four Kitchens thriving for 19 years

Creative Agencies
Mark Gervase
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How to raise early-stage health tech rounds

Life Sciences
Pilot Team
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How AI is changing financial reporting + what founders should do now

AI
Kenny Moulton
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Ross' personal brand generated millions for his agency

Creative Agencies
Mark Gervase
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Get clear cash views with new graphs and dashboards

Pilot Product
Mark Gervase
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How much does a fractional CFO cost? Estimate your monthly spend

Back Office Operations
Bridget Martinez
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The agency model is broken—so how do some still thrive?

Creative Agencies
Mark Gervase
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How to use AI for bookkeeping without losing control

Accounting and Bookkeeping
Kenny Moulton
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How Alex Birkett built a brand that landed his agency its biggest client yet

Creative Agencies
Mark Gervase
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2026 VC market update: The 5 trends defining startup fundraising

Finances and Fundraising
Pilot Team
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Get instant answers with Pilot AI

Pilot Product
Mark Gervase
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How Tyler generated a $500K new deal for his agency through brand-building on Linkedin

Creative Agencies
Mark Gervase
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How Mariya 10x’d her agency’s rates by building a founder brand

Creative Agencies
Mark Gervase
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Pilot will now do your work chores—bill pay, payroll, stock admin, and more

Pilot Product
Pilot CFO Services Team
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Bills won’t make your beer taste better

Back Office Operations
Pilot Team
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Founders and funders: Riley Rodgers

AI
Mark Gervase
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Bookkeeping basics: A small business owner's guide to Bookkeeping

Accounting and Bookkeeping
Kenny Moulton
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How AI can save small business owners 10+ hours per week

AI
Pilot Team
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Why hire a fractional CFO? Here’s when it makes sense

Back Office Operations
Bridget Martinez
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Top 10 bookkeeping mistakes small businesses make and how to avoid them

Accounting and Bookkeeping
Cole Levin
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From seats to success: The new economics of AI pricing in 2026

AI
Cole Levin
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Can my startup pay my rent? What founders need to know

Taxes
Waseem Daher
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6 essential charts for raising a healthtech round

Finances and Fundraising
Pilot CFO Services Team
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How to set up your small business bookkeeping system

Accounting and Bookkeeping
Mark Gervase
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From idea to launch: A business startup checklist for small businesses and startup founders

SMB
Mark Gervase
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Founders and funders: Mike Vernal

AI
Mark Gervase
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How to build your startup’s sales team

Startups 101
Mark Gervase
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How to hire remote employees without tax and payroll surprises

Taxes
Darin Moriki
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Your annual business tax checklist

Taxes
Mark Gervase
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What should you pay yourself as an AI founder?

AI
Mark Gervase
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The bookkeeping checklist every SMB should be following

Accounting and Bookkeeping
Mark Gervase
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